Georgia’s House Education Committee passed GCSA’s omnibus charter bill on Wednesday, Feb. 16. House Bill 1215 is sponsored by state Rep. Brad Thomas and now goes to the House Rules Committee. The charter legislation 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 schools
GCSA and a broad coalition of stakeholders are also advocating for a bill that would provide more equitable funding to virtual charter schools.
Lastly, GCSA is working with House and Senate leaders to increase the charter facility grant appropriation in the FY23 budget. GCSA’s goal is to ensure every charter school receives $100,000 in facility grant funding on an annual basis.
