Vote ‘no’ on Amendment 1

The most contentious issue on the ballot this election cycle with the exception of the contest for president is the question of Amendment 1 that Gov. Nathan Deal is sponsoring that would give the state authority to take over local schools.

If approved, the state could take over “failing” schools using a flawed College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI) measurement that is still a work in progress. This amendment would bypass the state’s own existing bureaucracy and create an Opportunity School District, ultimately answerable only to the governor. This OSD would take over 20 “failing” schools each year for five years and a maximum of 100. In Bibb County there are nine schools on the OSD eligible list and Twiggs County has one, but there are more than 100 other schools on the eligibility list.

The OSD would make an end run around the elected state superintendent of schools and the appointed state school board and local boards of education. Instead there would be an OSD superintendent who would report directly to the governor.

The question on the ballot is framed in a who-could-be-against-that? sort of way. It’s a single sentence: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow the state to intervene in chronically failing public schools in order to improve student performance?”

The legislation behind that single sentence, however, is complex, and it starts with the very reason the Georgia Constitution has to be amended. Amendment 1 would allow the state to pirate away local tax money it did not collect and local school facilities it did not pay for and do one of four things:

▪ Direct management of the school by the OSD, including firing and hiring of staff.

▪ Shared government of the school by the OSD and the local board of education.

▪ Transformation of the school into an OSD charter school.

▪ Close the school.

While the state is carting away local tax dollars and possibly allowing private for-profit charter school organizations to infiltrate the state, these companies would have several advantages:

▪ They would get use of captured school facilities, textbooks, computers and all other school equipment.

▪ They would be free of state requirements, though they would not be released from federal regulations.

▪ Have their choice of teachers and staff.

The process would move fairly quickly if Amendment 1 succeeds with the initial 20 schools announced by July 1, 2017. While it’s not complicated getting on the list, it’s pretty hard getting off. And once taken over by the OSD, a school has to score above 60 on the CCRPI for three consecutive years. A school could be an OSD school for 10 years.

There are too many downsides to this legislation to list here, but to mention a few more. If the state decides to close a school, the facility — bought and paid for by local tax dollars — can’t be used as a school for three years. What’s the purpose in that? Could it be that after the state’s had a go for five to 10 years, that the area where the school is located may have changed or is going through a revitalization unrecognized by the OSD? One huge drawback is that parents lose the ability to hold local elected officials accountable for the success or failure of their schools. It’s hard to complain to the governor.

Aside from the river of education dollars, state and local, that Amendment 1 could create, none of this focuses in on the students who the state says are failing so miserably. If there is some secret sauce in the governor’s cabinet, he should share it. If freeing schools for burdensome state regulations is the trick, he could have sponsored legislation to do that when he first took office.

For the many reasons stated in this editorial and previous editorials, vote no on Amendment 1.

This story was originally published October 22, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Vote ‘no’ on Amendment 1."