April 21st, 2015

Money for Ohio’s Charter Schools: More than Meets the Eye

Charter school proponents in Ohio have recommended that more taxpayer dollars be made available to fund charter schools, despite the sector’s overall woeful performance and that some local revenues are currently being used to subsidize charters. In calling for more “equitable” funding, they claim the state needs to allow both state and local money to flow to charter schools – not just state money.

A new analysis by the Ohio Charter School Accountability Project undercuts the case for greater access to local money that they currently lack. The findings show that charter schools:

• Spend significantly less on classroom instruction than local school districts;
• Spend more per pupil on administrative costs than districts spend on administration, professional development and programs to support pupils combined;
• Pay their teachers 40 percent less than districts – even though they incur savings by not having to pay to bus students.  Those costs are covered by local school districts;
• Do not directly receive local revenues, but do receive far more per-pupil in state revenue than their local public school counterparts and, in some cases, receive substantial private donations.

If charter schools spent the same amount per pupil as school districts spend on administration, charters would have enough money to spend about the same amount of money in the classroom as local school districts. And that’s without directly receiving any local money.

Read the full report here: Money for Ohio’s Charter Schools – More than Meets the Eye