STONE MOUNTAIN, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -
With less than two months before voters head to the polls, the issue of charter schools took center stage at the annual convention of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus.
Some people consider it a civil rights issue, believing that local school boards should maintain the power to approve or deny charter school petitions.
Others believe the state needs to have the final say on if a charter school should be allowed to form.
"Most of the students come from African American communities," said Natalee Brown-Van, the principal at Heritage Preparatory Charter School in Southwest Atlanta. She said she might not have been able to open her school had the state not stepped in and overruled Atlanta Public Schools.
"We petitioned with Atlanta Public Schools, this year made three years," said Brown-Van, who added that their school was denied its charter all three times, until the state finally gave its approval.
If voters approve the charter school referendum in November, the state would form its own permanent board to make final rulings on charter school petitions.
"Local school boards are in place for a reason, because we represent the tax payers of our communities," said Valarie Wilson, president of the Georgia School Board Association. "This amendment is about creating a second bureaucracy in Georgia that will siphon dollars away from an already struggling public school system."
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