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Thursday, December 24, 2015

State funding of charter schools causing woes for public schools - The Jackson County Times-Journal: News

State funding of charter schools causing woes for public schools - The Jackson County Times-Journal: News:

State funding of charter schools causing woes for public schools



 JACKSON— There was a brief discussion during a Jackson Board of Education meeting regarding the downfalls of charter or community schools, some of which are online programs.


According to Jackson City Schools Superintendent Phil Howard the Jackson City School District has lost $3,578,324.99 since 2003 because of children going to charter schools. Money that could have gone into Jackson’s coffers.
To prove the negative impact charter schools have on the public school systems Howard indicated they sent a bill to the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) for the amount lost since 2003. While Howard doesn’t expect any type of payment for the bill, he implied the gesture would show the ODE just how much funding public school districts are losing because of charter schools.
Howard said there is a huge movement of districts coming together in opposition of charter schools. Their main philosophy is that public school districts are paid for with tax dollars, but those same tax payers should not also have to pay for charter schools.
Those districts opposing charter schools feel that parents should pay for their children to go to charter schools if they choose to take them out of the public school system.
Howard said the districts involved in the movement want to get the attention of legislators so that some type of reform can be done regarding the way the state handles the charter schools.
The impact of charter or community schools in the Wellston City School District and the Oak Hill Union Local Schools is just as detrimental.
In 2003, the Wellston City School (WCS) District lost $64,695 to community schools compared to $260,552 this year. Karen Boch the superintendent of WCS stated, “Since 2003, we have lost approximately $3.1 million dollars. Obviously, this is detrimental to the district as it pulls resources from our students.”
Boch said most of the students go to the Electronic Classroom Of Tomorrow (ECOT), and it is frustrating because while the state is working to tighten up accountability, the standards aren’t the same.
“Students can return to their home district at any time, which we welcome, Boch continued, “However, what we often find, is that the students often return with lower academic function than when they left the district.”
Boch wanted it understood, however, that it was not her intention to just target ECOT in regards to the lower academic functioning, it was just one example she used to clarify her point.
Mirroring what Boch said, Michael A. McCoy, the superintendent of The Oak Hill Union Local School District stated, “The Community School Deduction hits us much like Open Enrollment when a student chooses to attend another school and reside in our district. Although less money is never a good thing, and it effects the programs and services we provide to our students, the main objection I have is that we are providing public monies (state & local) to a “For Profit Business” that, more often than not, provides very poor educational opportunities to the students with little or no accountability or oversight.”
McCoy said the community schools play by a completely different set of rules than public schools when serving regular education students and special needs students. And many times, those students come back to the public school system after time in the community schools having made no education progress.
McCoy provided a list of community school deductions dating back to 2003, showing how large the financial impact is on his public school district. In 2003, Oak Hill lost $37,353; 2004 Oak Hill lost $96,932; 2005 they lost $76,149; 2006 they lost $87,836; 2007 Oak Hill lost $157,588; 2008 they lost $163,170; 2009 Oak Hill lost $203,825; 2010 they lost $196,502; 2011 they lost $216,712; 2012 Oak Hill lost $244,544; 2013 Oak Hill lost $209,591; 2014 Oak Hill lost $201,160; and in 2015 Oak Hill lost $226,554; for a total of $2,339,458.
This there is a lot of money being pulled from the public school coffers, which explains why many of the districts are pushing for legislation that would force parents and the private institutions to claim more financial responsibility.State funding of charter schools causing woes for public schools - The Jackson County Times-Journal: News: