News from Ohio
The Fordham Institute this week released a new report examining Ohio student achievement data from the 2018-19 to 2021-22 school years, showing that pandemic learning loss remains a huge issue across the state and offering four recommendations that can help accelerate student learning toward recovery. You can read or download the report here. One of those recommendations involves use of high-dosage tutoring for students, of the type which Ohio Wesleyan University students have been providing this school year at a number of schools in Franklin and Delaware counties. This includes one charter school—Columbus Bilingual Academy North—which is additional good news.
Legislation we’re following
Indiana Senate Bill 391, which would, among other things, require traditional districts in four Hoosier counties to share a portion of specific local tax referenda with charter schools located within their borders, was approved in the Indiana House of Representatives this week. Next stop: The Senate. Meanwhile, Florida Senate Bill 190 was approved by the entire legislature this week. If Governor Ron DeSantis signs it, charter school students would be allowed to participate in sports far beyond the confines of the district in which they live, including teams fielded by private schools.
The research says…
While a longstanding funding gap between local charter schools and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) shrank by 13 percentage points following implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula in the city in 2013, a sizeable gap remains today. That is the topline finding of a new report by researcher Patrick Wolf. On the downside, the current funding model is one that has been held up as a best practice for money sharing across the country over the last two years. On the upside, Wolf believes that research in this vein will help highlight the weaknesses that remain and how to fill the gaps once and for all.
Budget cuts
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed budget includes substantial funding cuts for online charter schools in the state, with the argument that such schools have fewer facilities and thus need less money. School choice advocates are ramping up their response to try and avert the proposed cuts and students, families, and online school leaders brought their stories to Lansing earlier this week.
Last call for registrations for a great virtual event coming up
Join School Choice Ohio, The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, and The Buckeye Institute virtually on Monday, May 1, from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm ET, as EdChoice’s Marty Lueken, Director of the Fiscal Research and Education Center, and Mike McShane, Director of National Research, discuss their recently published report “K-12 Without Borders: Public School Students, Families, and Teachers Shut in by Education Boundaries,” which examines what a K-12 education system with fewer school district borders would mean for students, teachers, and taxpayers. Register today!
The final word
It feels like the final word this week should be “petty.” How else to explain why Worcester Public Schools would suddenly ban all student field trips to historic Old Sturbridge Village in the wake of its partnership with a new charter school scheduled to open in the area this August? “We as an organization with a substantial budget…do have a responsibility to ensure that those resources are being used in means that are ethical, and to support activities and organizations that are ethical,” said School Committee Member Tracy O’Connell Novick by way of explanation. That’s a lot of words for not much explanation; but at least there’s a shorter way to say it.
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