Ohio auditor rival would assess charter funding

COLUMBUS (AP) — The Democratic candidate for state auditor has outlined the policy goals he would pursue if elected.

At a news conference today, state Rep. John Patrick Carney, of Columbus, said his priority would be to increase transparency.

That includes increasing the amount of information available on the state auditor’s website and instituting annual assessments of the fiscal impacts of publicly-funded charter schools on traditional districts that he’d make widely available.

Carney is challenging first-term Republican Auditor Dave Yost, a former journalist and county prosecutor.

Yost has used the office to investigate attendance tampering in Ohio’s public schools and to audit Gov. John Kasich’s privatized economic-development office, JobsOhio.

Carney also proposes establishing a rapid-response audit division for serious allegations of waste, fraud and abuse.