Article: Charter schools will go on trial

	Posted on Mon, Nov. 28, 2005
	Ohio Supreme Court plans to hear arguments Tuesday about the constitutionality of state-funded academies By Dennis J. Willard and Doug Oplinger Beacon Journal staff writers COLUMBUS - Eight years after being created, charter schools will go on trial before the Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday. Because of the sheer size of the movement and its notably poor academic performance, the case merits national attention and portends broad implications. Charter schools enroll 66,145 students, according to the Department of Education's latest monthly report. While some of those students are from poorly performing public schools -- for whom the program was designed to help -- tens of thousands are former home schoolers and private schoolers who have opted into a free, state-funded education. This year, Ohio will shift $445 million from its traditional public-school funding formula into the privately run schools -- and not without controversy. In spite of promises that they could produce better results for less money, charter-school advocates agreed at a statewide conference this month that too many schools are failing academically and, to improve performance, they need the same money as traditional public schools. At least 15 schools have been closed because of missing funds, lack of textbooks, unsafe conditions or simple financial collapse. Beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, the seven justices (six Republicans) will hear about 30 minutes of oral arguments. There are some clear divisions among the opponents and proponents: Unions vs. business, Democrats vs. Republicans, government vs. free enterprise. And while justices are required to weigh issues of legality, questions have been raised about their own stake in the case. Key fund-raiser The majority has benefited from the political fund-raising efforts of Akron businessman David Brennan, who founded the state's biggest charter-school management company. His firm, White Hat Learning Systems, will receive more than $100 million of the state dollars flowing to charters this year. Since 1990, Brennan has acted as a key Ohio Republican Party fund-raiser and helped establish and fund political action committees aimed at electing Republicans to the courts. State Sen. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, a critic of charter schools, last week called on the six Republican justices to withdraw from the case because of Brennan's campaign influence -- nearly $130,000 in contributions since 1992. Court spokesman Chris Davey said the justices can separate themselves from the politics. ``The Supreme Court of Ohio has a 200-year history of objectively considering only those matters in the record,'' Davey said. ``Partisan news releases are not part of the record.'' Earlier this year, five of the six Republican justices recused themselves from hearing a case involving prominent Toledo Republican fund-raiser Thomas Noe, suspected of improperly distributing campaign dollars to avoid contribution limits. Davey said the Noe case is different because it contains potential illegal activity. Two philosophies There are opposing philosophies in this case, with one suggesting that the state has an obligation to provide an adequate system of public education, and another suggesting that the state's role is to assist families in securing an adequate education from a smorgasbord of choices. The coalition says the smorgasbord has created multiple systems that are funded unfairly and are held accountable to different standards. Donald Brey, White Hat's attorney at a Columbus law firm, said this is not an issue about who benefits -- White Hat, unions or anyone else -- but about how children are educated. ``The issue in front of the Ohio Supreme Court is purely a constitutional issue: whether the statutes on their face violate the constitution. ``The issue isn't whether you like somebody or don't like somebody, but empowering parents to take control of their child's education,'' he said. There is Akron influence on both sides of this case. In 2001, a coalition led by the Ohio Federation of Teachers -- Ohio's second-largest teachers union -- sued the state. It said charter schools are unconstitutional. Akron Public Schools and its teachers union joined the groups. Akron had just lost an appeal to the Ohio Department of Education, in which the district argued that mandatory busing of charter-school students to schools of choice was an unfair financial burden. Brennan's company was named in the suit as a benefactor of unconstitutional activity. The two sides disagree on whether charter schools are really public schools on two bases: governance and accountability. The OFT maintains that charter schools are not public because private companies like White Hat organize the nonprofit boards that run the charter schools. That ensures that the charter boards then will hire the same private, for-profit companies as school manager. Supporters maintain charter schools are public schools with open enrollment that are held to the same academic standards as traditional public schools. Opponents also say charter schools are exempt from many state regulationsand are performing far below local traditional schools. Supporters point to efforts by the legislature to address problems in charter schools as an acknowledgment that, while the system may be imperfect, it is not unconstitutional. Also regarding governance, the OFT argues that charter schools are unconstitutional because local voters and school boards have no input in the decision to open the schools or how they should be funded. Supporters say the legislature has the authority to create alternative public schools, and charters are held accountable by independent, state-authorized sponsors. The Supreme Court also will need to decide whether local property tax dollars, voted on by residents to support the local schools, are unconstitutionally diverted to charter schools.