Parents, Homevoters, and Public School Employees: An Analysis of Voting Patterns in the 2012 Georgia Charter Schools Amendment Referendum

Abstract

Georgia's 2012 Charter Schools Amendment was the first successful statewide school choice referendum in the United States. This amendment permitted the state to authorize new charter schools, thereby creating a way for charter creators to bypass local school boards. This study analyzes voting on this state constitutional amendment and finds that support was higher among counties with lower achieving public schools, more school-aged children, more adults having college degrees, more private school enrollment, more homeowners, and lower public school employment. There was also a positive correlation between Democratic voters and support for the amendment-this result differs from previous research and the heavily Republican legislative vote authorizing the public referendum.

Which Townships Support Charter Schools? A Study of the 2016 Massachusetts Charter Referendum

“…Corcoran and Stoddard (2011) found a partisan division regarding support for charter school referenda: voters who supported Republican candidates were more likely to support charter school referenda. Collingwood, Jochim, and Oskooii (2018) and Conaway, Scafidi, and Stephenson (2016) also acknowledged the importance of ideology, but they found different results. Collingwood, Jochim, and Oskooii (2018) concluded that partisan division was not significant in the 2012 referendum in Washington State.…”

“…The last study of predictors of public support for charter school referenda was conducted by Conaway and her colleagues. Conaway, Scafidi, and Stephenson (2016) studied the details of the 2012 Georgia Charter Schools Amendment Referendum. As of fall 2018, the 2012 Georgia Charter School Amendment Referendum was the only successful charter school referendum.…”

“…The three studies found that wealthier and ethnically or racially diverse areas were more likely to support charter schools. Conaway, Scafidi, and Stephenson (2016) and Corcoran and Stoddard (2011) found that membership in union and number of public school employees were negatively correlated with support for charter schools. Corcoran and Stoddard (2011) found a partisan division regarding support for charter school referenda: voters who supported Republican candidates were more likely to support charter school referenda.…”

“…Collingwood, Jochim, and Oskooii (2018) concluded that partisan division was not significant in the 2012 referendum in Washington State. Conaway, Scafidi, and Stephenson (2016) found that voters who were more likely to be Democrats were indeed more likely to support the 2012 Georgia charter school referendum.…”

“…Findings from Collingwood, Jochim, and Oskooii (2018) and Conaway, Scafidi, and Stephenson (2016) suggest that wealthier, more educated and diverse places are more likely to support charter schools, perhaps since the wealthier are generally more apt to have faith in market‐based solutions to policy problems (Ravitch, 2013). In this study, I will retest these previous findings.…”