Automatic charter closure questioned
Ohio’s automatic closure law closes persistently low-performing charter schools. Not enforced the last few years because of safe harbor, fifty-two Ohio charter schools just received notice that if their performance doesn’t improve next year, then they will be forced to close. Fordham’s Aaron Churchill breaks down the issue in a new piece and notes, “given the significant policy shifts since the enactment of Ohio's original automatic closure law, legislators should revisit the state’s automatic closure criteria.”
Ohio’s urban charters are now better and more cost-effective
Neerav Kingsland, a managing partner at The City Fund, recently wrote a blog about charter school performance and funding in Ohio, citing Fordham’s recent report card analysis. Kingsland explains that urban charter schools still have some work to do, but it appears that they’re now better than Ohio’s urban traditional schools at increasing student learning and doing so while receiving less money.
A call for better facilities and funding for charters
This week, Nina Rees, the president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS), wrote a piece that appeared in The 74 in which she discusses the need for more equitable funding for charter schools. Rees explains that no school should be forced to operate out of a trailer or a strip mall and that charter school students need and deserve the same facilities and funding as district students.
New pre-school in Lorain opens at Constellation Schools
A new preschool, operated by Horizon Education Centers, opened in Lorain this week at the Lorain Community Constellation School. As Zachary Srnis explains, the preschool will benefit both Horizon and Constellation, as the charter school students will be able to remain in the same building when they continue on to K-8.
Demystifying charter school misconceptions
Marlon Greatrex, an NAPCS fellow, has worked in both charter and district schools. In a new blog, he shares some of the most common myths and misconceptions that he's heard about charters and the facts he uses to address them.
