Atlanta, Ga. (WIAT) - Chances are you've seen the commercials by AEA condemning legislation to bring charter schools to Alabama.

The AEA designed the campaign to pressure state legislators to steer clear of the bill sponsored by Senator Steve French.

That bill which died in the Spring session had the full support of Governor Bob Riley and Superintendent of Education Joe Morton.

Had the legislation passed, it would have created a new alternative for parents who are not satisfied with existing public schools.

Charter schools are operating in 40 states across the country... including Georgia.

Many claims are made by the AEA in the ads... but parents and faculty at Neighborhood Charter School in Atlanta have a different take.

For Linda Berrian the school offers her foster children services she couldn't get a traditional public school. "It's the next best thing to a great private school. I feel like my kids are getting a great private school education."

Berrian adds that Neighborhood Charter School is also better equipped to work with parents.

"At our charter school I email a teacher if I have a question. They check their emails during the day even and communicate back with me and I know they know my kids."

Heather Snelling agrees, but she points out that not all Charter Schools are created equal.

It wasn't until her child's second charter school that Snelling found the right fit for her daughter, who was suffering from an undiagnosed learning disability.

"There are a lot of children that struggle and their teachers say, 'Oh, well they're lazy. Oh, they don't want to learn.' Who doesn't want to learn? Of course they want to learn."

Snelling says that once the testing was complete, a curriculum was set up specifically for her daughter... and with small class sizes and two teachers in the classroom she's confident her child will find academic success.

"Even though the first charter school wasn't for her, at the public schools you don't have that option. They have one way of teaching that's it."