The U.S. Department of Education is releasing a $71 million grant to Ohio to help high-performing charter schools, but with strings attached.
The federal agency last week said it is imposing a series of restrictions on release of the money to prevent fraud inside Ohio’s troubled charter school system. The state will be required to hire an independent monitor and create a database of charter schools’ academic, operational, and financial performance. The state education department also must comply with a series of new reporting requirements.
Federal regulators postponed disbursement of the money last year amid concerns over the state education department’s alleged rigging of charter school evaluations and revelations of omissions from its grant application.
