AFT and OFT on Ohio Charter School Sponsor Ratings

WASHINGTON— Below are statements from the American Federation of Teachers and the Ohio Federation of Teachers on the “overall sponsor ratings” for sponsors of charter schools released by the Ohio Department of Education. The ratings found only five “effective” sponsors; the remaining 60 were “ineffective” or “poor.” But there is significant variation in the results, and more analysis needs to be done to determine the precise relationship between sponsors and the charters they supervise.

AFT President Randi Weingarten said: “Charters are intended as a part of—not a replacement for—public schools. And they must be held to exactly the same academic, managerial and financial standards. In Ohio and around the country, that’s far from the case, as charter school mismanagement, fraud and waste have become far too common.

“The Ohio data, while damning on its face, shows significant variation and needs to be examined closely on a school-by-school basis. But there’s one thing we know for sure: Charter sponsors and authorizers must ensure they exercise effective oversight.

“When it comes to charters, accountability and transparency aren’t just buzzwords. Institutions that receive public money must be held to rigorous standards, especially those that serve our highest-needs students. We must make sure sponsors and authorizers uphold and enforce the standards that the public demands.

“Weak sponsors can also lead to a situation where charters ‘shop’ for the ‘easiest’ sponsors, when the job is supposed to be about ensuring quality and support. The inevitable result is lower expectations that limit kids’ ability to thrive.”

OFT President Melissa Cropper, who is an AFT vice president, said: “The overwhelmingly low ratings for sponsors clearly indicate that more work needs to be done to better prepare sponsors for their work with and oversight of charter schools across Ohio. The data and ratings information released today must be examined thoroughly.

“There were significant problems with the most recent state report cards failing to reflect what’s happening in our schools. Are there also significant problems with these charter school sponsor ratings? At first blush, it appears that some of the charter sponsors that rated highest happen to sponsor charter schools with very poor academics, while some of those rated ‘poor’ sponsor charters with higher academic performance. Why is that? Someone needs to figure this out.”