Stephen Dyer is a former Ohio legislator who keeps track of education policy in his state. He reports frequently on scandals in charter schools, Cybercharters, and voucher schools. Every state should have a watchdog like him.
In his latest post, he writes about the failure of most of Ohio’s charter schools. Remember, they were supposed to “save” students from low-performing public schools? Instead, they offer an inferior choice, which coincidentally defunds higher-performing public schools. Who will save the children of Ohio from failing charter schools?
He writes:
In its latest national rankings, U.S. News & World Report pointed out that generally, charter schools around the country are disproportionately doing well on their national ratings. “Charters show up in disproportionately high rates among the top schools,” according to the report. And I’m sure charter proponents will take off and run with that.
But that ain’t happening in Ohio.
According to the rankings released today, only 5 of 44 ranked Ohio Charter Schools rate outside the bottom 25 percent nationally. U.S. News doesn’t rank high schools lower than 13,261st. They just put the worst performers in a single band.
And only 5 Ohio Charter High Schools are NOT in that band.
Saying that nearly 9 in 10 Ohio Charter High Schools rank in the bottom 25 percent of all High Schools in the country is a terrible black eye for our state. Especially as the Ohio General Assembly continues to dump more than $1 billion a year into these schools.
And even the 5 that do better than the bottom 25 percent nationally still don’t do awesome.
For example, the top ranked school — KIPP Columbus — ranked lower than two Akron Public Schools, two Cincinnati Public Schools, three Cleveland Municipal schools, a Columbus City school, and a Dayton City school.
That’s not great, especially when Charter Schools were promised as rescue vehicles for kids in urban public schools.
House Bill 2 was supposed to save Ohio’s Charter Schools from being the “wild, wild west” of the nation’s charter schools. But clearly it’s not working. If only 5 of Ohio’s 44 ranked Charter High Schools are not ranked in the bottom 25% nationally, then perhaps it’s time to re-examine our $1 billion a year commitment to these privately run, publicly funded schools.
Just saying.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It seems a fruitful political effort to find parents whose children were enrolled in some of these schools that folded their tents and have them describe the hell they went through trying to get another placement when their money from the state or voucher had been spent by the failed charter school. So, instead of arguing with statistics, we could argue from experiences.
LikeLike
You may have been informed of a segment last night on Alex Wagner’s program on MSNBC with Ali Velshi sitting in as host, about aspects of the situation in the Houston schools. After the report, the reporter and Ali Velshi discuss the report and related matters. Not only are librarians being laid off, but libraries have had books removed and been converted to function in part as what amounts to discipline centers. And for a state that touts parental rights and freedoms, Houston parents appear to say that there is much chaos and they are not being informed of what’s going on or being included in discussion of changes taking place. Clearly, so-called parental rights and freedoms are only for certain parents and not others.
Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS
LikeLike
NBC Nightly News covered the Houston Schools Takeover as well last night. NBC is the first mainstream news outlet that has tackled this story. They did it through telling the story of a single mother whose daughter loved using her school library which she used to practice her skills and where she learned to enjoy reading. Now the books are gone, and the school library is a prison camp for difficult students. The story focused on this family’s frustration with the takeover.
LikeLike
BTW, NBC is the only network with a Black woman in charge the news division. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashida_Jones_(television_executive)
LikeLike
Miles is getting negative national coverage?
Uh oh.
LikeLike
Parents in Houston have no parental rights.
LikeLike
Ali Velshi also had that reporter on who fancies herself an expert on reading and the role of phonics after a report from somewhere in PA where she said the teachers had no idea how to teach reading. I was so angry when he introduced her as an expert that I turned him off and have wiped her name from my immediate recall.
LikeLike
Yes, that’s discouraging to hear for sure, although that was not taking place on this report and on other reports Velshi has delivered on destructive developments in education taking place across the country, including presenting comments from the people in the communities being affected. We need more of such coverage. Also, many may want to read Jennifer Rubin’s piece in today’s Washington Post on the destructive role news media is playing in the country right now, including mainstream media and journalists and editors who one might expect or hope to be serving in more constructive ways.
LikeLike
“…destructive role news media is playing in the country right now, including mainstream media and journalists and editors…”
What happened to research beyond just showcasing who has been elected the most recent talking head on some topic?
LikeLike
Ohio’s Catholic and evangelical-influenced legislators won’t stop. The goal is religious charter schools. The person given credit as the most influential legal scholar in advancing religious charter schools is Amy Comey Barrett’s good friend at Notre Dame, Nicole Stelle Garnet who is a Manhattan Institute (Koch) fellow.
ACE at Notre Damn runs summits in advocacy for school choice.
Right wing religious vote Republican. The schools are a path to generating GOP voters, keeping women as 2nd class citizens and keeping LGBTQ in the closet.
LikeLike
“…the Catholic Church in Ohio and nationwide has consistently advocated for public policy…school of their choice.”
