By Susan Stevenot Sullivan

People in the Archdiocese of Atlanta have an opportunity to become involved as another chapter in the history of education funding is written in Georgia.

The story of school choice will continue to unfold on Oct. 28 and 29 with public hearings in the Legislative Office Building across from the state Capitol.

The public hearings were called by Lieut. Gov. Pierre Howard. Father Terry Young, archdiocesan Secretary for Education, is scheduled to be among those testifying in support of parental choice in education.

Attorney Glenn Delk, a member of Christ the King Cathedral parish, is organizing the pro-school choice testimony. Delk is president of Georgia Parents for Better Schools (GPBS) which he describes as a parent-taxpayer grassroots coalition. Their goal is to keep alive a recently rediscovered portion of Georgia law relating to school choice.

The group would like to ensure the implementation of the 1961 legislation, which would allow parents to receive state grants to pay for tuition at private schools.

Delk located the obscure portion of the Georgia Code, Section 20-2-640-650, which reads in part: "Every child between the ages of six and 19 years residing in this state ... who is otherwise eligible and qualified to attend the elementary and secondary public schools of the local school system wherein such child resides shall, in lieu of attending the public schools of such local school system be eligible to receive an education grant to be expended for the purpose of paying or otherwise defraying the cost of tuition at a nonsectarian private school..."

Delk acknowledges that he law was apparently written to provide a loophole for people fleeing the desegregation of public schools. But he argues that black families can now benefit from a law that had a segregationist intent 30 years ago.

"It appears from newspapers of the time, that the Georgia Assembly passed this legislation in response to the desegregation of public schools, to provide an opportunity for parents to avoid sending their children to integrated schools," Delk said in an interview.

"It may have been passed for the wrong reasons, but we hope to use it for the right reasons," Delk said. "I think all parents should have a choice about whether they send their children to public or private schools. The people who can benefit the most are those who don't have a choice -- low income black parents."

Delk said the 1961 school choice legislation will have to be amended. Reference to the word nonsectarian needs to be deleted and state funding must be assured, he said.

"According to (Attorney General) Mike Bowers the state doesn't have to fund its share of the voucher because the new education funding formula doesn't specifically refer to this statute," Delk said.

"We're also going to ask that the law be amended to delete 'nonsectarian' and allow all private schools to be involved," Delk added. He pointed out that the state lottery funds can be used for religious schools and that state scholarship money is awarded to students at private colleges, even if they are religious schools.

Other possible changes may include wording which would allow public schools to become deregulated like private schools so they could also be funded under a voucher plan.

Some parents have already filed applications specified by the 1961 school-choice legislation. According to Delk, these applications have now been rejected by school boards in Fulton, Fayette, Walton, Cobb, Gwinnett and DeKalb counties. As yet he has not heard from the Atlanta Board of Education.

Forms reproducing the 1961 application are being made available to parishes throughout the archdiocese. According to a letter from Archbishop John F. Donoghue to pastors, parishioners can be offered the opportunity to fill out the form.

Delk had had little feed back from the parishes as of Oct. 16. He noted that the issue was beginning to attract attention from the media, however.

"I'm sure some will try to paint us all as being members of the religious right," Delk said. That portrayal will fail, he predicted, "when they see the numbers of low-income, black parents who are involved."

Delk said forms need to be returned to his office before Oct. 28, if possible. Those who send in an application will be placed on the GPBS mailing list. They will be encouraged to support the group's efforts and to contact their state senators and representatives concerning the next chapter of the choice-in-education story, which will take shape in early 1994.

Delk said a number of state senators have indicated they will introduce legislation in January to amend the law and implement it.

At the same time, state Superintendent of Schools Werner Rogers has indicated he'll ask the Georgia General Assembly to repeal the law, Delk said.

The state's oldest and largest teachers' union, the Georgia Association of Educators is against implementation of the 1961 legislation, because it involves a state-mandated choice program and would use public money to fund private education.

If the state legislature appears unwilling to implement the law, Delk said he is considering filing a class-action suit on behalf of parents whose applications have been rejected.

Delk's interest in school choice precedes this current effort. He is treasurer of the Children's Education Foundation which, since its creation in August 1992, has awarded private-school scholarships to 167 elementary-school students.

The foundation's goal is to provide low-income Georgians in a five-county area of Atlanta an opportunity for quality education through educational choice.