Testimony Prepared for the Alternative Education Subcommittee, House of Representatives, Ohio General Assembly

This report presents the testimony of the president and program director of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Based in Washington, DC and in Dayton, the Institute is a nonprofit organization that supports research, publications, and action projects of national significance in elementary/secondary reform, as well as significant education reform projects in Dayton and vicinity. The Institute is affiliated with the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, which was approved as a charter (community) school sponsor by the Ohio Department of Education in August of 2004. The testimony discusses Ohio's community schools (a.k.a. charter schools), which face a developing paradox: the more they expand and the more students they serve, the more threatened they become. These threats are both external and internal. The external threats to these public schools of choice take several forms, beginning with ongoing and costly lawsuits in both state and federal courts, a relentless public relations attack that targets members of the House and Senate, and legislation aimed at curtailing charter schools and increasing their costs of operations. [Report also produced by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.]