This week Ohio Auditor Dave Yost visited United Preparatory Academy (UPrep), a high-performing elementary charter school in the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus. UPrep is part of the United Schools Network of charter schools whose middle schools and CEO, Andy Boy, were profiled recently by the Columbus Dispatch (“Charter school producing hoped-for results” and “Charter school stands out”).
The middle schools serve students who are over 95 percent and 82 percent economically disadvantaged, respectively; yet eighth graders at both middle school campuses outscored statewide averages for both reading and math proficiency by margins that the Dispatch calls “eye-popping.” UPrep serves students in grades K–2 and will be expanding to the third grade in the fall (and eventually up to fifth grade).
Auditor Yost toured the UPrep campus and visited classrooms. He also met with Andy Boy, who described the network’s future plans, the challenge of securing school facilities, and the overall impact that the schools have made on student outcomes as well as the neighborhoods in which they are located.
“Charter schools are accustomed to doing more with less. In the case of United Preparatory Academy, they’re doing a lot more with less—and doing it extremely well,” Auditor Yost said. “This is an impressive environment for learning. These students are fortunate to be here.”
Auditor Yost has long been a voice for quality in Ohio’s charter school movement. His recent attendance audits at Ohio charters and district schools underscore the need to improve how all schools—but particularly those serving uniquely challenged populations with high mobility rates and lower-than-average attendance—account for students and receive funding for them. He was also a vocal supporter of the commonsense reforms in HB 2 and will be hosting an inaugural charter school summit this August to share best practices in a range of areas relevant to the charter community. Yost, who is a self-described “strong proponent of the charter school movement” and school choice broadly, recently was named one of ten national Champions for Charter Schools by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
CEO Andy Boy said of the auditor’s visit, “We’re happy to have hosted Auditor Yost at UPrep and are appreciative of his leadership in advocating on behalf of high-quality charter schools. The auditor and I share in the belief that public schools must be careful stewards of tax dollars and that all students—regardless of ZIP code—deserve access to high-quality schools.”
Kudos to Auditor Yost for visiting the school and wanting to see firsthand one of Ohio’s top-performing charter schools. Places like UPrep and the other schools in the United Schools Network serve as a proof point of what’s possible in urban public education, making a life-changing impact for students living in some of Columbus’s poorest neighborhoods. Congratulations to United Schools Network for their well-earned recent attention and recognition from Auditor Yost.
