I am Mandy Jablonski, a parent and public education activist from Lorain County Public Education Defenders. Toni Jones, a dedicated parent activist, and I did some research and put together information about the amount of money that every district in Lorain County has sent to charter schools over the past fifteen years.
We sent this information, a charter school resolution template, and a sample resolution from the Logan- Hocking District, to every superintendent in Lorain County urging them to join the three Lorain County districts, Elyria, Keystone, and Firelands, that have already adopted a resolution to invoice the state of Ohio for money lost to charter schools over the past fifteen years. Read our email:
Dear Lorain County Superintendents:
Is your school board RESOLUTIONARY?
In accordance with Public Education Partners Call To Action and in conjunction with the ongoing public declaration by Lorain County Superintendents to take back local control of our school districts, the leadership of Lorain County Parents Supporting Our Children and Teachers has taken the liberty of calculating the amount of state funding that each district has unscrupulously been forced to hand over to educational thieves, more commonly known as Charter Schools.
As shown on the attached spreadsheet, since fiscal year 2002, a grand total of $239,062,557 has been stolen from our Lorain County public school districts. Lorain Public Schools have incurred the largest loss of funding with a 13 year total of $125,563,241. These figures were extrapolated from data supplied by the Ohio Department of Education on their website.
Are you aware that Lorain gives almost one-quarter of their state funds to charters? They are in academic distress and in danger of a full state takeover. How are they supposed to help children if they do not have the resources they need? Think of all of the support staff and new programs that money could be spent on. You might also be surprised to know that Avon Lake will give 19.20% of their state money to charters in fiscal year 2016.
Lorain County Parents Supporting Our Children and Teachers is painfully aware of the potential of the “Youngstown Plan” unfolding in our own backyard and we feel strongly that Lorain County civic leaders, school districts and taxpayers need to unite and refuse to allow such an educational atrocity to happen to the children of Lorain City Schools on our watch. Exposing this loss of funding to charter schools in Lorain and county-wide is a vigilant step that needs to be taken to uncover these unethical practices and rally EVERY taxpayer within EVERY Lorain County district to fight against the reformers.
In addition to the spreadsheet, also attached is a resolution template, as well as a sample resolution and invoice that Logan-Hocking School District sent to the ODE to demand repayment of funding that their district and children lost to charter schools. We have included everything for you so as not to drain any of your resources and enable you to execute this Call to Action in the most swift and efficient manner.
Thank you Elyria, Keystone and Firelands for having already boldly answered this Call To Action, as requested by concerned parents in your district (Mandy Jablonski-Elyria and Toni Jones-Firelands). Twenty-Nine school boards have already passed resolutions to call attention to how, year-in and year-out, money is being taken away from traditional public school systems to support charter schools that traditionally have much lower academic achievement rates than public schools. When will your district be added to this elite list?
It is our sincere hope that each of you will take advantage of the tools we have shared with you today and take urgent and immediate action. We welcome the opportunity to partner with you, as the voice of the parents, for any future endeavors related to regaining local control.
Sincerely,
Lorain County Parents Supporting Our Children and Teachers
Our group also noted the amount of money that each district in Lorain County received from the state for Fiscal Year 2016 and what percentage of those funds went to charter schools. The Lorain City School District is forced to send almost one-quarter of its funding to charter schools!
Lorain County Public Education Defenders encourages other activists to send this information to their school boards, and urge them to adopt the resolution as well. Adopting this resolution will make the public more aware of how charter schools are funded at the expense of traditional public schools. It will also send a strong message to the state that they must, at the very least, change the way that these poor performing charter schools are funded.
