In its recent grant competition for the proliferation of charter schools, the U.S. Department of Education awarded $71 million to Ohio, the largest grant to any state. As it happens, Ohio has been the site of numerous cases of charter corruption. The press was filled almost daily with the latest charter scandal. In addition, the state official responsible for charter oversight ignored the low grades of online charters, who are known for their generous contributions to the GOP. This official resigned (his wife is the campaign director for Kasich’s presidential bid).
Thus, when Ohio was singled out by the U.S. ED to receive a huge grant to create more charters, there was a collective gasp from the media in Ohio and from Democratic officials (remember, the same party as the Obama administration), some of whom must have seen the grant as a reward to the Kasich administration.
Now, the U.S. ED says that it will watch Ohio’s charter spending with more than the usual care (the usual care being none at all). That’ll show them.
Valerie Strauss posts a copy of the letter from the U.S. ED to Ohio, saying that it will monitor the charter grant. ED didn’t know about the Ohio charter school scandals. And she says, you can’t make this stuff up.
Who didn’t know that Ohio’s charter schools had become a national joke — literally. The Plain Dealer ran a story this year that started like this:
Ohio, the charter school world is making fun of you.
Ohio’s $1 billion charter school system was the butt of jokes at a conference for reporters on school choice in Denver late last week, as well as the target of sharp criticism of charter school failures across the state.
Wouldn’t you expect someone in the federal government considering giving millions of dollars to Ohio for charter schools to have read the June 2015 coverage in the Akron Beacon Journal which said:
No sector — not local governments, school districts, court systems, public universities or hospitals — misspends tax dollars like charter schools in Ohio.
But the U.S. Department of Education had NO idea!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
What’s needed is an axe to amputate the Charter Sector; then throw it in a land fill and bury it deep.
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The only thing they slapped on their wrist was a Rolex watch ⌚
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I read and made detailed notes on the comments made by three reviewers of Ohio’s application for charter school expansion. I have concluded that no one at USDE even looked at these masked reviews before shoving money at Ohio State Department of Education Officials sufficient to spawn 400 more charter schools with no principled basis for that expansion, least of all past performance. Just in time to escape the burden of dealing with this farce, Dr. Ross has announced his resignation. The alligators still romp in the charter school swamp, with the biggest alligator the online charter school that is robbing taxpayers and doing zero to improve their performance. Fraud, was, abuse, and racketeering in high places is the new normal for USDE and the charter industry.
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Laura, I enjoy your insightful posts. Ohio charter schools are a laughing stock – and a reason to cry – among teachers, and more and more citizens. Please follow the Akron Beacon Journal articles on Charter schools in Ohio – they are excellent and spot on!
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The local media coverage of charter schools has changed dramatically, which is the only reason this grant got any scrutiny- we should all thank newspapers for the in depth coverage and follow-up.
As recently as two years ago it was different- there was no scrutiny of anything that was endorsed by the ed reform “movement”. I don’t think ed reform will ever again get the complete pass on oversight they enjoyed here for more than a decade. That’s over.
That the Obama Administration believes that this state needs 400 new charter schools on top of the schools the state already can’t or doesn’t regulate is, frankly, clueless. That they do absolutely no analysis of the effect on the existing public schools when they launch these big federal building projects is incredibly irresponsible. 93% of the kids in this state attend public schools. Maybe the federal charter promoters could consider the effects on those schools when they create a new “sector”? Or don’t those schools matter?
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I’m sort of mildly curious how Democrats in this state plan on campaigning against public school privatization. Do they think we won’t notice that the Obama Administration has enthusiastically promoted exactly that for the last 7 years? Do they think we won’t notice that President Obama’s education agenda is identical to that of John Kasich?
I’m almost looking forward to seeing how they craft rhetoric to thread this needle. They better hire some good marketing people, because there isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between Obama and Kasich on public schools.
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HRC is already shape-shifting.(with a wink-wink-nod-nod to her Wall Street funders) From the Answer Sheet:
“CLINTON: ‘I have for many years now, about 30 years, supported the idea of charter schools, but not as a substitute for the public schools, but as a supplement for the public schools. And what I have worked on through my work with the Children’s Defense Fund and my work on education in Arkansas and through my time as first lady and senator is to continue to say charter schools can have a purpose, but you know there are good charter schools and there are bad charter schools, just like there are good public schools and bad public schools.'”
“For years — going back to the 1990s — Clinton has expressed support for charter schools. In her 1996 book, “It Takes a Village,” written when she was first lady and her husband, Bill Clinton, was the president, she wrote:
‘Some critics of public schools urge greater competition among schools as a way of returning control from bureaucrats to parents and teachers. I find their argument persuasive and I favor promoting choice among public schools…. Charter schools are public schools created and operated under a charter. They may be organized by parents, teachers, or others. The idea is that they should be freed from regulations that stifle innovation, so they can focus on getting results. By 1995, 19 states had enacted charter school laws about 200 schools have been granted charters.
The Improving America’s Schools Act, passed in October 1994 with the President’s support, provided federal funds for a wide range of reforms, including launching charter schools. Federal funding is needed to break through bureaucratic attitudes that block change and frustrate students and parents, driving some to leave public schools.'”
“Every since the 1990s, Clinton has expressed support for charter schools, but in Saturday’s remarks, she said something that is likely to irritate her supporters within the Democratic Party who are avid backers of charter schools as a principal means of reforming public education: that most charters don’t accept those students who are the most difficult to educate, or, if they do, they “don’t keep them.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/11/08/hillary-clinton-most-charter-schools-dont-take-the-hardest-to-teach-kids-or-if-they-do-they-dont-keep-them/
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Reporter Jeremy Kelley wrote credibly about the Ohio State Superintendent’s resignation on the front page of the Dayton Daily News this week. Kelley quotes Supt. Ross as saying Hansen’s transgressions “happened on my watch and I bear some responsibility for that.”
(How about, ALL responsibility?) Kelley quotes Progress Ohio…”Dr. Ross’ history of protecting even the worst-performing charters…” And, Kelley quoted a member of the state school board, “… If he had to grade Ross’ term the way Ohio schools are graded, he’d give it a D or F.”…The member further cited statistics and concluded, ” We’re not seeing much success…in the reform movements that Dr. Ross believes in.”
Most refreshing, the Walton’s Fordham wasn’t quoted.
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cross-posted at http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Ohio-U-S-Department-of-E-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Charter-School-Failure_Charter-Schools_Corporate-Corruption-Crime_Culture-Of-Corruption-151111-667.html#comment571396
My comment has embedded links at the site:
Submitted on Wednesday, Nov 11, 2015 at 7:48:53 AM
Access all my series
http://www.opednews.com/author/series/author40790.html
where I offer you a look at the dismantling of our democracy by the billionaires who have waged a 30 year war on public education, beginning with the removal of the professional teachers –their voices and their classroom practice…and TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO LEARN THE TRUTH BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.
I have posted for years about the destruction of our INSTITUTION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION while the national media is silent. See my series where state legislatures are taking over the local schools, with nary an educator on board, http://www.opednews.com/Series/legislature-and-governorsL-by-Susan-Lee-Schwartz-150217-816.html
and giving them to charters, with not a shred of oversight! Here is a link to my series on charter school corruption…. charter school corruption my series
http://www.opednews.com/Series/CHARTER-Schools–the-scho-by-Susan-Lee-Schwartz-141014-281.html
Of all the hidden conspiracies, the one that has dismantled our schools is the most insidious, as our schools are , the only road to opportunity for all our people.
Raise your voice and tell Bernie Sanders that he must address this issue! The truth must be known!
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