Governor Deal signed legislation making the "Opportunity School District" a reality. Quietly enough that I missed the media coverage. So did the district superintendent, apparently, since she paid us a visit the following week and discussed it as if it were still a proposal instead of a done deal.
In a nutshell, the new law will allow the state to take over schools (potentially districts) that are "failing" to produce results. The results they are looking for are TEST SCORES. Schools under state control would possibly be handed over to Education Management Organizations. Translation: they would be converted to charters. Here's a rundown on that "great" idea: http://getschooled.blog.ajc.com/2015/04/25/opinion-why-competitive-model-fails-schools-no-one-should-lose-in-education/
The Atlantic ran an article on the topic in 2013. Petrilli from the Fordham Institute was quoted in that article as saying the track record on state takeover is "shaky". Now THERE'S an understatement. To understand why this is a disaster in the making, read up on the state takeover of schools in Newark, NJ, Detroit, MI, New Orleans, LA, Jersey City, NJ, Patterson, NJ, Camden, NJ.
So, Georgia, we are about to start down a path following the example of several other states, going back decades. It has not been successful ANYWHERE else. But of course, it will be successful here. Won't it?
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