Lawmakers consider changing how state funds online schools

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A legislative committee tasked with figuring out a better way for Ohio to fund online charter schools has started its work and is scheduled to hear more testimony this week.

Republican Sen. Peggy Lehner, of Kettering, co-chairs the committee considering changes to the enrollment-based e-school funding system. She tells The Columbus Dispatch that making the system more dependent on whether students finish courses could shift the focus toward quality learning rather than growing enrollment.

The topic has received extra attention since Ohio's largest e-school, the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, abruptly closed in January amid a dispute over nearly $80 million in public funding.

The state concluded ECOT should repay that because it wasn't justified by student participation data. ECOT has unsuccessfully challenged how that participation was tallied.

Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com