Within the

next few months, the Fulton County Board of Education should decide

whether three proposed charter schools will get their petitions.

According

to school system information officer Adrian Bailey, the board listened

to three proposals last night about the schools.

The three

proposed charter schools offer different things for different students.

The Academy

of Fulton is proposed by the Academy of America. This charter school

would focus on student achievement through an entrepreneurial curriculum.

The school would open with grades K-6, adding one grade each year.

The E. W.

Wilheart Education Foundation proposes a school designed for students

with attention deficit disorder. The school would open the first year

with grades three and four, eventually serving grades K-6.

Woodland

Elementary - This would be the first existing Fulton County school to

convert to a charter status.

Another charter

school application the board will soon consider is the Victory School,

set for South Fulton County. The school will serve K-5 year one, growing

to K-7, and the enrollment is projected at 605 in year one

According

to organizer Micchael Dortch, the Victory Charter School was conceived

Fulton through fundamental education reform.

Through the

creation of a free, world-class public school, the founders aim to strengthen

their community and demonstrate the heights of academic achievement

that all students can routinely attain when provided superior educational

opportunities, said a spokesman.

In the classical

liberal tradition, Dortch said, the school will provide a challenging

core curriculum for all students, using direct instruction in elementary

reading, language and mathematics.

DI curricula

consist of polished lesson plans that have been implemented successfully

and refined for more than 30 years. "This distinctive and proven

program uses a mastery-based approach that ensures competence before

students proceed to new material, but without delaying students who

are ready to advance more quickly," the spokesman said.

Similarly,

the school's curricula in science, history, foreign language, music,

art and physical fitness will be based on coherent and ambitious standards

for what students need to learn from the earliest years.

According

to the Georgia Department of Education, a charter school is a public

school that operates according to the terms of a charter, or contract,

that has been approved by a local board of education and the state Board

of Education.

The charter

school is free from provisions of Title 20 of Georgia state law and

any state or local rule, regulation, policy or procedure relating to

schools in the school district.

In exchange

for this flexibility, the charter school is bound by contract to be

held accountable for meeting the academic or vocational performance-based

objectives specified in the charter.

The Charter

Schools Act of 1998 provides that existing local schools, private individuals,

private organizations and state and local public entities may organize

charter public schools subject to academic or vocational performance-based

contracts approved by both the state and local boards of education.

Charter schools

are public schools. The Georgia Charter Schools Act of 1998 states that

a charter school shall be included in the allotment of funds to the

local school system in which the charter school is located.

The local

board and state board shall treat the charter school no less favorably

than other local schools in the school district with respect to the

provision of funds for instructional and administrative programs and,

where feasible, transportation and building programs. The amount of

money the charter school will receive from the local board will be determined

through negotiations of the charter contract.

If additional

revenues are needed for transportation or facilities, the charter school

must depend on independent means.

The Department

of Education makes clear that any student who lives in the school district

and who submits a timely application may attend a charter school.

If the number

of applications exceeds the capacity of the school, all applicants will

have an equal chance of being admitted through a random selection process.

Enrollment preference shall be given to students who live in the school's

attendance zone, which is defined in the charter contract. A sibling

of a resident student currently enrolled in the charter school also

may be given enrollment preference. A charter school may not have admission

criteria.