Bill Phillis of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy here contrasts the governing structure of public schools and charter schools. The implicit questions: how transparent is their governing structure? How “public” are charter schools?
“Governance of school districts compared to governance of charter schools.
“School district board members are visible and scrutinized when they run for a seat on the board. They are visible and accessible to the public at well-publicized board meetings and on a 24/7 basis in their respective communities. The Secretary of State provides pertinent information about school district board members on a published statewide roster. This accountability and transparency of the lives and actions of board members are appropriate and essential.
“But, what is the level of accountability and transparency of charter school board members? No statewide roster. In some school communities, one-fourth or more of the students are enrolled in charter schools, but there is no community-wide roster of charter school board members.
“Three new board members in Columbus were recently featured in a front page story in The Dispatch. Although, about one-fourth of the students in Columbus City School District attend charter schools, there have been no front page stories about charter school board members. These individuals have little or no visibility in the community. In many charter school cases, board members are mere figureheads. Hence, who is accountable to whom?
“The governance structure in the charter school kingdom is obscure. Who is held accountable for the use of funds and the academic rating of charter schools? The State Department of Education? The sponsors? The charter school board members? The education management company? The stockholders in the for-profit companies? The executive of the education management company? The board of directors of the education management companies? The charter school principal or site manager? Who? Who?
“Who appoints charter school board members? The sponsors? The management company? The charter school employees? Public school districts give up funds and students to private operations over which the community school districts have no control. The only public aspect of charter schools is public funds. Period.”
William Phillis
Ohio E & A
This email was sent by ohioeanda@sbcglobal.net |
Ohio E & A | 100 S. 3rd Street | Columbus | OH | 43215
Diane Ravitch's blog 
And yet more and more are approved by States. And more and more they keep growing. Isn’t anyone listening? I don’t mind charters as long as the funding is transparent, they truly serve ALL the community, and they offer a curriculum that is open to all, not a certain language, or particular point of view.
Does anyone know if there is a site or way to see how certain corporate charters are structured? What curriculums they use? How long are their days, years? Do they really offer a difference than a public school they are replacing?
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I think Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania are vying for the top spot in which state can have the least-regulated, most nutty, completely chaotic “charter sector”. Ohio is the reigning champ, but Michigan is moving up fast.
I like this one because it illustrates everything that’s wrong with this free wheeling, market based feeding frenzy:
“Ann Arbor-based Global Educational Excellence is planning to open up a new charter school this fall in a building where it had to close a charter school two years ago. The building at 1715 E. Forest Ave. is right across the street from Ypsilanti Community Middle School-Willow Run Campus. The charter school is not affiliated with YCS.”
Yup, they plopped it down right across from the public school, the better to recruit I guess:
The building last saw a class of students in spring of 2012, when Global Educational Excellence was operating the building as Victory Academy: a K-5 school that offered Arabic and Spanish. Victory Academy’s charter through Bay Mills Community College was not renewed because of “financial condition and academic performance,” which caused the school to close in summer of 2012 about six years after it opened.
Director and co-founder Mohamad Issa applied for a charter for Global Tech from Eastern Michigan University in January 2013, about a year after he found out Victory Academy’s charter would not be renewed in December 2011.”
Eastern Michigan University is a horrible, irresponsible authorizer, so let’s expand their empire of schools!
And… they have Amplify tablets!
“The biggest change at the building will be in the new digital curriculum: each student at Global Tech will be assigned a tablet for use in class and at home.
The Android-based tablets will be programmed and provided by Amplify, a company that provides devices programmed with classroom-ready curriculum. The Amplify system allows teachers to limit what the students can access on their devices to keep them on task.”
“Scott Menzel, superintendent of Ypsilanti Community Schools, said having a charter school across the street from the middle school is “not optimal.”
But who cares what he thinks. Re-open the charter that failed, because…markets!
“I can’t consider any public or charter school as competition,” Issa said. “And public schools can’t look at charter schools as the enemy. It’s a marketplace for students.” The “marketplace” demands traditional public schools evaluate how they can better serve students and families and thereby elevates the quality of education in all schools, Issa said.”
Market Magic!
And the federal government is backing this:
“Reed said Global Tech will be using a federal startup grant to pay for initial curriculum and instruction costs. The school will be hiring about 10 teachers and will likely have a staff of 15 to 20 people. Though former Victory Academy Principal Kevin Whelan still works for Global Educational Excellence, he isn’t one of nine finalists Issa is considering for the position of principal at Global Tech. Some former Victory Academy teachers may be returning to the building, Reed said.”
http://charterpulse.com/2014/02/20/michigan-new-charter-school-to-open-next-to-ypsilanti-community-middle-school-this-fall/
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I read the Broad Foundation twitter feed because I think it’s important I get to know the people who are running public ed in the US, and I’m curious about something.
The Broad Foundation basically established and created the Education Achievement Authority in Detroit. Now, the thing is a bit of a disaster, it was a “blended learning” model, computer instruction, that’s fashionable now.
Yet, reading their Twitter posts, there’s not any mention of the EAA. It’s all KIPP and Uncommon Schools and elite charters. No Detroit.
Now why wouldn’t the Broad Foundation be promoting the EAA, which is the school district in Detroit they created and ran?
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For Twitter: copy and paste into your Twitter page and then ReTweet as often as possible
Comparing #PublicSchools to private sector #CharterSchools
Run by robber barons, sharks & wolves of Sesame Street
http://bit.ly/1cBz8Qd
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Do charter schools have to follow CC$$, including Smarter Balance testing?
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Mr. Phyllis is right, there is no financial accountability. For over ten years charter management companies have skimmed millions of tax dollars every year from Ohio charter school operations as “indirect costs”. It is right there in the required annual audits of the schools, 10 – 25% and more of the schools’ annual funding going to “indirect costs”. No one is holding anyone accountable for this blatant theft and fraud.
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