Dive Brief:

• Heading to the Ohio Supreme Court is a case dealing with the rightful ownership of supplies purchased with public funds on the behalf of charter schools by privately run management companies.   
• Charter schools formerly managed by White Hat Management contend that supplies, such as textbooks and computers, purchased by White Hat on their behalf using tax dollars should belong to them.  
• The claim was already rejected by two lower courts.  

Dive Insight:

White Hat contends that the supplies belong to them because all public dollars become private once they enter their bank account. This creates quite an issue for these schools. If, for example, a charter comes to a disagreement with its management company and wants to look elsewhere, it will find it has no supplies. This could lead to schools sticking with poorly run management companies for longer than necessary. Understanding the complicated nuances of public and private when it comes to charter schools is important, and this case will definitely have implications nationally, as some other management companies have attempted to take the same stance as White Hat.

For more on White Hat and other similarly contentious charter management companies, check out this feature.