My School My Choice Blog

Yesterday, we here at My School, My Choice took the first steps towards possibly pursuing legal action in order to save Ohio’s public charter schools from the funding cuts proposed by Gov. Strickland and passed by the House in HB 1, as reported here by the Columbus Dispatch.

In a letter addressed to Governor Ted Strickland, Speaker Armond Budish, and Senate President Bill Harris, and accompanied by a memorandum from our legal team, I wrote that the proposed method for funding Ohio’s public charter schools is not only bad policy, but is also illegal under state law, and that we would be prepared for litigation, should it come to that.

Both the General Assembly and the Ohio Supreme Court have declared Ohio’s public charter school system to be “part of the state’s program of education.” Yet HB 1 increases overall public school funding, but separates and removes public charter schools from the budget, significantly decreasing funding to these schools. Under the Ohio Constitution’s “thorough and efficient clause,” federal law prohibits discrimination against the disabled and minorities-two demographics overwhelmingly served by Ohio’s public charter schools when compared to the state’s entire school system. By creating a separate line-item for public charter schools funding, HB 1 places these students on unequal footing with traditional public school students, violating state law.

I hope this wrong can be corrected through the legislative process, but if not, My School, My Choice is prepared to fight for our public charter schools in court. It is too important to Ohio students and to their futures to limit their potential by unfair and underfunded policies.

Governor’s Education Reform Plan

The State of Ohio Education blog has an interesting post today on Governor Strickland’s efforts to drum up support for his “evidence-based” school funding plan. Apparently beginning last week, the Governor’s education policy assistant sent letters to local school board members asking for their support of the plan. A sample resolution of support for districts to sign and return accompanied the letter. This blog post, penned by a current State Board of Education member and a former State Board member, is worth a read for its take on the administration’s efforts to craft local support.

However, I find problems with the resolution itself, which says the plan is “student-centered, focusing on preparing students for the 21st Century.” It goes on to say that “the Governor is committed to expanding learning opportunities for all students.”

In reality, the Governor’s proposal would cut funding for all public charter schools by 20% and eSchool funding by 65%, potentially closing schools that 80,000 Ohio children attend. How does this expand learning opportunities for all students? It seems to me that this does the opposite, especially for many eSchool students who are not able to attend a traditional school. A student-centered plan that prepares students for the 21^st Century should use 21^st century tools, like the internet, to be truly student-centered–education does not have to be, nor should it be, one size fits all anymore.

Yesterday’s USA Today has a great editorial endorsing school choice. The editors reference studies and research showing that both charter schools and voucher programs have succeeded in improving academic performance among low-income students in inner cities across the nation, including right here in Ohio.

But despite these success stories, the story points out that choice programs are encountering barriers across the country. Vouchers were recently blocked in Florida and Utah. Twenty-six states restrict either the number of public charter schools allowed or the number of charter school students. We are all too familiar with the battle right here in Ohio to save our public charter schools from Governor Strickland’s fatal budget cuts.

So why these barriers? According to USA Today: “Because teacher unions, fearing loss of jobs, have pushed most Democrats to oppose vouchers and other options that invite competition for public schools.” Hmm, this sounds familiar. Remember the rally that Gov. Strickland held with union bosses two weeks ago in downtown Columbus?

The best interests of our nation’s school children should craft education policy, not political interest groups. Effective education options should be allowed to grow, not cut. I agree with the USA Today editorial board, “20 million low-income school kids need a chance to succeed. School choice is the most effective way to give it to them.”

Having served on the State Board of Education for a decade, I’ve witnessed and heard a ton of interesting education stories. During my early years on the Board, the school choice movement in Ohio was still young, but gaining in momentum and popularity every day as more parents recognized the benefits of school choice. As I heard stories and testimonials from some of these families, and learned how important having various public education options was for them, I became one of the strongest advocates and supporters of the movement on the Board.

I still love hearing your stories. They serve as an inspiration for our cause, a reminder that all Ohio children deserve a great public education, which means being able to choose the best public school option for them.

Do you have a favorite memory from last week’s rally? Did you find one speaker particularly powerful? Did you hear something interesting? For me, seeing thousands of school children proudly marching down Broad Street to the Statehouse was one powerful image! If you do, please leave a comment, I would love to hear from you.

Senator John Carey has it right. As quoted in today’s Dispatch, he clearly shows his top priority is Ohio’s students as opposed the House-passed plan:

“In their model, you’re paying for buildings and the money doesn’t follow the student,” he said. “It seems to me the model focuses on employing more people and focuses on what the associations want as far as adding employees and increased power. We want to concentrate on the money following the student, which gives parents more power.”

As I’ve mentioned previously, the future of Ohio public charter schools now lies in the Senate, which is currently debating H.B. 1, Governor Strickland’s proposed state budget. Ohio’s parents and students are fortunate to have the support of leaders like Senator Carey and Senate President Bill Harris who spoke at our rally on Wednesday.

Several police officers at the State Capitol yesterday, who did a great job by the way, told me our rally was the largest they’d seen since President Obama came to Columbus last fall. So, not surprisingly, it appears that the media took great notice. (How could they miss it!)

In addition to the media coverage I posted yesterday, more stories keep on surfacing. Read stories in the Toledo Blade, the Plain Dealer, and the Dayton Daily News.

Also watch more video footage from WHIO-TV, and NBC4i and the WBNS 10 helicopter!

Finally, the Dispatch story can be read here. This story erroneously reports that only 2,000 folks attended the rally, yet the Columbus Dispatch Blog entry has the more accurate 4,000 figure. For the record, we actually had 4,500.

If the press coverage isn’t enough for you, we have a full rally recap for you - complete with pictures and video. Just follow this link  http://www.myschoolmychoice.org/rallyrecap/.

 ALL OF YOU WHO TURNED OUT made it impossible for the media, the Legislature, and the Governor to ignore us. Thank you!

Some of the attendees at the rally today came armed with questions - like this one: