At least 11 petitions have been filed by charter school operators seeking to run independent public schools authorized by the state.

Prospective operators had a Friday deadline to hand deliver or mail their requests to Georgia's Charter School Commission. Gregg Stevens with the commission says more petitions are possible, arriving by mail in coming days.

The deadline marks the latest milestone in the state's expansion of non-traditional public schools.

Georgia voters approved a constitutional amendment last fall recreating the charter commission, which can approve charter schools over the objections of local school boards. The state Supreme Court had disbanded a previous version of the commission.

Schools submitting applications for this round won't open until at least the 2014-2015 school year. Final decisions on the charters won't come until this fall.

Tags: education, politics, charter schools, Georgia Charter School Commission, constitutional amendment, charter school constitutional amendment