Correct Charter School Abuses

Nice work — if you can get it, as they say. We’re referring to positions held by some people as board members for private charter schools in Ohio. Some of them were paid multiple times for attendance at single board meetings. In a few situations, according to a state audit, board members were paid 17 times — that’s $2,125 — for attending single meetings.

That would be no one’s business except for executives and stockholders in charter school companies but for the fact that many such firms receive subsidies from the state. That’s taxpayers’ money.

Brace yourself for this one: When it occurred, the practice of paying charter school board members multiple times for the same “work” was perfectly legal. That oversight in the law apparently has been corrected.

Legal or not, the practice was “abusive,” as state Auditor Mary Taylor has pointed out. Her office has concluded a review of the business practices of 19 charter schools that received state assistance. The review found various questionable practices, including improper credit card purchases and faulty documentation.

Charter school officials have pointed out that expenditures questioned by Taylor’s office were miniscule in comparison to the 19 schools’ $57 million budget. Perhaps so — but that doesn’t make them any less upsetting.

Advocates of public funding of charter schools have enough opponents without adding questionable use of taxpayers’ money to the equation. Some safeguards already have been put in place to ensure that publicly funded charter schools handle taxpayers’ money properly — and that they are held accountable in terms of student achievement. Clearly, the issue is one requiring the continued attention of Gov. Ted Strickland and Ohio legislators.