Georgia's kids deserve REAL OPPORTUNITY!

Have you really looked at the so-called "Opportunity School District" (OSD) amendment that will be on the ballot in November? If not, please take some time to research the implications.

 

Fact:   OSD contains an option to withhold three percent of the school's administrative funds,       resulting in fewer funds for instruction costs.  

Facts:  The OSD: 

• supercedes all contracts with schools.
• the OSD superintendent (chosen by the Governor) will have the authority to waive the policies of the Department of Education.
• will  determine the achievement and growth of the state's schools AND
  subjectively rate public schools (A, B, C, D, F).
• can purchase services from anyone.
• will keep the schools for a minimum of five years but can keep them for ten years.
• will be the sole judge and jury  per the OSD schools' performance and data.
• may add 20 additional schools a year.
• will control all the schools' facilities.
• repeals all laws in conflict with this amendment.
• DOES NOT guarantee the return of the schools to the public district.

Our communities elect the Boards of Education.  These are individuals we see regularly in our daily lives:  we see them at the grocery store, out to eat, at church, etc.  The OSD Superintendent chosen by the Governor may have nothing to do with the State Department of Education or the ELECTED Superintendent of Georgia.  This is a gross intrusion on the local control of our school systems!

Facts:  The OSD may:

• close the school and create another unknown market for any type of school;
• fire every employee in an OSD school without recourse;
• take over the school as a state charter school with a dual governance system; and/or
• take over the school as a state charter school and hire a for-profit management company to run it with no local board input--except to pay for the OSD schools. (This happened in New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Detroit.)

More than ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY SCHOOLS in Georgia are eligible for OSD.  

OSD will provide no new resources to help struggling students and schools. Nothing in this proposed amendment addresses improvements in education.  Years of "teaching to the tests" have negatively impacted teachers ability to effectively TEACH students.  Ask your friends who are teachers about their ideas for improving the education process--trust the people you elect to guide the process.  Trust those you know to be great teachers to inform the process, not an unknown quantity, appointed by the Governor (now and in the future). 

YES, some schools have been chronically failing but the path to fixing those failings is NOT to take control and resources from local BOEs.  By not addressing the socioeconomic issues that many failing school districts face, we are not getting to the root of the problem. Our state needs some new and innovate thought processes to address these issues, including the impact of poverty on kids.  What can impact a child's ability to do well in school?  Having enough food to eat, having proper medical care, having the educational resources they need to succeed (access to libraries, school supplies, Internet, etc.), and having positive role models and mentors to guide them.  

The amendment is worded in such a way that a voter who has little knowledge of the background may be misled into thinking the amendment is a positive idea.  Do not be fooled by the flowery language:  "Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow the state to intervene in chronically failing public schools in order to improve student performance?"

 

Vote NO on SR287 (Opportunity School District)!! 

 

Resources: 

http://www.southerneducation.org/Publications/OSD-Eligible-Schools-Updated-05032016.aspx

http://ga.aft.org/