Thomas B Fordham Foundation

In 2004, the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation was approved by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) to serve as a statewide sponsor of community (i.e., charter) schools—making us the first nonprofit organization in the Buckeye State to acquire such a responsibility. For a decade and a half, we have sought to improve school choices for families, provide individual grants to support the creation and improvement of charter schools, and support quality schools throughout the state, particularly in our hometown of Dayton. We were selected by the National Association for Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) as one of five authorizers nationally to participate in NACSA’s Quality Practice Project, which examines authorizer practices associated with high-quality school portfolios.

Our approach to chartering balances school autonomy with accountability. In exchange for the freedom to operate independently, schools are responsible for producing solid results. We believe that this balance is critical to ensuring success for students and schools.

For more information on Fordham's sponsorship work, please see our Sponsorship Annual Report.