Traditional public school teachers will receive a two thousand dollar decrease in their annual salaries if the charter is approved Numerous rumors roil in the wake of the January 26th board of education meeting with Oakland Academy Charter School. Among them, though, the rumor that traditional public school teachers will receive a two thousand dollar decrease in their annual salaries if the charter is approved is, perhaps, the most explosive. If true, the decrease would strengthen the cause of the opponents to the charter school, particularly Gilmer public school teachers. However, if the claim is false then the opposition to permitting a charter is weakened.

In an effort to dispel these myths, FYN spoke with Oakland Charter’s Founding Trustee Member Dr. Raiford Cantrell. When asked about the salary decrease, Cantrell said that he has found no facts or documents to support that claim. Addressing the rumors, he also told FYN that he discussed the issue with Superintendent Bryan Dorsey. Dorsey, though, said the information did not come from him.

During the January 26th meeting, many of the questions board members asked the panel of Oakland Trustees targeted the charter’s finances. Although charter schools receive funding from local boards of education, this is not the only source of finances. At last week’s meeting, Oakland Trustee Chairman Isaac Lassiter explained to the Gilmer Board of Education that a part of the funding for the charter would come from grants. Lassiter said that a host of grants are available to charter schools in rural counties, like Gilmer. However, since the grants have yet been applied for and the amounts undetermined, any potential grant money can not be included in the application at this time. The funding issue corresponds to the fear that other teachers may loose a portion of their paychecks to charter school teachers.

This fear, though, may merely end in the emotion. In an email to FYN today, Georgia Department of Education Communications Director Matt Cardoza stated that he saw

“no reason for salaries of teachers in the traditional public schools in that system to decrease — and no evidence it’s ever happened.”

FYN has extended Superintendent Dorsey the opportunity to offer his insight on the topic. We will report as soon as we receive his response.

The board of education must render a decision on whether to allow the charter to exist or not by February 13th, a day prior to its regularly scheduled meeting. The board has scheduled a called meeting for Thursday, February 9th at 5:30 P.M. at the Bobcat Trail location, although it has not said whether it will render a decision on the charter on that date.