May 22, 2013
ATLANTA (AP) -- A group of five Georgia residents is accusing the state's 180 local school districts of illegally using taxpayer money to campaign against a proposed constitutional amendment on charter schools.
The proposal would allow the state to create a new board that could pick private entities to run independent schools financed by taxpayers. Local boards currently control charters.
The amendment is on the Nov. 6 ballot.
Superintendent John Barge has led public education officials in opposing the amendment. Barge drew the ire of Atlanta attorney Glenn Delk for explaining his opposition using a state website. Under threat of legal action, Barge removed the material.
Neither Barge nor the state Board of Education is named as a defendant in the suit Delk filed in Fulton County Superior Court on Monday.
