Dive Brief:
- Over the weekend, David Hansen, Ohio's director of school choice, stepped down after admitting to masking charter schools' failing grades in state evaluations of those schools’ overseers.
- The revelation has prompted calls for the resignation of Ohio State Superintendent Richard Ross.
- Two sponsors were impacted, including one who oversaw a school under suspicion of irregularities in attendance records. By not reporting the lower grades, two sponsors received higher ratings, which could lead to more state benefits.
Dive Insight:
Ohio has had a troubled relationship with charter schools, which have struggled with attendance and performance, as well as a lack of accountability. Their missteps have prompted a push for reform that has extended to the halls of Congress. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) even attempted to introduce a provision in the Senate's rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to increase charter oversight as a result of the lack of transparency and quality in the state’s charter system.
Ross has drawn criticism for encouraging laxness, as well as his involvement in a state bill that passed with little to no public input. The bill would give him more power in taking over struggling districts and promote charter schools as an alternative to traditional public schools.
State Democrats are calling for the state school board, which was also excluded from the bill’s writing, to fire Ross.