ODE finally released their charter school sponsor ratings, after the initial effort to do so was marred by ODE insiders getting caught fixing the result.
Sponsors are graded using 3 framework components
- Alignment of academic performance to Ohio’s report card;
- Compliance with laws and administrative rules; and
- Adherence to quality sponsor practice measures
Each of these components receive an equal weighting, which result in one of four possible grades: exemplary, effective, ineffective and poor, in descending order of performance - though we're not sure what sounds worse, being ineffective or poor.
Sponsors rated as poor can no longer sponsor schools, while those rated ineffective will not be allowed to sponsor new schools, and will also close if they do not improve over the coming 3 years
Not a single sponsor managed to grade out as exemplary. Here's the breakdown
Ohio Charter School Sponsor Ratings 2015-16
One third of Ohio's charter school sponsors, if they fail on appeal, will close, with another 60% not allowed to sponsor any new schools. That alone should be cause for massive concern, but the crisis only deepens upon further inspection.
Those charters currently being operated under the guidance of these 21 poor sponsors will not close, instead their sponsorship will transfer to ODE.
ODE itself is already a sponsor. ODE's own grade is ineffective, with the academic performance of the schools they sponsor receiving an F.
Let's pause to contemplate this for just one moment. All but 5 sponsors of Ohio's schools are even marginally proficient, and the fall back to their failure is the state who itself is graded as ineffective. This is a real crisis.
Yet the problem is still not fully exposed. Of the five sponsors who are rated as effective, they do so not because of academic performance, the most important measure, but because they are good at paperwork.
None of the 5 effective sponsors scored higher than a D for academic performance. Instead they relied upon compliance and rule adherence to lift them above poor performance. Steve Dyer highlights this phenomenon in a post titled "Ohio Sponsorship Ratings: It Pays to be a Bureaucrat"
Finally, to round out the absurdity. The sponsors that oversee the charter schools with the highest academic performance are School Districts, but because of the ridiculous weightings, we get this:
But it should be made clear that the 33 charter school sponsors that receive As, Bs and Cs on academic performance are all public entities.
Equally telling?
All 33 are rated ineffective or poor. Which means the state would say that the 33 highest rated charter school sponsors in academic performance would be banned from opening new charters, or in the case of the poor rated sponsors, would have to immediately shut down.
Meanwhile, regardless of all this charter school "reform" once again confirming how bad the sector is, schools like ECOT continue to provide substandard education to students while draining real schools of needed resources.
Below are the results for each sponsor.
| Sponsor Name | Overall Rating |
| Auglaize County ESC | Ineffective |
| Barnesville Exempted Village | Ineffective |
| Bowling Green State University | Ineffective |
| Buckeye Community Hope Foundation | Effective |
| Buckeye Local | Ineffective |
| Cardington-Lincoln Local | Ineffective |
| Cincinnati City | Poor |
| Cleveland Municipal | Ineffective |
| Coshocton City | Ineffective |
| Cuyahoga Falls City | Ineffective |
| Dayton City | Ineffective |
| Educational Resource Consultants of Ohio | Ineffective |
| ESC of Central Ohio | Effective |
| ESC of Lake Erie West | Ineffective |
| Fairborn City | Ineffective |
| Findlay City | Ineffective |
| Franklin Local | Ineffective |
| Groveport Madison Local | Poor |
| Hamilton Local | Poor |
| Jackson City | Poor |
| Jefferson County ESC | Effective |
| Kids Count of Dayton, Inc. | Ineffective |
| Lakewood City | Ineffective |
| Lakewood Local | Poor |
| Lawrence County ESC | Poor |
| Lima City | Poor |
| London City | Poor |
| Lorain City | Poor |
| Mahoning County ESC | Poor |
| Margaretta Local | Ineffective |
| Marion City | Ineffective |
| Massillon City | Ineffective |
| Maysville Local | Ineffective |
| Miamisburg City | Ineffective |
| Mid-Ohio ESC | Ineffective |
| Montgomery County ESC | Ineffective |
| New Philadelphia City | Ineffective |
| Newark City | Poor |
| North Central Ohio ESC | Ineffective |
| Northmont City | Ineffective |
| Norwood City | Poor |
| Office of School Sponsorship | Ineffective |
| Ohio Council of Community Schools | Ineffective |
| Oregon City | Poor |
| Pickerington Local | Poor |
| Pleasant Local | Ineffective |
| Reynoldsburg City | Poor |
| Richland Academy | Ineffective |
| Ridgedale Local | Ineffective |
| Rittman Exempted Village | Poor |
| Rolling Hills Local | Poor |
| Scioto County Career Technical | Ineffective |
| Southwest Licking Local | Poor |
| St Aloysius Orphanage | Effective |
| Summit County ESC | Poor |
| Thomas B. Fordham Foundation | Effective |
| Toledo City | Ineffective |
| Tri-County ESC | Ineffective |
| Tri-Rivers | Ineffective |
| Urbana City | Ineffective |
| Van Wert City | Poor |
| Warren County ESC | Ineffective |
| West Carrollton City | Ineffective |
| Youngstown City | Poor |
| Zanesville City | Ineffective |