Catholic Conference of Ohio website
LikeLike
Charters schools can do well when they siphon off the students deemed to be the highest functioning and with the fewest academic or behavior problems. Then, the most expensive and most challenging students end up in the public schools that have depleted resources because the public funds have been diverted to charter schools. What is happening in Houston is a great anti-democratic hoax. Privatization and takeover schemes generally fail when whole districts are seized, and student needs are great.
LikeLike
Dear Ms Ravitch,
I have noticed that you frequently write negative things about charter schools — as well as repost negative reports from others. Though I do not doubt that For Profit Corporations too often see only money making opportunities and do not see children…or that there are charter schools struggling for a variety of reasons to do well, I have yet to see you report on those charter schools that are doing amazing work. Those also exist. Just like there are really terrible public schools (in terms of rankings based on test scores) and ones that are amazing. Have you watched the documentary, Love Them First – Lessons from Lucy Laney Elementary https://www.lovethemfirst.com/watch/ about the school in North Minneapolis? It is a public school, not a charter school, but ranked really low. Look at the work they do! And there are many charter schools doing good work like Lucy Laney.
I am a private consultant working with schools to create healthy learning environments grounded in the philosophy of Restorative Justice in Education. I have had the privilege of working in a number of charter schools here in Minnesota — and am aware of many others. I don’t know how they “rank”, but I do know they are doing amazing work with children and youth. I also know that one of their challenges is that the neighboring public school systems often refer those students they don’t know how to deal with into these schools. The population of SPED students is very high, as are the numbers of students with challenging behaviors—often due to trauma. One school in particular to whom I provided training and support for 5 years, was doing great work, and if they had had BETTER funding, could have done a great deal more.
Is the issue the Charter Schools? Or is the issue the corporations who care about money, not kids? Or the underfunding of schools in general, public and charter, by our government? Or, the lack of support for teachers who are now leaving the profession in droves? Is the problem more about our insane testing system? There has been research going back several decades now about the ineffectiveness as well as the harm that is caused by our testing system. There are many things required of teachers that actually harm kids and obstruct the creativity of great teachers instead of supporting them. It doesn’t, and shouldn’t be this way. Look at how teachers and education is valued in countries such as Finland! Look at the work of John Taylor Gatto, Teacher of the Year three times in New York.
My experience is limited, nor have I done exhaustive research, but from the direct involvement I have had with charter schools here in Minnesota, they are doing good work. Let’s go after the greedy companies and folks who are exploiting charter schools at the expense of good teachers and our children, rather than the existence of charter schools themselves. Let’s focus on who is doing the exploiting, and not “throw the baby out with the bath water.”
Sincerely,
Mary Skillings M.ED.
>
LikeLike
Mary Skillings,
Please read my book “The Death and Life of the Great American School system.” I was an enthusiastic supporter of charter schools from the late 1980s until about 2007, when I saw how many of them closed, how many siphoned money from public schools, how many were run by entrepreneurs and grifters, how many excluded students with disabilities, how many claimed high test scores by excluding Black and Hispanic students, how many nonprofit charters are supported by rightwing billionaires, etc.
charter schools are public when the money is being handed out, but private when they choose to be. They fight accountability and oversight. Charters in Minneapolis are notorious for being segregated by race and ethnicity.
LikeLike
Mary Skillings,
You should also know that the biggest private funder of charter schools is the billionaire Walton family. Their Walmart chain is non-union. At least 90% of charters are non-union. Teachers in a few charters have unionized but the owners of charters fight them. Rightwingers have wanted to eliminate unions for as long as unions existed. Charters, TFA, and corporate chains are part of a long-term strategy to eliminate unions, pensions, teacher professionalism, and to turn education into a competitive marketplace with public funding for religious schools, private schools, and homeschooling. Charters were merely a stepping-stone to vouchers.
LikeLike
I’ll reply Mary, though not asked.
No tax dollars should go to private schools. full stop. When I pay taxes for students in my community, I want the right to elect the school board. It’s called DEMOCRACY.
I also expect the schools to adhere to the laws that protect the hard fought sex and racial equality gains that came from Civil Rights battles.
Notre Dame’s Amy Stelle Garnet, a Manhattan Institute (Koch) Fellow, who is a good friend of Amy Comey Barrett, is the legal scholar credited with most influence in advancing religious charter schools. The US is based on the foundational principle of separation of church and state. The Catholic Church, through usurpation of government function, has been made, by taxpayers, into the nation’s 3rd largest employer. SCOTUS has exempted religious schools from civil rights employment law and will follow through with further exemptions for other Catholic organizations. My taxes should go to institutions that behave in a manner consistent with the law related to protected classes i.e. racial, disability, sex, age etc., inclusion.
