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Charter school performance crisis

The Ohio Department of education finally released their complete set of school ratings data, so we can once again take a look at the performance of traditional public schools and Ohio's charter schools. Keep in mind as you look at these results that charter schools in Ohio cost $54 more per pupil than traditional public schools, and that 90% of the money going to charter schools that are rated in Ohio go from better performing school districts to poorer performing charter schools on the Performance Index.

So, with that in mind, how do these schools stack up against each other?

The answer is, that charters do not stack up well against traditional public schools at all. Less than 10% of Ohio's charter schools rate excellent or better, compared to 54% of Ohio's traditional public schools. Worse still, at the bottom end, almost 40% of Ohio's charter schools are in academic emergency or academic watch, compared with just over 11% of Ohio's traditional public schools.

These results make it very difficult to justify diverting over $820 million from traditional schools delivering a quality education to charter schools delivering failure.

Standards are now so low in some Ohio charter schools that an investigative report by State Impact has found

Can’t pass the Ohio Graduation Tests? No problem, some charter schools say. You can still graduate.

At some Ohio charter schools, if a student can’t pass Ohio’s five graduation exams — in reading, writing, math, science and social studies — the schools enroll them in a series of correspondence courses through an Illinois-based school. The student then earns a high school diploma from the state of Illinois. Illinois does not require students to pass a state test to graduate.

If there's an education crisis in Ohio, it's with Ohio's charter schools first, and most.

Education News for 09-24-2012

State Education News

  • Extent of student-data scandal still unknown (Columbus Dispatch)
  • On a tight departure-and-arrival schedule, principals rotated in and out of the data czar’s office each year…Read more...

  • School districts find organized opposition is increasingly common (Columbus Dispatch)
  • There are some people in Upper Arlington who say that on Nov. 6, they will vote no on the school district’s tax request. That’s not new…Read more...

  • State will measure physical education (Columbus Dispatch)
  • Next year’s state report cards will feature a new measure for Ohio schools: how their students are doing in physical education…Read more...

  • Schools pile up millions in legal bills (Dayton Daily News)
  • Consulting with school attorneys is a necessary but unpredictable expense, local school officials say, that can cost tens of thousands of dollars for a single case…Read more...

  • Superintendents fight Ohio’s ‘Third Grade Guarantee’ (Washington Post)
  • The Chicago teachers strike was the biggest action that we’ve seen against aspects of modern school reform, but people in other places are fighting too. Here’s a report from Ohio…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Coleman to help, not lead, schools (Columbus Dispatch)
  • Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman plans to lend his leadership to the Columbus City Schools, including helping to select a replacement…Read more...

  • 'Brain drain' has attention of educators (Marion Star)
  • Data to support that Marion County residents who graduate from universities and colleges move out of Marion County after they graduate is hard to come by…Read more...

Editorial

  • Better school lunches (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
  • While some kids may groan or even hold lunch boycotts, the United States Department of Agriculture's new focus on fresh fruits and vegetables in school lunches…Read more...

  • Outing evil (Columbus Dispatch)
  • Americans have been shaken in recent years when details have come to light of revered institutions covering up the sexual abuse of children…Read more...

  • Helping hands (Columbus Dispatch)
  • Mayor Michael B. Coleman and City Council President Andrew J. Ginther are stepping up to help the Columbus City School District through a difficult time…Read more...

  • Rejecting test scores as a core value (Los Angeles Times)
  • It wasn't about money. It was about respect. That's what Chicago teachers union president Karen Lewis kept reminding the public…Read more...

Education News for 03-22-2012

Statewide Education News

  • Top school official asks Marion business leaders to help (Marion Star)
  • MARION - Ohio's students should have all the opportunities in the world. Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction Stan Heffner started off his Tuesday speech to the Marion Rotary Club with those thoughts, saying state officials want to make it so. The way to do so, he suggested, is by expecting more from schools. Heffner's talk at the Palace Theatre's May Pavilion outlined those expectations as he said current standards are outdated compared to the knowledge and skills needed today. Read More…

  • Cleveland schools plan not necessarily for other districts (Columbus Dispatch)
  • In a rare display of bipartisanship, Democratic and Republican legislators from both chambers of the General Assembly declared yesterday that they will work together to pass legislation to overhaul the long-troubled Cleveland school district. Gov. John Kasich has held up the plan developed by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson as a possible model for Ohio’s urban districts and perhaps others in the state. Read More…

  • Spare classes that directly affect students, board advised (Newark Advocate)
  • Two classes to be affected by a reduction in force approved by the Granville Board of Education Monday night directly affect students and should be spared, their defenders say. During the public comment section of Monday's meeting, five speakers including two high school students urged that middle-school Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Barb Blatter be retained and a full roster of her classes be taught. Read More…

  • Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's school plan gets show of support from bipartisan group of lawmakers (Plain Dealer)
  • COLUMBUS — A bipartisan cast of Statehouse lawmakers stood with Mayor Frank Jackson Wednesday and pledged to move forward soon with a dramatic reshaping of Cleveland public schools through legislation. While the lawmakers, including two Cleveland Democrats -- Sen. Nina Turner and Rep. Sandra Williams -- stopped short of fully embracing Jackson's school plan, they sounded ready to shake up the status quo. Read More…

Local Issues

  • Lake school board approves staff layoffs, closing of elementary (Toledo Blade)
  • Second-grade teacher Brooke Schulte, her voice quivering slightly, said she wasn't angry that she just lost her job and she still supported Lake Local Schools. Parent Jamie Blazevich wanted her 5-year-old son in all-day kindergarten next year so she plans to enroll him somewhere else, now that Lake's full-time kindergarten is gone. The two women were among several who spoke out Wednesday night as the school board unanimously approved closing Walbridge Elementary next school year and laying off eight teachers and 17 other employees. Read More…

  • State’s new graduate-rate method concerns Youngstown schools’ chief (Youngstown Vindicator)
  • Youngstown - Among the changes on the upcoming state report cards for school districts is an alteration in the graduate rate. The modification calculates the rate based on how many students graduate in four years or less after entering high school. Previously, the rate was based on an estimate of how many 12th-graders graduate. For Youngstown schools, the rate on the most recent report card would have been 58 percent, compared with about 68 percent based on the previous rate. Superintendent Connie Hathorn is concerned about the change. Read More…

  • Northridge school district to buy modular units for fourth, fifth grades (Newark Advocate)
  • JOHNSTOWN - Northridge will keep its existing modular units for its fourth- and fifth-grade students, after exploring options that ranged from consolidation to building a new, more permanent structure. The board voted, 4-1, to buy the existing intermediate school for $485,000 -- which should be paid off within four years -- instead of the permanent structure that would have cost up to $1.6 million, spread out during a 15-year loan. The district will continue paying $10,274 per month to rent the units. Read More…