Gov. Deal and U.S. Education Secretary Discuss Charter School Ruling

Michelle Wirth, WABE, 06-22-11

ATLANTA, GA - Georgia's Governor and the U.S. Secretary of Education weighed in Wednesday on how to aid a number of charter schools affected by a recent Georgia Supreme Court decision. The court declared 16 charter schools created by a state commission unconstitutional.

Speaking at the National Charter Schools Conference, Governor Nathan Deal says he believes the situation will be remedied.

"I feel confident the members of the Georgia General Assembly will deal with the issue that has been presented to us. That is something we will confront."

Following Deal's speech, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined the conference via satellite. Duncan said no part of the $400 million dollars that Georgia received in federal Race to the Top money can be used to aid the affected schools.

"We're holding state's accountable to the plans they put in place, and this was not part of the plan."

Duncan was also asked if there were other types of federal funding that could be accessed to help the charter schools. Duncan did not give specifics but he says he has met with Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Governor Deal about the situation.

"I heard the Governor speak earlier and he's committed to helping resolve this, and whatever we can do to help the Governor and help the Mayor get to the right answer here, we're prepared to do that."

Governor Deal's spokesperson Brian Robinson would not give details about the meeting. But Robinson says there is no federal money to assist the impacted schools, so the Governor will ask the state legislature to act.

"The governor is going to push for a constitutional amendment. This is an issue that is a state issue, and it's one we're going to have to solve ourselves."

Four of the affected charter schools have been approved as state chartered special schools or by their local school boards. Ivy Preparatory Academy was also approved by the Gwinnett County School Board but chose to decline local funding. A vote on whether to give local funding to Cherokee Charter Academy is expected to take place on Friday. The remaining charter schools that were impacted by the decision could seek funding from Georgia's Board of Education on Tuesday.

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