Tom Mooney's final exposé of Ohio charter schools -- the gifting goes on......

From John Curry, December 13, 2006
Subject: Tom's final expose' of Ohio charter schools -- the gifting goes on..............
Note from John: I'm sorry I missed this timely article that came out in the Beacon Journal on Dec. 4, 2006. Boy, will we miss Tom Mooney even more than we realized!

``This thing is written to make Brennan filthy rich and to undermine standards in the public schools, too, because they will have to race to the bottom to try to hold onto some of their kids,'' Mooney said.

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Posted on Mon, Dec. 04, 2006

Dropout programs won't get new rules

Ohio Core proposal would increase high school graduation standards, but exempt some at-risk students

By Dennis J. Willard

Beacon Journal Columbus Bureau

COLUMBUS - Students in dropout recovery schools, like the Life Skills charter schools run by David Brennan's White Hat Management, would not be bound by the stricter high school graduation standards found in the proposed Ohio Core plan moving through the legislature.

Ohio Core, pushed by Gov. Bob Taft, Republican legislative leaders and the Ohio Business Roundtable, appears to be on the fast track in the lame-duck session, despite reservations expressed by Gov.-elect Ted Strickland.

Taft's proposal, a cornerstone of his State of the State address in January, was stalled for months, but two weeks ago, identical substitute versions of the bill were unveiled by Ohio House and Senate sponsors.

Ohio Core ups the ante for high school graduates to enroll in all but three state universities by requiring four years of math, including Algebra II, four years of language arts and three years of science classes that involve laboratory work.

In the substitute versions of the bill, dropout recovery programs designed to keep or bring students back to school to complete a high school diploma are exempt from Ohio Core.

State Sen. Randall Gardner, R-Bowling Green, said dropout recovery programs run by charter schools were already exempt from Ohio Core, so, despite having serious reservations about the idea, he pushed to ensure that all public schools were exempt.

``My preference would be that we make it quite unusual, very unusual, for a student to pursue an alternative path,'' Gardner said. ``Do I think that is the best policy? It's a bicameral legislature and I want to make sure that we don't disrupt some of the good programs that are really meeting the students' needs, and this is not an easy section of state law to write.''

Gardner said he didn't want different sets of standards for dropout recovery programs in charter and traditional public schools.

More and more traditional public schools have started dropout recovery programs similar to Life Skills to reach students who are at risk of either leaving school or have dropped out and wish to return to earn a diploma.

Exemption concern

There are students who have challenging economic, social and family circumstances that require an alternative educational opportunity such as a dropout recovery program, but Gardner said he agrees with concerns that the exemptions may go too far.

``When we ask students to do more, they usually rise to our expectations,'' Gardner said.

The Ohio Core bill now allows students to be eligible for a dropout recovery program and avoid the Ohio Core curriculum if they are 16 or older, and at least one year behind their peer group in school or have a personal crisis that interferes with their schoolwork.

The exemption for charter schools is being pushed by the House sponsor, state Rep. Arlene Setzer, R-Vandalia. She did not respond to requests to be interviewed.

White Hat response

Tom Needles, a lobbyist for White Hat, said there have been ongoing discussions between the legislative and executive branches of government to address the dropout population.

``There's a universal recognition among policymakers that this population of students is a unique one and a consensus is developing that we should assist these students in every way possible so that they, too, can become productive members of society,'' Needles said.

Bob Tenenbaum, a White Hat spokesman, said the company operates 18 Life Skills schools in Ohio that enroll about 5,000 students.

Tom Mooney, Ohio Federation of Teachers president, said the exemption in the bill for the dropout recovery program is wide open for both charter and traditional public schools.

Mooney said the state is raising standards without investing in the programs, and money is not being directed toward the neediest students to close achievement gaps in the education system.

``So you're really creating a bonanza for Brennan and people like him. You're going to have a lot of students who are not prepared to meet those standards, so White Hat is going to open 10 more Life Skills centers or the public schools that are forced to hold onto students will have to open their own dropout recovery programs with low standards, so you defeat the whole purpose of the bill,'' Mooney said.

Mooney said the Ohio Federation of Teachers, representing more than 20,000 teachers in the state, supports the ideas behind Ohio Core, but the state should be careful in defining which students can opt out of the new standards and enroll in a dropout recovery program.

``There is a subset who are very far behind. Even with them, the question is, do you want a three-tiered system, where here is the real diploma, here is the second-class diploma and here is the GED?'' Mooney asked. ``Do we really want to invite large numbers of kids to succumb to the temptation to go for the easy diploma?''

Mooney said the definition of eligibility should be much narrower.

``This thing is written to make Brennan filthy rich and to undermine standards in the public schools, too, because they will have to race to the bottom to try to hold onto some of their kids,'' Mooney said.

Needles said he did not want to respond to Mooney's accusations.

Committee vote Tuesday

Gardner said the legislation increases academic standards for all other charter schools, including online, by requiring students to meet the standards of Ohio Core. Currently, charter school students not in dropout recovery programs must pass the Ohio Graduation Test.

The Senate Education Committee is expected to vote Tuesday to move the bill to the full Senate.

Gov.-Elect Strickland has indicated he would like the legislature to delay work on Ohio Core until after his January inauguration.

He has expressed concerns that the program may lead to a two-tiered system of education in the state, and he wanted to study the impact on charter schools.