Stephen Dyer is a Senior Fellow at Innovation Ohio and a former legislator. He has scrutinized state data exhaustively and reported that district schools outperform charter schools by every measure: test scores, graduation rates, achievement gaps. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute didn’t agree with his conclusions. Although it claims to be a think tank, it is in fact an advocacy group for school choice.
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which is technically based in Dayton (where the late Mr. Fordham lived) is actually based in D.C., is an authorizer of charter schools in Ohio. Authorizers are paid a commission on every student who enrol in charter schools so it is a lucrative role. I was a board member at TBF and an original founder. I opposed the decision to become an authorizer because I thought that it conflicted with the role of a think tank, which should be free to critique or praise anyone without fear or favor. I was outvoted.
In this post, Stephen Dyer responds to TBF criticism.
He explains that every public school in Ohio receives less money so charters can be funded.
“According to the final state payment made to school districts from June, there were 1.7 million students in Ohio set to receive $7.95 billion in total state aid. That’s works out to $4,657 (I’m rounding here) for every student in local public school districts.
“Then come charter schools.
“According to the report, $898 million left school districts last year for charters (a district-by-district breakdown I received from the Ohio Department of Education puts that tally at $935 million, so there’s that). Leaving with that funding were 113,613 students.
“So, after losing the funding and students to charter schools, the remaining 1.59 million children in Ohio school districts were set to receive $7.05 billion in state revenue, or $4,425 each.
“That means that the charter deduction costs every kid in Ohio school districts, on average, $231.51.
“This is why I compare charter school performance with school district performance. Because charter schools affect every kid in a school district. Profoundly. How profoundly? Let’s look at Columbus.
“Prior to the charter school deduction, every kid in Columbus City Schools is set to receive $4,559 in state funding. However, once the $145.65 million and 18,541 students are transferred to charter schools, the remaining 53,532 students who attend Columbus City School buildings receive $3,418 per pupil. That is a difference of $1,141.62. So charter schools cost students who are in Columbus City Schools about 1/4 of their state revenue. That’s every student in Columbus, regardless of wealth, race, or disability, Jamie.
“Every.
“Single.
“Student.
“So if this profound a change in state funding is going to happen for the 75 percent of children who remain in Columbus City Schools, or the 93 percent of children who remain in Ohio’s local public school districts, we’d better be damn sure it’s worth it. Is it worth removing $1,141.62 from kids in the best performing school in Columbus so thousands of kids can go to ECOT, for example (ECOT is the largest recipient of charter school transfer funding from Columbus)?
“I would say that’s a big, “No.”
“Now my friends at Fordham often complain that charters don’t get local revenue. And while that’s true, I fail to see how that justifies removing millions of state dollars from kids in local school districts. If the legislature believes in school choice so strongly, then set aside $260 million or so to make up for the lack of local revenue.
“Stop taking it from the 1.59 million kids who aren’t in charters.“
He’s right when he says the ed reformers in the Ohio legislature admit the charter funding formula harms public school students.
They’re taking state funding from kids who remain in public schools and transferring it to charters. It’s really that simple. If a charter gets 7k in state funding but the school only has 3 in state funding to send with the child the other 4 has to come from somewhere and it comes out of the state share for every child who remains in a public school.
Ohio set up a state charter school system and then didn’t fund it adequately- the difference comes out of state funding for every single student who remains in public schools. What that means as a practical matter is that local funding has to make up the difference, which means public schools have to go back to voters for levies and then people complain about that. They don’t know a big chunk of the state share has disappeared into the black hole of Columbus ed reform, never to be seen again.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/09/09/ohios-charter-schools-essentially-get-local-property-tax-money.html
Here’s the thing about being a think thank, one first has to think. But thinking doesn’ write this week’s paycheck, does it?
When the Columbus Dispatch admits the jig is up. There is no bigger charter cheerleader in the state.
Addition and subtraction is tough to deny.
When “think” tank actually means think not about the kids, but only how to keep the funding flowing.
Superintendents could do a better job explaining this to voters. They need to explain to people that the state share of public school funding is dropping and they’re just staying afloat with local taxes.
