Ohio Democratic Party critical of charter schools

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Thursday at Zanesville High School members of the Ohio Democratic Party held a press conference to discuss the problems with charter schools in Ohio.

1.8 million dollars of Muskingum County tax money is spent on charter schools, according to Stephanie Dodd, who represents Southeastern Ohio counties for the Ohio Board of Education. She explains what problems can come with charter schools.

“The lack of accountability that we see regarding the funding, regarding the educational opportunity for students,” said Dodd. “Recently House Bill 2 was passed in the General Assembly and that is currently a step in the right direction. But there is still a lot more that needs to be done to make sure the proper accountability systems are in place.”

One of the charter schools brought up was ECOT. Ohio’s largest online school is currently in a lawsuit with the Ohio Department of Education over transparency issues and whether ECOT should be forced to give over student attendance data. The state uses those attendance numbers to determine how much funding to distribute.

Joe Schiavoni, the minority leader in the Ohio Senate, said that ECOT receives over one hundred million dollars each year in state funding. However, their graduation rate is just 39% and the New York Times recently called them the worst school in America.

“With e-schools they argue that they only have to offer educational opportunities. That’s like saying that Zanesville High School only has to be open from 8 till 5, have some teachers running around the hallways, and put the computers on. That’s not teaching kids,” said Schiavoni.

Schiavoni said that Senate Bill 298 is currently pending in the Senate and would force online school to be more transparent.