Federal charter grants deserve a full accounting

It’s no secret that Ohio charter schools have been mired in corruption and mismanagement. From manipulating data to FBI raids and disgraced public officials, Ohio charter schools have seen more than their fair share of scandals, and it is charter students who pay the price with below-average achievement.  

So, earlier this month, when the U.S. Department of Education announced it would award $71 million in new grants to Ohio’s charter sector, it raised a lot of eyebrows. Why on earth would our federal education officials open a window for bad operators to carry out more waste, fraud and abuse?  

{mosads}Ohio charter schools have misspent millions of taxpayer dollars. Since 2001, state auditors have uncovered $27.3 million in improper spending by charters—less than 10 percent of which has been recovered. Charter schools represent less than 7 percent of all Ohio organizations receiving taxpayer funds, but account for 70 percent of all tax dollars misspent since 2013.  

Ohio charters have a troubling record of inflated student enrollment figures. This year, State Auditor David Yost discovered that on average for every two students enrolled at a charter school, only one was in attendance. At one school, an unannounced visit turned up no students on site. 

Ohio charter “sponsors” charged with ensuring charters operate within the law have continually failed in this role and appear to be as unaccountable as the schools they regulate. In January 2015, a coalition that included the Ohio Federation of Teachers called for charter sponsor Buckeye Community Hope Foundation to withdraw support for nine charter schools connected to Concept Schools in light of FBI raids, poor academic performance, and allegations of sexual misconduct and test tampering. Buckeye responded that, following a “rigorous” review, the schools would continue operating. When the coalition requested records documenting the “rigorous” review process, Buckeye refused to comply. 

This summer, the Ohio Department of Education was found to have manipulated data to improve sponsor ratings. School choice director David Hansen, husband of Gov. Kasich’s campaign manager, and the official in charge of Ohio’s federal charter school grant applications, was revealed to have hidden grades of online charter schools from calculations to artificially boost charter performance numbers.  

Ohio charter schools have failed to deliver on the promise of even marginally better performance than their public school counterparts. In fact, a December 2014 report from Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) found Ohio charter school students on average learn less than their public school peers.  

Of Ohio, CREDO researcher Margaret Raymond said, “Be glad that you have Nevada, so you are not the worst.” It’s true that Nevada’s charter sector has been plagued by similar problems: poor performance, inflated enrollment numbers, and self-dealing by charter management organizations. Yet the state will also receive a big federal charter grant payout—$16 million. 

Meanwhile in Arizona, which will receive $23 million, a 2012 investigation by the Arizona Republic found that board members and administrators from more than a dozen charter schools reaped profits of over $70 million in five years by doing business with the schools they oversee. A 2014 Brookings Institution study found Arizona charters on average “do no better, and sometimes worse, than the traditional public schools.” State auditors are even barred by law from auditing charters in the same way they do public schools, making it difficult for the public to learn the breakdown of dollars that actually reach classrooms. 

Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s successor John King will have a real opportunity to begin to fix the charter industry and promote true accountability, transparency and achievement at charters across the country. 

We remain hopeful that King—a zealous supporter of charter schools—will make it his charge to promote the sort of safeguards and best practices that could help ensure we’re creating the schools all children deserve.  

Blind faith in “choice” or the efficiency of private operators has not worked. Before another federal dollar is granted to expand charter schools, the department should issue clear guidelines around good governance, transparency and performance for charter schools.  

To address existing problems, the new secretary of education should demand answers and a plan from officials in every grantee state. Otherwise the department is simply doubling down on failed policy and allowing bad operators to continue to waste our tax dollars.

Weingarten is president of the 1.6 million-member American Federation of Teachers.