Atlanta, Ga. - March 19, 2012 - Responding to the GOP-backed HR 1162, the so-called Charter Schools Amendment, State Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) had sharp criticism for Republican leadership for attempts to limit and close the floor debate and orchestrating a high-stakes power game that would ultimately hurt Georgia's students.
"I have served in the State Senate for some 16 years," Fort said. "And never in my days have I seen the arm-twisting and power plays made by Republicans and their lobbyists that I have seen on this charter schools amendment."
Fort said HR 1162 was a wolf in sheep's clothing using the children of Georgia as pawns in a larger scheme to pad the pockets of for-profit school management companies and real estate deals.
For weeks, Democratic and Republican members of this body have been besieged by a Herculean lobby effort. Senators have been besieged with Robo calls, letter-writing campaigns, phone calls to influence their votes on the measure that required a two-thirds votes of the Senate, Fort said.
"Peel back the layers of the onion and what is revealed is a $400 million charter school management business coupled with underlying real estate deals. Not surprisingly, the largest and most profitable charter schools management company in Florida is the very same one in Gwinnett County that started the legal challenge in Georgia. There is a lot of money at stake with little emphasis on the education of our children," Fort said.
"Our limping schools systems will be financially decimated when we redirect funding to these barely public charter schools - schools that create a parallel school system. Some of these multimillion dollar management contract amounts could fund entire school budgets in some areas of our state," Fort said.
But Fort said that while this financial scheme is deplorable, it is nothing compared to deal making and blatant corruption that has taken place in order to garner the votes necessary to pass the HR 1162 Amendment.
"Republicans will cripple our public school system, the future of our children, their constituencies and the future economy of this state in order to gain a title. Deals have been made for jobs, appointments, redistricting and more. What they have proven in the debate of HR 1162 is that the State Capitol is for sale. It is corruption in every sense of the word," said Fort. ###
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