Critics Of Charter Schools Say Ohio Supreme Court Ruling Raises Political Questions
The Ohio Supreme Court decision that nearly a hundred million dollars in equipment bought by charter school operators with tax money belongs to those operators and not to the schools has raised more anger against the industry.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed by 10 Northeast Ohio charter schools against the for-profit management company they had contracted with, Akron-based White Hat Management. Seven of the 10 schools had serious academic problems during White Hat’s time in charge.
But five Ohio Supreme Court justices said that didn’t matter. They agreed that the contracts between the charter schools and White Hat were enforceable, so the charters were obliged to buy back school equipment that White Hat bought with state money. And the court didn’t rule at all on the use of public money, on transparency or on academic performance involving charter schools or operators.
Republican strategist Mark Weaver teaches law at Ohio State and the University of Akron, and also represents some charter schools, though not the ones in this case. He says the justices were correct in dealing just with the contractual issues and kicking the other questions back to state lawmakers.
“The Legislature has created the community or charter school system which allows operators to make a profit,” Weaver said. “And for those who get upset about that, remember Uber – they make a profit, but they wind up helping consumers along the way. Apple makes a profit but all of us have benefited from that. And lawmakers have said, ‘Let’s experiment with charter schools and see if we can give parents more choices.’”
While many were hoping the decision would more clearly define laws on charter schools and operators, others say this is what they expected.
Sandy Theis is the executive director of ProgressOhio, which has long been critical of Ohio’s charter-school industry.
“I wasn’t surprised at all by the ruling, and I think it just confirms what we’ve known all along" Theis said. "And that is that the worst performing charter schools own all three branches of state government.”
Theis says Gov. John Kasich has taken no leadership to clean up charter schools, and state lawmakers have been sitting on a charter-school reform bill.
“And now we have the judicial branch that basically says one of the worst Critics Of Charter Schools Say Ohio Supreme Court Ruling Raises Political Questions | WVXU:
