Education in Ohio is full of irony, and nothing is more ironic than the connection of charter schools to the state's school funding debate that was triggered by the DeRolph Supreme Court decisions in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Education in Ohio is full of irony, and nothing is more ironic than the connection of charter schools to the state's school funding debate that was triggered by the DeRolph Supreme Court decisions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Charter schools were born, in large part, out of the frustration of suburban and rural Republican lawmakers who, in 1997, were being ordered by the Ohio Supreme Court to pump more state money into urban school districts that were badly broken. In 1995, for example, the Cleveland Municipal School District faced $160 million in debt - about one-third of its operating budget. Things were so bad that then-state Auditor Jim Petro declared, "I think by any definition of bankruptcy as we know it with a private business, they've got some serious problems." He said, "They would be deemed bankrupt."
Fast forward to 2009, and Ohioans are still debating school funding and charter schools. The Ohio House's updated version of the governor's school funding plan proposes the creation of four classes of charter schools when it comes to funding. All of these levels of funding are less than what traditional district schools would receive-some charters would be shorted less than others:
Here is the irony. In 1997, the Ohio Supreme Court declared the state funding of public education unconstitutional: "Due to glaring discrepancies in school buildings, facilities, access to technology and curriculum, some students within the state are being deprived of educational opportunity." Yet, in 2009, the governor and House Democrats, in seeking to make the state's system of school funding "constitutional" are in fact proposing the creation of a statutorily sanctioned class of underfunded public schools. Students in these schools are predominately needy and children of color - 65 percent of charter-school students are economically disadvantaged while 57 percent are minority. The irony here would be funny if it weren't for the fact that we are talking about real children, which makes it tragic.
The governor and the House Democrats are right to focus on performance and school quality, but underfunding thousands of children intentionally isn't the way to get there. A better solution is to fund charters at the same level as district schools while increasing academic performance expectations and sanctions on all underperforming charters (the latter notion is included in the House bill). And, as a matter of fairness, on underperforming district schools as well.
Here are a few excerpts from award-winning School Choice Ohio (see here) essays written by students who received EdChoice scholarships this year. Students wrote concerning how their learning opportunities have helped them. The topic was "Voices of School Choice."
"The EdChoice Scholarship has changed my life and my future. For the past two years, the EdChoice Scholarship has been my way to go to private school. I am...better and more focused at learning, I am more challenged at the private school, and I have better prospects to further my education."
(First prize winner - Elexus, high schooler in Dayton)
"In public school there had always been fights. But at my current school you would have more chances to see monkeys fly than see a fist fight."
(Second prize winner - Aisha, sixth grader in Columbus)
"I wish my old friends could come here and see how much fun learning can really be."
(Third prize winner - Brandon, fourth grader in Mansfield)
"I have greatly improved in all my school classes because the EdChoice program let me come to this school. My math and reading skills have extremely improved. My Papa and Nana would have never been able to pay for this kind of education. My school was considered "underachieved" and I would have been there if it wasn't for EdChoice.
(Amaya, third grader in Lorain)
"Thank you for helping me to reach my goals and obtain an excellent education."
(Jordan, ninth grader in Youngstown)
by Sarah Pechan, School Choice Ohio
Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut believes Ohio's teacher training system is not providing enough qualified teachers for Ohio's K-12 schools. Fingerhut shared his comments last week in a wide-ranging discussion with members of the Ohio Grantmakers Forum (see here).
Fingerhut said creating a talent pipeline is a priority. Even though there are 50 schools of education in the state, schools are having a hard time finding qualified teachers. He noted that the Board of Regents will have a greater role in teacher preparation and quality issues under the governor's budget proposal, and he said that he is having frank discussions with education school deans and public university presidents about the need for dramatic reform. This is one area in which federal economic stimulus dollars could be useful.
Fingerhut believes higher education is affordable and will become even more so in the future. For example, under current state restructuring of financial aid, most low-income students (around 20 percent of all of Ohio's college students), if they attend a community college in Ohio, can have their higher-education tuition costs covered through the federal Pell grant program.
Turning to the state budget, Fingerhut noted that the governor has ordered the Regents to stop payments to vendors for the last two months of this fiscal year, to renegotiate contracts down 15 percent next year, and to reduce administrative expenses by 30 percent. Paradoxically, under the revamped House budget plan, state spending on education in the next biennium is set to increase.
A 16-year-old senior at the Dayton Early College Academy (DECA) has been selected as a Gates Millennium Scholar, a prestigious national scholarship award that will pay for his college education.
Charles Wilkes is among 1,000 students selected for the award from more than 20,000 applicants.
