Georgia Charter Schools Association celebrated two legislative victories with member schools on Friday, April 22. During the legislative review call, GCSA was excited to announce an additional $3 million in funding for charter school facilities in the FY23 Budget approved by state lawmakers. The facilities funding boost is a direct result of advocacy efforts by GCSA and its member schools. The additional funding brings Georgia’s Charter School Facility Grant fund up to $7.5 million—which is enough to provide all eligible charter schools a grant award of $75,000 per year to help offset significant facility costs.
GCSA also cheered the passage of House Bill 1215 with Rep. Brad Thomas, the bill’s sponsor. Rep. Thomas joined Friday’s call and spoke with members about what it took to get the legislation across the finish line. HB 1215 does four things:
1) it refines the state’s charter school definition to better distinguish charter schools from charter systems, College and Career Academies and other school choice models in the state;
2) it prevents local districts from prohibiting students from transferring to charter schools during the school year;
3) it closes a loophole in the funding calculation for local charter schools by basing funding on collected (versus budgeted) local revenue.
4) it removes the performance audit requirement for virtual state charter school
GCSA President and CEO, Dr. Tony Roberts, and Dr. Bonnie Holliday, GCSA’s Vice President of Policy and External Relations, led the member briefing. In addition to celebrating two significant wins for charters, Dr. Holliday reviewed all additional legislation during the 2022 legislative session that was relevant to charter schools.
If your school is a GCSA member, or your organization is a GCSA Associate Member, and you missed Friday’s call, you can visit the member section of our website to view Friday’s presentation. You can also contact Michelle Wirth, GCSA’s Senior Director of Communications, to receive a direct copy.
