I HAVE JUST READ another editorial concerning Charter Schools. I have read them all and not one of them points to the real issue facing the voters.

Here is the issue, simply stated: The Georgia Charter School law was passed in 1993. The Georgia Charter School Commission was created in 2008 in reaction to local school boards rejecting charter petitions. This commission could approve charter schools over the objection of local boards of education.

On May 16, 2011, the Georgia Supreme Court said the Georgia Charter School Commission was unconstitutional: “By providing for local boards of education to have exclusive control over general K-12 schools, our constitutions, past and present, have limited governmental authority over the public education of Georgia’s children to that level of government closest and most responsive to the tax payers and parents of children being educated.”

Now you can understand the question on the November General Election ballot: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow state or local approval of public charter schools upon the request of local communities?”

This has absolutely nothing to do with your view of charter schools. It simply makes it legal for the state to approve public charter schools.

In other words, a “yes” vote changes the Georgia Constitution so that the state can now do legally what the Georgia Supreme Court said was unconstitutional by the Georgia Charter School Commission.

Do you want to continue to provide “local boards of education to have exclusive control over general K-12 schools” or not. That is the issue.