Tuesday, November 29, 2005
At the heart of the debate is whether such institutions violate the constitution.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Almost half of the $441 million the state is expected to pay charter schools this year will go to schools with Ohio's lowest academic rating, including three large online institutions serving almost 9,000 pupils.
The money spent on publicly funded, privately run charter schools and the grades their pupils achieve are at the heart of a battle reaching the state Supreme Court today over whether the schools violate the constitution.
A coalition of teachers unions and other educators sued Ohio in 2001 over the state's charter school law, under which the alternative schools have grown from 15 in 1998 to 250 this year.
Proponents argue that competition created by charter schools helps improve education for all children. They say that traditional districts aren't getting the job done anymore and charter schools provide useful options.
Opponents of Ohio's charter school law say the schools pull needed dollars from public districts while failing to serve children.
They want the Ohio Supreme Court to declare the law unconstitutional and order more local control of the schools, such as placing them under elected school boards.
Ohio plans to pay about $194 million to 79 charter schools this year that were in academic emergency last year, the state's lowest rating for districts, according to a review of state data by The Associated Press. Of those, 56 have been in existence at least two years.
By contrast, only five of 612 traditional public districts were in academic emergency last year.
Three examples
Columbus-based Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, with an estimated 5,958 pupils, will receive about $36 million in state funding this year.
Virtual Community School of Ohio, based in suburban Columbus, has 1,046 pupils and will receive about $7 million. Marion-based TRECA Digital Academy, with 713 pupils, will receive $6 million. All are in academic emergency.
Charter opponents say the schools violate the constitutional requirement of a common system of schools because they are privately operated and lack school board control.
They also argue the schools funnel tax dollars to schools statewide without approval by local taxpayers and perform poorly.
"The community school program was supposed to promote educational innovation," Don Mooney, the opponents' attorney, argued in court papers. "But the 'experiment' has been a disaster for the parents and children drawn in by the aggressive marketing of Ohio's educational 'entrepreneurs.'"
Backers say the schools are part of the public education system because they are publicly funded, under state jurisdiction -- like traditional public schools -- and subject to statewide academic standards.
"The governor, General Assembly and State Board of Education have the power to implement the public school system that they believe will best serve Ohio's schoolchildren," said Chad Readler, an attorney representing several charter schools.
TRECA Digital, established in 2001, offers online classes to pupils in all grades across Ohio. The school is sponsored by Tri-Rivers Joint Vocational School District.
The school also works with several other districts to help operate their own online charter schools.
TRECA's test scores will rise as pupils and teachers become accustomed to the concept, said executive director Mike Carder.
"It's going to take some maturing for the program, for the curriculum, for the staff, for the students, for the whole gamut, to really grow where it needs to be to be attractive to the right student," Carder said Monday.