The company founded by former Ohio State University trustee David Brennan is getting out of the charter school business.
White Hat Management says it has been losing contracts in a competitive market for several years. Brennan founded White Hat in 1998. It was once the third largest for-profit charter school operator in the U.S. In 2015, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in favor of White Hat in a contract dispute with 10 Cleveland-area charter schools over the use of 90 million state dollars to pay teachers and buy computers, desks and other equipment for the schools. Seven of the 10 schools had serious academic issues, and two were shut down for poor performance. When the schools’ contract was up, White Hat said the equipment was its property, and the schools had to pay to keep using it. The schools sued.
