Rep. Pat Gardner

404 873-6208

The following information and links are provided by Vote Smart Georgia, a coalition of community, business and education leaders across the state who oppose the State Power Grab Amendment. For much more, visit www.VoteSmartGeorgia.com.      

Georgia's public school children need your help...
Amendment 1 is not about charter schools. Keep education funding for Georgia's children and vote NO on Amendment 1.

"My opposition to the amendment is that we already have a mechanism in place (to approve charter schools). I really have a concern about putting in place another physical agency when we already have two in place to do the same thing," said State School Superintendent John Barge. The annual operating cost of the proposed state charter school commission is estimated at $1 million.

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The Reality:

• State power grab: Removes control from local voters and local school boards and gives it to state bureaucrats.
• Your tax dollars: Allows the state to siphon money from Georgia's public schools.
• Control or no control: Gives unchecked power to unelected state group.
• Bureaucrats choose, you lose: More budget cuts to public schools, larger classes, shortened school years, teacher furloughs and layoffs.

Facts:

• Parents already have school choices. This is about WHO chooses. Georgia has more than 200 charter schools and more applications in the pipeline.
• Academic performance of Georgia's charter schools does not exceed, and in some cases, is lower than our public schools.
• Charter schools aren't bound by laws regarding class size, teacher pay, and teacher certification and offer less accountability.
• The state already has an appeals process in place for charter schools to follow if a charter has not been approved by a local school board.
• Public schools need greater, not fewer resources.
• More than $3 billion* in state funding cuts to Georgia's public schools over the past 3 years and another $1 billion for the upcoming school year.

Background:

• Last year, the Georgia Supreme Court struck down a 2008 law that allowed the state to create and fund state charter schools with local school funds against the wishes of local school boards and local communities.
• The Georgia State Constitution says that local school boards and local communities have exclusive authority to decide if they want charter schools in their communities.
• The proposed amendment permanently changes the Georgia State Constitution to allow the state to do what the court ruled was illegal.
• Why does the state want to set up a dual school system when they are underfunding the public schools we already have?

*Source: Georgia Department of Education

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Georgia's sales tax holiday period for energy- and water-efficient products is scheduled for Oct. 5-7.

During that three-day period, products with a purchase price of $1,500 or less that have been designated as meeting requirements of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy "Energy Star" and "WaterSense" programs will be exempt from both state and local sales tax.

The energy-efficient products eligible for the exemption are as follows: air conditioners, ceiling fans, clothes washers, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, fluorescent light bulbs, programmable thermostats, refrigerators and windows.

The water-efficient products eligible for the exemption are as follows: bathroom sink faucets, faucet accessories (such as aerators), high-efficiency toilets and urinals, showerheads and weather- or sensor-based irrigation controllers.  

The exemptions are intended for items purchased for non-commercial home or personal use. They do not apply to products purchased for trade, business or resale or items rented or leased.