MILWAUKEE — Dayton school board President Yvonne Isaacs told a meeting of education reporters from across the country Saturday that an education crisis in Dayton at the advent of charter schools helped prompt major reforms, but charter schools in some ways harm the district's ability to educate kids.

Isaacs spoke at a seminar examining the impact of school choice sponsored by the Education Writers Association in Milwaukee on a panel with David Harris, the former charter school director for the mayor of Indianapolis, and Greg Richmond of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers.

With about 30 percent of schoolchildren attending more than 30 charter schools, Dayton is second behind only New Orleans for the size of its charter school movement.

Over the nine years of charter schools in Dayton, Isaacs said, the district has lost $283 million that was transferred to charter schools, which she said have overall scored lower than traditional public schools.

"It would not have cost us nearly that much to educate 6,000 students, we believe," she said.

Harris and Richmond argued that charter schools have been a good education reform.

"Overall, I think charter schools have had a very positive impact on the education landscape in Indianapolis generally and also on the school districts," Harris said. "We have empowered quality people to create quality new options."

Isaacs described the election of the Kids First team to the school board in 2002 and the reform it launched — replacing the superintendent, shifting spending toward the classroom and creating new choice options within the district.

"Choice in education can be good, but quality education choices for children must also be good for kids to become successful adults," she said.

Bad charter schools have harmed all schools, she said.

"The underperformers have diluted resources for all public schools," she said. "They robbed thousands of students of the education they deserved."