This appeal involves a constitutional challenge to the 2008 Georgia Charter Schools Commission Act, OCGA § 20-2-2081 et seq. the “Act”. Appellants/plaintiffs are local school systems1 whose 2009 and 2010 complaints were consolidated by the trial court; appellees/defendants are former State School Superintendent Kathy Cox in her official capacity, the Georgia Charter Schools Commission, its chairperson and members in their official capacities, the Georgia Department of Education, and the first three schools chartered under the Act.2 Appellants contend, inter alia, that the Act is unconstitutional because it violates the “special schools” provision in the Georgia Constitution of 1983. See Art. VIII, Sec. V, Par. VII a. Because our constitution embodies the fundamental principle of exclusive local control of general primary and secondary “K-12″ public education and the Act clearly and palpably violates Art. VIII, Sec. V, Par. VII a by authorizing a State commission to establish competing State-created general K-12 schools under the guise of being “special schools,” we reverse. 1. a “Authority is granted to county and area boards of education to establish and maintain public schools within their limits.” Art. VIII, Sec. V, Par. I of the 1983 Georgia Constitution. This language continues the line of constitutional authority, unbroken since it was originally memorialized in the 1877 Constitution of Georgia, granting local boards of education the exclusive right to establish and maintain, i.e., the exclusive control over, general K-12 public education. See McDaniel v. Thomas , 248 Ga. 632 285 SE2d 156 1981 setting forth in an appendix, id. at 649-659, a comprehensive review of the history of Georgia public education. Art. VIII, Sec. V, Par. I sets forth the sole delegation of authority in our constitution regarding the establishment and maintenance of general primary and secondary public schools. No other constitutional provision authorizes any other governmental entity to compete with or duplicate the efforts of local boards of education in establishing and maintaining general K-12 schools.3 By providing for local boards of education to have exclusive control over general K-12 schools, our constitutions, past and present, have limited governmental authority over the public education of Georgia’s children to that level of government closest and most responsive to the taxpayers and parents of the children being educated. The constitutional history of Georgia could not be more clear that, as to general K-12 public education, local boards of education have the exclusive authority to fulfill one of the “primary obligations of the State of Georgia,” namely, “the provision of an adequate public education for the citizens.” Art. VIII, Sec. I, Par. I.
b Unlike general K-12 public education, provisions for “special schools” are a more recent addition to our constitution. In 1966, the 1945 Georgia Constitution was amended to give local boards of education the authority to establish “one or more area schools, including special schools such as vocational trade schools, schools for exceptional children, and schools for adult education, in one or more of such political subdivisions.” See Ga. L. 1966, § 3, pp. 1026, 1029-1030 proposing constitutional amendment; Ga. L. 1967, p. 1127 noting its ratification. This exact language was retained with no significant change when the 1945 Georgia Constitution was replaced by the 1976 Constitution. See Art VIII, Sec. IX, Par. I of the 1976 Georgia Constitution.
