Ohio is the "Wild, Wild West" of charter schools, says national group promoting charter standards | cleveland.com

Ohio is the "Wild, Wild West" of charter schools, says national group promoting charter standards | cleveland.com:

Ohio is the "Wild, Wild West" of charter schools, says national group promoting charter standards

 CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio is taking good steps to rein in its "Wild, Wild West" of charter schools, but time will tell if the state has the backbone to make its rules stick.

Alex Medler of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), said that national observers look at Ohio as having a free-for-all in who is allowed to "authorize" new charter schools – help create them, oversee them, help them improve and (rarely) close them when needed.

NACSA  promotes charter schools and the school choice movement, while also wanting authorizing agencies  – like school districts, state or city panels, colleges and non-profits – to do a better job of making sure schools provide solid educations to children.

The Plain Dealer had a chance to hear Medler single out Ohio - without prompting - at a conference in Nashville, Tenn., this spring. We talked with him further after his panel and then by phone later for more of his organization's view on charter schools here.

Ohio has recently used NACSA's model standards for charter authorizers in setting its own standards for authorizers – called "sponsors" here. But Medler said that Ohio has gone so long without strong standards that it will take time to raise the bar.

 "Ohio has a real quality control problem," Medler said. "Ohio's more broken than the Wild West."

Why is that?

Ohio has too many authorizers, for a start, Medler said.

Ohio had 69 separate agencies authorizing schools in 2012-13, making it a national Ohio is the "Wild, Wild West" of charter schools, says national group promoting charter standards | cleveland.com:

National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) Group: 1 in 5 charter schools not doing well enough to stay open

A group that oversees more than half of the nation's 5,600 charter schools said
 as many as one in five U.S. charter schools should be shut down because of 
poor academic performance. 
http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019784379_charterschools29.html