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Ohio Supreme Court Rules Against Charter Schools in Operator Case

By Karen Kasler

The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled against 10 charter schools that sued their operator over school property that was purchased with state funds. The ruling said that schools are obliged to buy back computers, desks and other equipment that their operator White Hat Management had bought with money it received from the state. In the majority opinion, Justice Judith Lanzinger noted the schools hadn’t performed well under White Hat’s management, but that the contracts the schools had with White Hat were entered into voluntarily and were enforceable. In their dissents, Justice Bill O’Neill and Paul Pfeifer blasted both White Hat and the decision. O’Neill wrote that the ruling “rewards failure and encourages its repetition in the future in the name of profit”. Pfeifer called the contracts “unconscionable” and wrote that the opinion went, quoting here, “out of its way to support the insupportable.”

You can view the summary of the ruling here.

And you can view the entire opinion here.

Gabriel Kramer is a reporter/producer and the host of “NewsDepth,” Ideastream Public Media's news show for kids.