Ohio Dept. of Ed. Starts Calling Charter Schools Charter Schools

Ohio, technically, has never had charter schools. That's because Ohio has called charter schools "community schools" in state law since their inception in the late 1990s. The term has confused outside education reformers who love community schools -- the idea of local public schools that serve as community hubs -- and look at charters more askance.

Well, on the Ohio Department of Education website, it's now referring to charter schools as "Community/Charter School." I believe this is the first time that Ohio's charter schools have actually been called charter schools by Ohio's education overseers.

When coupled with the decision to rename its school choice page to "Quality School Choice", it appears that ODE is starting to adopt the language (and hopefully the focus?) of the quality-based charter school advocates.

We'll see if this leads to more charter school oversight and reform, or whether it's just window dressing. But count me among the greatly curious as to why these language changes have been made.

Stay Tuned.