I think this funding debacle was deliberate on the part of ed reformers- you can’t tell me they don’t know how to add and subtract.
The ed reformers in the statehouse didn’t want to appropriate sufficient funding for charters because that’s a political problem and they sold charters as “free”, so they simply took it from kids in public schools in this back-door manner. It’s really outrageous when you consider 93% of the kids in this state attend public schools.
Lots of people all over the country do not realize that charters drain public school budgets. The typical person sees the charter as another “free” school. They do not understand the implications for public schools.
THANKS, Diane. Hope Ohio gets it act together. This state is suffering from a brain drain … big time.
Ed reformers have an even worse problem if you look at it the other way.
If the 3k that goes to charters isn’t coming from the state share then it has to be coming from the local funding, because it isn’t magically appearing out of thin air.
That’s a problem, because Columbus voters specifically and overwhelmingly voted AGAINST local funding going to charters.
If it’s not state share it’s local funding, and that’s even worse, because there’s nothing in state law that says charters get local funding- it has to be voted on locally.
Arguably they’re violating state law, so they should probably admit it’s coming from state funding- the other alternative is worse for them.
According to John Oliver, Ohio is one of the worst states for charter school fiascos:
Good OL’ ALL-AMERICAN “DAZE” = SHAM and SCAM.
*** OFF-TOPIC but breathtaking news!!! ***
The Summit Charter School “Rape-gate” civil suit in San Jose, CA settled THE DAY AFTER MY LONG POST ABOUT IT ON THIS BLOG.
Mind you, this was after the media had strangely and earlier went cold following its initially thorough coverage of this sordid affair.
Coincidence?
I think not. (or at least I strongly suspect not.😉 )
If I was indeed instrumental in any way in providing a positive outcome, or an early closure for the rape victim and her family …
Well, then, I want a medal! (Just kidding.)
(That’s something my late father would say when I showed him something like a perfect 100 score on a test or something.
“Whadda you want a medal?” )
The downside, of course, is that Summit Charter School Chain — noted for personalized learning replacing live teachers, btw — can now bury this embarrassing debacle with a sealed verdict that, in exchange for big $$$, the victim and her family have to clam up forever after … much like the Weinstein victims … until a few weeks ago, that is.
No media covered this Summitt Rape-gate settlement, by the way.
The fear that it would get greater and extensive coverage here on the Ravitch blog, or elsewhere may have pushed the Summit folks (who include Mr. and Mrs. Zuckerberg, no less) to end this whole civil suit forthwith.
To recap, I posted all this Summit “Rape-gate stuff” — complete with links — on the Ravitch blog on September 6, 2017, complete with pictures of all the persons involved (almost all … not the teen victim, of course):
(Check out the COMMENTS Section BELOW for a refresher course on the Summit Charter School Rape-Gate in San Jose, CA … again complete with photos. It’s quite a yarn. You won’t be able to stop reading, let me tell ya!)
https://dianeravitch.net/2017/09/06/leonie-haimson-parents-revolt-against-summit-czi-plans/
According to the court’s website, the attorneys for the victim and Summit settle THE VERY NEXT DAY!!! (September 7, 2017)
https://www.docketalarm.com/cases/California_State_Santa_Clara_County_Superior_Court/16CV302178/N.V._vs_Summit_Public_Schools_et_al/
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
*”9 / 7 / 2017 — NOTICE: Settlement Atty Mark Boskovich”*
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
(Boskovich is one of the two attorneys representing the victim, the lead being B. Robert Allard, arguably the most effective attorney for victims of teacher molestation, who regularly delivers multi-million-dollar settlements for his clients.
Okay, Allard may have played a small role in the settlement as well … but still 😉 )
For my own purposes, as a resident of Ohio, this may well be the most important post I’ve ever read on this blog that has taught me so much. Just brilliant and so informative!
Stephen Dyer is amazing. He is very knowledgeable about school finance. He understands the damage that charters have done to every district.
I think TBF’s “thinking” just “tanked”.