Charter school advocates are a danger to the nation that I value. Some, speaking from their little pockets of purported good outcomes, are a boon to the libertarian propaganda. The social Darwinists’ end game is no taxes for schools, no public education and, legacy admission private schools to perpetuate the ruling class
Public education is essential to economic fairness. The selfishness of those promoting charter schools jeopardizes this country which is the world’s largest experiment in opportunity for the rise of a middle class.The teaching profession has lifted the most women into financial independence. Piddling protestations about helping others in little microcosms, when they are enacted as policy come at the cost of union wages and protections, democracy, civil rights protections, the social fabric of communities, the separation of church and state, the accountability for tax dollars, the benefit of economic multiplier effect in neighborhoods, racial unity, and that highlights just a few of the ways in which the public good is subverted by charter schools.
The little players in charter school advocacy when used by the richest 0.1%, people like Charles Koch and Bill Gates, should at least have the decency to be embarrassed when they take the money that community taxpayers have been forced to provide.
Charter advocates who have consciences should read the writing of someone with whom they may have something in common, Josh Cowen of Michigan State, a school where libertarians funded initiatives. Diane periodically posts Cowen’s mea culpes.
LikeLike
Market based education stratifies students by race, class, religion or other ideological principles. It creates winners and losers. The ultimate losers are the public schools and the students that have the greatest needs. Privatizers are never satisfied, and they are always looking to expand their market. If they can get away with it, they will dismantle public education.
LikeLike
My son went to a middle school that used restorative justice. It was a total disaster. Bullying out of control, fights every day. Victims forced to mediate with their bullies. I pulled him out after a year.
LikeLike
I am sorry to hear that. That school did not understand the philosophy of RJE, nor how to apply the practices. Schools that do understand the philosophy and the shift in attitudes and practices it requires have remarkable results both in lessening of behavior issues, increases in students able to problem solve, resolve conflict, and to appropriately make amends when harm to relationships has occurred. There is an increase in attendance and in academic success as well. I am so sorry that your son experienced this. This is not a true reflection of true restorative justice practices.
LikeLike
No true Scotsman.
LikeLike
FLERP— Just to counter with our experience, our sons’ middle school [early 2000’s] used this sort of approach, and it worked well for them. They are empathetic and sensitive as individuals, but were going through that phase where peer pressure takes over. Each was involved in an incident where he was on the wrong side of an encounter, and learned a whole lot from the way it was dealt with by the school.
Nor was the school chaotic etc. I expect this method works better or worse depending on factors such as school leadership, size of school, et al. It has great potential, but I imagine it’s difficult to implement.
LikeLike
Try replacing “negative” with “truthful.”
LikeLike
I’m sorry, but I feel compelled to pull out my scalpel and do some cutting here. Private consultants, as do charter school salespeople, often use phrases like “doing amazing work” and “exciting and innovative opportunities” to describe what they do. That gets old fast. What’s amazing is that private consultants don’t get pensions or healthcare. It’s exciting? — for them to take funding away from public school teachers, counselors, and psychologists who do, to do duplicative work. If it’s so exciting and amazing to work with young people, why not try your hand at a career in the actual teaching profession? Become a real educator. Join a union. Contribute to the fund and earn a pension. Help society instead of a innovating a wedge between funding and those who need it to do the everyday work of educating young people in what is supposed to be a democracy. And leave the charter schools to people who don’t care for public education or democracy.
LikeLike
The word salad mantra-like language always gives it away. It’s another business pitch.
LikeLike
It’s amazing work (with amazing pay) if you can get it.
LikeLike
excellent points- LCT
The communication style, as exemplified by Mary’s comment, is also indicative of one of the the self serving. Her tone is falsely humble to create a guise of genuineness. But, Mary would have to live under a rock to be unaware of the arguments against monetizing a community’s kids.
LikeLike
We need teachers and lower class sizes, not consultants. Hiring a private contractor to go to a publicly funded school and do the restorative justice work of a counselor or teacher is not restorative or justice. It is amazing, alright, amazing waste. Empty business pitches and cut and paste behavior management strategies run by amateurs and quitters self-styled as experts are not welcome anywhere near my students.
LikeLike
The major reason for failure is what’s left to run the charter school after the CEO/owner takes what the pay themselves.
Salary.com says:
Low $335,725
Average $428,924
High $550,437
Then there’s are those that earn above high: Highest Paying Job At SUCCESS Academy
President – $664,801
LikeLike
Lloyd,
The CEO of Success Academy is paid close to $1,000,000 a year.
LikeLike
ProPublica published the latest tax filing for Success Academy. Eva is paid just under $1,000,000.
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/205298861/202331329349308773/full
LikeLike
$1 million per year?
Now that’s what I call “$ucce$$”
LikeLike
One person’s “failure” is another’s $ucce$$.
You’re just not looking at it from the right angle, Lloyd.
All these “failed” charter schools are actually wildly $ucce$$ful at generating money for their school heads (and for the companies renting them space , of course)
LikeLike
and, Mary gets her cut.
LikeLike
Success Academy is successful on many fronts. For example, Gov Cuomo got the legislature to guarantee free space to charter schools. Either they take it from a public school or the state pays their rent in a private building. Success Academy bought a large building, and the state pays Success Academy to lease space in the building owned by Success Academy.
LikeLike