This week, I along with a group of other dedicated educators and charter school leaders, made time to attend the Senate Education and Youth Committee Hearing to share our story and express our support for House Bill 787. Due to time constraints, we did not get the opportunity to speak before the committee, so while some of us will be back next Monday, March 19, I wanted to take this opportunity to share my perspective on behalf of the 1,000+ members of the Coweta Charter Academy community.
I have been involved in charter schools for seven years and have served as an educator for nearly three decades. Since joining the team at Coweta Charter Academy, our students have shown steady academic improvement —today we are the highest performing state-authorized charter school in Georgia, beating both the district and state averages on the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). Our rural school is located in Senoia, we employ 80 educators and support staff and currently serve 720 students in grades Kindergarten through 8th grade. Achieving our current academic success has been difficult and remains a challenge due to our current funding levels. That is why we call on Georgia lawmakers to pass House Bill 787: vital legislation that would bring greater funding equity for state-authorized charter schools.
State charter schools currently receive approximately 20 percent less funding than traditional schools in our state, even though both types of schools are public schools. At Coweta Charter Academy, that funding gap amounts to approximately $2,000 less per student than the amount Coweta County Public Schools receives. That dollar figure is even greater when you consider that we have to pay building and maintenance expenses, which the State Charter Schools Commission estimates are approximately $1,100 per student on average for state charter schools. Keep in mind, traditional schools have access to facilities funding, while charters must make tough choices in order to pay for things like rent and maintenance.
Each year I dread our annual budget development process. Knowing that a state charter school is charged to do more—outperform the local school district with less money—is a formidable task. It makes the budget development process stressful and frustrating. If HB 787 is passed, it would move Georgia toward more equitable support for charter school students. For our school community, it would give us the ability to provide appropriate resources, increase and retain the number of staff necessary to support our young learners and appropriately reward our faculty and staff who work so diligently to prepare Georgia’s future workforce. Our talented and hardworking educators deserve the same pay rate as their counterparts in the local school system.
Coweta Charter Academy works hard to direct all of the possible funding that we receive toward teaching and learning. Through hard work and with the help of wonderful partners like Charter Schools USA, the Georgia Charter Schools Association and the State Charter Schools Commission, we’ve been able to set a high academic bar for our students. At Coweta Charter Academy we are proving every day that charters are among the best stewards of the public resources we are given. We call on Georgia lawmakers to approve HB 787 and allow us the opportunity to prove we can do even more for our students and Georgia’s future. This crucial bill would make a huge difference in the lives of more than 33,000 students who are currently enrolled in a state-authorized charter school.
Gene Dunn is the Principal of Coweta Charter Academy
