A mysterious provision added to the state budget bill as passed by the Ohio House stands to protect the sponsors of some online charter schools.
The amendment’s origin is a mystery to the amendment’s supposed author, to a leading charter school-sponsoring think tank, and to the state’s largest e-school, they say. The bill is now in the hands of the Senate.
It would allow online charter schools to change sponsors without their poor academic performance driving down the performance ratings of their new sponsors. Under the amendment, past academic scores wouldn’t negatively affect the new sponsor’s ability to continue overseeing other charters. Under current law, sponsors rated “ineffective” for three consecutive years, or rated “poor,” lose their ability to sponsor charter schools.
