Dive Brief:

• Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed the First Priority Act this week, creating a chief turnaround officer for the state who will report to the state’s education board on attempts to turn around failing schools, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• The turnaround officer will work with school districts and will not have the authority to take over failing schools, but school districts will feel pressure to cooperate or be forced to comply with mandates from the state that could cost substantial funding.
• Schools deemed as failing will not be placed into a state district, but possible options include enabling nonprofit organizations to take them over or turning the affected schools into charter schools.

Dive Insight:

While the legislation was not particularly popular with Georgia voters, it is uncertain how parents will react if local districts decide to forego cooperation with the turnaround officer and agree to submit to the elevated costs. Parents may view a district’s unwillingness to comply with suggestions from the turnaround officer as a negative sign that the district’s schools have issues that officials are unwilling to address.

Critics of school takeover measures argue that the process is often a means to an end toward higher privatization and charter school expansion, citing similar measures in New Orleans and Tennessee. They argue schools are inaccurately labeled as failing or endangered and are concerned that most school takeover measures would target schools in primarily low-income areas or those with higher minority populations, replacing schools with low-cost charter operations.