Schuring, Oelslager seek stricter rules for charter schools; want the new legislation to be named after Tom Mooney

Canton Repository December 6, 2006 By PAUL E. KOSTYU COPLEY COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF

COLUMBUS-- A coalition that fought the constitutionality of charter schools for years has withdrawn its remaining litigation in the wake of an Ohio Supreme Court ruling that said the schools are constitutional.

Instead, Mark Hatch, vice chairman of the Coalition for Public Education said the group will back the efforts of two Stark County lawmakers to find legislative and regulatory solutions to address accountability issues with charter schools.

State Rep. Scott Oelslager, R-North Canton, and state Sen. Kirk Schuring, R-Jackson Township, said they will introduce substitute versions of their House Bill 213 and Senate Bill 129, respectively. Both were introduced in April 2005 and have languished in committee in their respective chambers.

The likelihood of either bill passing before the end of the Legislature’s term in the next few weeks may be slim.

“There is disparity between charter and public schools,” Schuring said at a press conference Tuesday. “The common denominator is that both receive public tax dollars and that taxpayers have a right to demand accountability. I’m happy to join the fight.”

Schuring suggested the legislation be named for Tom Mooney, 52, the president of the coalition and the Ohio Federation of Teachers who died Sunday of a heart attack.

“Tom took this issue very passionately,” Schuring said.

Oelslager said charters have to be “accountable to the taxpayers and accountable to the children of the state of Ohio.” He called test results among students attending charters “abysmal.”

Oelslager accused supporters of charters of being hypocritical. He said they justified the formation of the schools saying they could help at-risk students where public schools had failed. Now that the charters have failed, he said, they blame it on having to deal with too many at-risk students.

“They have failed miserably,” Oelslager said.

The two bills will:

• Extend the cap on the formation of new charters until July 1, 2009;

• Prevent the operator of a charter school from opening another school if an existing school is on academic watch or emergency, closed or owes the state $10,000, or if the operator failed to administer state tests, is convicted of a management-related crime or failed to report complete and accurate data to the state;

• Prohibit a for-profit entity from opening any new charter schools;

• Require disclosure of an operator’s past experience managing a charter school;

• Require operators to report if a school closes or if the operator is convicted of a crime and the Department of Education must maintain a list of such operators.

• Reduce from 105 to 30 the number of consecutive hours a student can miss before being automatically withdrawn from a charter school;

• Limit to five years the length of a contract between a school’s governing authority and sponsor;

• Set performance standards the Department of Education must use to rate charter schools;
• Require teachers in core subject areas be “highly qualified” as defined by state law;

• Require teachers to teach only in their licensed subject areas or grade levels;

• Specify the student-teacher ratio in Internet/computer schools be no larger than 50 to 1. Current law sets the ratio at 125 to 1;

• Require a school’s governing authority, not the operator, employ teachers;

• Require a school certify it only employs teachers who hold provisional or professional licenses issued by the state;

• Prohibit relatives of a school’s governing board or operator from being on the board and requires members to reside in the county where the school is located.