Georgia Association of Educators President Sid Chapman: Vote no on Amendment 1

ALBANY — Georgia Association of Educators President Sid Chapman visited Albany Monday with one clear goal — to get as many of the region’s voters as possible to vote against the Opportunity School District proposal (Amendment 1).

“We want to help ensure that Georgia voters understand fully what their vote on the constitutional amendment regarding Opportunity School Districts actually means,” said Chapman. “Unfortunately, there is marketing from proponents of OSD that doesn’t fully inform voters who don’t understand the amendment’s language. We hope the media between now and Election Day lays out the facts for Georgia citizens to make an informed decision.”

Amendment 1 reads: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow the state to intervene in chronically failing public schools in order to improve student performance?”

If passed, the amendment would allow the state to take over any public school that scores below 60 for three straight years on the CCRPI (College and Career Readiness Performance Index). The governor’s office would appoint an OSD superintendent, who would have the power to hire and fire principals and teachers and to alter the school’s curriculum.

The proposed amendment states that no more than 20 schools would be taken in by the OSD per year, so no more than 100 schools would be governed by the district at any one time. Those schools would stay in the district for five to 10 years. Amendment 1 would also allow for the closure of schools that failed to improve after that period.

Currently, there are 127 schools statewide which fit that criteria, including four in Dougherty County: Southside Middle School, and Alice Coachman, Morningside and Northside elementary schools.

Referendum opponents say passage of the amendment would cede local control from district school boards and add yet another layer to the state bureaucracy.

Proponents of the amendment say passage would help students in struggling schools.

“We are campaigning with a message that brings hope and opportunity to the tens of thousands of students trapped in chronically failing schools, and their parents left with no current alternatives,” Tom Willis, head of Opportunity for All Georgia Students, said. “Creation of the OSD would ensure that all money a school would normally receive remains in that school once it enters the OSD. Additionally, high-performing schools in Georgia will not see existing funds diverted to fund those schools in the OSD.”

Chapman said the OSD has been implemented in other states with mixed results.

“It’s been tried in other areas like New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville, Michigan,” he said. “Interestingly enough, they didn’t do it through the use of a constitutional amendment. Of course, it sounds good to have the state intervene in chronically failing school to improve student achievement. That sounds benign and something everyone would go for, but the devil is in the details.”

The amendment pros began in August with a large lead in the polls, but that gap between the pros and cons has narrowed over the summer.

Chapman says opponents of the measure have conducted a statewide poll of likely voters, but he refused to release the numbers.

“Let’s just say I am cautiously optimistic … if the voters show up to the polls,” he said.