How to fund state charter schools

We could learn more Thursday about how Republican leaders in the House plan to fund state-approved charter schools, should a constitutional amendment pass allowing a special commission to create them.

The bill laying out the funding formula is expected to be discussed before the House Education Committee Thursday afternoon.

House Democrats, concerned that traditional public schools would receive less money, have introduced their own plan that would require any question put before voters to  include the definition of what a charter school is and that the state would be required to fund them.

The Republican-backed resolution fell short by ten votes last week in what House Majority Whip Ed Lindsey tells WSB’s Sandra Parrish was only a test vote.  He says when everyone gets on board; he believes they will receive more than 120 votes needed to pass it.

Meantime, the debate comes just as a new report presented to the State Board of Education shows charter schools do not outperform traditional public schools.

The report showed graduation rates only slightly higher among charter school students.  It also found that traditional schools actually met national bench marks known as Adequate Yearly Progress 73 percent of the time, compared to 70 percent for charter schools.