"It's a great honor," Wilkes said. "I attribute a lot of what I have learned to my mother (Theressa Brooks of Dayton) and to DECA. I learned how to multi-task and to avoid a lot of the things teenagers in my neighborhood get into. DECA helped me stay focused and stay on the straight and narrow."
DECA is an innovative charter school located at the University of Dayton. It's operated by the university under the sponsorship of Dayton Public Schools and it was the first early college high school in Ohio. DECA also is the nation's only charter school operated by a Catholic university.
Wilkes is a member of the senior cabinet and serves as a student ambassador for DECA. He was also a member of DECA's mock trial team and played varsity basketball for Belmont High School.
As the son of a single parent who worked at a local factory and who has been retired on medical disability, Wilkes said he has been worried about how he would pay for his education. The scholarship will pay for Wilkes's books, tuition, and room and board. It provides up to 10 years of funding to include undergraduate work and may extend into fellowships in one of seven specified graduate areas.
DECA focuses on first-generation college students, predominately from low-income or minority families, as well as those who might not be successful in a traditional classroom.
"DECA was created to make it possible for students to go to college who otherwise might not have explored the possibility," said Thomas Lasley II, dean of the School of Education and Allied Professions at the University of Dayton.
DECA will graduate its third class this spring. Every student who has applied to college has been accepted. In December, it was recognized as one of the country's best high schools by U.S. News and World Report.
by Cilla Shindell, University of Dayton
While the Ohio House of Representatives is poised to pass a budget bill that would expand Advanced Placement (AP) courses to every high school in the state, a report released today by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute questions whether the rapid expansion of the popular program will jeopardize its quality.
In the past five years, the number of high school students nationwide taking AP courses has grown by 45 percent (from 1.1 million in 2003 to 1.6 million in 2008). In Ohio, the number of students who took at least one AP exam rose 38 percent during the same period (see here), though Ohio's participation still lags the national average. About 18 percent of 2008 Ohio high school graduates took an AP exam, compared with 25 percent of graduates nationwide.
The Fordham study, Growing Pains in the Advanced Placement Program: Do Tough Trade-offs Lie Ahead?, sought to learn why AP has grown at such a dramatic clip and what impact the growth has had on the program (see here). The research included a national survey (of 1,024 AP teachers) and four focus groups with AP teachers. Among the study's key findings:
But there are warning signs that the quality of the AP program is threatened:
AP participation in Ohio could grow significantly under a provision in the pending budget bill. Sub. H.B. 1 calls for a pilot program to offer two AP courses (and one foreign language course) via distance learning technology to every district high school in the state (see here). The pilot program is intended to expand access to AP courses in schools that don't have enough demand, or enough money, to offer the classes.
There is no guarantee, however, that expanding access to AP courses will improve Ohio student performance on AP exams. AP exams are scored on a scale of 1 to 5, with 3 generally being the minimum score needed to earn credit at a college or university. For Ohio's graduating class of 2008, just 10.8 percent of students earned a 3 or higher on an AP exam. Nationwide, 15.2 percent of students did so.
Education in Ohio is full of irony, and nothing is more ironic than the connection of charter schools to the state's school funding debate that was triggered by the DeRolph Supreme Court decisions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Charter schools were born, in large part, out of the frustration of suburban and rural Republican lawmakers who, in 1997, were being ordered by the Ohio Supreme Court to pump more state money into urban school districts that were badly broken. In 1995, for example, the Cleveland Municipal School District faced $160 million in debt - about one-third of its operating budget. Things were so bad that then-state Auditor Jim Petro declared, "I think by any definition of bankruptcy as we know it with a private business, they've got some serious problems." He said, "They would be deemed bankrupt."
Fast forward to 2009, and Ohioans are still debating school funding and charter schools. The Ohio House's updated version of the governor's school funding plan proposes the creation of four classes of charter schools when it comes to funding. All of these levels of funding are less than what traditional district schools would receive-some charters would be shorted less than others:
Here is the irony. In 1997, the Ohio Supreme Court declared the state funding of public education unconstitutional: "Due to glaring discrepancies in school buildings, facilities, access to technology and curriculum, some students within the state are being deprived of educational opportunity." Yet, in 2009, the governor and House Democrats, in seeking to make the state's system of school funding "constitutional" are in fact proposing the creation of a statutorily sanctioned class of underfunded public schools. Students in these schools are predominately needy and children of color - 65 percent of charter-school students are economically disadvantaged while 57 percent are minority. The irony here would be funny if it weren't for the fact that we are talking about real children, which makes it tragic.
The governor and the House Democrats are right to focus on performance and school quality, but underfunding thousands of children intentionally isn't the way to get there. A better solution is to fund charters at the same level as district schools while increasing academic performance expectations and sanctions on all underperforming charters (the latter notion is included in the House bill). And, as a matter of fairness, on underperforming district schools as well.
