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Flouting the law in Cleveland
It appears that the City of Cleveland intends to flout the spirit of Ohio law by spearheading an aggressive drive to immediately sell off 12 of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District buildings that are being closed for good this week. Because the buildings have never been vacant and have been used for educational purposes up to the end, city leaders believe they are in the right to sell them to developers without allowing charter or private schools right of first refusal on them, per the law. And since the appointed school board has already approved immediate demolition for all of them on “potential eyesore” grounds, any that remain unsold after the full court press to developers will be bulldozed before any other school operators can offer to buy them. Despicable and wrong.
Meanwhile, in Columbus…
The Ohio Supreme Court last week dismissed the state’s lawsuit against Columbus City Schools for its use of “impractical to transport” designations to deny bus service to 1,000 charter and private school students back in 2024. While the 5-2 ruling ultimately cited a lack of standing on the part of the Ohio Attorney General to bring such a suit, there was also some commentary from the justices that the actual number of impacted individuals was much smaller than originally claimed. It’s just a handful of students unable to get to school; where’s the harm?
Chicago school board flexes its muscle
The elected board of Chicago Public Schools postponed renewal decisions on six of the seven charter schools and networks before them earlier this week. At issue was the length of the renewal terms—mainly four years but one as long as seven years. While some board members prefer the longer terms to help lighten the burdensome process, others believe that shorter terms will allow for greater district oversight over charters. That is, more frequent opportunities to non-renew. Meanwhile, Illinois Senate Bill 4040, which would move two state-authorized charters to the control of their local elected school boards in a pilot project, was approved in the Senate last week. “Giving local school boards and districts a seat at the table promotes progress,” said bill sponsor Sen. Cristina Castro. “We need transparency and accountability to ensure every student has access to high-quality educational opportunities.” It now moves on to the House.
Philly charter school flexes its legal muscle
Philadelphia Montessori Charter School this week filed suit against the Philadelphia School District and its elected board, alleging that their oversight system’s “shifting standards, inconsistent methodologies, and procedures” do not provide “fair notice or a neutral adjudicative structure” for the schools under their control and thus violate Pennsylvania charter law. The move comes just ahead of a scheduled vote on charter renewals by the elected board, several of which were likely to be denied…including Philadelphia Montessori’s. The suit asks for an immediate halt to any charter actions by the board. This will be an important story to watch as it plays out.
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