Federation, company spar over findings

The charter school operator said the teacher union data are wrong and misleading.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Ohio Federation of Teachers wants the state to investigate why the Life Skills Centers charter schools failed to administer mandatory state tests to 84 percent of their students last year.
Tom Mooney, OFT president, called on the state education department, the state auditor and the Ohio General Assembly to examine the performance of the schools run by White Hat Management of Akron, which runs the 16 Life Skills Center schools, including programs in Youngstown and Warren.
White Hat Management, owned by Akron industrialist David Brennan, is Ohio's biggest charter school business and was paid $109 million by the state last year to run 31 charter schools, Mooney said.
State Report Card results for White Hat's 16 Life Skills Center schools, which are diploma schools for high school dropouts, showed that only 6,206 of the 7,411 students listed as enrolled took the Ohio Graduation Test last year, Mooney said.
Mark Thimmig, president of White Hat Management and Life Skills Centers, called the OFT report "grossly inaccurate" and "very misleading."
It follows a pattern of OFT unsubstantiated claims against the charter schools and is really a publicity stunt, Thimmig added.
Life Skills' argument
He contends that 5,214 of Life Skills' 7,411 high school students took various portions of the old five-part Ohio Proficiency Test last year. Students who successfully complete one portion aren't required to take that part of the test again.
Only 1,388 Life Skills students are classified as sophomores by the state (the grade level at which the new Ohio Graduation Test must be taken), but 1,503 Life Skills students took various parts of that test as well, Thimmig said.
Mooney said, however, that Thimmig's numbers are "a smoke screen."
Life Skills' 5,214 students taking proficiency tests last year were really students completing parts of the old ninth-grade proficiency test, which has been replaced with the 10th grade Ohio Graduation Test, Mooney said.
It is the schools, not the state, that determine a student's grade level, and a school can keep a student in ninth grade to avoid having to take the Ohio Graduation Test, Mooney said.
The state education department, which issues the report card results, said the OFT's methodology in determining the data in its report were incorrect.
When the state did its own examination of the numbers, however, it also found that the percentage of Life Skills students taking the OGT test was low.
For example, only 19 of the 76 10th-graders at Life Skills Center of Youngstown, just 25 percent, took the reading and math portions of the test, according to the ODE.
OFT's examination of the numbers showed that just under 24 percent of the local school's students were tested.
"We're very proud of what Life Skills Centers are doing," Thimmig said. Students left behind by traditional education are being educated, he said, noting that the schools have graduated 6,200 seniors over the last five years.
In addition to passing all of the mandatory state testing, Life Skills students must have a job before they are granted a diploma, Thimmig said.
Mooney also questioned Life Skills' enrollment numbers.
Without test results, there's no way to easily determine whether the Life Skills schools have the number of students they claim and are getting subsidies for, he said. He again called on the state superintendent of education and state auditor to do an enrollment audit and enforce mandatory testing.
White Hat works closely with the state and provides information and accountability on enrollment, Thimmig said.
Attendance records are audited, and there have been no adverse audit findings for Life Skills Centers, he said.
The state also audits individual course work and no problems have been found there either, he said.
That data make it clear that students are in the schools, he said.
gwin@vindy.com