ARE CHARTER SCHOOLS PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

Absolutely, charter schools are part of Ohio's public education system. They are open to all students and provide the same range of subjects as traditional district schools.

DO PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS CHARGE TUITION?

No. Charter schools, just like district schools, are tuition-free.

ARE THEIR TEACHERS CERTIFIED AND DO CHARTER SCHOOLS HAVE TO FOLLOW THE SAME REGULATIONS AS DISTRICT SCHOOLS?

Yes. teachers must be certified and are required to be highly qualified under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Each charter school has a State approved sponsor, that monitors and audits that school to ensure that all state and federal regulations are being followed.

CAN CHARTER SCHOOLS BE LOCATED ANYWHERE IN OHIO?

No, Ohio law only allows charter schools to be located in districts that have a record of failing academic performance.  Those are the urban eight districts plus several other failing districts where children are at risk.  Often those children are several years below grade level.

DO PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS ‘HAND PICK’ THEIR STUDENTS?

No, charter schools are open to all students. If demand exceeds available space, a public lottery is held and students are randomly picked.

ARE CHARTER SCHOOLS TRULY ACCOUNTABLE TO THE STATE OF OHIO?

Actually, charter schools operate at greater levels of accountability than traditional district schools.  On a fiscal level, charter schools are audited throughout the year by their sponsor, the Department of Education and the Auditor of State.  If a charter is found to be unauditable their state funding is terminated.

Charter schools also operate under a much high standard of academic accountability.  If a charter school fails to meet certain academic standards State laws require that charter school to be closed.  That's the ultimate form of accountability.

On the other hand, failing district schools are exempt from these fiscal and academic accountability standards.

DO CHARTER SCHOOLS OPERATE FOR PROFIT?

No, all charter schools are non-profit. the goverening boards of some schools may choose to hire an educational management company to run their day-to-day operations. And some of those management companies may have a for-profit tax classification, as do hundreds of other vendors that school districts contract with on an ongoing basis.

The tax classification of an educational provider is unimportant. The only real judgment of any public school should be -- are they providing a quality education program and are the children showing at least one year of academic growth for each year in school?

HOW ARE CHARTER SCHOOLS FUNDED?

While it's unfair, charter schools operate with 30% funding than tradional district schools. 

Traditional school districts recieve state operational funds, massive amounts of state funding to build new school buildings plus revenue from local tax levies.

Even though charters are public schools they do they recieve suport from Ohio's School Facilities Commission.  Charter schools must provide their own financing for their school buildings.  And, when a child leaves a traditional district school and is enrolled in a charter school the school district retains 100% of the local funds raised from levies.  In essence, district schools keep all of the local tax dollars even though many of these children may be enrolled elsewhere.

Both traditional school districts and charter schools have the opportunity to apply for federal funding programs.

ODE OVERVIEW OF COMMUNITY SCHOOLS