Local Activist Exposes How Ohio Charter Funding Undermines Traditional Public Schools
Susie Kaeser, a long-time public school supporter and activist in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, just researched the way Ohio funds its public schools and siphons local as well as state funds away from public school districts to pay for children attending charter schools. She has published her conclusions in a local community paper, The Heights Observer.
Her lucid explanation is shocking. It is amazing what we can choose not to see and what the press continues to avoid pointing out.
“Each year the legislature determines the funding level for charter students and those in traditional public schools. According to a 2013 Department of Education report, the funding level for every charter student was set at $5,732. By contrast, state funding for traditional public school students is specific to the school district they attend, based on the property wealth of each district. Because I live in the Cleveland Heights–University Heights City School District, I thought I’d focus on its funding. According to CH-UH treasurer Scott Gainer, our per-pupil allocation in 2012–13 was $1,741, or just 30 percent of the amount promised to charter students.
“Not only do charter students receive more state funds than their public school peers, but the
