4/23/09

Columbus Dispatch Blog

Jennifer Smith Richards

This morning, I participated in a fascinating discussion about charter schools that was organized by KidsOhio.org.

Ron Zimmer from RAND Corp., which researches education issues, was there to talk about his most recent work on charter schools. I was asked to pose some questions about the research, as was Catalyst Ohio writer Scott Stephens.

Zimmer made a couple of policy recommendations that touch on long-running debates in Ohio’s charter-school movement. First, he said policymakers should examine whether there is a better way to authorize charter schools. Our state allows all types of organizations to oversee charters, but that’s not true in every state.

Second, Zimmer said we should learn from charter schools that get it right. There’s currently very little research done in charter schools here to examine what innovations they’re trying and succeeding with.

So here are a few questions for you: Who should be allowed to authorize charter schools in Ohio? And is there a charter school that is doing something that more schools should try? If so, which ones and what are they doing?

This is probably a good time to remind people of some insightful research KidsOhio did a few years ago about why Columbus students left for charters. It’s still posted here.