From RH Jones: Four OH Supreme Court Members Ignore "Policy Matters" Report

From RH Jones, October 26, 2006

Subject: Four OH Supreme Court Members Ignore "Policy Matters" Report

To all:

A sad day for Ohio's children and their teachers as a 4-3 vote in the Supreme Court is announced. The four judges ignored the report of the Policy Matters nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute with offices in both Columbus & Cleveland released Oct. 16. You can access the report at: www.policymattersohio.org

Basically, "The report finds state rules lead to inadequate financial reporting at White Hat charter schools.

Current state rules keep Ohioans ill-informed about how public money is being spent at charter schools operated by White Hat Management, according to a report released today [Oct.16] by Policy Matters Ohio. The report called for a tightening of the rules.

The study, Limited Accountability: Financial Reporting at White Hat Charter Schools, found that:

* White Hat has not reported how much it spends instructing its 14,729 students, compared to administration, building operations or other kinds of expenses. . . . ".

Further on in the Policy Matters report, they say that White Hat had revenues of $116.95 million in fiscal year 2005 at their 31-charter schools. I wonder: What happened to the right to know where our tax money is spent? evidently the 4- Supreme Court judges do not care.

Please read the eye-opening 2-page report.

RHJones, Retired Teacher Member, STRS OH