National debate
Andrew Rotherham, co-founder and partner at Bellwether Education Partners, had an editorial published in The Hill recently which emphasized the strong demonstrated public support for charter schools and the growing body of evidence for the benefits of many charter schools across the country. The ongoing national debate on charters would benefit, he writes, from both side acknowledging these facts going forward.
Keeping the house clean
Rotherham, in his editorial, makes sure to note that charter achievement and policy are not perfect and that poor performers and bad policy must be dealt with wherever they occur. Editors in Cleveland opined similarly when they urged Ohio to close the loophole which, by some interpretations, might allow low-performing charters to access funds via the new Quality Community Schools Support program.
Round Two
Antagonism between traditional districts and charter schools is still alive and well, unfortunately. You just have to witness the ongoing tussle over a vacant and derelict school building between Columbus City Schools and the United Schools Network to see it in action.
A bit of good news
The Elyria Chronicle had a really nice article this week looking at Constellation Schools in Lorain County, who are among the sites piloting Ohio’s revamped teacher evaluation system known as OTES 2.0. It is planned to roll out the new framework statewide in the 2020-2021 school year.
