Lawsuit targets state's school districts

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October 8, 2012

Lawsuit targets state's school districts

Associated Press Associated Press Mon Oct 08, 2012, 07:15 PM EDT

ATLANTA — A lawsuit filed Monday by five Georgia residents accuses the state's 180 local school districts of illegally using taxpayer money to campaign against a proposed constitutional amendment that would put more control of charter schools in the state's hands.

The amendment on the Nov. 6 ballot would allow the state to create a new board that could pick private entities to run the independent schools financed by taxpayers. Local boards currently control charters, though any applicant who is denied a charter may appeal to the state Board of Education.

The lawsuit argues that by using school board meetings or teacher staff meetings to organize opposition to the amendment, officials were improperly using a state resource — time out of their workdays — for political purposes. It asks a state judge to make them halt such activities.

Filed in Fulton County Superior Court, the suit names the Fulton County School System and the Gwinnett County School District as lead defendants. The systems, the suit alleges, are part of an "Education Empire" that is using public money to urge Georgians to vote against the amendment.

Their aim, according to the plaintiffs, is "to retain their current monopoly power over public education in Georgia."

See Tuesday's edition for more details.

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