NOTE: This is the last edition to be published this year. We’ll return with a final look at 2020 stories on Thursday, January 7, 2021; regular service for 2021 resumes on Friday, January 8.
Christmas pt 1
Here’s a lovely story about the staff and teachers of Buckeye Community School in Marion using their own money—along with charitable donations—to purchase much-needed Christmas presents for their students.
Christmas pt 2
Ohio House Bill 409 passed the state Senate this week, after being amended. The original version of the bill—dealing with student attendance issues in online charter schools—added a stocking-full of other pandemic-related provisions, many of which would also impact charters if enacted. The amendments now require concurrence by the House before the bill can move to Governor DeWine.
Other legislation of note
State Senator Matt Huffman, who will become Senate President in 2021, gave a very frank interview to his hometown newspaper, The Lima News, this week. In it, he discussed the legislature’s work on a revamp of school funding in Ohio. Huffman commended the work of House members on the Cupp-Patterson plan and seemed certain that while the plan would not pass the Senate before the end of 2020, it would form a strong basis for a new funding plan that would be completed early next year. He emphasized the need to end pass-through funding for charter schools and vouchers in the final version of the plan.
More on charter funding
A new lawsuit is being prepped for filing in the new year, arguing that school choice has “drained” $20 billion from the coffers of traditional district schools. While the discussion in this opening salvo/PR effort is focused almost exclusively on the EdChoice Scholarship program, charter school funding will almost certainly be in the crosshairs should the case go to trial. Definitely a story to keep an eye on in 2021.
The ongoing pandemic
Tutoring is increasingly touted as a means to mitigate pandemic-impacted learning losses for students. Here’s a great look at several charter schools in New Jersey which have already begun marshalling volunteers and AmeriCorps members to start that mitigation work—all online for now—even before the pandemic has abated.
New research
An important new report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute looks at the variations and evolution of teacher effectiveness in Pennsylvania public schools—both charter and traditional district. Evidence indicates, among other things, that teachers in the state’s CMO-run charter schools are more effective and improve more rapidly than those in traditional district schools. Authors Matthew Steinberg and Haisheng Yang of the University of Pennsylvania conclude that the Keystone State’s charter management organizations are successful in large part due to their “fundamentally different approach to human capital.” Worth a read.
