BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS -- When school opens this fall, dozens of Cincinnati children will be attending a privately managed school financed by state and local tax dollars.
Oak Tree Montessori school was one of 10 "community schools" endorsed Tuesday by the state board of education, adding Ohio to a list of more than two dozen states that allow private groups to operate public schools.
Other community schools winning approval will be located in Akron, Cleveland, Dayton and Youngstown.
Spawned by a state law enacted last year to create competition with the public school system, community schools will operate free from many state mandates.
In Cincinnati, Oak Tree will operate with about $4,000 per pupil in state tax support, plus an additional $1,200 for low-income students. Cincinnati Public Schools spends an average of $6,700 per student, including state and local money.
Located in the Anna Louise Inn at 300 Lytle Place, the school will emphasize the Montessori approach to learning, arts, technology and the environment. It will serve 72 public students in kindergarten through third grade and 18 tuition-paying preschoolers.
"Like other Montessori schools, we are attracting parents who feel traditional education is not working for their kids," said Pauline Ach, Oak Tree's founder.
