Feds won’t give charters in Ohio a passing grade

A month ago, we wondered in this space if a law passed by the Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly to clamp down on the scandal-ridden charter school system would impress the federal government.

We now know the answer. The legislative action has not succeeded in persuading the U.S. Department of Education that a $71 million federal grant for charters should be given free and clear.

Thus, Washington has placed a “hold” on the grant that was awarded in September with much fanfare. That means the state must receive explicit approval from the U.S. Education Department before it can spend any of the federal money.

According to the Washington Post, a letter from the department to Richard Ross, superintendent of public instruction, stated “the Department has received additional information that raises continuing concerns regarding [the Ohio Department of Education’s] ability to administer its CSP SEA grant properly, particularly in the areas of oversight and accountability.”

It is noteworthy that the charter- reform bill passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. John R. Kasich, a candidate for the Republican nomination for president, aims to impose accountability and reporting requirements on the long dysfunctional charter school system.

The law is intended to make it easier for high-performing charter operators to expand, while labeling the worst ones “poor,” and it will forbid “sponsor-hopping” by underperforming charter operators.

As we noted in last month’s editorial, it seems Republican legislators, who have heretofore shown little interest in forcing charter schools to adhere to the same stringent rules and regulations that apply to public schools, have seen the light. To be sure, the light emanated from the blistering national news coverage of Ohio’s troubled, scandal-ridden charter school industry.

Press attention

The Washington Post has published several stories focusing on the extent of the problems plaguing the industry.

Yet, the $71 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education was the largest one in the country.

Consider this paragraph from the Post story detailing the myriad problems that have subjected Ohio’s charters to national derision and ridicule:

“The state has had charter school scandals involving fraud, poor academic performance, oversight failures and the July resignation of a senior official at the state education department after it was discovered he manipulated performance statistics to favor some charters.”

The official, David Hansen, was responsible for writing Ohio’s application for the federal grant. Hansen resigned as the state’s Education School Choice director after admitting that he excluded F grades from evaluations of charter-school sponsors of online and dropout-recovery schools.

Ohio Auditor David Yost, who has long been critical of the lack of oversight of the charter school system, and the state’s inspector general have received tens of thousands of documents relating to the Hansen controversy.

Nonetheless, we have called for an independent investigation to determine if Hansen acted alone or was following orders from higher-ups.

Hansen is married to Beth Hansen, who served as Gov. Kasich’s chief of staff and is now involved in his presidential campaign.

It also is noteworthy that Ross last week announced his intention to retire at the end of next month. There had been calls by critics of the charter school system for his resignation in the wake of the Hansen data-rigging revelations. Ross has denied knowledge of his underling’s activities.

It is abundantly clear that the federal government’s decision to require the state to get permission before spending any of the $71 million is appropriate and justified.

We have long criticized the charter school industry in Ohio, which has received an unearned pass from the GOP. For years, charter school owners and operators have contributed almost exclusively to Republican candidates and have benefited greatly from that investment.

Thus, we fully support the federal clampdown on Ohio’s charter industry.