Georgia lawmakers have filed a constitutional amendment to expand the state’s ability to open and fund charter schools. The amendment is a response to last year’s state Supreme Court ruling that said only local school districts could spend local tax dollars on charters.

The proposed amendment would explicitly allow the state to open charter schools and move public funds from school districts to individual charters. Opponents of the measure argue that only local school boards should decide which schools should receive local education dollars.

Proponents of the amendment argue it will give parents more options to find the best school for their children. But Angela Palm, the policy director at the Georgia State School Boards Association, says proponents of school choice often argue the education system should prioritize what parents want above all else.

"And we don’t look at it that way," Palm says. "Only about a third of the households in Georgia have school-age children. So there are far more people supporting financially the public schools than the parents of the students in the schools. Therefore I don’t think it would ever be appropriate for a governing body to listen only to the parents in the schools today."

Students, parents and charter school and voucher advocates rallied at the State Capitol on Wednesday morning as part of School Choice Week in support of the amendment.

Tony Roberts, president of the Georgia Charter Schools Association, criticized the view that public schools enrolling local students shouldn’t receive local funds.

"If they say you should pay for it, you should say yes, my parents pay taxes," Roberts says.

The amendment will need two-thirds legislative approval in both the House and Senate. Then it would be sent to voters for approval, possibly in November.