Ohio ruling says private company managing charter schools is considered a public official

From The Columbus Dispatch: A judge in Ohio has ruled that a for-profit company is a public official when acting as an authorized representative of a public charter school. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by 10 charter schools that give White Hat Management Co. 95 percent of the state aid they receive. The schools say the company refuses to disclose how the money is spent. That makes it impossible, they say, for the schools’ governing bodies to evaluate the schools’ financial status or White Hat’s performance. The designation appears to make White Hat subject to public-record laws, requiring it to account for every dollar of public money it receives.