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A new study by an Ohio education watchdog group says local tax revenue is essentially subsidizing charter schools, which are non-traditional schools that are often run by outside groups.And the state’s charter schools have been taking a beating lately.In the last week, multiple studies have criticized their performance.The most recent report from the Ohio Charter School Accountability Project takes issue with the state’s complicated funding formula.
This year, the vast majority of public school systems ended up with less money per student from the state than charter schools.That’s because the charter school funds are funneled through local districts.But when a kid goes over to a charter, they are guaranteed a certain amount of money.So after a district pays out those charter schools, it’s often times left with less state money for each of its remaining students.“So what that means is that those districts then have to use local revenue to make up that funding difference or come up with cuts at the local level,” said Stephen Dyer, an education fellow with Innovation Ohio, one of the groups behind the report.Dyer and others want state lawmakers to take up the school funding issue during the next session.