Charter school funding in the biennial budget
ABC6 recently visited Columbus Collegiate Academy (CCA) to learn more about charter school funding. In their coverage, they explore how charters like CCA keep their costs down and still manage to perform very well academically. They also look at the potential for additional charter school funding in the state’s biennial budget.
A new online charter school to open in Ohio
A new online charter school, The Ohio Digital Learning School (ODLS), is set to open this fall. It will serve as a dropout prevention and recovery school for students in grades 9-12 (ages 16-21). ODLS is authorized by the Ohio Council of Community Schools. The school plans to provide students who are struggling academically with programs like self-improvement workshops designed to address students’ individual challenges.
Charter schools shouldn’t be a scapegoat for districts’ financial distress
Nathan Barrett, senior director of research and evaluation at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS), wrote a story that appeared in The 74 this week. Barrett discusses how anti-charter arguments assume that districts already do everything possible to improve student outcomes. According to Barrett, “There are certainly things they can do to get their own house in order before we tear down a system [public charter schools] that has provided opportunities to families who desperately want them.”
Legislative update
The House Education Committee met this week and heard testimony on bills that deal with school security and health standards. You can access testimony from the House here. The Senate also unanimously passed HB 166, the biennial state budget. The measure contains significant policy changes around charter school closure, sponsor evaluations, graduation requirements, and state report cards. You can find the Legislative Service Commission education comparison document here. The budget now heads to conference committee where differences between the chambers will be ironed out before the budget is signed into law (likely prior to July 1).
