Public dollars used for public services should be publicly visible. It seems like simple logic; however, when it comes to charter schools, the potential for profit often trumps transparency. Journalists from the Akron Beacon Journal and the News Outlet joint program called 294 of Ohio’s 393 charter schools to gather basic information – information that is required by Ohio law to be publicly accessible. One school responded with “I don’t trust you with that information.” The Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools states that by law, Ohio charter schools “must follow health and safety, ethics, public records and privacy laws; and comply with open meetings laws.” As citizens, journalists do not have to give reasons for their requests, but they encountered major obstacles to even benign questions such as “Who runs the building?” and “How does one contact the school board?” Only 1 in 4 of the 294 charter schools contacted gave any information and only 80 provided all the information requested.
↧