Please take a few minutes to give the Georgia Department of Education and the State Charter Schools Commission feedback on the latest draft of Georgia’s Charter School Authorizer Standards. As a reminder, these standards are required by law and are intended to influence and improve the practices and behaviors of charter school authorizers in Georgia (i.e. local school districts as well as the SCSC). Charter schools have a unique understanding of how authorizers operate and what should be improved so please submit comments and share your insights!
STEP 1: REVIEW THE STANDARDS!
- Access the Charter School Authorizer Standards HERE.
- Access a recorded presentation on the Charter School Authorizer Standards delivered by GaDOE and the SCSC on June 3 at the GCSA Virtual Conference HERE. (Note: GaDOE and SCSC reps respond to several questions posed by schools at the end of the presentation.)
- We recommend (at a minimum) school leaders, business/operations managers, finance directors, attorneys, and governing board chairs review the standards and provide written feedback on the standards.
- Feedback should include (but is not limited to): content gaps (what’s NOT being covered by the standards that should be included), vague or confusing language (words matter here!), connection to actual practice (are the standards addressing the most critical issues/barriers/challenges in charter school authorizing? If not, where do they fall short?), potential unintended consequences.
- Think about how your school’s relationship with your authorizer. What challenges exist? What dynamics could be improved?
- Once you have reviewed the standards, provide feedback (in writing) to the following individuals (and copy Bonnie Holliday, GCSA’s Executive VP of Policy and External Relations):
- Lauren Holcomb, SCSC Executive Director: lauren.holcomb@scsc.
georgia.gov - Katie Manthey, SCSC Director of Research and Evaluation: katie.manthey@
scsc.georgia.gov - Tiffany Taylor, GaDOE Deputy Superintendent Policy, Flexibility, and External Affairs: titaylor@doe.k12.ga.
us - Allen Mueller, GaDOE Director District Flexibility and Charter Schools Division: AMueller@doe.k12.ga.
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- Lauren Holcomb, SCSC Executive Director: lauren.holcomb@scsc.
The standards are slated for finalization this summer and adoption by the State Board of Education this fall. We appreciate you taking the time to provide feedback on this critical issue impacting Georgia charter schools.
