Dec 12, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
The state Board of Education on Thursday appointed seven people to serve on a new commission that can approve charter schools over objections from local school officials.
The seven members of the Georgia Charter Schools Commission were nominated by Gov. Sonny Perdue, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram). The members:
> Steven Ballowe, a Glynn County schools administrator.
> Jennifer Buck, former executive director of the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.
> Charles Knapp, former president of the University of Georgia.
> Tom Lewis, vice president for external affairs at Georgia State University.
> Gerard Robinson, president of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, a group promoting school choice.
> Eric Rosen, a vice president at SunTrust Community Capital.
> Ben Scafidi, a professor at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville.
The Legislature approved a bill last session to create the commission, which can approve charter school applications that were rejected by local school boards.
The group also can authorize a charter school’s use of a school system’s per-pupil money —- which includes state and local dollars —- even if the local board didn’t approve the school. Currently, local systems don’t have to pass full funding on to charter schools and can hold back some money for administrative and other costs.
Charter schools are supported with taxes but are exempt from many traditional public school rules. In exchange for this freedom, they must demonstrate student achievement as spelled out in contracts. Georgia has 114 charter schools.
The commission is expected to have its first meeting in February, said Andrew Broy, who oversees charter schools for the state Education Department.
Broy expected the group would begin accepting applications in August for schools interested in opening for the 2010-11 school year.