By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The public school establishment has tried a lot of dirty tricks over the years to inhibit the spread of charter schools.
That’s because charter schools attract many of their students, and siphon away some of the state money attached to those students.
One strategy employed in several cities has been to prevent charter schools from using abandoned school buildings. Appropriate classroom space is hard to find in many cities, and charter schools often have no place to go if unused public school buildings are deemed off limits.
In 2009, the Cincinnati school board went so far as to auction off nine closed school buildings, with a deed restriction preventing buyers from using the structures for charter schools.
As it turns out, the deed restriction was an obvious violation of state law and was shot down in the courts. And in an ironic twist, the effort to keep charter schools out of the buildings may end up costing the Cincinnati school district millions of dollars in state building funds.
Roger Connors and his mother, Deborah Connors, purchased one of the buildings, according to a news release. After gaining permission from the city’s zoning hearing examiner, they opened a charter school called Roosevelt Public Community School.
Cincinnati Public Schools sued the Connors and lost at every turn.
Judges ruled in favor of the defendants in the local Court of Common Pleas and a state appellate court. Finally, last week, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled 6-1 in favor of the Connors, noting that the deed restriction on the property violated an Ohio state law giving charter schools the right of first refusal when school districts sell buildings.
There’s no way Cincinnati school attorneys did not know about that state law when the district created deed restriction. The school board obviously adopted the restriction in defiance of the statute, and got what it deserved in court.
The Connors were represented in court by the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law.
The court ruling could cost Cincinnati schools millions of dollars in funding from the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission, which requires school districts to follow all state rules related to charter schools, according to the news release. The fate of that funding will be determined in a separate court case.
“Deed restrictions like the one struck down in this case were devised simply to stop new charter and private schools from opening in Cincinnati, so that CPS could retain students and protect its state funds,” Maurice Thompson, executive director of the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, was quoted as saying.
“In its (legal) brief, CPS compares itself to a gas station or hotel that has a right to use hardball tactics against its competition. It seems to have forgotten that it’s a public school that exists to educate children, rather than amass revenue.”
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Tags: #edpolitics, #edreform, #education, #schoolchoice, #schools, Center for Constitutional Law, charter schools, Cincinnati, Cincinnati Public Schools, Cincinnati school district, Court of Common Pleas, CPS, Deborah Connors, EAG, EAGnews, Education Action Group, Maurice Thompson, Ohio Schools Facilities Commission, Ohio Supreme Court, public schools, Roger Connors, Roosevelt Public Community School, state appellate court, StudentsFirst
Did CPS ever once consider that their monopoly tactics were out of line and illegal? No. But they spent taxpayer money to sue the charter schools that the citizens would actually profit from in the long run. Cincinnati citizens should shut down their public schools, demand the teachers unions be dissolved and open new schools all over the state that care about KIDS being educated! Public education i a big deboggle in the US as teachers unions are driving their liberal agenda AT ANY COST!
The actual better idea is just go straight to the point, put in school vouchers as the law of the land. This will attach the taxpayer money directly to the children. The parents and children will then be able to go to any school they want. Charter, private or government school let the parents decide what is good for their child. We will have a surplus in budget. And a better student population with higher test scores and lower crime rates !!
Public schools are required to teach ALL students. Taking the best
students and a significant portion of their funding will destroy education
in this country. I like Warren Buffets idea— ban all private schools
then all parents and taxpayers would have to work toward making public
schools the best that they can be for all children. That would truly benefit
the future of our country.
Oh I see so that’s is why the push to buy RFIDs for children to wear so public schools can maximize or amass revenue. Sometimes its not ‘for the children’.