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State Charter Commission Turns Down Large Number of Applicants

October 30th, 2013

A number of startup charter schools hoping to open their doors during the next school year are frustrated. That’s because the State Charter Schools Commission only approved one out of eight charter schools considered today. The commission was created earlier this year after the approval of a controversial amendment to the state’s constitution.

During the first approval process for new charter schools since the commission’s creation, commission members unanimously turned down seven schools. The schools were denied for a variety of reasons. But commission member Tony Lowden says saying no to a number of them wasn’t easy.

“I am torn today because I see good charters that are so, so close.”

But Lowden says he wants to make sure only solid applications are approved and students don’t go from one low-performing school to another.

“It may not be a perfect process, but one thing I don’t want to do is put kids in the same situation. I want good charters in the state.”

But schools that were turned down like Byron Peach Charter High School in Peach County expressed concerns over the commission’s process. The school was denied over financial concerns. Petitioners tried to rectify those concerns by getting the city of Byron to pledge financial support before the meeting. But board members said the proposed changes came too late. That upset Byron Mayor Lawrence Collins who fought for the charter schools amendment and says the petition is high-quality.

“It’s unbelievable. I have some real difficulty following the logic. We’ve gone through the political process. The state amended the constitution to create charter schools to do this, to create charter schools. It seems like this board is hell-bent on preventing them.”

Board members asked the schools to work with the commission and reapply next year. Meanwhile, they approved a five year charter for Utopian Academy of the Arts in Clayton County.