Georgia: to the Head of the Class?

Georgia has become sadly familiar with the bottom of state rankings in SAT scores, a highly flawed but still much-watched indicator of the health of public schools.

But the state is near the top in a recent ranking of – get this! – school choice programs.

The Milton Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice ranks Georgia’s new voucher program for special needs students as second- best among the country’s 21 school choice programs.

Noting that 900 Georgia students already are taking advantage of the freedom to choose the schools best equipped to help them, Gordon St. Angelo, president and CEO of the Friedman foundation, says there’s a "groundswell of support from Georgia parents," and praises "the leadership demonstrated by the Georgia State Department of Education in effecting the quick implementation of this program.

"As a newcomer to school choice, Georgia has already proven that successful programs are not about public schools versus private schools – school choice is about providing the best education for every child."

We’ve hardly dived in head first in the school choice pool. We’re merely sticking our toes in at this point. But we’re finding out that, hey, the water’s fine.

Still, we’ve got a long way to go before parents have the freedom they deserve to shop around for the best education they can get their children.

Georgia state Rep. Jan Jones, R-Milton, notes, for instance, that of 27 charter school applications last year, local school boards flatly rejected 25 of them. Hmm. So more than 90 percent of applications are that flawed?

We hardly think so.

The truth is, public school boards around the country border on being hostile toward parents and others who want to start charter schools – which are public schools that feature broad freedoms in curricula, policies and procedures. Even when the charters are approved, the schools often get less money than traditional schools.

Despite the fact that such school choice is not only a moral right but also a legal right.

Rep. Jones is fighting for that right for all of us. Her proposed legislation, HB 881, would establish a state commission that would approve or reject charter school applications. It’s passed the House 120-48 and is now in the Senate.

Good for her. And good for us, too.

In a guest column to appear on these pages tomorrow, Jones says her legislation would "give parents choices that our archaic one- size-fits-hardly-anyone education system rarely does."

Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson, R-Savannah, also has introduced SB 458 to provide vouchers for students stuck in underperforming schools.

It’s not just an issue for parents. Failing schools cost everyone. A study of South Carolina by the Friedman Foundation last June found that more than 30,000 students dropped out in 2005 – and that dropouts earn on average $8,000 less than high school graduates and cost South Carolina $158 million in Medicaid and incarceration.

Nor is this a rich-person’s issue. Guess what: The well-to-do already have school choice!

This is about freedom for all, empowerment of parents, bringing local control to a place even more local than the school board: to parents.

In school choice rankings – and maybe someday in SAT scores – Georgia may be headed toward the head of the class.

Isn’t it worth a try?

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