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Stayed
Back on December 3, the Ohio Ethics Commission voted to require all charter school governing board members to file full financial disclosure statements, the same as elected board members in the state’s largest traditional school districts. The commission made this move in the interest of “transparency”, but the charter community characterized it instead as “imposing different rules on different types of public schools.” At the first Ethics Commission meeting of 2026 yesterday, implementation of the new rule was stayed by members, following a strong response—delivered in person—from House Speaker Matt Huffman.
The journey continues
Gov. Mike DeWine and the General Assembly were very thorough in their implementation of science of reading in Ohio—setting out a long-term process that not only embedded the best, research-based curricula and pedagogy, but also specifically outlawed harmful past practices. Even more importantly, the plan comes with multiple checkpoints (see the recent teacher prep program audits) and a long-term commitment to rigorous follow through. The latest example: Reading teachers in Ohio must retrain on SoR principles every five years to maintain their licenses. The clock is already ticking and the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce is hard at work preparing the refresher courses.
Odd logic
Mendez Middle School in Austin, Texas, will return to the full control of the Austin Independent School District this fall, after 10 years of administration by charter operators. The school became a charter starting in 2014 as part of the state’s 1882 Partnership Plan to improve chronically low-performing district schools. Charter network Third Future Schools began running Mendez in 2022 and their efforts improved its accountability rating enough as of 2025 (a B rating from 89 out of 100 possible points) to warrant discontinuation of the improvement plan.
Meanwhile…
Meanwhile, in Orlando, Florida, an overwhelming majority of parents at Orange Center Elementary School voted this week to turn their district school into a charter. The conversion will get underway soon, in partnership with local nonprofit Lift Orlando, and conclude with the new school opening its doors this fall. “What they’re saying to us is that, ‘We believe your vision and your ability and commitment to work with us’,” said Lift Orlando VP Mark Shamley. “And we understand that it comes with great responsibility.” School parent Nadia Bellande added: “I think the main thing that I really love about this conversion is that they said that it will continue to be a community school, and that it’s not going to be taken away from us. And that is big for me…. I want our kids to continue to get the perfect education that they were getting.”
Updates from Indy
Indiana House Bill 1423, which would, among other things, establish a unified Public Education Corporation to oversee all K-12 education in Indianapolis, passed out of the House Education Committee by a vote of 7-4 last week. It now moves to the full House for debate. Meanwhile, education watchers in the state capital are touting a boost in high school graduation rates in Indianapolis Public Schools—93 percent for the class of 2025—including all district high schools and a group of charters that are currently part of the district’s Innovation Network. Additionally, those same watchdogs are reporting that IPS enrollment dropped by 6 percent between 2024-25 and 2025-26. This figure represents district schools only. Innovation Network and non-Network charters are down 3 percent over the same time. District enrollment this year is 19,774 students; combined charter enrollment is just under 22,000 students.
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