Senate bill would close poor-performing charter schools

By Marc Kovac

news@vindy.com

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Senate OK’d a charter-reform package Thursday aimed at shuttering poor-performing schools and opening charter contracts and details about academic performance to greater public scrutiny.

The early-evening vote of 30-0 on House Bill 2 included support from Republican and Democratic members, who called the proposed package a right step toward greater charter accountability. The legislation still requires concurrence by the Ohio House on Senate amendments.

Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Boardman, D-33rd, said, “I think that this bill is a significant step in the right direction to help not only the students in the city of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley but students and children all across the state. Accountability and transparency is key and we need to continue to work on this issue.”

Sen. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, who spearheaded the Senate’s work on charter reform, said. “It is our hope that putting forth basic standards of good governance will allow our charter-school sector to concentrate on improving student learning and living up to the original promise of charter schools,” said. HB 2 includes requirements for charter-school sponsors, governing boards and operators.

Among other provisions, the bill would block poorly performing charters from switching sponsors and poorly performing sponsors from sponsoring other charter locations.

The legislation would require increased disclosure of charter contracts, facility costs, attendance policies and other details of their operation.

The state education department would have to annually rate charter sponsors on academic performance and other compliance issues and publish lists of charters that have closed since 2011 and other details of the schools.

The final bill is a combination of the original House-passed legislation, provisions outlined in separate Senate legislation, and language that was included in Gov. John Kasich’s executive budget proposal.

The passage caps a year of work by lawmakers and interested parties to develop a package of law changes to reform charter governance.

“Ohio’s charter school laws, which have been among the first in the nation ever passed, were inadequate and incomplete,” Lehner said. “And as a result, many charter schools were allowed to function and operate without the controls and guidelines that they needed.”

Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina, said he expected the bill to end up in a conference committee of the two chambers to hash out differences.