I am Anne Merkl and I represent the Reform Party of Georgia.

The Reform Party supports charter schools as they represent a way to reform the educational system and utilize our taxpayer dollars to the fullest extent.

Charter schools eliminate bureaucratic overhead because decisions are made within the schools themselves. Improving our school system should be a number one priority for everyone.

When one looks at the system's latest SAT scores and the nose-dive they have taken, it's apparent that what we are doing now is not working.

The Georgia Association of Educators also supports charter schools, provided the term “local control” includes teachers, parents, the general public and the local school board.

When a charter school doesn't achieve certain academic standards and fails to meet accountability requirements, it's dissolved. This is in direct contrast to the traditional schools. Perhaps if we could close down those traditional schools which do not produce, then the schools would have no choice but to improve. Unfortunately, the way it stands now, the worse a school becomes, the more money it receives.

It seems that the school board is interested in charter schools only if it can be on the controlling or receiving end of the funds to the school. Take your own charter school as an example.

Unfortunately, it leads one to think that you believe as other school boards do that you should have full control over the charter schools even though the intent of the law is to allow parents an opportunity to establish the school they envision.

Anne Merkl
Newnan

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