As Georgians head to the polls this November, the presidential election isn’t the only big vote that they’ll face on the ballot. They will also vote on a proposed constitutional amendment by answering “yes” or no” to this question:
“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow the state to intervene in chronically failing public schools in order to improve student performance?”
Behind this simple (or, as some are calling it, deceptively simple) question is a proposal by Governor Nathan Deal to create an “Opportunity School District” (OSD) in the state. Modeled after similar systems in place in Louisiana and Tennessee, Georgia’s OSD would fall under the state’s Governor’s Office of Student Achievement and be headed by a superintendent appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the state Senate. Schools that have had a score of 60 or below on the state’s College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI) for three consecutive years could see control transferred from their local boards of education to the OSD. Such schools would be under OSD oversight for at least five and no more than ten years, and there would be a cap of 100 schools in the OSD at any given time. The OSD could directly manage a school in the OSD, jointly govern it with the local district, allow a charter school operator to manage the school, or close the school entirely.
As the time to vote draws closer, arguments on both sides of the OSD debate have ramped up. Though ANCS would not ever be subject to OSD control because we are a charter school with our own performance contract with APS and the state, I would strongly encourage all of our parents, teachers, and staff to educate themselves on the OSD proposal and to vote on the matter given its potential for big impact on public education, especially here in Atlanta, the district with the highest number of schools that would currently be “OSD-eligible”. Here are a few places where you can get more information about the proposed OSD and arguments for and against it:
- The Governor’s office website has a page dedicated to explaining the Governor’s rationale for the proposal and a “frequently asked questions” document
- The organization Public Education Matters Georgia’s website has a page outlining the views of a statewide coalition opposed to the proposed OSD
- The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s “Get Schooled” blog has run a series of posts highlighting different opinions about the OSD
- There are several OSD-centered public forums scheduled, including one happening this Thursday