Gadfly Bites 10/12/26—The Season of Charter School Hate descends upon us

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1. Summer is over and the Anti-Voucher-Palooza tour has concluded. Now, apparently, we’re into the Season of Charter School Hate. Because that sentiment is everywhere all of a sudden. First up, an op-ed from the Akron Beacon Journal which attempts to lambaste the state’s ESSA amendment proposal that would increase the options for intervention in chronically-underperforming schools. Specifically, it is the option to close a district building and reopen it as a charter school which draws their particular ire. They prefer a “send more money with no strings attached” approach which, they say, is what helped the Helen Arnold Community Learning Center climb to the heights that it has currently reached. Given that school’s most recent report card, I feel like they should probably look for a different example. (Akron Beacon Journal, 10/11/26)
   
   

2. Meanwhile, Signal Cleveland calls the state law which gives charter school operators right of first refusal on buying unused district buildings “tricky” for districts to get around. (Duh. That’s why they call them “laws”.) But it is apparently a district’s prerogative to do all they can in that regard because it’s totally OK to flout the law if it’s done to hose charter schools. It is clear from this piece, however, that Cleveland Metropolitan School District has shrunk so much and held on to so many nearly-empty buildings for so long that there is not enough non-charter entities to take all of the inventory off their hands…even with the zero-dollar sweetheart deals available. While charter buyers have been locked out up until now (even the rebellious Signal warns “that could change”), I see that some private school operators have already been allowed through without comment. So it seems CMSD is not fighting competition generally, but charter schools specifically—this season’s bêtes noirs. (Signal Cleveland, 10/12/26)

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