Ohio and its legacy of careless charter schools
This is the year that improved oversight, transparency and accountability come to charter schools in Ohio. State lawmakers finally have taken action to repair a governing system that has become the object of national ridicule, charter schools, many operated by for-profit management firms, tapping into public revenues without delivering adequately in the classroom. Now there is the opportunity for something much better.
This past week, Doug Livingston, the Beacon Journal education writer, reinforced why action was necessary. He reported the story of how state officials miscast what has been happening in Ohio. The information they provided federal investigators was incomplete. Those investigators are looking into whether the state Department of Education has been managing charter schools effectively.
Take the Next Frontier Academy in Akron. As Livingston noted, the charter school closed last year. What he discovered is that state auditors found the records so poorly kept that they couldn’t determine precisely how much public money was squandered. What is known is that the state routed $531,000 to the academy the past three years.
Because of the shabby record-keeping, auditors could not reach firm conclusions about school enrollment and finances. Thus, conveniently enough, the Next Frontier story could not be included in the information sent to federal investigators.
Next Frontier wasn’t alone, the records of other charter schools in similar disarray. That left the state in position to offer a rosier tally of the repayment required of poor performing charter schools.
Livingston also reported that the state proved loose in sharing just how much money was misspent by charter schools. This newspaper already has noted that charter schools are more likely to misspend public money than other government offices, accounting for 70 percent of the misspending during the past two years. Livingston added that the state told federal investigators about $6 million in unpaid audit findings the past seven years, when the actual amount, as reported by the state auditor, is $18.8 million.
Ohio recently won a $71 million grant as part of a federal effort to encourage the development of high-quality charter schools. Federal officials now are reassessing just how deserving the state is, especially in view of a state official, since resigned, who doctored the grades for some charter schools.
In December, the state unveiled a new and improved system for evaluating Ohio and its legacy of careless charter schools - Editorials - Ohio:
