By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com

Within the next few months, the Fulton County Board of Education should decide whether three proposed charter schools will get their petitions.

According to school system information officer Adrian Bailey, the board listened to three proposals last night about the schools.

The three proposed charter schools offer different things for different students.

The Academy of Fulton is proposed by the Academy of America. This charter school would focus on student achievement through an entrepreneurial curriculum. The school would open with grades K-6, adding one grade each year.

The E. W. Wilheart Education Foundation proposes a school designed for students with attention deficit disorder. The school would open the first year with grades three and four, eventually serving grades K-6.

Woodland Elementary - This would be the first existing Fulton County school to convert to a charter status.

Another charter school application the board will soon consider is the Victory School, set for South Fulton County. The school will serve K-5 year one, growing to K-7, and the enrollment is projected at 605 in year one

According to organizer Micchael Dortch, the Victory Charter School was conceived by a group of parents and educators committed to revitalizing South Fulton through fundamental education reform.

Through the creation of a free, world-class public school, the founders aim to strengthen their community and demonstrate the heights of academic achievement that all students can routinely attain when provided superior educational opportunities, said a spokesman.

In the classical liberal tradition, Dortch said, the school will provide a challenging core curriculum for all students, using direct instruction in elementary reading, language and mathematics.

DI curricula consist of polished lesson plans that have been implemented successfully and refined for more than 30 years. "This distinctive and proven program uses a mastery-based approach that ensures competence before students proceed to new material, but without delaying students who are ready to advance more quickly," the spokesman said.

Similarly, the school's curricula in science, history, foreign language, music, art and physical fitness will be based on coherent and ambitious standards for what students need to learn from the earliest years.

According to the Georgia Department of Education, a charter school is a public school that operates according to the terms of a charter, or contract, that has been approved by a local board of education and the state Board of Education.

The charter school is free from provisions of Title 20 of Georgia state law and any state or local rule, regulation, policy or procedure relating to schools in the school district.

In exchange for this flexibility, the charter school is bound by contract to be held accountable for meeting the academic or vocational performance-based objectives specified in the charter.

The Charter Schools Act of 1998 provides that existing local schools, private individuals, private organizations and state and local public entities may organize charter public schools subject to academic or vocational performance-based contracts approved by both the state and local boards of education.

Charter schools are public schools. The Georgia Charter Schools Act of 1998 states that a charter school shall be included in the allotment of funds to the local school system in which the charter school is located.

The local board and state board shall treat the charter school no less favorably than other local schools in the school district with respect to the provision of funds for instructional and administrative programs and, where feasible, transportation and building programs. The amount of money the charter school will receive from the local board will be determined through negotiations of the charter contract.

If additional revenues are needed for transportation or facilities, the charter school must depend on independent means.

The Department of Education makes clear that any student who lives in the school district and who submits a timely application may attend a charter school.

If the number of applications exceeds the capacity of the school, all applicants will have an equal chance of being admitted through a random selection process. Enrollment preference shall be given to students who live in the school's attendance zone, which is defined in the charter contract. A sibling of a resident student currently enrolled in the charter school also may be given enrollment preference. A charter school may not have admission criteria.

---