Charter schools: Public schools doing well

Youngstown says it spends more than it gets when pupils go to charter schools.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — A study done by an Ohio charter schools organization claims that Ohio’s Big Eight urban school districts — including Youngstown — have more resources to educate children today than they had 12 years ago.

The study dispels assertions by opponents of school choice programs that charter schools and voucher programs drain public school revenues, said the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

The study, “Shattering the Myth: An Analysis of the Impact of Charter and Voucher Students on School Finances in Ohio’s Big Eight Urban School District,” “clearly discredits complaints from the traditional education bureaucracy and their supporters that vital revenues are being funneled from struggling traditional schools into choice schools,” said Bill Sims, president and CEO of OAPCS.

“In fact the opposite is true — school districts have fatter budgets today than ever before, even when adjusted for inflation,” he said.

An analysis of state data by Keip Government Solutions found that total spending rose 29.6 percent in the Youngstown city schools over that 12-year period between 1995, when charter schools were first allowed in Ohio, and 2007.

Spending per pupil rose by 106.6 percent over that period (74.2 percent adjusted for inflation), the study said.

For all Big 8 schools (Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown), the numbers were a 25.8 decline in enrollment, a 41.4 percent increase in total spending and a 90.9 percent jump in per-pupil spending (58.4 percent adjusted for inflation).

Keip Government Solutions is a consulting firm providing economic analysis to companies and trade associations that interact with Ohio government.

When a student leaves a public school for a charter or voucher program, only the state-directed portion of public funds allocated for that child’s education follows that student. The locally directed portion remains with the school district, according to OAPCS.

The district loses the responsibility and cost to educate that child and, as a result, the dollars available per child to educate the remaining children in the public school increase, OAPCS said.

“School funding is a shell game,” said Dr. Wendy Webb, superintendent of the Youngstown schools, disputing OAPCS claims.

Youngstown gets a state subsidy of $3,035 per child but must send a check for $5,100 for each child entering a charter school, she said.

“Where does the difference come from?” she asked, suggesting that it comes from local revenues raised by the district. The amount a district must forward to a charter school is determined by a formula looking at the “average” amount the district spends on its pupils, she said.

“All I know is, we get less from the state than the check we have to write out,” Webb said.

The OAPCS study shows that Youngstown’s enrollment over the 12-year period dropped 37 percent from 12,257 to 7,693 while total district spending rose by nearly 30 percent from $88.2 million to $114.3 million.

Per-pupil spending in the district rose from $7,192 to $14,862.

Webb said the per-pupil cost is dropping dramatically as Youngstown imposes budget cuts in an effort to help resolve a $15 million budget deficit last year. Cuts so far have totaled $19 million a year and more are proposed.

Webb said Youngstown’s per-pupil cost is now down to about $9,700 per year.

If school choice ended tomorrow and those children returned to their original public schools, the additional cost to taxpayers would total more than $300 million a year in the eight urban districts alone, assuming that current per-pupil spending levels are maintained, OAPCS said.

Youngstown’s additional cost would be about $18.5 million a year, as 26 percent (about 2,700) of its students are in choice programs, OAPCS said.

gwin@vindy.com