There is often confusion about what a “charter school” is, something I’ve written about in this blog in the past. One element of this confusion, I think, is related to the use of the word “autonomous” or “independent” to describe how charter schools operate as compared to a district-managed public school. It’s true that, in Atlanta Public Schools at least, each of the charter schools has its own independent governing board that can act with much autonomy when it comes to setting a budget, creating policies, and hiring a school leader. So long as there is compliance with state and federal law, charter schools are just about free to do what they think is best to fulfill the goals of their charters.
Autonomy can be a slippery slope, though, because your school still operates within the context of a community and your students are still likely to eventually learn and work with peers from the district as a whole. In my opinion, it’s dangerous to think that the autonomy granted to you as a charter school removes any or all obligation you have as a part of the larger school district. For one, if you are not using your charter’s flexibility and autonomy to actively serve as an example for a wider audience as to what teaching and learning can look like when freed of layers of bureaucracy, then you’re missing the point of being a charter school. But even more so, it is dangerous to think being “autonomous” protects you from having to share in the burden of challenges that impact the larger community. A recent example of the latter has come as a result of APS having to deal with the implications of the delay in the collection of this year’s Fulton County property taxes.
For those not following the Atlanta news, over the summer, the Fulton County commissioners, facing a backlash from many residents over a significant one-year jump in residential property tax assessments, decided to freeze tax assessments at their prior year levels. With the bulk of local education funding deriving from property tax revenue, this meant that APS had to quickly figure out how to fill a large and unexpected budget gap as well as a delay in when tax revenue would be collected. A part of the solution, APS took out a “tax anticipation note” (TAN)—essentially a short-term loan to provide a financial bridge to when taxes would finally be collected. In the meantime, the state rejected Fulton County’s plan to freeze tax assessments, necessitating an emergency hearing and ruling to force the county to begin collecting property taxes. This further delay has meant that tax revenue won’t actually begin coming in until January, and the TAN payment for APS is due in December.
In short, all of this has meant that APS is facing a short-term cash flow challenge and one that has been largely out of its control. It’s causing the district to have to furlough some central office staff and delay salary increases to some employees. And the district also asked its charter schools if they could delay some or all of their next two monthly funding payments from APS to schools until January.
To be clear, these monthly funding payments are required under Georgia law and none of the charter schools would be obligated to defer them. But seeing ourselves as a part of the larger school district, ANCS agreed to delay receiving about $900,000 in funding payments until January, and many other charter schools in a financial position to do so did the same. It means a little bit of belt-tightening for the next couple of months for us, but it’s nothing like the struggle our district might face if we opted not to help out. And I say that not because I think we deserve a pat on the back for chipping in, but to underscore that having autonomy shouldn’t mean you should only partner with the district in which you operate when it is convenient for you. We all have a role to play in making sure the schools and students of Atlanta are successful.