It’s been a busy month in the world of Ohio charter schools.
First, on December 9, Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) released a report on Charter School Performance in Ohio, supported by Fordham-Ohio. Using test data from 2007–08 through 2012–13, CREDO concluded that Buckeye charters produce mediocre results that haven’t improved much in recent years. In fact, the low academic performance of Ohio charter students is estimated to be the equivalent of fourteen fewer days of learning in reading and forty-three fewer days in math each year compared to traditional district students. Our summary of the findings spelled out the good news and the bad, but more importantly focused on the direction that Ohio’s charter sector needs to take in order to improve. We weren’t the only ones to take this tack.
The Plain Dealer published two pieces on the CREDO report; the first largely focused on the “big picture” data points as noted above. In the second piece, education reporter Patrick O’Donnell noted that the "grim" results underscore an immediate need to improve charter quality. But he also pointed out that, unlike other areas of the state, Cleveland charters showed positive results—the equivalent of fourteen additional days of learning in both reading and math. The Plain Dealer also noted that CREDO’s research shows equivalent percentages of special education students and English language learners in charters and traditional districts—an important rebuke to charter critics’ claim that the percentage of such students is markedly lower in charters than in district schools.
Gongwer Ohio, a Statehouse news organization, indicated that CREDO’s work may be “the most comprehensive study of Ohio’s charter schools to date.” They drew attention to CREDO’s findings for low-income, black charter students, who—compared to their peers in traditional public schools—receive an additional twenty-two days of learning in math and twenty-nine additional days of learning in reading. Gongwer quoted several education advocates, including Greg Harris of StudentsFirst, who acknowledged that while his team was “pleased that low-income black students across Ohio and Cleveland students attending charters are outperforming their traditional school peers in math and reading,” they were also concerned that “most charter school students in the state remain behind their peers in traditional schools.”
The Columbus Dispatch also highlighted the finding that Ohio charter schools are narrowing the learning gap. However, the Dispatch quoted CREDO’s Macke Raymond, who noted that “it’s a very modest pace of change” that “needs to accelerate.” Dr. Raymond emphasized this point to a crowd of more than 150 when she presented her findings at the City Club of Cleveland on December 9. Her work was also covered on Cleveland Public Radio's IdeaStream, which emphasized that lax rules for sponsors have contributed to Ohio’s low performance. Dr. Raymond said that “high performing states have really been very deeply attentive to their authorizers and how they perform. They hold their authorizers accountable.”
That was the perfect set-up for another Fordham-sponsored report on charter quality. On December 16, Andy Smarick and his colleagues at Bellwether Education Partners released The Road to Redemption: Ten Policy Recommendations for Ohio's Charter School Sector. The report offers ten policy recommendations which, if implemented, will lead to a stronger charter movement.
At an event at the Athletic Club of Columbus, over sixty-five attendees listened to Smarick present his findings. Afterwards, a panel of Ohio-based charter school experts including President and CEO of the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools Dr. Darlene Chambers, Senate Education Chair Peggy Lehner, House Education Vice Chair Andrew Brenner, and the United Schools Network’s Chief Learning Officer John Dues discussed the report. Senator Lehner pointed out that the CREDO report and Bellwether’s recommendations came “from two organizations who are very well known for being supportive of the charter school movement. When our friends are saying things like this, we need to take note and not dismiss it.” Representative Brenner said that advocates and legislators should “continue to look at additional reforms in education in general that has more of the money follow[ing] the student.”
This led the state’s papers to editorialize in favor of reform. The Columbus Dispatch took the position that state law holds back charter schools. They focused on charter school sponsors and their misaligned incentives, quoting State Auditor Dave Yost, who observed that the “report does a good job of pointing out where Ohio’s governance of community schools doesn’t work.” The Dispatch also quoted Rob Nichols, spokesman for Governor John Kasich. “The governor strongly supports school choice and wants to see higher standards and greater accountability for all schools, whether they be public or charter,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Plain Dealer emphasized Smarick's "two pronged strategy" for improving charters: more oversight and more resources. Comments from John Dues of the United Schools Network during the panel give on-the-ground credence to the need for more resources. “We’re all about providing high quality education for kids,” said Dues. “Most of the kids that we serve are students of color that are economically disadvantaged. And when you throw on top of that our schools are being funded at such a lower rate, it just seems like we’re kind of harkening back to separate and unequal schools.” The Plain Dealer also quoted Nina Rees, president of the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools, who was adamant in urging “Governor Kasich and Ohio legislators to move these recommendations into law in 2015.”
We’re adamant about that, too, and we are pleased that this opening salvo garnered the attention of Governor Kasich, who opined, “We’re going to fix the lack of regulation on charter schools.”
