A Wonk's Guide to the Charter School Lawsuit

I'd love roll out a concise, easily digestible post on the issues at play in the lawsuit over charter schools. But I can't. The Plaintiffs' Brief argues five -- or maybe six -- propositions of law over 58 pages. Try summarizing that. Even the case name --State Ex Rel. Ohio Congress of Parents & Teachers v. State Bd. of Education, Case no. 2004-1668, 10th District Court of Appeals (Franklin County) -- is an abomination.

Instead, a few thumbnail guides and a pile of links to get you going.

First, the posture of the case. The appeal is from the trial court's grant of summary judgement. This means that the parties did their discovery and presented what they had to the judge who decided that, even if he assumed all disputed facts in favor of the plaintiffs, they still lose.

Now as you read the newspaper accounts, you will see arguments over whether charter schools are effectively educating kids. This is a dispute of material fact and has to be assumed in favor of the plaintiffs for summary judgement. You will also see -- as the central element of the dispute -- arguments over whether charter schools are "public" schools. This is a dispute of law, and the very thing that courts of appeals are charged with resolving. The parties also dispute whether, for example, local tax dollars are going to charter schools. Under the circumstances, this is a mixed issue of fact and law. Mixed issues of fact and law are among the things that turn young eager law students into old bitter law students before their time.

The basic issue is whether the current system of public education with its current charter school appendix constitutes a "thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state," as guaranteed by the State Constitution. Yes, this is the same clause at issue in DeRolph. (And yes, I'll get back to DeRolph II and beyond one of these days.) There are some side issues about local control of tax revenues, but don't hurt yourself.

All that said, here are your links. Of the newpaper accounts, the BJ's is the best, thanks to Oplinger and Willard's deep background knowledge. The Columbus Dispatch ($$$) and Cincinnati Enquirer articles are about equal and have about the same info. The Blade article is the weakest on the substance of the case, instead playing up the Culture of Corruption® angle. Cleveland Scene dishes that dirt better -- most of the Supreme Court has taken substantial contributions from charter schools capo di tutti capo David Brennan.

Not done yet? The Supreme Court website has a rundown of the issues in the case. The Ohio Federation of Teachers does the same, from their perspective. If you are truly a glutton for punishment, here is the plaintiffs' brief. Other case materials are posted somewhere on the web, but I've misplaced the link.

I will post on the opinion when it comes out. In the meantime, question, comments, civilized disagreements are always welcome in Comments.

The Bush Administration Style Manual

Rule 1: It's not an insurgency if we don't call it an insurgency. Unintentional humor from Rummy:

More than 2½ years into the Iraq war, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has decided the enemy are not insurgents.
"This is a group of people who don't merit the word 'insurgency,' I think," Rumsfeld said Tuesday at a Pentagon news conference.
He said the thought came to him suddenly over the Thanksgiving weekend.
"It was an epiphany."

***
Even Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who stood beside Rumsfeld at the news conference, found it impossible to describe the fighting in Iraq without twice using the term "insurgent."
After the word slipped out the first time, Pace looked sheepishly at Rumsfeld and quipped apologetically, "I have to use the word 'insurgent' because I can't think of a better word right now."
Without missing a beat, Rumsfeld replied with a wide grin: "Enemies of the legitimate Iraqi government. How's that?"

This is the same party that makes hay out of campus speech codes, right?

This blog rarely comments on national/international news, but I'm making a helpful exception. If the administration needs a new word to describe the situation in Iraq, I suggest "clusterfuck."

OH-13: Others Testing Our Waters

The PD ran a story Sunday about possible contenders for the seat Sherrod Brown is vacating to run for Senate. They note Tom Sawyer's candidacy and list three other possibilities: Former State Rep. Wayne Jones from Akron, carpetbagging debutante Capri Cafaro* from Youngstown and Lorain Co. Commissioner Ted Kalo. I think (unfortunately) that the district is weighted more strongly toward Lorain Co., so of these Kalo has the best shot. This is especially true if Jones and Sawyer both run and split the Summit Co. vote. Plus it wouldn't take much for progressive activists in Summit to find someone they love more than Jones and Sawyer.

AFL-CIO Poohbah John Ryan notes (via Buckeye Politics) that teachers union lawyer Betty Sutton is considering a run. She is also a former state rep, but has been out for some time. She may benefit from being less intrinsically identified with a particular county (unlike Sawyer, Jones and Kalo) but still being from this area (unlike Cafaro).

