Charter research, and follow up
The Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University (a.k.a. CREDO) recently released a nationwide report showing that, overall, charter schools outperformed their traditional district counterparts between 2015 and 2019. Ohio was included in the analysis, but CREDO’s methodology can obscure the great work brick-and-mortar charters are doing as their results are combined with virtual charters. In a recent piece, Ohio State University professor Stéphane Lavertu notes how Ohio’s results do not compare smoothly with other states’ sectors and that the huge turnaround in Ohio’s charter quality was not adequately captured in CREDO’s analysis. When looking at general education brick-and-mortar charters, we see that Ohio’s charter sector outperforms districts. An opinion piece by the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal published this week lauded the overall strong showing by charters nationwide and in Ohio, noting Dr. Lavertu’s study.
Ohio’s budget bill
The state budget bill was approved by the Senate yesterday, and its version sent to the House for consideration. Among the proposals in the Senate bill are big changes to education governance, universal voucher eligibility, and millions more dollars for schools writ large. This includes Ohio’s charter schools, which could see their funding come closer to parity with district schools than it has ever been. If signed into law, high-quality charters would receive boosts in their per pupil aid and all brick-and-mortar charters would receive a modest $400 per pupil equity supplement. Additionally, brick-and-mortar charters would see a doubling of facility funding, as proposed by the governor and approved by both chambers. A conference committee between House and Senate likely awaits before the final budget is sent to the governor.
Football camp
KIPP Columbus’s Legacy Field was the site of a one-day football camp for local youth last week, hosted by Ohio State University’s J.T. Tuimoloau. The All-American defensive end said he wanted to offer the same type of football camp he attended as a kid, hosted by NFL pros, that fired his dream of playing football back then. From the news coverage and accompanying video clips, it seems that the event was a huge success. Kudos!
The view from other states
West Virginia’s Supreme Court ruled this week that a 2021 lower court decision to temporarily stop charter school application approvals in the Mountain State was erroneous and needlessly delayed the state’s Professional Charter School Board in launching the first charters in the state. Meanwhile, legislators in North Carolina are working to create a similar board approval process and to move charter approval away from the state board of education. A bill to do just that passed out of the Senate’s education committee earlier this week on its way to a vote in the full Senate.
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