Chamber, State Senator Speak Out on Charter School Amendment

Following suit with Bartow Schools and Commissioner Clarence Brown, who recently took a formal stance on the proposed charter school amendment, the Cartersville-Bartow County Chamber of Commerce board approved a resolution opposing the constitutional change voters will decide Nov. 6.

The board voted "heavily," but not unanimously, to oppose Amendment 1, with President and CEO Joe Frank Harris Jr. citing funding should not be redirected from public schools, The Daily Tribune News reports.

"Due to the fact that we have a system in place to handle charter school applications at a local level, we came out against the amendment,” Harris told the newspaper.

State Sen. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, supports the measure that would allow the state to approve charter schools not supported by local boards of education.

He compared public education to "ObamaCare" in an opinion published on BartowPolitics.com.

"While charter schools are not the fix-all for our public education system, they do provide those parents whose children are trapped in failing and often crime-ridden schools, the hope of their children having an opportunity to receive a good and safe education," Loudermilk said in the opinion, which is attached to this article.

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