Bill to incentivize local approval of charter schools advances after public testimony

Senator Dixon presented Senate Bill 82 to encourage local school districts to authorize high-quality charter schools and to hold districts accountable when they repeatedly deny petitions that the state later approves.

Dixon said roughly 56 charter schools now operate in the state with about 65,000 students enrolled and a waiting list of about 21,000. He told the committee that in the past five years only one charter had been approved by a local district while the state charter authorizer approved roughly 30; the bill offers both incentives and penalties. Under the proposal, districts that approve a charter locally would receive additional capital outlay entitlement credits and could receive a $250,000 payment over three years in years when they approve a charter. The bill also would limit a district’s eligibility for state flexibility contracts if it denies multiple petitions that are later approved by the state charter authority (two denials for districts enrolling 10,000–60,000 students; three denials for districts above 60,000).

The bill requires local boards to publicly disclose reasons for denying an application. Dixon described a local denial involving a petitioner in Jackson County that later received state authorization after a rigorous state review process. The author and witnesses said the state process is demanding and, in their view, serves families seeking options.

The committee took extensive public comment. Supporters at the hearing included Donovan Head, executive director of the State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia, who said the commission now has a record 50 petitions pending and that the state authorizer approves only about a third of applications that reach it. Other supporters included superintendents, petitioning founders, charter principals and leaders of charter and school-leader associations. Concerns raised by the Georgia School Boards Association and the Georgia School Superintendents Association centered on timelines for denial responses, the bill’s punitive elements, local control and opportunities for collaboration. GSBA asked that the statutory deadline for denials remain 30 days instead of shortening to 10; both associations said local boards sometimes deny petitions for academically or fiscally valid reasons.

After a one-minute-per-speaker public-comment period (14 people signed up), a committee member moved to pass SB82. The motion carried in committee with a voice vote; the hearing transcript records “3 opposed” at the committee vote and otherwise records the measure as approved. The committee record includes earlier references from a senator that the bill previously passed the Senate on a bipartisan 44–9 margin.