0 PROPOSED 2011 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES Atlanta Board of Education Meeting Monday, November 1, 2010 Sharron M. Pitts, Chief of Staff

11 Four Legislative Priorities State-Local Partnerships Funding 3 3 School Choice State Graduation Rate

22 1 State-Local Partnerships

3 2 Funding The ABE supports a robust combination of state and local funding for public schools that promotes student achievement and recognizes the unique costs of educating urban students and comprehensive school reform. Funding for public education must come from multiple sources of state and local revenue to mitigate a potential revenue shortfall during an economic downturn. Local boards must not be limited in their ability to collect revenue. The ABE supports flexibility on the Classrooms First for Georgia Act in order to allow the 65 percent funding requirement to be used for additional supports to the classroom. Additionally, the ABE urges the Georgia General Assembly to discontinue austerity reductions and support a fully funded QBE state funding formula to cover actual costs associated with providing materials, textbooks, media, transportation and all other equipment and services needed to ensure high student achievement.

4 3 School Choice The ABE opposes access to unused district facilities by Commission- authorized charter schools. These facilities, which are purchased and maintained with local tax dollars, should be accessible only to locally- approved and supported charter schools. The ABE opposes private school vouchers funded with taxpayer monies, tuition tax credits, or scholarships whose purpose is to allocate public funds to private schools or home study. The ABE supports public school choice as evidenced by its operation of an extensive voluntary student transfer program since the 1970s and the approval of more local start-up charter schools than any other local board in the state.

5 4 State Graduation Rate The ABE supports legislation and policies that raise the graduation rate in Georgia through increasing the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 17.

Legislative Strategy Funding School Choice Mikkal Hart Murunga, Dir. Comm. & Legis. Affairs Work with ABOE Representative Meet with Atlanta-Fulton Delegation Monitor Legislation and Advocate Engage Parents and Community

77 PROPOSED 2011 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES QUESTIONS?