OHIO AUDITOR WANTS TO KEEP FELONS OFF CHARTER SCHOOL BOARDS

Republican state Auditor Dave Yost asked state lawmakers Jan. 29 to move legislation to block convicted felons from serving on boards that oversee charter schools.

Yost offered the recommendation in a letter to Sen. Peggy Lehner (R-Kettering), who heads the Senate Education Committee, after determining "board members who served at Ohio's community schools [had] a variety of felony convictions -- ranging from forgery and receiving stolen property to violent crimes, such as breaking and entering, attempted murder and kidnapping."

He cited a couple examples of former board members with felony convictions, providing Lehner with court documents from Franklin County about the individuals' past crimes.

Yost has been publicly calling for increased oversight of charter schools. Earlier this month, he released a report showing attendance at selected charter schools, checked by auditors during surprise visits, was well below enrollment reported to the state.

This week, he disclosed his office was completing other charter school checks, including a special audit of community schools that received public support but never opened or closed within a year.

"The key questions in Ohio are accountability, regulation and governance of the community schools," Yost said during a panel discussion in Columbus Jan. 29. "… We're talking with the Legislature about a lot of things that need to be fixed."

(Read more at Twinsburg Bulletin)

Coalition urges the sponsor of the Horizon Science Academy charter schools to pull support by Feb. 1 deadline

Several state organizations want a Columbus non-profit to pull the plug on the Horizon Science Academy charter schools that have been the subject of employee complaints and state and FBI investigations.

The Ohio PTA, the Ohio Federation of Teachers and the Policy Matters Ohio think tank were among the groups calling this morning for the Buckeye Community Hope Foundation to withdraw support for 11 Horizon and Noble Academy charter schools this week, in time for the state's Feb. 1 deadline.

"Our understanding of state law is that you must inform the schools that you are not renewing their charters by February 1," the groups said in a letter to Buckeye "We ask that you take this step immediately."

All of the schools belong to the Concept charter school network that operates in the Midwest. Concept, in turn, is one of several charter systems affiliated with the Gulen movement that has attracted scrutiny nationwide.

The groups want Buckeye, the "sponsor" or authorizer of the schools, to not renew its contract with the schools. That would force the schools to find another sponsor – a state-approved agency that allow charters to operate while providing oversight of them.

(Read more at Cleveland.com)

Stiffen rules for charter schools

When Ohio legislators agreed to give charter schools a try, complete with public funding, the idea was to provide an alternative to failing public schools. But Buckeye State residents who have kept a close eye on charter schools may well be wondering whether they are getting no more than the same old, same old.

Allegations of mismanagement against some charters are nothing new. Now, state Auditor Dave Yost is wondering whether some of the institutions are guilty of precisely the same conduct that has landed public school officials in hot water.

Earlier this month, former Columbus school Superintendent Gene Harris was sentenced to community service and a $750 fine after pleading no contest to a dereliction of duty charge linked to a scandal in her district. It was found district reports to the state Department of Education were being doctored on various subjects, including school attendance. Officials in some other school systems have faced similar allegations.

Yost has revealed "unusually high" discrepancies between actual and reported attendance at about one-fourth of the 30 charter schools where unannounced checks were made by his staff. In other words, the same thing that caused a scandal in public schools may be happening in some charters.

(Read more at advertiser-tribune.com.

Ohio charter schools may be charging taxpayers for empty seats; Akron’s White Hat among those cited

Thirty auditors fanned out across Ohio last fall to count the students sitting in 30 charter schools and compare totals with the numbers those schools claimed in order to receive taxpayer dollars.

In a school in Youngstown, they found zero students, though the school had received enough state aid to educate 152. Dropout recovery schools operated by Akron-based White Hat Management were among the worst.

“I was shocked to find that 50 percent [attendance] seems to be the average” among one particular type of school, said State Auditor Dave Yost, who launched the “old-school” investigation because of recent allegations that charter schools might be inflating enrollment figures.

Yost, a Republican, held a news conference at the statehouse Thursday to announce the findings that create yet one more blemish on Ohio’s $1 billion charter school sector.

The report follows failed proposals by minority House and Senate Democrats who want to reform charter schools. It also comes amid a Republican Senator’s efforts to rewrite Ohio’s charter school law and landed in Columbus a week before supporters descend upon the state capital to celebrate School Choice Week.

(Read more at Ohio.com)

Columbus Charter School Teachers Seek to Join OEA, Would Become First Unionized Charter School in Central Ohio

Educators and staff at the Franklinton Preparatory Academy (FPA) today informed management of their collective and historic decision to form their own union. The Franklinton Preparatory Academy Educators Association (FPAEA) would be the first union at a central Ohio charter school and will be affiliated with the 121,000 members of the Ohio Education Association. The group will file authorization cards with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on behalf of the overwhelming majority of educators and non-management staff at the school. This triggers an NLRB-supervised election to certify FPAEA as the exclusive bargaining representative, which should take place within 42 days.

The decision of educators and staff to seek representation was inspired by the mission of the Franklinton Preparatory Academy, namely the “premise that all students, irrespective of differences, can learn at high levels and graduate from high school.” As advocates for their students and community, the aspiring FPAEA members will press for comprehensive school safety, adequate educational resources for students, and professional respect.

“Educators, whether they work in a charter or traditional public school, are thoroughly committed to the success of their students,” said Becky Higgins, president of the OEA. “We look forward to welcoming the educators and staff at the Franklinton Preparatory Academy into our union, and working with them to carry on our tradition of improving education and the lives of Ohio's students.”

FPA educators and staff embrace the school’s mission of building “trusting relationships within and among the members of our learning community” and look forward to a mutually respectful and cooperative relationship with FPA administration as they work towards a first union contract.

Head count shows 'unusually high' discrepancies at charter schools

When state auditors made a surprise visit to a Youngstown charter school, they found staff members but no students. Not one.

The students, auditors were told, had been dismissed at 12:30 p.m. after taking a practice graduation test. The Academy for Urban Scholars Youngstown said it had 95 students.

A report released yesterday by Ohio Auditor Dave Yost found significantly lower attendance at half of the 30 charter schools where auditors conducted unannounced head counts this past fall.

The report raises questions about whether the schools receive more tax money than they are entitled because the state relies on student enrollment — reported by the schools — to calculate aid. The privately operated, publicly funded schools get nearly $6,000 per student each year.

“I’m really kind of speechless of everything that I found. It’s quite a morass,” Yost said during a Statehouse news conference.

Among those with the widest gap was Capital High School, 640 Harrisburg Pike, Columbus. The school reported 298 students; auditors counted 142, fewer than half.

School officials did not return a call from The Dispatch yesterday; however, they told auditors that their average daily attendance was 55 to 60 percent, fairly consistent with what investigators found.

Gateway Academy on Kimberly Parkway North in Columbus reported 100 students but auditors counted 52, with 20 students absent.

“They came during lunch, and we only had two classes” in session. Many students were at lunch, some outside the building, said Hydia Green, Gateway principal and superintendent. “To get a true count in my building, you need to come after lunch.”

Classes start at 7:30 a.m. at the school serving students in grades 7 to 12, but many arrive late. To accommodate them and others, the school offers blended learning, in which students can get their lessons online, Green said.

Ohio has about 300 charter schools. Of the 30 examined,

16 had enrollment discrepancies of more than 10 percent.

(Read more at the Dispatch)