Politics & Government

Charter School Amendment: A Tough Decision for One Voter

Checking the "yes" box in favor of amending the state's constitution was not an easy one to make said one voter who is still not sure she made the right decision.

For Georgia voters the Charter School Amendment has almost overshadowed the race for the presidency.

The decision to give the state the authority to create a charter school commission has been a subject of major debate over the past few months.

And the decision to vote "yes" was no easy decision for Camille Cottrell, an Emory University instructor and card-carrying Democrat who said she's still not sure she made the right decision.

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"It was a very, very tough vote for me," said Cottrell a Berkeley Lake resident. "I believe very much in the public school system." It was a battle of heart versus intellect she said. "I know my vote is going to cause an argument with my mother when I get home tonight."

But Cottrell said she couldn't help notice the crumbling elementary school in her son's Avondale Estates neighborhood and worries about her young grandson who will reach school age in a few years.

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And looking beyond Georgia's borders she observed the desparate state of the public schools in South Carolina which forced her brother to send his child to a private school where he pays $789 a month in tuition.

"I'm voting against my basic beliefs," she admitted. Cottrell said she voted yes because she felt something needs to be done to turn around the nation's school systems which are failing to educate so many of the nation's youth.

Whether charter schools are the answer, she's not sure, but something needs to be done she said.

What about you? Did you struggle deciding on which way to vote on Amendment 1?

 


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