Saturday, April 08, 2000
Mallory wants charter school data released
BY JAMES PILCHER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
State Sen. Mark Mallory has asked the state school superintendent to order the city's local charter schools to turn over information previously requested by the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers.
In a letter to superintendent Susan Zelman dated Thursday, Mr. Mallory, D-Cincinnati, wrote that the information should be released to avoid a lengthy court battle.
Open records law cited
“The law is very clear on this area — charters should be considered public schools and public schools are covered by open records laws,” Mr. Mallory said Friday.
“It would just waste the taxpayers' money to drag this out.”
Ohio Department of Education spokeswoman Monica Zarichny said Friday that state officials had not yet seen the lawsuit, and were waiting on any possible action until the suit has been reviewed.
Earlier this week, the local teachers' union filed suit against four of the city's five charters, claiming the schools violated the state open records act by not providing requested information.
The information sought included teacher and student turnover, dates and results of any admission lotteries, curricula, faculty and student handbooks, budgets and lists of teachers and their certification levels.
5 schools involved
The city has five charter schools with enrollment of about 1,800 students.
Named in the suit are Greater Cincinnati Community Academy, Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy, Harmony Community School and Riverside Academy.
The union said the fifth charter, Oak Tree Montessori, made “a good-faith effort” to provide information.
Passing it on
Lisa Hamm, principal of Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy, said the first she had heard of the request was when she was served with the suit Thursday.
“I am passing the suit on to our attorney, and I'm sure we'll comply and provide the information,” Ms. Hamm said. “But it might not be right away — we are committed to our students first.”
Attorneys: No comment
Akron-based Mark Krohn, attorney for Riverside Academy, had no comment. Neither did Cincinnati attorney Tom Martin, who represents Greater Cincinnati Community Academy.
Officials from Harmony Academy have said they provided the requested information or directed the union to the state department of education for other records.
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