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Budget takes aim at subpar schools, expands vouchers

By Jennifer Smith Richards

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Three strikes, then you're out.

Charter schools that can't help students improve enough on state reading and math tests in a three-year period will be shut down permanently , according to the state budget bill awaiting Gov. Bob Taft's signature. He must sign it by July 1 but has line-item veto power.

If the measure survives, the State Board of Education must decide how much progress is enough for charter schools that fall within the state's lowest two ratings, academic watch and academic emergency. Unmet goals would lead to closure.

The possible "death penalty' is among a number of provisions that could change the landscape of public education in Ohio. They include:

* A cap on the number of new charter schools that may open next school year

* Limits on how many charters a group can sponsor

* Expansion of tuition vouchers that would let thousands of children statewide go to private schools

Anti-charter groups had lobbied legislators to stop the movement for school choice from spreading without proof that the privately run, publicly funded schools are succeeding.

Charter proponents had said they welcome stronger accountability but warned that quashing Ohio's school-choice movement would hurt students.

In the end, neither side was entirely pleased.

The compromise budget approved by lawmakers Tuesday "was education standard-setting through back-room horse trading,' said Tom Mooney, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, which had pushed to limit charter-school growth.

"It shows . . . somebody was pushing for some higher standards and accountability. Somebody else was pushing back.'

Mooney wanted to see stronger accountability measures for charters, but he's pleased with the hard line legislators took with online charter schools, he said. Those will face increasing sanctions for subpar performance.

Leaders of Ohio's charter-school movement say they support the idea of holding charters accountable.

"There are some wonderful schools where kids are learning tons,' said Chester Finn, who heads the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. "But there are a bunch ticking along in academic emergency or academic watch with nobody seeming to care much. I think that's a damn shame.'

Fordham, long interested in Dayton's charter-school movement, this year began sponsoring new schools.

Last year, eight of the 14 charter schools in Franklin County that were rated by the state were in academic watch or academic emergency.

Enrollment in charter schools -- especially those that serve at-risk students and dropouts -- is rarely stable, said Steve Ramsey, president of the Ohio Charter School Association. So measuring true progress would be nearly impossible, he said.

"That idea of this linear progression toward excellence is a worthy idea, but it's flawed. It's not going to work,' he said.

In addition to facing a possible death penalty, virtual schools that aren't making enough progress would be subject to an escalating series of sanctions.

First, they would be barred from enrolling new students. Students who continue to flounder in reading and math in an e-school's second year of trouble would be forced to transfer somewhere else -- unless the student's parent wants to pay tuition. In the third year under sanctions, a school wouldn't receive state money for struggling students.

The rules could hurt some students who need the most help, said Nick Wilson, spokesman for the state's first and largest e-school, Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow.

"If they don't make it at an e-school or eCOT -- it's their last chance -- they become dropouts,' Wilson said.

Virtual schools aren't the only ones whose growth would be limited next school year. The state budget says 60 new charter schools -- 30 sponsored by districts and 30 by other sponsors -- may open in the next two years, although successful sponsors could add more. Early indications suggest many schools in the pipeline would be stopped by the caps.

The Ohio Department of Education would conduct a lottery to see who would make the cut for the coming year.

In an expansion of another form of school choice, the budget helps students in some failing public schools escape to a private school starting in fall 2006.

The budget calls for 14,000 vouchers for students whose schools have languished in academic emergency, the state's lowest school rating, for three consecutive years. A voucher program that pays private-school tuition has been in place in Cleveland for several years, but this would be the first expansion statewide.

If the program were in place today, many voucher-eligible schools would be in Columbus and other urban districts. But they have plenty of time to raise their scores.

"At this point, it's hard to estimate what the impact (of vouchers) will be,' said John Stanford, the legislative liaison for Columbus Public Schools. "By then, the number of schools in academic emergency will definitely change.'

Changes to choice

State lawmakers passed a budget Tuesday that would change several aspects of 'school choice,' including:

Charter schools

* Caps: School districts generally can sponsor a maximum of 30 more charter schools through July 1, 2007. Other sponsors generally can add a maximum of 30 more charter schools as well. A lottery will be held within 30 days of the budget bill's signing to determine which sponsors get to add schools. In all, sponsors will be limited to 50 schools unless they already have more than that open. Sponsors can have no more than 75 schools open after June 30, 2006.

* Academic requirements: Charter schools in academic watch or academic emergency must close if 55 percent of students don't make progress, as defined by the Ohio Department of Education, for three straight years. Internet-based schools that aren't making enough progress couldn't add more students.

* E-schools: No new Internet-based charter schools can open until the legislature establishes standards governing them. No teacher at these schools can be responsible for more than 125 students.

* Sponsor requirement: Charter-school sponsors will need to have a record of financial responsibility and success in running education programs.

Vouchers

* Expanded program: In the 2006-07 school year, 14,000 students assigned to public schools that have been in academic emergency for three consecutive years could get a voucher to pay for private school. The vouchers are worth up to $4,250 for kindergartners through eighth-graders and up to $5,000 for high-school students. Private schools could not charge poor children more than the amount of the voucher.

Source: Legislative Service Commission