Press Releases

The Georgia Charter Schools Association (GCSA) has launched a new training platform featuring webinars designed to help individuals and groups interested in starting quality charter schools in Georgia.

“Getting Started Opening a High Quality Charter School” is a 35-minute webinar covering the basics of starting a charter school. The second webinar, “Building Blocks of a Quality Charter School,” is about 25 minutes, and delves a bit deeper into the requirements of developing a high quality school and addresses “accountability,” “business,” and “capacity.”

Eighth grade students attending charter schools throughout Georgia performed better on the 2010 Criterion Referenced Competency Test than students in traditional public schools, according to an analysis conducted by the Georgia Charter Schools Association. The GCSA analysis indicates also that the difference in student performance is more pronounced in the Atlanta and DeKalb County School Systems, and students in independent charter schools posted impressive scores across the board.

July 30, 2010 The top candidates in two of the most important offices in state government — governor and state school superintendent — have stated their positions on the issue […]

Here are the unedited questionnaires submitted by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Roy Barnes and Republican state superintendent candidate John Barge. Roy Barnes John Barge

JOIN G-PAN! GCSA urges schools to share the email addresses of parents and households enrolled in your school to help expand the Georgia Parent Advocacy Network (G-PAN). Read more to learn how to join G-PAN and how to register others as well.

Two candidates for State Schools Superintendent of Georgia expressed on questionnaires sent to them by the Georgia Charter Schools Association that they strongly support charter schools, however, they have reservations […]

Five of the leading candidates for governor of Georgia — Thurbert Baker (D), Nathan Deal (R), Karen Handel (R), Eric Johnson (R) and John Oxendine (R) — expressed their approval of charter schools recently in a questionnaire sent to them by the Georgia Charter Schools Association. Read their unedited survey forms here.

The Georgia Charter Schools Commission (GCSC) on Friday approved the creation of two statewide virtual charter schools — Provost Academy Georgia and Kaplan Academy of Georgia — that together will serve grades 4-12. A virtual school offers courses to students via the Internet with teachers available online and by telephone.

The Georgia Department of Education has announced that planning grant applications for individuals and groups interested in starting a charter school are now available on the GDOE website. The deadline to submit applications is July 1.

In a strongly-worded statement, Georgia Charter Schools Association Chief Executive Officer Tony Roberts, Ph. D., defends the decision made by a Fulton County Superior Court judge that affirmed the constitutionality of the Georgia Charter Schools Commission and the schools it has approved. He also calls on parents to “direct the members of their school district boards to get back to the business of educating children.”

In a stunningly quick and decisive ruling today, Fulton County (Ga.) Superior Court Judge Wendy L. Shoob declared the Georgia Charter Schools Commission is constitutional. In her ruling, Judge Shoob said, “The General Assembly has provided sufficient guidelines. Commission charter schools are not required to be under the control or managed by an elected board of education. The funding is constitutional.”

In a stunningly quick and decisive ruling, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Wendy L. Shoob said Friday that charter schools created by the Georgia Charter Schools Commission are constitutional.