COLUMBUS, Ohio – Critics of a plan that would allow Ohio to close low-performing schools or convert them to charter schools say it is a monumental policy change that should be debated before the Ohio General Assembly and not quietly proposed in a federal waiver request.
In addition, critics objected that local school districts would be deprived of a say in how to address improvement at underperforming schools.
About 50 people and organizations commented on the plan — a proposed waiver the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce plans to submit to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon that would exempt the state from certain requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act, the nation’s main K-12 education law that was previously called No Child Left Behind…