Ohio's charter school sector is a bit like Night of the Living Dead, or so says Fordham's Terry Ryan in this Dayton Daily News op-ed.
Last school year, 326 charter schools operated in the Buckeye State. Fifty-three of them were rated "F" by the state and served less than 150 students apiece. For a myriad of reasons, ranging from poor academic performance to unsustainable financial models, most of these schools should be shuttered. Yet they continue to operate, limping along like the walking dead, hurting students, employees, and communities alike. What should be done about these "zombie" schools????? Says Ryan:
Closing a charter school is hard and painful work. Last year, the Fordham Foundation worked closely with the leadership of two Dayton charter schools to help close their doors after more than eight years of serving families and children. At both the Omega School of Excellence and East End Community School, responsible adults struggled with the difficult decision to close their doors because they cared deeply about these schools and the children in them.But the schools ultimately were shuttered--Omega closed and East End merged with the Dayton Public Schools--because, in the end, everyone agreed that this was preferable to letting them continue in a way that might embarrass their supporters or hurt the children and families that depended on them.
Of course, we'd rather open schools and see them thrive than watch them falter--despite valiant efforts to turn them around--and then close. But sometimes the responsible move is to shut them down while assisting families in finding acceptable alternatives. In Dayton and across Ohio, those sponsoring and operating zombie charters need to do what's right and bury the walking dead. If they refuse or fail to do this, state authorities must crack down on them.
Charter supporters--lawmakers, advocates and operators--should not just demand protection, fair treatment and equitable funding of decent charter schools (as they did recently at a rally in Columbus), but also push hard for the closure--in a fair and transparent way--of zombie schools that hurt children and wound the charter movement.Those working on the state's two-year budget should pursue a "tough love" approach to charter schools. This approach is just as right for schools as it is for child rearing. Love means giving them the freedom and resources they need to be successful. Tough means holding them accountable and coming down hard on those that fail or are irresponsible.
That, by the way, is also the way to treat district schools, too.
Let's purge the zombie schools among us.
