Need a handy nutshell summary of state charter school laws and how they stack up against the Model Charter School Law developed by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS)? Then check out the third edition of NAPCS’s Measuring Up to the Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws.
The report highlights the gains and losses of each state’s ranking against the Model Law, and contains capsule summaries of existing state provisions and how they measure up (or not). While Ohio made some positive changes to certain charter school provisions in the most recent budget bill (e.g., improvements to authorizer accountability, lifting outdated moratoriums, expanding the areas in which new start-up schools may open), other states made more substantial changes and, as a result, Ohio ranks 28th out of the 42 states with charter laws.
According to the Ohio Department of Education, approximately 106,534 Ohio students attend charter schools as of February 2012. Regardless of rankings, Ohio policymakers should continue to seek improvements to Ohio’s charter school program. Removing the two school limit on board membership for trustees of high performing schools, scrutinizing transportation funding to ensure that charter schools that choose to transport their own students are funded fairly, examining potential conflicts of interest between sponsors (aka authorizers) and updating existing Ohio law to align with federal language regarding single gender charter schools would be a solid start.
In addition to the written report, NAPCS also provides an interactive, state-by-state map, available here.
