Moratorium also would halt promising schools

The Columbus Dispatch

4/9/2007

By Jennifer Smith Richards

Surely we’re allowed to start new charter schools, the school districts say.

And surely, some charter leaders say, Gov. Ted Strickland doesn’t mean to squelch the expansion of successful programs.

But they are wrong.

To current and would-be charter schools, Strickland’s proposed moratorium is a terrible response to his concern that there isn’t enough oversight of the publicly funded but often privately run schools.

The moratorium wouldn’t stop only those charters.

It also would shut out school districts — including Gahanna, South-Western and Worthington — that want to open their own charter schools.

It might end plans for a school affiliated with Ohio Dominican University and the Graham School, one of Columbus’ top-rated charters.

And the moratorium would kill off the highly anticipated and well-respected KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) schools slated to arrive here as soon as fall 2008. Those schools have a track record in other cities of doing well with low-income and minority students.

“I think there’s a feeling this might be an unintended consequence (of Strickland’s moratorium idea). It’s not clear that the people who drafted it were aware that there were high-performing charter schools involved,” said Mark Real of KidsOhio.org, who has worked to bring KIPP to the city.

“We’re hopeful that once people understand the consequences, they’ll rethink things.”

But the governor stands firm: All new charters should be on hold because the system is flawed.

“I know this has been viewed on the part of some as an attack upon all charter schools, and that’s certainly not my intention,” Strickland said. “My intention is to stop the proliferation of charter schools that we read about frequently as having failed students and exhibited a lack of fiscal responsibility.”

Strickland said his ideas are aimed at the charter system, not individual schools. The moratorium is simply meant to allow time to add more oversight and accountability, he said.

He pointed to the recent closing of the Harte Crossroads charter schools in Columbus City Center as evidence of the problem.

“What I’m not willing to tolerate is more of what we’ve had — perhaps a successful charter school here and there, but coming at an incredibly high price both in terms of public resources and effect on a lot of children, as these children here in Columbus are finding,” Strickland said.

A moratorium is overkill, said Terry Ryan, vice president for Ohio policy and programs for the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. The Dayton-based group, which oversees other charters, also would sponsor the KIPP schools.

“There’s no foolproof way to prevent a charter school from blowing up,” he said. “The fact of the matter is, this is an innovative thing. You’re saying to people, ‘Take a shot at opening up a school and making it successful.’ The theory holds some will fail.” Ryan and other charter-school advocates say the system isn’t as flawed as Strickland suggests, and that great schools thrive within it.

The Graham School, for instance, is rated “effective” by the state — equal to a B grade. Its proposed school with Ohio Dominican, called the Charles School, would help students earn college credit while they complete high school.

Greg Brown, dean of students at Graham, said he’s in favor of greater accountability and higher quality.

“Sometimes good intentions and policy have these unintended consequences. We just happen to be the victims of it,” he said.

Also in limbo is a planned charter called the Phoenix School, which is to open this fall in Worthington’s Perry Middle School and offer innovative instruction, personal attention and art.

Worthington Superintendent Melissa Conrath intends to open the school, even if it can’t be a charter. As a charter, though, the Phoenix School could use start-up grants to help offset planning and training costs.

“The Phoenix School here is exactly what (the charter-school movement) is supposed to encourage and support,” Conrath said.

jsmithrichards@dispatch.com

Copyright © 2007, The Columbus Dispatch