Charter schools

Ohio’s charter schools are by law non-profit, but nearly 200 of them are managed by for-profit operating companies. And a new study by an anti-charter school group says charters run by for-profit operators spend a lot more money on non-classroom costs than traditional public schools do.

A proposed new school funding formula would cost the state $720 million more than the current K-12 budget. And it doesn’t include funding for charter or community schools, which the state spent more than $880 million on last year.

Charter school advocates are calling on lawmakers to bump up their funding for facilities. They say the money now going to charters falls well below what they need. But critics say more changes should be made before a funding increase. 

A new study by advocates for school choice shows charter schools in urban areas are underfunded. The group is making the case at the same time Gov. Mike DeWine and lawmakers are coming up with a new two-year state budget. 

A review of the way Ohio’s education department handled a charter school data-scrubbing scandal was unable to determine if there was “malicious” intent involved. But the audit does say that the department was poorly run with a lack of control. 

The Ohio Supreme Court will hear both sides of the high-profile argument between the state education department and the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow on Tuesday. ECOT, which was the state’s largest online charter school before it closed, claims the state wrongfully clawed back millions of dollars it was paid to educate students. But the state says ECOT did not verify student participation. A former staff member is claiming teachers and students have become the victims of the ECOT fallout.

Supporters of the now closed Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow say the past few days have been devastating for students, families, and teachers. The online charter school closed because its sponsor voted to drop them. But there are school and state officials who are holding out hope.

An estimated 12,000 students must figure out where to go now that the state’s largest online charter school has closed. Marred by budget problems and alleged failure to comply with regulations, ECOT’s sponsor decided to back out. And the sponsor and the school met in a Franklin County courtroom to figure out what happens to the school’s funds and records. 

The state’s largest online charter school could be in danger of closing in the near future with the news that the school is losing its sponsor. This is just the latest domino to fall for the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, which has been battling financial and regulatory issues for years now. 

A new study shows the graduation rates of Ohio’s traditional public schools are much better than those of charter schools. 

A vocal critic of charter schools is asking the state to step in and block a major move by its largest online charter school. There’s concern that a planned switch to a new designation by the school could game the state out of taxpayer money.

A lawmaker wants to plug a potential hole in education funding and accountability. The measure would make sure that traditional public schools are getting more money if charters don’t need it or shouldn’t have it.

Charter school advocates are calling on state lawmakers to take a second look at how much those schools pay for the buildings they occupy. This comes after a study broke down the costs of owning and operating school buildings. 

A pro-school choice group says Ohio’s new laws to create oversight and transparency on charter schools are working. The study claims that the law is weeding out the bad schools.

State lawmakers are unlikely to come back to do any business before their next session starts next year. And the Republican who leads the House Education Committee says he wants to start a House Education Committee chair says he wants to start talking about school funding now – with a plan to overhaul of Ohio’s way of funding its public schools.

An American lawyer hired by the Turkish government to investigate charter schools connected to a Muslim cleric thought to be behind a coup in Turkey in July says he’s finished his probe. And he says he’s turning over what he found about some Ohio charter schools to the state auditor for further investigation.

Traditional public schools and charter schools were both on the receiving ends of much lower grades on their state report cards. But one charter advocate says he has an important message for parents.

A panel of state lawmakers delayed a new process by which charter school sponsors would be evaluated under a law passed last year. But the state department of education says it’s determined to go forward with those evaluations next month, using an old process it says will be just as tough.

The state and its largest online charter school are locked in a dispute over how to prove it’s providing an education to its more than 15,000 students. That fight is not just playing out in court but through TV, radio and web ads featuring a student defense.

The embattled online charter school, ECOT, is flooding the airwaves with commercials to rally support and hit back against the state education department. 

Charter school advocates and education leaders are sounding off on a big proposal from a charter school supporter to change the way e-schools are funded. Auditor Dave Yost is calling on lawmakers to base dollar amounts to student achievement.

The state’s education department won a major battle over the attendance fight with ECOT, Ohio’s largest online charter school. 

The Ohio Department of Education has started its audit of student attendance at the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, after a judge denied ECOT’s request to stop that audit yesterday. But questions about the laws that govern charter schools have supporters and opponents once again calling for changes.

The largest online charter school in the state took the Ohio Department of Education to court today, and lost, as a judge ruled the state’s audit of attendance records can go forward.

The state’s largest and most controversial online charter school has sued to block the state from a delayed attendance audit that was supposed to start today, and could end up costing it millions of dollars.

Once again, there’s a new state schools superintendent in charge - he’s a former state budget director who’s worked for two governors, the state Senate and in the Department of Education. And things could be different with this new state schools chief.

The state auditor is standing by his concerns about the oversight of charter schools by the Ohio Department of Education, an agency he said two weeks ago is among the worst in state government.

A liberal-leaning charter school critic says the federal government has put nearly $30 million into charter schools that have either closed or never opened in the first place. 

The state auditor has conducted another surprise head count to find out if charter school attendance records matched the number of students actually sitting at their desks.