The Georgia Court of Appeals yesterday cleared the way for GAE’s charter school system lawsuit to proceed. The suit contends that charter school systems do not have authority to waive vested due process “tenure” rights under Georgia’s constitution. This is a significant victory for GAE and GAE member Rebecca Barnes. A veteran classroom teacher, Ms. Barnes had vested her Fair Dismissal Act (FDA) rights before Fannin County Schools entered into a charter school system agreement with the State Board of Education in 2015. At the end of the 2016-2017 school year, Fannin Schools decided to nonrenew Ms. Barnes without providing her FDA rights including the reasons for her nonrenewal and an opportunity for a hearing to challenge those reasons. Today’s ruling reversed an earlier trial court decision that GAE failed to state a claim in the matter, ordering the trial court to address the constitutional questions raised in the first instance.
GA Court of Appeals Decision
