Bill Phillis reposts here an article by Denis Smith, who offers sound advice about the questions you should ask if you visit a charter school.
Denis Smith on Ron Rice of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
In a recent column in the Columbus Dispatch, Ron Rice of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools opened his piece with this statement. “The early stage of the 2020 presidential campaign has featured a lot of rhetoric about charter schools. Too much of it has been divorced from the reality of what charter schools are. So I have a special request of all the candidates: Go visit a charter school.”
Denis Smith, who used to work in the Ohio Department of Education’s charter school office, thinks that Ohio citizens should take Rice up on his offer to visit and learn more about schools that call themselves public entities but hide their private dimension. He offers suggestions when visiting a charter.
__________
 The recent Op-Ed by Ron Rice Jr. of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools about the need for candidates to pay attention to charter schools contains an interesting – and inviting – sub-headline:
Cut through the rhetoric and go visit charter schools.
What a wonderful idea! I certainly hope that my fellow citizens will take Mr. Rice up on his request to see what they can find out about these peculiar institutions which are privately managed but publicly funded. If anyone should visit one of these schools, here are some questions visitors should ask to better understand the DNA of charters.
How is the school governed? How are the board members chosen? Since they are not democratically elected by registered voters, like public school board members, whom do they represent? Are the board members American citizens? Do the board members live in the school attendance area? How many other charter school boards might the board members be serving on at the same time?
What about the company that manages the school? Do they own the building in which the school is housed and use operating profits diverted from classroom costs to buy real estate? How much of the school budget is applied to rental costs? Does the management company also own the property where the school is housed? Has the company or school leader populated the board with individuals who may be conflicted with regard to whose interests, rather than the students, come first? 
While we’re at it, folks who might visit charters need to find out about the school leader. A lot of charters use imposing titles such as CEO and Superintendent in their listings. But does the school leader have a professional educator license and graduate training in teaching and school administration? A previous background in the classroom? What percentage of the total school budget goes to administration?
There aren’t as many questions to ask about the teachers inasmuch as state law requires the classroom-level staff to be licensed. However, how many of the teaching staff are completing their first year at the school? How many have worked at the school more than two years? 
These are but a few of a list of sample questions that should be posed to any charter school advocate. The reason for the choice of these particular questions is simple. Ohio law exempts charters from about 150 sections of the state code that apply to public schools. There is no requirement for a charter school board member to be a qualified voter, viz., citizen, nor is there any minimum educational requirement or professional license required to administer a charter school. In spite of Mr. Rice’s advocacy of charters, these are two of many fatal design flaws for these under-regulated schools that have been the subject of so many scandals over the years.
Ohio residents should visit some area charter schools and ask these and other questions. It’s time for voters to inform themselves about charter schools, critically examine their nature and purpose, and cut through the rhetoric offered by Mr. Rice and those who wish to privatize one of key elements of every community. Public education is about democracy and the investment citizens make in their schools, not about enabling private companies to convert public assets into profit and acquire private property that otherwise should belong to the taxpayers.
For these reasons, the term “public charter school” is in fact an oxymoron. The very use of that term is a fitting example of the kind of rhetoric Mr. Rice has encouraged us to avoid. Let us help him to cut through the rhetoric in this election season and take him up on the suggestion of visiting these privately operated schools which convert public funds for their own purposes. 
William L. Phillis | Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding | 614.228.6540 | ohioeanda@sbcglobal.net| www.ohiocoalition.org