It’s hard to believe an issue could become more convoluted. What began as an effort to rewrite the state’s constitution to give the state powers that it already enjoys has turned farcical. Monday, charter school advocates filed suit against all 180 school systems -- calling them part of the “Education Empire.” The suit says the school systems are part of a conspiracy to defeat Amendment 1. Oh really?

These advocates for spending money the state doesn’t possess have tried to silence state School Superintendent John Barge, who bucked the Republican establishment that’s leading the effort to get this amendment passed. They contend that by posting his opposition on the Department of Education’s website, he was using taxpayer money to advocate against the amendment. In the process, they silenced their own advocate, Gov. Nathan Deal, who also had to remove his support of the amendment from the state’s website.

Supporters of Amendment 1 are willing to pull out all the stops to create an unnecessary device to approve charter schools. Here’s news. Supporters of Amendment 1 are attempting to flim-flam the public. The state, through the Department of Education, already has the power to approve charter schools over local school board’s objections.

This amendment is not about charter schools -- which the “Education Empire” approves of. It is about some lawmakers and for-profit education management firms to get their hands on our scarce educational dollars. They don’t want anyone telling the populace about what the amendment really means. It’s their lie and they’re sticking to it.

-- The Editorial Board