New York Times on Ohio's charter meltdown
Political twist: this article acknowledges the degree of support for charters among Democrats, though it makes clear that their main advocacy comes from the right. But it's really about charters that don't serve kids. It also doesn't go into the rampant theft and fraud by Ohio charter operators, which is evident if you follow the news day by day.
New York Times: Ohio Goes After Charter Schools That Are Failing
Nov. 8, 2007
By Sam Dillon
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio became a test tube for the nation’s charter school movement during a decade of Republican rule here, when a wide-open authorization system and plenty of government seed money led to the schools’ explosive proliferation.
But their record has been spotty. This year, the state’s school report card gave more than half of Ohio’s 328 charter schools a D or an F.
Now its Democratic governor and attorney general, elected when Democrats won five of Ohio’s six top posts last November, are cracking down on the schools, which receive public money but are run by independent operators. And across the country, charter school advocates are watching nervously, fearful the backlash could spread.
Attorney General Marc Dann is suing to close three failing charter schools and says he is investigating dozens of others. It is the first effort by any attorney general to close low-performing charter schools.
Gov. Ted Strickland said he wanted to carry out his own crackdown.
"Perhaps somewhere, charter schools have been implemented in a defensible manner, where they have provided quality," he said. "But the way they’ve been implemented in Ohio has been shameful. I think charter schools have been harmful, very harmful, to Ohio students."
Labels: Charters
3 Comments:
Ohio? Is that in SF?
no.... but it IS close enough to cause ire in the souls of the charter-bashers...
i feel as if i should post every negative blurb on unified school districts in the country ( or at least california & ohio)
The problems that can occur in schools that follow few regulations and get little oversight don't change when they cross the state line.
One difference is that Ohio officials ARE now giving charter schools some oversight. The major problems in California charter schools have been exposed by the press -- not by any regulators -- though much of the press is still in thrall to the charter movement's powerful PR machine.
As I noted in the PASA charter page copy:
Looting, fraud, misconduct and abuse can happen at schools of all types. But as the Uprep scandal and many others have demonstrated, charters open up a whole new income stream for crooks and thieves, and a new hunting ground for predators and abusers. Charter crooks have stolen millions and millions of dollars form California schoolchildren.
http://www.pasasf.org/charters/charters.html
The charter movement has all the money, all the power and all the political might on its side -- and the PR muscle to still portray itself as the embattled outsider underdog. So it's kind of funny to gripe about charter-bashers.
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