23 - two in Akron-Canton - are one report card away from shutdown, analysis of low scores shows
By John Higgins
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Friday, Oct 10, 2008
Twenty-three Ohio charter schools, including two in the Akron-Canton area, are just one state
report card away from closing for poor academic performance, according to a Beacon Journal analysis of state records.
About 4,300 students are enrolled in these schools, which are publicly funded and privately operated. The schools are
expected to receive almost $36 million in state money this year. They represent almost 5 percent of all students enrolled
in charter schools in the state.
The schools are vulnerable because of a 2006 Ohio law, House Bill 79, which outlines conditions for shutting down charter
schools with records of poor academic performance.
Former Republican Gov. Bob Taft signed the law as he was leaving office Dec. 29, 2006.
In addition, seven charter high schools would be vulnerable to closing based on next year's report card, but they are
exempted because they have a waiver under House Bill 79.
These high schools enroll about 1,700 students and are expected to receive about $13.9 million in public money this
year.
Six of the exempted schools are operated by Akron business man David Brennan, whose White Hat Management is one of
the nation's largest for-profit operators of charter schools.
In August, the Ohio Department of Education notified two charter schools that, based on the most recent state report
card, they will be closed at the end of this school year. These schools — in Toledo and Youngstown — are the
first two charter schools to be closed under House Bill 79.
How schools targeted
The legislation generally targets charter schools for closing if the state rates them in academic emergency three years
in a row and, for two of those three years, students perform below expectations on a new measure called ''value-added.''
That measure tracks students' year-to-year progress in reading and math.
High schools are subject to closing if they are in academic emergency four years in a row. But under House Bill 79,
schools can have a waiver that exempts them from closing because they offer dropout prevention and recovery programs.
The waiver is not supposed to be indefinite, however.
House Bill 79 required the Ohio Board of Education to make recommendations to set performance standards for high schools
receiving waivers within a year of the bill's passage. The state board made recommendations last March, but the legislature
has not acted on them and the state education department will not move forward on its own without legislation.
''We have not progressed any further with the thresholds, defining specific measurements or collecting data,'' department
spokeswoman Karla Warren said. ''We will do so when the legislature takes action on these. We cannot implement these recommendations
without the legislature.''
Waiver called necessary
Brennan said the waiver is necessary because those charter high schools are working with teenagers who have dropped
out of public schools, sometimes for months, before entering one of his Life Skills Centers.
''The vast majority have been out [of traditional high schools] for more than just a few days,'' Brennan said. ''They're
way behind academically when they come to us.''
The 23 schools vulnerable to closing based on next year's report card have been in academic emergency for at least
two years. If they receive the same ''F'' grade on next year's cards, that would make three years in academic emergency.
These schools also have failed to meet expectations in the value-added measure for reading or math, either in the 2007-2008
school year or the year before.
The value-added measure only applies to schools with grades 4 through 8, so charter high schools that don't have a
dropout prevention and recovery waiver can be closed after four consecutive years in academic emergency.
Ohio has 328 charter schools, enrolling about 88,800 students at an estimated public price tag of $603.2 million this
year.
More in trouble?
More charter schools could be in trouble down the road.
Report cards for the last three years show an increasing percentage of charter schools receiving the academic emergency
rating.
In 2005-2006, 31.2 percent got that rating. The next school year, 35 percent received the lowest rating. The most recent
report card shows 41.5 percent of charter schools in academic emergency.
The Toledo Academy of Learning will close on June 30 because the school had been in academic emergency for four years
and did not meet expectations in reading for two years in a row or for math on the last report card.
Summit Academy Community School for Alternative Learners of Youngstown also will close at the end of June because it
has been in academic emergency for three years and failed to meet expectations in math on the latest report card and reading
on the previous one.
The operator of the Youngstown school, Akron-based Summit Academy Management, runs six other schools that are one report
card away from closing, including Summit Academy Community School for Alternative Learners of Akron and Summit Academy
Canton.
Those six schools enroll about 463 students at an estimated public cost of $7.5 million this school year.
Test called unfair
Mark Schweitzer, Summit Academy Management's vice president of marketing and public relations, said the Ohio Achievement
Test is unfair to children with disabilities, who make up 98 percent of Summit's students.
''Using that to measure these kids is really biased and unfair,'' Schweitzer said.
Matthew Cohen, the state education department's executive director for the Office for Policy and Accountability, defended
the achievement test, saying it's not biased and is an accurate reflection of performance.
The value-added measure tracks individual performance on the test over several years to determine if the student is
meeting expected growth.
''It's not a question of who the kids are — it's where they start,'' Cohen said. ''I have counter examples of
schools who have very low-performing kids who do very well on value-added.''
Schweitzer said the problem is that the measure still depends on achievement test scores.
''The value-added helps, but you're still using a flawed instrument,'' he said.
Summit Academy is hoping the legislature will consider granting a waiver to House Bill 79 for schools with large populations
of special needs students, Schweitzer said.
House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, recently researched how many traditional public schools would be closed
based on the most recent report card if subjected to the same criteria.
Husted, a charter school proponent and supporter of House Bill 79, identified 16 traditional schools that would
be closed, mostly in Cleveland, Columbus and Youngstown. None were in Akron or Canton.
''The provisions in the law for charter schools hold them to an even higher standard than traditional public
schools,'' Husted spokeswoman Karen Stivers said. ''This law helps to create a quality growth environment for community
schools, ultimately benefiting those who matter most — the students.''
Lisa K. Zellner
Communications Director
Ohio Federation of Teachers
614.257.4195
1251 E. Broad St. | Columbus, OH 43205
