For-profit management firm founded by David Brennan has too much power, boards say
By John Higgins
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Tuesday, May 18, 2010
The governing boards of 10 Ohio charter schools are challenging the legality of the state law regulating the for-profit corporation that operates their schools, Akron-based White Hat Management.
In a suit filed Monday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, the school boards argue the law is unconstitutional because it gives too much power to White Hat, one of the largest charter school operators in the nation.
The company was founded by David Brennan, a prominent Akron businessman and Republican donor.
The suit charges that White Hat lobbied the state legislature for changes to the charter school law in 2006 that made it possible for White Hat to fire any school board that tries to sever ties with the management company.
Nor is it financially feasible for a charter school to switch operators because White Hat's contracts state that it owns the school's property, furniture and equipment — even though they were all paid for with tax dollars, according to the complaint.
''Essentially, White Hat created an educational model where tax dollars flow to the private corporation with little room for oversight or control by the schools' governing bodies,'' said a news release accompanying the filing of the lawsuit. ''Further, the law makes White Hat's receipt of tax dollars hard to stop.''