State Senator Lindsey Tippins resigned as chair of Georgia’s Senate Education Committee to protest a bill giving more money to charter schools than to public schools.
“House Bill 787 passed the House and landed in the Senate Education Committee. Tippins said he spoke with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, letting him know he could not in good conscience pass the bill out of his committee. According to Tippins, while charter schools were asking for more money, there are 577,000 traditional public school students in 46 school districts already receiving less funding than the average charter schools receive.”
Tippins is considered the most effective advocate for public schools in the Georgia Legislature.
I hope Senator Tippins changes his mind. Meanwhile I name him to the Honor Roll as a champion of children and a man of principle.
“What triggered that decision involves a bill that seeks more money for charter schools, one Tippins believes is not fair or equitable to traditional public schools. The bill would give charter schools the average of what all school districts receive in state and local funding and in equalization, costing an additional $17.9 million a year.
“My problem with that is charter schools had a funding formula, but you have to realize that charter schools don’t have to take every kid that comes in the front door,” said Tippins, a former chairman of the Cobb Board of Education. “They don’t have to provide all the services that are provided, and they can also dismiss kids because of disciplinary reasons and send them back to public school, so while they may not be earning the average that public schools earn, they don’t have the average problems that public schools have either, because they have a select clientele….
”And if the bill giving them more money passes, the number of traditional students who would receive less in state and local funding for maintenance and operations would rise to 1,150,000 in 90 school districts.
“Were the state to bring all students in Georgia’s public schools up to the level of funding the charter schools receive now, it would cost an additional $170 million. If the charter school funding was increased with the bill’s passage, Tippins said, it would cost the state an additional $510 million to close the gap between what charter schools then received and what public schools were getting.
“Tippins wanted to know how he would tell a school system such as Jeff Davis County, the lowest funded district in the state, which receives $6,952 per student, he was voting to raise the funding charter schools received from $8,415 to $8,816.
“It’s hard for me to explain to Jeff Davis County why they’re getting about $1,450 a year less than what charter schools are getting when Jeff Davis takes any kid who walks in the door regardless of disabilities,” Tippins said.”
Tippins is a conservative Republican of the old school. He believes in public schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I think it is all but inevitable that three systems of schools will cost more than one.
Choice supporters never mention this. DeVos is the worst. She continues to tell people they can choose any school for the same cost and it just isn’t true.
They did the same thing in Ohio, BTW. Ed reformers didn’t want to admit the additional cost so they underfunded charters at the state level and made up the difference by taking a portion of the state share that goes to every public student.
Public school students are simply not a priority in ed reform. They’re never even considered.
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Georgians will love choice! Now they can have three underfunded school systems instead of one, and the three factions can battle it out for funding.
Right now charter schools are (apparently) winning the zero-sum funding game ed reformers have set up, but they shouldn’t count on that continuing. When public school families figure it out they’ll send their own lobbyists.
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It’s funny because I’m old enough to remember 20 years ago, when ed reformers insisted charters would be cheaper than public schools.
Oops.
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Georgia is finding out that the math of parallel systems does not work. Privatization equals paying more for a whole lot less. The way in which charters are funded depletes the public schools that accept all students. States should understand that when they open the door to charters, they are opening the door to the charter lobby that will continuously manipulate to get more funding. They will never be satisfied with the status quo. Their goal is expansion, and that expansion will come at the expense of the public schools that serve all students, or they will have to raise taxes. The harsh reality is that privatization with all the associated waste, fraud, embezzling and dismal results may not be worth the cost.
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I attended 8th and 9th grade at a great public school in Georgia. It was the best educational experience I had in my lifetime. I struggled in some classes and that, in retrospect, was the best thing that could have happened to me. Two of my teachers were incredibly experienced, one had taught for more than 35 years, the other for more than 40 years. They knew I was used to getting good grades without working hard and crushed me before building me back up. Very sad to see that great teachers and great schools are no longer valued in a once great public education system, at least in my little corner of it.
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Jeff Davis County, ugh, that says it all.
Slightly off topic: From thehilldotcom – “A veteran public school teacher has announced plans to run against a GOP state lawmaker who vowed to vote against all education funding during the Oklahoma teachers strike.
Cyndi Ralston, who has worked in education for 30 years, announced on Tuesday that she will be running as a Democrat to represent Oklahoma’s 12th District, the Tulsa World reported.
TEXT:
“She wrote in a Facebook post that she was spurred to make her announcement after Rep. Kevin McDugle said he would not vote “for another stinking [education] measure when they’re acting the way they’re acting.”
Oklahoma teachers are on their third day of a statewide strike in protest for more resource funding and better pay.
McDugle said he didn’t care if the teachers were “pissed” at him.
“You’re losing support of people who supported you all year long,” McDugle said in a now-deleted post. “Now you’re going to come here and act like this after you got a raise?
He later apologized, according to the Tulsa World.
“If Kevin McDugle won’t fight for teachers and students, then I will,” Ralston wrote in the post. “If Kevin McDugle won’t back parents over oil companies, I will. If Kevin McDugle won’t treat his constituents with respect and dignity, I will.”
Ralston was originally going to wait until after she officially filed to run but said the “events of the day” moved her.
She filed her intention to run last week with the Ethics Commission, the Tulsa World reported.
Oklahoma teachers filled the state Capitol on Tuesday during their walkout. They’re demanding a $10,00 raise over three years and a $5,000 increase for support staff.”
This is a hopeful sign.
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“Jeff Davis County, ugh, that says it all.”
How so, Joe?
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Probably for the same reason that there are no Benedict Arnold counties.
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Something is fishy with the story. He resigns from the Education Committee Chair because he couldn’t let the bad legislation come out of his committee?? In protest??
That’s a 500 size font WTF!
Makes no sense to me whatsoever.
Someone please explain how this is a good thing and how that merits an “honor roll” mention?
Seems to me he ought to be on the Hall of Shame for not having cojones enough to stand on principled ground for public education.
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Duane,
My friends in Georgia tell me that Senator Tippins is the champion for public schools in the legislature. He didn’t have the votes to stop this pernicious bill, and he resigned in protest.
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Actually, it’s pretty simple arithmetic. If a majority of committee members vote against the chairman, the chairman’s positions loses. His or her vote is worth as much as every other member. We’ve just gotten used to the unquestioning tribalism of committee votes. Here’s an exception to the prevailing rule.
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