Poorly performing charter schools sue Ohio for trying to shut them down
Two Northeast Ohio charter schools run by an out-of-state, for-profit company are suing the state for trying to shut them down, arguing that there are other charter schools performing worse.
The non-elected school boards overseeing Imagine Cleveland Academy and Imagine on Superior, a Canton elementary school enrolling about 140 children, have filed a civil suit in Franklin County against the Ohio Department of Education and its Office of School Sponsorship.
Two attorneys are named as filing the suit, one representing the school boards, and another representing the management company, Imagine Schools, in Arlington, Va.
The lawsuit alleges that the state had not given the charter schools ample time to respond to an “intent to close” letter issued on June 3. The notice permitted five days for the schools to provide a corrective action plan.
The lawsuit also says that the Imagine schools “are providing better educational opportunities than schools [the Ohio Department of Education and Office of School Sponsorship] are not seeking to close.”
When asked what lower performing charter schools the lawsuit might be referring to, Ohio Department of Education spokesman John Charlton said: “I don’t know.”
He did note that the Office of School Sponsorship made the decision to close the charter schools and that “they do operate somewhat independently” of the Ohio Department of Education.
The state-run sponsorship office assumed oversight of the Cleveland and Canton elementary charter schools this year after the Portage County Educational Service Center, their previous sponsor, closed.
Per Ohio law, the state picked up sponsorship for the center’s eight charter schools.
On state tests last year, Imagine on Superior performed worse than 87 percent of Ohio charter schools and Imagine Cleveland Academy scored lower than 75 percent. Each scored in the middle of the state’s charter schools on student growth, or how much a student learns in a year.
Inheriting the schools from another sponsor brought with it complications. The schools had contracts with management companies that could not be automatically broken, even if the academic performance was considered unacceptably low to the new sponsor. However, in the case of the two Imagine schools, the contracts expire June 30.
Charlton said the state followed Ohio law and the ongoing sponsorship agreements to determine that the “overall poor performance” at the schools merited closure.
The state also had moved to close two more of the eight charter schools — Villaview Community School and Cleveland Community School. Each has Poorly performing charter schools sue Ohio for trying to shut them down - Break News - Ohio: