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In a display of raw political power that undermines transparency on how Ohio is spending more than a billion tax dollars, Ohio’s top Republican legislative leaders strong-armed the state Ethics Commission into abandoning financial disclosure requirements for charter school board members.
Today in Ohio podcast hosts questioned the heavy-handed tactics in Tuesday’s episode.
“This story really makes my blood boil,” said Lisa Garvin. “The Ohio Ethics Committee had a rule that would have required financial disclosures from publicly funded charter schools, but that rule was indefinitely set aside after a letter that was sent to them from, from House Speaker Matt Huffman and Senate President Rob McCauley.”
The extraordinary intervention didn’t stop with a threatening letter. As Garvin explained, the GOP leaders “said that they would threaten to pass a law prohibiting it if this rule is not rescinded right away.”
The rule would have created much-needed transparency for charter school board members who oversee the spending of more than $1 billion in taxpayer funds annually. Board members would have had to disclose their income sources, investments, and gifts – basic accountability measures that most public officials already face.
“What I find challenging in this story is the heavy handedness that they used,” said Chris Quinn. “McColley actually showed up for the Ethics Commission meeting… Are they pushing for basic fairness so that everything’s treated the same, or are they using their heavy hands to protect charter schools because they hate public schools and they want to crush them and get everybody into private schools?”
Garvin didn’t hesitate in her response: “I would say the answer is B… you know, we’re giving them a billion dollars. They don’t have to give us their curricula. They don’t have to meet the same standardized tests that public schools do. So, they’re really kind of operating in the shadows.”
Charter schools in Ohio are set to receive between $1.3 and $1.6 billion in public funding this school year – yet operate with far less oversight than traditional public schools. Bad things happen when publicly funded private schools operate without transparency, the hosts noted.
They pointed to the notorious Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) scandal as a perfect example of what can happen without proper oversight. “Look at ECOT, the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow,” Garvin said. “They closed in 2018, and they still owe the state $100 million in disputed public funds that they received.”
The pattern of shielding charter schools from accountability extends beyond this incident. Garvin highlighted that “they killed a bill that would have required private schools getting state funded vouchers to disclose how that money is spent.”
And now Huffman and McColley are carrying the lack of transparency forward.
Listen to the discussion here.
Listen to full “Today in Ohio” episodes where Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with Editorial Board member Lisa Garvin, Impact Editor Leila Atassi and Content Director Laura Johnston.