Subject: Hannah Powell Testimony for 5/20/15 SB 148

May 19, 2015

Subject: Hannah Powell Testimony for 5/20/15 SB 148

Thank you Chair Hite, Vice Chair Sawyer, and subcommittee members for giving me the opportunity to testify today in support of House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 148.

My name is Hannah Powell, and I have served as the executive director of KIPP Columbus since 2011, and prior to that was the school leader/principal of KIPP Journey Academy. Our schools today educate nearly 650 students, with nearly 100% percent of them economically disadvantaged and over 90% percent African-American or Hispanic. The mission of our organization is to ensure every child has the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills, and character necessary for success in college and life; our aim is to educate nearly 2,000 students in preK-12 by 2020. KIPP Columbus is among the highest rated schools in the state for value-added student growth and has been awarded the national EPIC award that recognizes schools that make substantial gains in student academic growth. To really appreciate what we’re doing, I invite each of you to come visit our school.

I would like to start by commending the Governor and the members of this General Assembly for embracing charter-school reform. As a high-performing public charter school, we welcome the strong reforms that have been proposed in both legislative chambers. In particular, the reforms in House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 148 make the necessary changes to Ohio law that can lay the foundations for a significantly higher-performing charter sector.

For too long, Ohio’s weak charter law has permitted lax sponsorship practices, allowed too many underperforming schools to remain open, and has eroded public confidence in charters. Fixing these policy weaknesses is an imperative if our charter sector is to reach its potential and truly flourish. The proposed reforms include, importantly, ensuring state oversight over all charter sponsors, guaranteeing that low-performing schools cannot switch sponsors to escape accountability, and increasing financial transparency. By enacting these much-needed governance reforms, we will clean up the environment in which charters operate.

Ohio charters also receive considerably less funding than district-run schools, often lack access to quality facilities, and can have trouble securing reliable transportation for their students. With that in mind, I’m excited to see that state policymakers are tackling the facilities challenges, which even high-quality charters face. If approved, the new $25 million charter-school facilities fund—contained in House Bill 64—will go a long way to helping quality schools replicate and grow. Please make facility assistance a reality. I’d also urge you to allow high performing schools, even if their authorizers aren’t rated exemplary, to access facility funds. Finally, I’d encourage the state legislature to in the long term go further and to provide charters with more equitable operational and facilities funding. By providing sufficient resources, charters can focus on what matters most—educating students.

These reforms will help the charter-school sector in Ohio thrive. Our charter students deserve a strong governing law that ensures that underperforming sponsors and schools are dealt with. And charter students deserve every opportunity to learn with ample resources available and in suitable facilities. If enacted, future generations will view the charter-reforms in House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 148 as a crucial turning point for Ohio’s charter schools—the point when conditions were made right for charter success.

Thank you for allowing me to speak. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have.

KIPP Columbus : 2750 Agler Road Columbus, OH 43224 : 614.263.6150 :