ATLANTA – Educators who want to open a charter school will have an expedited process under new rules adopted by the state school board Thursday.

The board overhauled its rule that controls the charter school petition process, shifting much of the authority from the Georgia Department of Education to the State Charter Schools Commission.

The commission was established more than a decade ago by a constitutional referendum promoted by lawmakers who were frustrated by local resistance to charter schools and the slow approval pace. It can approve charter schools that have been denied by local school districts, but some complain that local school boards drag out their own process, leading to delays in state approvals.

Lawmakers continue to pass legislation favorable to charter schools, including House Bill 318 last year, which mandated the new rule that was adopted Thursday by a unanimous vote of the Georgia Board of Education.

The rule requires local school boards to approve or deny local charter petitions in less than a year. School districts must publish their petition schedule by Sept. 1, with a petition deadline of Jan. 1 and a board vote by the following June 30.

And it replaces the education department’s authority over most of the process, handing it to the commission’s Office of Charter School Compliance.

That office’s senior director, Allen Mueller, summarized the effect at a state board committee meeting on Wednesday.

The changes amend procedures “so that when folks make local decisions, it creates a path for those petitioners to move to the commission, not have to wait another year or two years as had been happening,” he said.