The Ohio House and Senate each voted overwhelmingly this afternoon (October 7, 2015) to approve the report of the Conference Committee on House Bill 2 (HB 2). This action sends HB 2, a comprehensive effort to reform Ohio’s much-criticized charter school sector, to Governor Kasich for his signature. Today’s vote follows nine months of hearings and public debate on how to improve charter schools in the Buckeye State.
“It’s amazing what can be accomplished in nine months,” said Chad L. Aldis, Vice President for Ohio Policy and Advocacy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. “The reforms in House Bill 2 have the potential to give new life to Ohio’s charter school sector. By holding accountable the entities that regulate, oversee, and manage charter schools, we can create an environment where high performing charter schools grow and prosper and low performers are shuttered.”
After facing heavy criticism the past few months for not passing charter legislation before the summer recess, approval of the conference committee report comes just one week after the House sent the bill to conference committee. This bill would strengthen key elements of Ohio charter law around sponsor oversight, charter board independence, and operator transparency. For a more complete list of what the bill does see “HB 2 at a glance.”
“Governor Kasich, President Faber, and Speaker Rosenberger deserve tremendous credit for helping to make charter reform possible. There were many doubters who didn’t think it could happen,” Aldis added. “The strong bipartisan support for this bill is a credit to members of both parties who put aside old lines of division to pass the most comprehensive charter school reform legislation that Ohio has ever seen.”
