ATLANTA — Gov. Nathan Deal’s proposal to take over schools dubbed “chronically failing” appears headed for a vote in the Georgia House of Representatives after securing a key committee’s approval on Monday.
Under Deal’s plan, an appointed superintendent accountable to the governor could select up to 20 schools each year and 100 maximum to be closed, converted into charters, or subject to a management overhaul. Schools would become eligible if scoring below 60 for three years in a row on the state’s index for measuring student performance and growth.
Some minor changes added Monday would allow the superintendent to consider ongoing efforts at improvement when selecting schools for the district.
The constitutional amendment and accompanying legislation already passed the Senate, getting just enough support to meet a two-thirds threshold required for constitutional changes. If the House backs it, the amendment is expected to be on ballots statewide in 2016.
Organizations representing teachers, school boards and other education stakeholders largely opposed the plan. They made their complaints known at an earlier meeting of the House Education Committee that stretched on for more than two hours.