OPINION: What’s at stake with Amendment 1

But a lot of voters will likely overlook a ballot question of tremendous significance locally. No doubt, those constitutional amendment questions are often “eye glazers” — awkwardly worded inquiries (often intentionally so). We typically focus on one or two races. And then we’re hit with a wave of legalese at the end of the ballot. You can almost here the collective: “Huh?”

But voters really need to be informed and sober minded about what’s at stake with this year’s education question.

Constitutional Amendment 1 is phrased in a benign and seemingly positive manner on this year’s ballot. It sounds like it’s a simple decision on more parental choice on where to send their kids to school. But what’s not so obvious is the fundamental principle at stake: Do you prefer local or state control of your schools?

If approved, Constitutional Amendment 1 will establish a state-appointed board to approve charter school requests, taking the power out of the hands of local school boards. As it stands, school systems already have the authority to establish charter schools. And Georgia has a number of such schools.

But the amendment has been proposed because school boards in some counties have been reluctant to consider charter requests. The fact that some boards are obstinate on the issue is not a debate worth having. It’s a truth. Absolutely, there are boards that don’t give enough consideration to alternative education ideas.

But if this troubles you, there is a remedy to such problems — the ballot box. If you feel school board members aren’t responding to your wishes, you can run against the board member or support someone who better represents your beliefs.

That’s a fundamental tenet of American governance.

So, do you take the power out of a board’s hands because you don’t like the people who occupy the board? For instance, would you like the state to handle zoning decisions for Madison County because you don’t like how sitting commissioners handled a request? Or, would you prefer the option of voting out that commissioner who ticked you off?

Isn’t it better to have people from Sanford, Colbert, Carlton or Harrison making the big decisions on our kids instead of appointed state board members from Ringgold, Savannah or Gwinnett County?

Local control has long been a mantra of Republicans. But Georgia, now a one-party state, is home to conflicted ideologies in the GOP. And simply voting for the “R” isn’t sufficient anymore in state politics. Republicans must now look harder at what principles are being pushed by the competing “R’s.” Constitutional Amendment 1 is a prime example of this new complexity. At its core, the amendment is a move away from local power and toward “big government” control. This is anathema to old GOP ideals.

But money is a great motivator, too. Isn’t it?

Consider this: If a local school board receives X number of dollars from the state for each student, each board member must consider his own political neck if he squanders those dollars. Because the only leverage that board member has fiscally is his ability to raise the tax (or millage) rate on property owners, a political suicide vest these days. He has an underlying incentive to be prudent with the money because he’ll face political fallout if he’s not.
But what if we give an appointed state board the authority to create charter schools against the wishes of local school boards? Well, those taxpayer dollars will follow the child to the privately run charter school.

So, who profits?

Well, think about business. Profit for a business running a charter school will be the difference between revenue (the taxpayer dollars) versus the expense (the cost of educating a child).

Naturally, some businesses will be outstanding. It is wrong to make sweeping judgments and negate all efforts as “bad.” But doesn’t this sound like an unhealthy incentive structure for education? If I’m running a charter school, and I can get by with numerous online courses (and spin it as “innovative”), then pay teachers a low salary, can’t I pocket a good portion of the millions in tax dollars provided by the government?

Likewise, what if I provide contributions to those ultimately responsible for appointing the state charter board? Can’t I grease the wheel to crony riches?
Of course, there’s a lot of anxiety about education these days. We feel our society sliding. We want to compete for jobs globally. We want America to be great. And education is the backbone of sound economies.

So we are constantly wooed by politicians with “fix it” plans for education. Anything different always sounds attractive initially. But the “fix” is often a convoluted mess that leads to more “solutions” from politicians.

Vote to maintain the principle of local power. Keep local school decisions in Danielsville and vote “No” on Amendment 1.

Zach Mitcham is editor of The Madison County Journal.