CRITES APPLAUDS JUDGE'S DISMISSAL OF CHARTER SCHOOL LAWSUIT

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Columbus – Republican candidate for Ohio Attorney General Mike Crites [yesterday] applauded action by Judge Michael Tucker of Montgomery County , in which Judge Tucker dismissed a lawsuit filed by disgraced Attorney General Marc Dann against an Ohio charter school.

Earlier this month Crites called for the dismissal of all of cases former Attorney General Dann filed against several Ohio charter schools as a waste of taxpayer resources because they were based on flawed legal theory.

“I’m glad that someone with a reasonable understanding of Ohio charitable law was finally able to put a stop to this ridiculous stretching of the law,” Crites said. “It’s painfully clear that Marc Dann lacked a basic understanding of Ohio law. It appears my opponent, Richard Cordray, may share that same malady because when given the opportunity to call for the dismissal of these suits, he declined.”

The lawsuits were originally filed by Dann after a failed attempt by the governor to block new charter schools in Ohio . Press reports and public records showed that the dubious legal strategy – suing the schools under the state’s charitable trusts law on the basis that they failed to fulfill their charitable purpose – was suggested to Dann by an attorney representing the state’s largest teacher’s union.

As reported by the Columbus Dispatch, The Ohio Education Association (OEA) agreed to drop a lawsuit against the state for failing to close down charter schools once Dann promised he would aggressively pursue closure of charter schools. The OEA agreement, which saved the OEA the cost of their lawsuit and advanced Dann’s political agenda at the expense of taxpayer dollars, came just one day prior to Dann filing the first lawsuit.

Now that a court has spoken on the issue Crites again called for his opponent, Richard Cordray, to join him in opposing the continuation of this flawed legal theory. “Now that this challenge has been proven flawed I ask Richard Cordray to join me calling for the dismissal of all the lawsuits brought against Ohio charter schools, using the charitable trust laws. I believe this is a chance for Richard Cordray to show real leadership. It’s an opportunity to stand up to your party and to one of your biggest financial backers, the OEA, and say as Attorney General I will defend the laws of this state, not the special interests.”