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Important new research on Ohio charters
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s latest report shows that Ohio charter schools are delivering a quality education for their students. Conducted by Ohio State University professor Dr. Stéphane Lavertu, the analysis indicates that the average student attending a brick-and-mortar charter school outperforms her district peer on state math and reading exams. The educational advantage is equivalent to an additional 25 to 35 days of learning for a typical charter student. The report also documents how landmark charter school reforms such as House Bill 2 (2015) have helped drive improvements. You can check out the full report here.
Charter flexibility in action
Shawn Phillip Cooper, director of education policy at Michigan’s Mackinac Center, published a blog post this week that demonstrates the pluses of charter school flexibility for the benefit of students. He notes that University Prep Schools in Detroit are advertising a base salary of $100,000 for rock star math teachers, along with a signing bonus for individuals willing to move to the state to take to the job. He then compares this to the Detroit school district, which “cannot make a similar offer to attract excellent teachers. Its collective bargaining agreement with the Detroit Federation of Teachers…forbids it.” That agreement tops out at $94,000, and one must have a doctoral degree and years of experience to ever reach it. Signing bonuses, also, are not allowed in the district.
Non-charter news to keep an eye on
The 10th District Court of Appeals in Franklin County this week upheld a lower court ruling that Ohio’s private school vouchers are unconstitutional, citing their funding process as a primary concern. An appeal of the decision to the Ohio Supreme Court is likely to follow. It’s an important case for all education stakeholders in Ohio to pay attention to—especially charter school leaders—as charters and vouchers are funded in a similar manner here.
Oklahoma update
As we noted last week, the proposed Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation’s application to start a virtual school was heard by the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board this past Monday. While the board members present voted in favor of the application on this second go-round by a vote of 4 to 3, bylaws say the board needs 5 votes to actually approve it. The absence of one member from the hearing and an ongoing vacancy in another seat narrowed the window for success and so the application is denied once again. Leaders of the proposed school called the result “shocking”, and said they are assessing their next move.
Editorializing in Akron
An op-ed from the Akron Beacon Journal last week attempts to lambaste Ohio’s ESSA amendment proposal—currently under review at the federal level—that would increase the options for state intervention in chronically-underperforming schools. Specifically, it is the option to close a district building and reopen it as a charter school which draws the editorial board’s particular ire. “If the state’s goal is school improvement, it’s questionable why a charter conversion is being considered in the first place,” they write, with no explanation as to what “questions” they may have about the efficacy of that option. Unsurprisingly, the editors echo Akron City Schools’ preferred option: “Send more money with no strings attached”.
Journalism that reads like editorial in Cleveland
In this coverage of Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s ongoing effort to repurpose recently-closed school buildings without allowing charter school operators to buy in, Signal Cleveland characterizes the state law which aims to give charter school operators right of first refusal on them “tricky” for districts to get around. Despicable rhetoric. While it is not illegal for them to purposefully and publicly flout Ohio law in this case, it seems, as long as the backroom agreements and sweetheart deals disadvantage charter schools, even Signal must admit that the so-far-successful charter lockout “could change”. Thank heavens some journalistic integrity got edited in there at the last second.
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