Senate committee advances bill to incentivize local approval of charter schools

Senate Bill 82, the Local Charter School Authorization and Support Act (LC499003S), moved out of the Senate Education Committee on a committee substitute after public testimony and questions from committee members. The measure would create capital-outlay and per-pupil financial incentives for school districts that locally authorize charter schools, require local boards to explain denials publicly, and add penalties for districts that repeatedly deny petitions that later win state approval.

The bill’s sponsor, Senator Dixon, told the committee the legislation responds to what he called an imbalance between state‑level and local authorization: "there's currently 21,000 students on charter school waiting lists throughout the state of Georgia," and, he…