Charter school 'experiment' is short-circuited in Ohio

Charter schools were touted by their supporters in the Ohio General Assembly as an experiment that would lead to better educational opportunities for Ohio students, but this is turning out to be a strange kind of experiment.
By definition, an experiment should discover whether something is effective, workable or valid.
Yet, while there are no definite data to indicate charter schools have had any more success in educating Ohio youngsters than the state's most challenged urban schools in the five years since they were authorized, the Legislature is forging ahead. One of the last things the Ohio Senate did this year was to double the number of charter schools that can operate in the state.
This was done as part of a bill that was supposed to overhaul the state's charter school system. It did far more expanding than overhauling.
Deleted from the bill at the last minute was language the Ohio Education Department wanted outlining academic and organizational expectations for one of the most controversial segments of the charter school movement, online schools.
Too much to ask
A Senate committee stripped the rules from the bill before the full Senate approved it. The state Board of Education approved the guidelines in July and asked the Legislature to make them enforceable by putting them in the law. Apparently, regulations promulgated in July are viewed as last-minute provisions, because Senate Education Committee Chairman Robert Gardner said lawmakers did not have enough time to discuss the proposals.
So online schools will continue to get nearly $5,000 for every kid they say they are providing with a computer, a phone line and some curriculum, with virtually no oversight. The regulations would have required some face-to-face meetings between teachers and students and would have prohibited e-schools from receiving payment until they actually provided a student with a computer and got him or her online.
Legislators did, however, manage to raise the number of charter schools that can operate in Ohio to 225, and they expanded the school districts in which charters can operate from the 21 urban districts or those in "academic emergency" to any district that is under "academic watch."
The General Assembly has consistently shown itself to be more enthusiastic about expanding than overseeing charter schools in the state. It suggests that some legislators are more interested in pursuing their own anti-public school agenda than in providing educational alternatives for Ohio students.