In the spirit of giving thanks, we offer you not the usual charter school related news clips this week but a look back at some of the things happening this year for which we as charter school supporters should be grateful.
Strong support at home
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and the General Assembly took a bold step in supporting charter schools in the Buckeye State by passing a new biennial budget that took strides to address the long-standing fiscal disparity between charters and traditional district schools. The budget included an infusion of $30 million in new funding targeted at high performing charters working with large populations of disadvantaged students. These dollars should serve to promote the replication and growth of promising new startups—boosting the charter sector for the benefit of students and families.
Laying the table for everyone
New national research released this year showed that having a robust and high performing charter sector indeed benefitted all students in a city or rural area, not just those attending charters. It also helped to bust some pernicious charter school myths and to show that the benefits of a strong charter sector accrued more to students of color, especially in urban areas.
The silver lining
While Ohio’s latest report card data featured a mix of good and bad news for school and district performance across the state, charter schools continued to improve. A new statewide report on charter performance from CREDO found similar progress—showing that while overall charter student achievement looked anemic due to a leaden e-school sector, brick-and-mortar charter schools across Ohio showed impressive academic benefits for their students.
A place to gather
Ohio’s new biennial budget also included a new requirement that every school district must offer unused buildings for lease or sale to charter or STEM schools if they have not been used for school operation for the past year. Here’s hoping that many more charters can find updated, functional new digs in the coming years.
Family and friends
Among many others, the charter school family includes impassioned leaders who work tirelessly for their communities, parents who will go the distance to protect access to school choice, and steadfast policymakers who keep the best interests of young people and their families at the forefront of their work.
