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Ohio charter schools in the news
It’s National Charter Schools Week and we start our news roundup with two great stories about Ohio schools. First up is a celebration of Ohio Virtual Academy’s in-person meet up, held Monday at the Toledo Zoo. Hundreds of students, staff, and family members spent a great day together learning about animals and socializing with each other as the school year comes to a close. Second is a hearty congratulations to Utica Shale Academy! Back in April we noted that USA was a finalist for the Future Forward Schools Prize, a nationally-competitive grant opportunity. This week, appropriately, we learned that the extraction-industry-focused charter school was one of five winners from across the country. They were awarded $50,000 in support of their already-awesome early career path exploration program. An amazing recognition for their hard work.
News from the Statehouse – Part 1
A House Education Committee amendment to the comprehensive math instruction bill (SB 19) currently making its way through the Ohio General Assembly would exempt classical charter schools—for two years—from the requirement to use high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) aligned to the science of reading, as currently required of public schools. Many questions remain to be decided. Will it really only be for two years? Will this change that undercuts Governor DeWine’s signature education reform draw his ire if and when it hits his desk? And more. Only time will tell.
News from the Statehouse – Part 2
A number of other education-focused bills were heard in legislative committees this week, including two important ones in Senate Education. First was Senate Bill 311, which would make important revisions to Ohio’s laws regarding unused school facilities. The bill “doesn’t invent a new policy,” said the Fordham Institute’s Chad Aldis in his proponent testimony before the committee. “It clarifies, enforces, and brings transparency to an existing one. The bill tightens the definition of what it means for a building to be ‘less than 60 percent used,’ tying it to real enrollment metrics instead of vague interpretations. It requires reporting, so the state and the public actually know which buildings qualify. And it ensures a clear, fair process” for offering those facilities for sale to other entities like charter and private school operators. Second was Senate Bill 127, which would make changes to the way Ohio identifies charter schools for closure going forward. Fordham’s Chad Aldis testified in favor of this one as well, noting four improvements made to the bill since its last hearing in February. These include creating a clearer and more predictable charter school closure framework and removing earlier provisions that would have allowed persistently struggling charter schools to reorganize instead of close. More action on both of these bills is expected.
The view from Cleveland
Fordham’s Jessica Poiner published a blog this week lauding Cleveland Metropolitan School District for its “courageous and smart” closure and consolidation plan. While the main driver of the effort is to right-size their footprint and plug a serious budget hole, CMSD leaders are working hard to minimize disruption to families, communicating clearly and often, and going the extra mile to support hundreds of students who will need to find and acclimate to a brand new school in the fall. She points to a school choice fair and a unified application system as important and useful innovations, but also says that the true mark of a student-centric plan would be to include all Cleveland charter schools in that unified application system as well. “CMSD already has an established history of working alongside charters for the benefit of students,” she reminds readers. “Unified enrollment is the next step.”
Learning from success
Finally for this National Charter Schools Week, Progressive Policy Institute’s Bruno Manno offers five ways for all public schools to learn from the history of charters for the benefit of every student. These include expanding how school success is measured, creating more career-connected schools, and using the charter authorizing process to learn how to renew faltering district schools. Great stuff.
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