Georgia’s education department is promising to remain neutral on a controversial charter school referendum.
As of last week, the department had posted an alert across its website saying, “The Georgia Department of Education takes no position on the Charter School Constitutional Amendment.”
The move came after state schools chief John Barge was targeted in a complaint from an Atlanta lawyer who accused him and local superintendents of improperly mixing politics with their official duties in publicly opposing the charter school amendment. Mr. Barge, a Republican, had announced his stance in a statement on the department’s website.
After consulting with the state attorney general’s office, the statement was removed, though a spokesman said the superintendent would continue to offer his opinion on the referendum, when asked.
