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Schools are meeting Husted's challenge on charters
Dayton officials say they've complied with state law and offered charters chance to bid on unused buildings.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
DAYTON — The city school district will offer its vacant school buildings to charter schools, board President Yvonne Isaacs said.
In fact, she said Tuesday, the district already has done so as required by Ohio law.
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"We abide by the law," Isaacs said. "We have to offer them to charter schools and we have offered them in the past."
Last week, Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, challenged the district to work with charter schools more directly and said he would endorse the district's 15.17 mill levy — which will be on the May 8 ballot — if the board agreed to sell empty schools to charters as it constructs new school buildings.
District officials said they have done just that.
John Concannon, a school board attorney, said the district sent letters to every Dayton charter school alerting them to the opportunity to bid on Fairview Middle and Fairview Elementary schools but received no offers for those buildings.
"We were willing to allow any of them to make an offer to buy the buildings, as the state requires," he said.
In response to Husted's suggested endorsement offer last week at a charter school rally, Isaacs said the board was not inclined to make deals. Tuesday, she said her position had not changed but that she should have been clearer in expressing that the district already had done as Husted asked.
She pointed to East End Community School, a charter school negotiating to come under the district's umbrella and eventually move into a district building.
Terry Ryan, vice president of the pro-charter Fordham Foundation, said the district has dealt fairly with charters in recent years.
"I think Dayton Public Schools has reached out and been more cooperative to charter schools than any district in the state," he said.
Wednesday, Husted said his comments were based on complaints from some charter supporters pushing for a building to house a charter high school. He said he was seeking more information about the board's offers to charter schools.
"If it is happening, I am willing to compliment them and give credit for what they've done right," he said.
"The point I was trying to make was there were hundreds of people there who are potential voters. We need to take the approach on education issues that we're not for Dayton public schools or for charter schools or voucher schools. We're for kids and they have to work with each other to do that," Husted said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2485 or selliott@DaytonDailyNews.com.
