Governor's Office Presents Analysis of Charter School Funding

As various issues arise, Erin Hames and I will do all that we can to ensure that you have the facts you need to inform and respond to local constituents on important issues facing the state. As you know, the November general election ballot will have a constitutional amendment regarding the state’s ability to create a Charter School Commission to serve as an alternate authorizer when local school boards deny charter applications. Campaigns on both sides of the issue are ramping up, and our office wants to make certain that you have accurate information regarding the amendment and the charter school funding formula approved last session.

Governor Deal, Lt. Governor Cagle, Speaker Ralston, School Superintendent Barge and the bipartisan coalition of Senate and House members that supported HR 1162 and HB 797 have shown strong support for creating additional high-performing charter schools throughout Georgia. These institutions promote competition, innovation and creativity while encouraging strong parental involvement. The Governor believes we must empower parents with public school options and true local flexibility if we want to improve student achievement.

Due to recent misinformation sent to local school superintendents, you may receive some questions from your local school system leaders and other constituents. This letter is intended to present the facts – we have worked closely with OPB and DOE so that everyone is working from the same set of figures. Please feel free to contact us if you need any additional information as we are more than happy to help you as you respond to local constituents.

First, state special charter schools have received their share of austerity reductions. They have and will receive any reductions made to the K-12 funding formula just like any other public school.

Second, information sent to local school superintendents claimed that charter schools receive more funding than traditional public schools. As you all know, no local tax money flows to state special charter schools. Local school superintendents and board members were adamantly opposed to any local dollars going to charter schools that were denied by a local school board and, after extensive debate, the final version of HB 797 was negotiated to ensure that this was the case. The additional state dollars included in the HB 797 funding formula are intended to partially offset the loss of local dollars when a charter application is denied by a local school board.

To put this in context, the funding formula results in an average $5,546 per student amount for state special charters, while the state-local average for traditional schools is $8,993. These numbers are preliminary averages and actual figures will vary slightly by district and may change somewhat as a result of the midterm adjustment. However, the fact remains that these schools operate without local dollars so while their state funds appear higher they will receive only 62 percent of the total amount spent in traditional public schools.

Additionally, while revenues are beginning to show signs of life, we remain in a budget-cutting mindset because of the growing needs in education, public safety, health care and other priorities. The cuts that Governor Deal has asked agencies to begin planning for do not call for additional reductions in the K-12 funding formula.

Our hope is that the numbers below will serve as the basis for discussion and debate moving forward.

There are four components of the new funding formula for state charter schools under HB 797, which was passed during the 2012 General Assembly. All funding for state charter schools comes from the state, and allocation for each student in a state charter school is determined by adding these four components.

1) QBE formula earnings based on the school’s enrollment, school profile and student characteristics (prior to the passage of HB 797, these are the only funds state charter schools would have been eligible to receive)

2) A proportional share of the earned state categorical grants (transportation, school nutrition, etc. excluding equalization)

3) The average amount of the total revenues less federal revenues less state revenues other than equalization grants per student for the five school districts with the lowest tax digests (local five mill share will be deducted for state charter schools)

4) The state-wide average total capital revenue per student (determined by a formula that looks at the total collection from E-SPLOST statewide plus the total state allocation for capital outlay to local school districts divided by the total number of students statewide)