January
04, 2016
https://www.the74million.org/article/ohio-fixed-its-scandal-plagued-charter-schools-right-not-so-fast
The
state with one of the most notoriously bad charter school sectors in
the country took steps a few months ago to reform abuses but whether
that new law will be enough to tame Ohio’s “Wild West” of
charter schools remains a big question.
The
bipartisan legislation to improve the sector was widely heralded, and
some went so far as to declare the
problem “fixed.” But implementing the law in a way that
will improve the quality of Ohio’s charters will hinge on creating
a tough new accountability system for the organizations that sponsor
charter schools. That task falls to a state Department of
Education that is still recovering from a charter school-related
scandal.................
February
24,2016
Will
Ohio ever get around to setting new charter-school regulations?
Charter
sponsors want to delay new evaluations of their performance, arguing
that they deserve the same protections that traditional schools are
getting this school year.
The
Ohio Department of Education reportedly is concerned that such a
delay could jeopardize
a $71 million federal grant that the state is already struggling to
keep hold of
in the wake of a charter data-scrubbing scandal.
Meanwhile,
some charter supporters continue to push for evaluations to begin
counting this year, so the state can begin the three-year process for
eliminating poor-performing sponsors and shutting down bad schools.
What
it all means is that a bill House Republicans hoped to pass today
with a number of new, potentially controversial alterations to
charter school regulations is instead on hold for a month.
“We
need to sit down over the next couple of weeks and work some of this
out, see if we can find some compromise language,” said Rep. Andrew
Brenner, R-Powell, chairman of the House Education Committee. “I
don’t know if it’s possible.”
Meanwhile,
some charter supporters continue to push for evaluations to begin
counting this year, so the state can begin the three-year process for
eliminating poor-performing sponsors and shutting down bad schools.
Later
this year, the Ohio Department of Education is expected to release
sponsor evaluations for both the 2014-15 school year and 2015-16. It
appears likely that lawmakers will ensure sponsors will get
protection from the 2014-15 results, but there is much debate about
whether the current year results should count.
The
Ohio Department of Education reportedly is concerned that such a
delay could jeopardize
a $71 million federal grant that the state is already struggling to
keep hold of
in the wake of a charter data-scrubbing scandal.
“We
need to sit down over the next couple of weeks and work some of this
out, see if we can find some compromise language,” said Rep. Andrew
Brenner, R-Powell, chairman of the House Education Committee. “I
don’t know if it’s possible.”
Later
this year, the Ohio Department of Education is expected to release
sponsor evaluations for both the 2014-15 school year and 2015-16. It
appears likely that lawmakers will ensure sponsors will get
protection from the 2014-15 results, but there is much debate about
whether the current year results should count.
“(The
Department of Education) has pointed out there are grants contingent
on the sponsor evaluations,” Brenner said, referring to a $71
million federal grant the state wants to use to help groups open new
charter schools.
The
state’s grant application
for the charter money included inflated claims,
such as saying Ohio had no poor-performing charters in 2012-13 even
though about a third of schools didn’t meet a single standard on
their report cards. The application also was submitted two days
before David Hansen, the former state charter schools chief,resigned
after it was discovered he illegally rigged sponsor evaluations by
excluding poor-performing e-schools.
Hansen's
wife, Beth Hansen, is Gov. John Kasich's presidential campaign
manager and former chief of staff.
“Some
of the sponsors are concerned that they’re going to be put at a
complete disadvantage because of the way some of their schools are in
their portfolio,” Brenner said. “They may have almost all As and
Bs in their portfolio of schools, but there may be a few that are
bad. They may have tried to tell those schools what to do and make
the corrections, but like traditional public schools, they don’t do
it.”
Sponsors
of low-performing e-schools could struggle because those schools make
up a high percentage of their total students.
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