ATLANTA – House Republicans plan to introduce a new version of a constitutional amendment allowing the state to create charter schools that aims to address concerns from local school districts about funding.
According to documents obtained Thursday by The Associated Press from sponsors of the legislation, House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones has added language guaranteeing that cash-strapped schools will not see reduced funding if the state creates charter schools. The amendment is an attempt to appease Democrats, who mounted enough opposition last week to prevent the measure from passing in the House.
“I believe we are making progress,” House Majority Whip Edward Lindsey said during a committee hearing Thursday. “We’ll bring it to the floor when we are comfortable we have it right.”
Lindsey, Jones and other sponsors of the bill did not say when they plan to bring the constitutional amendment up for another vote in the House. The Senate has introduced its own version of the legislation as a safeguard in case the measure fails again in the House.
The amendment would clarify state education law after a May ruling from the state Supreme Court outlawed the Georgia Charter Schools Commission. The court ruled that the commission was illegally creating charter schools over the objection of school districts.