IE² Partnership Contracts are intended to provide local school districts with greater governance flexibility as a means to increasing student achievement. As created by House Bill 1209 (2008), Local Boards of Education (LBOE) can enter into multi-year contracts with the State Board of Education (SBOE) based on strategic plans developed in partnership with Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) and Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA). Such plans must identify specific school-level student achievement goals that are in addition to current federal accountability requirements.

Progress towards meeting those goals will be monitored by GOSA on an annual basis and reported to the State Board of Education (SBOE). If at the end of the contract any school has not met its performance goals for at least three consecutive years of the contract, the LBOE will lose governance of those schools. The LBOE may decide to a) convert those schools to charter schools, b) transfer governance to a non-profit or for-profit education organization, or c) allow a nearby, successful school district to assume governance responsibilities.

State’s Priorities: The role of GaDOE and GOSA with respect to the development of these contracts is to ensure that the school-level student achievement goals are sufficiently rigorous to warrant granting the flexibility requested by the local school district. In fact, it is the priority of GaDOE and GOSA to develop strategic plans that:

1. Demonstrate a proportional relationship between the amount of flexibility being granted and the rigor of the proposed performance goals;
2. Are based on clear, straightforward, independently verifiable state-level data that is meaningful and understandable to all stakeholders; and
3. Identify performance goals for the local district that are aligned with the state’s student achievement priorities.