Cincy schools: Charters are 'siphoning' money

In August, the Greater Cincinnati School Advocacy Network took a stand against testing edicts and unfunded mandates, saying the state and federal governments are making it "nearly impossible to teach."

Today, the same group -- now 43 school districts strong -- is pushing back against charter schools, calling for greater oversight and funding reform. The group argues that local levy money is being rerouted to charter schools, and they want it to stop.

Mason City Schools, for example, lost 77 students to charter schools this year. They got $192,577 from the state for those students but were required to pass along an additional $432,317 to charters, according to numbers provided by the district.

Mason's overall enrollment is north of 10,000 students, so charter-school students are a relatively small portion. The money, though, said Mason superintendent Gail Kist-Kline, goes to "charter schools who are less accountable, less transparent, and by every measure lower performing than the Mason City School District."

The charter school movement was founded on the promise of better schools for Ohio's poorest, but 14 years later, that hasn't panned out, according to GCSAN members. The group also argues that about three-fourths of state funding for Ohio's traditional schools gets re-routed to charters.

Some charter advocates say the funding model is only fair, since charter schools do not have access to any local funding sources, such as levies, or other state aid, such as money for facilities.

The money is meant to fund students, not school buildings, said Greg Harris, StudentsFirst Ohio director. And, while not necessarily traditional, charter schools are still public schools and thus entitled to public dollars.

"Districts sort of have this mentality that 'The money belongs to us,'" said Harris, of Madisonville. "But the money doesn't belong to districts. It doesn't belong to property. It belongs to kids. The districts are also losing those students (who leave for charters). They're not educating those kids anymore, so why should they be paid to educate them?"

Cincinnati Public Schools, by far the region's largest district, loses about 8,000 of its 30,000-plus students a year to roughly 50 different charter schools. That costs CPS about $54 million.

"This does not sit well with voters," said superintendent Mary Ronan. "While Cincinnati Public Schools is not against charter schools per se and has sponsored two to meet specialized learning needs, our district and our voters are opposed to state and local funding being siphoned away from traditional public schools to pay for low-performing charter schools."

The GCSAN is based on three pillars: local control, fewer state and federal mandates and stable funding.

“It doesn’t matter what district you’re in, those three elements are really important,” said Mason’s Kist-Kline. “This particular issue is front and center, because it really is about serving all students and doing that well. And the lack of transparency and accountability for charter schools is not serving students in Ohio well.”

The GCSAN is closely watching House Bill 2, charter-school accountability legislation that stalled in the legislature this past session but could go to a vote as early as Wednesday.

The fear is the bill will get watered down to the point it’s ineffective, Kist-Kline said.

“We really need that to have some teeth to it,” she said. “Otherwise, it’s going to be one of those feel-good bills, but really, there’s no substance.”

Who's in the GCSAN? 

BUTLER COUNTY

Edgewood City Schools, Fairfield City Schools, Hamilton City Schools, Lakota Local Schools, Madison Local Schools, Middletown City Schools, Monroe Local Schools, Ross Local Schools, Talawanda Local School

CLERMONT COUNTY

Batavia Local Schools, Bethel-Tate Local Schools, Clermont North Eastern, Goshen Local Schools, Milford Exempted Village, New Richmond Exempted, West Clermont Local Schools, Williamsburg Local Schools

HAMILTON COUNTY

Cincinnati Public Schools, Deer Park Community City Schools, Finneytown Local Schools, Forest Hills Schools, Indian Hill Schools, Lockland Local Schools, Loveland City Schools, Madeira City Schools, Mariemont City Schools, Mt. Healthy City Schools, North College Hill City Schools, Northwest Local Schools, Norwood City Schools, Oak Hills Local Schools, Princeton City Schools, Reading Community Schools, St. Bernard/Elmwood Place Schools, Southwest Local Schools, Sycamore Community Schools, Three Rivers Local Schools, Wyoming City Schools, Winton Woods Schools

WARREN COUNTY

Kings Local Schools, Little Miami Local Schools, Mason City Schools, Springboro Community Schools