Dive Brief:
- Democrats on the Ohio school board are joining forces in an attempt to fight potentially lax charter school decisions.
- The coalition has expressed desire in electing democrats to the president and vice president positions to help ensure charter accountability measures are put in place.
- The party picked up two seats on the board in recent elections.
Dive Insight:
Skepticism around charter schools in the state follows recent remarks by Dr. Margaret Raymond, the director of Stanford's Center for Research on Educational Outcomes (CREDO), who was less than optimistic about school choice and charter schools when she spoke at a City Club of Cleveland event in December.
Raymond surprised many ed wonks by stating that education is the only industry where the free market mechanism doesn't work. According to her study, students in Ohio charter schools spent, on average, 36 days less on math and 14 days less on reading than their traditional district counterparts
While her remarks have obviously galvanized the Democratic board members, it's unclear if they have much to worry about. Republican Gov. John Kasich appears on board with charter accountability, as well, which would mean his appointee Tom Gunlock, a Republican running for president of the ed board, would likely support it as well.
While Kasich does support voucher schools and school choice, according to the Times-Reporter, he said last month that he won't tolerate charter school operators “making money at the expense of great education for our kids.”