Georgia Close To Easing Path For Parents To Convert Schools to Charters

If the school sucks, change it

A parent trigger charter schools bill zipped through the House Education Committee on Tuesday, boosting the chances that, for the second year in a row, the Georgia Legislature will pass major legislation pushing charter schools.

"This bill is called an empowerment act, and that's what it would do," said House Majority Whip Edward Lindsey, the Atlanta Republican who sponsored the bill.

The parent trigger would allow a majority of a traditional public school's households or a majority of teachers and instructional staff at that school to demand that the school board consider their petition to change the school into a charter school.