In ruling that the state cannot establish and fund charter schools, the Georgia Supreme Court leaves 16 charter schools in limbo. Those schools — sanctioned by a state commission now deemed by the court to be unconstitutional — have to be legalized, either through local boards of education or the state Board of Education.
And they have to find new funding or survive on less.
The court decision last week represents a decisive victory for school systems. It’s a setback to the burgeoning charter school movement in Georgia, which has met with resistance from some local school boards.
If the schools are legitimized by the state board rather than local boards, they lose their local funding, which is considerable. The schools earn between 50 percent and 60 percent of their funding through local taxes, a total of $40