It looks increasingly like my pining for a run by Summit Co. Council Pres Clair Dickinson was in vain.

The PD also speculates on possible Republican challengers. While they note Don Robart and Craig Foltin -- mayors of Cuyahoga Falls and Lorain, respectively -- demurring, they don't mention State Senator Kevin Coughlin. He's in the middle of his second -- and therefore last -- term. He's gotten media and party strokes as a young up-and-comer. He's from Summit and so would have the Alex Machine behind him. He's allegedly charismatic. I find him smarmy, but I usually find charismatic conservatives smarmy.

OH-13 is a near D lock in any year and it's hard to imagine a Republican picking it off next year. But Alex is quoted in the PD as saying he will field a candidate and Coughlin owes him big time for pulling out the stops to get him reelected in '92.

Other Republican possibilities might be former State Rep. Bryan "I'm Not Brian" Willams and former State Rep. Marilyn "I'm Married to Lynn" Slaby.

*See discussion in Comment regarding where Capri Cafaro is "from."

University Park Alliance -- Is This What Highland Square Needs?

I read with interest Betty Lin-Fisher's* story on redevelopment plans in the neighborhoods surrounding Akron U. It was the usual BJ development piece -- all happy-talk boosterism. If anyone is unhappy with the plans, they didn't show up in the story. But what really caught my eye was this:

Now, Proenza has visions of pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods filled with homes,
art exhibits, shops, outdoor concerts and restaurants.

This after he said that:

"If our city is to come back -- as all of us want it to do -- finding exciting, vibrant areas for people to live and work and play and learn and do good things for their daily exercise and well-being becomes critically important[.]"

Well, isn't the same true of Highland Square? It's the anchor of dozens of blocks of mixed-income residential neighborhoods, well inside the city. Its appeal is the pedestrian-friendly layout and the quirky array of food and retail shops. The City has supported the U-Park Alliance; why do we get ugly noises from Plusquellec suggesting Steve Albrecht will get his way?

A couple of reasons. First, U-Park has landowners who are apparently with the program. Second, they got seed money from the Knight Foundation. Third, they have Proenza; we have me and thee.

But Highland Square holds hundreds of rental units, a significant percentage of which house U students. Can HSNA organize them to try to get the U administration on board? Granted, we're not close neighbors, but the University has at least as much stake in the continued good health of Highland Square as it has with the environs of City Hospital.

Meanwhile, a little grantseeking wouldn't be a bad idea either. I know this guy with the Gund Foundation . . .

*Disclosure -- a personal friend.

David Abbott Meets the Bloggers

At George's invitation, I trekked north to join him, Bill and Tim in a Meet the Bloggers session with Gund Foundation Executive Director and Voices and Choices Mover/Shaker David Abbott. You can download the podcast at the Meet the Bloggers website. In the meantime, or for any of you disinclined to treat yourselves to a one-hour plus MP3 interview, I'll run down my impressions of the evening. I'm writing this "cold," without having looked up posts by the other bloggers who were there.

Bill, Tim, George and I have each posted our misgivings about V&C, and about the broader agenda of the Fund for Our Economic Future, of which Voices is a part. Each had a chance to ask questions, so Abbott in one way or another responded to each of our concerns. I will leave it to the other guys to post their impressions of David's answers to their questions, except to say that I left reasonably well satisfied that Voices/the Fund doesn't have a blueprint already written somewhere and that they haven't rigged the process to put it on a glide path to a predetermined destination.

My questions addressed what programmers would call a GIGO problem -- Garbage In/Garbage Out. The process is so freewheeling that the only real information provided to participants is that provided by earlier participants mostly the unnamed economists and leaders who VC/tF talked to prior to the Town Hall.

As I noted in my first post after the Town Hall, the information we received was incomplete. The Participant Materials mentioned problems with the business tax system without acknowledging that we now have an entirely new system in place. Pages are devoted to K-12 education without mentioning the challenge of privatization which undeniably drives the debate in this state. (It should be noted that White Hat Management is one of scores of sponsors of the project. Given how everything is unfolded, it's hard to believe WHM had anything to do with the omission, but their involvement is noted.)

The exception to the blank slate philosophy, as I understand it, are a couple of propositions advanced about the primacy of focusing regionally -- that the rest of the world looks at us as a region and that the region is fragmented. I quibble with both of these, but they appear to be immutable truths in the VC/tF process.

