Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > June > 15
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Top charter DuBois saved
Word has it the leadership at the Fordham Foundation was pretty perturbed when one of their favorite charter schools — and a school they sponsor — suddenly decided to close without telling anyone, not even Fordham.
Well, Jen Mrozowski at the Cincinnati Enquirer reports today that the high performing school in the troubled Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati will remain open after all.
But to save the WEB DuBois school, the governing board had to cut its budget significantly, lay off 18 people and demote Wilson Willard, the founder and genius behind the school’s educational program. It will be interesting to see if the school can maintain its high level of performance under these conditions.
And that assumes the school can even survive, with the state auditor now combing through its records and the Cincinnati school district challenging its enrollment figures. The future suddenly looks quite uncertain for this one-time darling of the charter school movement.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Charter Schools and School Choice
One less charter in Dayton
I just realized this brief I wrote from Tuesday’s school board meeting never made it into the paper (CORRECTION: Apparently the item did make it into the paper). World of Wonder was one of the the first “mom and pop” style charter schools and an impressive one at that. The school’s decision to become a regular public school is actually quite interesting. I’ll have additional commentary on this later.
WOW joins Dayton school district
The World of Wonder charter school, one of the few “conversion” charter schools in the state, came back under the umbrella of Dayton Public Schools Tuesday.
The school board voted to make the school a “contract school,” which will allow WOW to operate more independently than other district schools but without the complete freedom it enjoyed as a charter school.
Conversion charter schools are schools that move from the direct supervision of a school district to independent management. WOW persuaded the district to allow it to convert the former Residence Park Elementary School to an independent charter school in 1999 under the leadership of former Principal Dick Penry.
The change also allows the district to count WOW’s achievement test scores in its district averages and permits the school to use district services at no extra cost.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Charter Schools and School Choice
