Senate Bill 458

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:  770-460-3535, ext. 122

 Students in Non-accredited and Failing Schools

Could Enroll in Other Districts

In light of the impending loss of accreditation by Clayton County Schools, a bill has been passed by the Georgia senate that would require public school systems to enroll students from other public districts or schools that are not accredited, on probation for accreditation or have failing schools.

Under Senate Bill 458, parents can opt to have their child attend another school within their school system, enroll and transport their child to a public school in another system or request a scholarship for a private school. SB 458 states, “if a school system or school loses or fails to attain accreditation, a student shall be entitled to attend another public school or receive a scholarship to attend a private school…the public school system shall accept the student subject only to space being available.” The same options are available to students at schools that have been designated “needs improvement” for seven consecutive years.

If this bill is passed and signed into law, Fayette County Schools may be required to enroll students from Clayton if the district loses its accreditation on September 1, 2008.  This legislation could have a monumental impact over time on Fayette’s school system if it is also required to accept students from failing schools. Unless the No Child Left Behind Act is changed, more schools will eventually evolve to “needs improvement” status over the years.

All students throughout the state deserve the best education possible and it is understandable that state legislators would want to provide a means for students to seek better opportunities if their districts or schools fail to meet quality standards. The Fayette County School System supports this endeavor but is opposed to systems being required to enroll students from other counties and subsequently forcing taxpayers to support the cost of educating nonresident students. Although the school system receives state funding for every student enrolled, it only covers a little over half the cost; the rest is paid locally by property taxes.

Residents in opposition to SB 458 are encouraged to contact Fayette’s state legislators. Contact information can be found at www.fayettecountyga.gov/elections/us_and_state_elected_officials.htm.

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See comments from Dr. DeCotis to get the whole story on what the legislature is trying to do, then email in opposition to it.  http://www.thecitizen.com/~citizen0/node/26754

Email the following people about your opinion and/or call Governor Perdue's office at 404-656-1776.

ronnie.chance@senate.ga.gov
vfludd@mindspring.com
matt.ramsey@house.ga.gov
john.yates@house.ga.gov
glenn.richardson@house.ga.gov
eric.johnson@senate.ga.gov