Other than that, the facts compiled, apparently, are those supplied to VC/tF by the participants. When asked how the process provides for fact-checks, David said basically all of us. The citizens of NEO are all invited to participate from here on out (there will be online discussions, more Leadership meetings, another Town Hall, etc.) Those of us familiar with the facts on the ground need to step up and infuse the process with solid information. Otherwise, the ultimate outcome will have no *ahem* foundation.

What's more, David acknowledges that the VC process will guide the ultimate dispersal of tens of millions of dollars. At some point some constituencies are going to get wise to this and do what organized constituencies do -- get involve in the process, submit their versions of the facts, try to guide outcomes to their benefit.

If you read this blog -- and the rambling policy thought pieces that make up its bulk -- you obviously have some affinity for wonkery. You should get involved in this. I'll post information about the next Voices participation opportunities so you can step up and share your knowledge. It's easy to be cynical about the process, but it's happening and will end with some real projects going forward. Get in there and mix it up before you bitch.

Finally, I would be remiss for failing to acknowledge my interviewing skills. I was happy to leave the initial questioning to the other three who had done this many times before. Then, just as we were getting started, they said "Pho, you were there, you go first." My first, well formed, well articulated question was something like: "Gheh!!??!! To defend myself a little, asking questions purely about process -- which at this point is what we have before us -- is deceptively difficult. Still, I'm contemplating re-entering the paid work force soon and deciding what I'd like to be when I grow up. "Broadcast journalist" is officially off the list.

The Akron Blogosphere

Since I'm from Akron, I'm supposed to be envious of Cleveland, right? Generally, not so much. But I do envy the blogger community to the North. Though they have generously taken in this mouthy upstart from Acorn, I pine for something a little closer to home.

To that end, I've revised the sidebar again -- this time with an attempted comprehensive Akron blogroll. Fourteen active blogs right now ain't bad. I restricted myself to blogs that have at least a couple of months' worth of posts and have posted within the last month (except for my friend John at Crosscurrent, and he's On Notice.) Recently minted School Board prodigy James Hardy has promised to keep his blog active, but I'm waiting to see how active it is before adding it.

At some time I may add an "It Must Not Suck" qualifier, but happily that is unnecessary at this point.

As far as I can tell, many of these folks don't know about each other. While I won't pretend to have the ability or inclination to create a community-building blog like BFD, I nonetheless want to nurture the online community however we can. To that end, I've started an Akron Webloggers Yahoo group and will try to organize a meetup sometime soon. If you are one of the authors to the right, send me an email off the profile page and I will send you an invite.

If anyone has suggestions about building the blogger community, start a conversation in Comments. In the meantime, click the links to the right and check out who else is blogging in town.

Over the River and Through the Woods

I'm signing off for the holidays. We head east soon and have much to do before we can go. So much is happening, it kills me not being able to comment. Instead, I leave you with a reading list.

Jeff Hess has the blue-light special Wal-Mart Wednesday of all time (yes, I'm mixing retail metaphors) on havecoffeewillwrite.

Hypothetically Speaking is your source for regular updates of the increasingly sureal Murtha/Schmidt/Bupb melodrama. "Oh what a world, what a world. When a sweet little left wing like you can destroy my beautiful wickedness."

Speaking of political dramas, check out Tim's cease-fire with David Sirota over the Brown/Hackett race, and the places where the cease-fire won't hold.

Two good pieces from yesterday's Political Animal. The first is the best update on why the Scanlon plea is a Maloxx Moment for Ohio Rep. Bob Ney (R-Abramoff). If you need to catch up on Ney's bad behavior, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has been all over it and has a comprehensive archive.

The second is a thought piece about Democrats' general ineptitude in confronting right-wing disinformation. The piece is pegged to the failure of the party leadership to debunk lies about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but moves on to a more general discussion of why Democrats don't use the information progressive bloggers generate for free.

It was easy to dismiss as a stunt, but the proxy dispatches about longshot Congressional candidate Jeff Seeman's Thanksgiving with Canton's homeless are genuinely compelling, particularly given the change in the weather.

That should keep you busy. The thread is yours to talk among yourselves. Remember to cook the turkey until the stuffing has an internal temperature of 160 degrees and have a Happy Thanksgiving.