Dive Brief:
- Ohio Board of Education member A.J. Wagner's request for an internal audit of the state's Department of Education over alleged manipulation of charter school evaluations was rejected, but he is now asking the U.S. Department of Education's charter school programs director, Stefan Huh, to investigate.
- The Columbus Dispatch reports that Wagner sent a letter to Huh, reading, “Ever since it came to light last summer that an employee of ODE (Ohio Department of Education) was falsely reporting charter school data, I have wanted to clear the name of ODE."
- A $71 million federal grant to expand and promote charter schools in Ohio is at stake, as incorrect information was previously revealed to have been supplied by the state in its grant application.
Dive Insight:
The latest twist in the ongoing saga related to charter schools in Ohio is perhaps predictable. Until hard proof exists that the state did nothing wrong, policymakers, officials, and the public will likely continue to ask questions. The state should take the matter seriously, thoroughly investigate both the present and past, and act with transparency in regards to all findings.
Yet that might be unlikely to happen. In Ohio, top officials have been reported to be involved in what appear to be cover-ups in relation to charter school performance and evaluations. Last July, the state auditor announced that he would decline to investigate why the state's education officials omitted student performance data from charter evaluations, and the state's director of quality school choice resigned amid scandal after admitting he intentionally left out data. Worse, Gov. John Kasich has also reportedly declined to deliver documents related to the federal grant and alleged grade manipulation to the state's auditor.
Two bills have already been proposed at the federal level in an attempt to advance oversight measures, and it remains unclear if the U.S. Department of Education will release the $71 million dollar grant hanging in the balance.
