The following letter was sent by Sherrod Brown to Secretary of Education John King. (I have omitted a half-dozen footnotes that cite the sources for the details that Senator Brown highlights.) The letter illustrates why Sherrod Brown is a very effective and widely respected progressive Senator in a “purple” state.

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June 20, 2016

Dear Secretary King:

I write regarding the Department of Education’s (ED) continued engagement with the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) about the $71 million September 2015 Charter School Program (CSP) grant awarded to the state. While I was encouraged to see that ED has not disbursed this money, has placed special conditions on the grant, and has engaged in multiple fact finding efforts with ODE, I remain concerned regarding the performance and oversight of the state’s charter school sector. It is incumbent upon ED to take additional steps to increase oversight, accountability, and transparency before this grant money is disseminated.

Last month, the Charter School Accountability Project published a report titled “Belly Up: A Review of Federal Charter School Program  Grants” which analyzed  the use  of CSP grant dollars in Ohio’s charter schools. This report found that during the CSP’s 20 year history  Ohio has  received $99.6 million in CSP funding, a number  surpassed  by only Florida and California.’ Of the 292 Ohio charter schools that received this funding, over one-third  have closed or never opened, meaning that almost $30 million in taxpayer dollars was spent on now-defunct or non­existent schools. Nearly $4 million in CSP funds was given to 26 Ohio charters that never opened.

The dismal state of the Ohio charter school sector has been further demonstrated by Ohio State Auditor Dave Yost’s May 2016 report regarding poor attendance at many of the state’s charter schools. Yost’s report highlighted problems with ODE’s oversight of attendance reporting and found particular problems with the attendance reports at drop-out recovery prevention charter schools, some of which had attendance rates of less than fifty percent during the surprise inspections. He further found that while the Ohio General Assembly has taken action to reform charter schools, ODE still has significant weaknesses in evaluating the effectiveness and reliability of the charter schools sector. He went on to state that ODE was “among the worst, if not the worst-run state agency in state government.”

In your November  2015  response  letter to the members  of the Ohio Congressional  delegation, you outlined a number of steps ED has taken and will continue to take to verify the accuracy and completeness of ODE’s grant application. I appreciate these steps, but  more must be done  to  provide order to the state’s chaotic charter school sector. In light of this report, I ask that  you  examine the performance of Ohio charter schools who have received CSP grants to determine whether  grant recipients are failing or closing at a higher rate than those  in other states and  how the academic performance of CSP grant recipients in Ohio compares to CSP grant recipients nationwide. I further ask that when Ohio has satisfied  all necessary conditions  for this grant money  to be released  that you appoint a special monitor to review every expenditure made pursuant  to this grant  in order to ensure that  all  funds are being  spent for their  intended  purpose.

Ohio’s current lack of oversight wastes taxpayer’s money and undermines the ostensible goal of charters: providing more high-quality educational opportunities for children. There exists a pattern of waste, fraud, and abuse that  is far too  common  and requires extra scrutiny. Federal investment in high-quality education is important and funds from the most  recent CSP grant could greatly benefit students in Ohio if spent appropriately. This, however, would require that only high-quality operators with a history of student success have access to these important resources. Such an approach would include greater scrutiny of taxpayer spending and detailed analysis  of academic performance.

l ask that you keep me and my staff apprised with your evaluation of ODE’s application for CSP funding and the subsequent disbursement of funds.

Sincerely,

Sherrod Brown

United States Senator