Charter school expansion in Ohio is a non-transparent movement that must be held accountable for its use of our tax dollars. ODE data shows that our state’s public schools lost more than $870 million in state funding to charter schools in fiscal year 2014, amid ongoing reports of theft, misappropriation of funds, overpayment to vendors, nepotism in the employment of family members, and excessively high administrative salaries in many charter schools.
If the citizens of Ohio knew the truth about charter schools, our legislators would be forced to make them more transparent and accountable. The great majority of charter schools are managed by for-profit companies that donate lots of money to political campaigns. Could that be the reason charter schools are exempt from 270 provisions of Ohio Revised Code?
There’s no requirement in state law that directs Ohio charter schools to disclose how much money is spent marketing those commercials seen on prime-time television. State law doesn’t state that tangible property purchased with public funds remains public property when a charter school closes.
There’s no requirement that board members of these schools represent parents — unelected boards are filled by the company that operates them or by friends and relatives of the school developer. Are the board members accountable to taxpayers or the corporate interests that put them there? For that matter, are our elected officials, who are supposed to monitor and regulate publicly-funded and privately-operated charter schools, accountable to taxpayers or the corporate interests that put them there?
Hopefully, this investigation initiated by the state board of education will be the beginning of a comprehensive study of every charter school in our state, accompanied by increased transparency and accountability mandated by state lawmakers. Taxpayers deserve that much. — JEANNE H. MELVIN, COLUMBUS
Speak up
We have another solution to the border crises on the Southern border. Use either bus or rail transportation to take the illegal immigrants to their respective embassies in Washington, DC. Let the embassy personnel handle the problem as they see fit.
Israel has agreed to accept the peace terms set forth by Egypt, yet Hamas kept firing rockets at their cities and their citizens. One has to wonder what those who want to condemn Israel would do if someone kept firing rockets at their home. Who is stronger is irrelevant.
I wish the media would learn the proper terms for immigrants and illegals. The terms are not interchangeable. All this political correctness only confuses things. There is no such thing as an illegal immigrant. Those who come to this country legally are called immigrants; those who come here illegally have broken our laws and are therefore called illegal aliens. These terms are constantly misused. Our proud immigrants who are now American citizens cannot be happy to hear the term immigrant applied to those who break our laws and are here illegally.
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