Rep. Brennan Addresses ECOT Asset Freeze Case, Underscores Urgent Need for Stronger Charter School Oversight

COLUMBUS — State Rep. Sean Patrick Brennan (D-Parma), former public school teacher and ranking member of the Ohio House Education Committee, today released the following statement regarding the ongoing litigation involving William Lager, founder of the now-defunct Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT), and the appeal of a court order freezing his assets:

“The ongoing legal proceedings surrounding ECOT are a stark reminder of what happens when public dollars flow out the door without sufficient oversight and accountability.

For years, ECOT received hundreds of millions in taxpayer funding while serious questions mounted about attendance reporting, financial controls, and compliance with state law. Ultimately, courts ordered substantial repayments, including judgments totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Now, as the legal process continues, we are seeing further litigation over efforts to preserve assets while the state seeks to recover funds owed to Ohio taxpayers.

Let me be clear: this is not about politics. It is about protecting public money intended for students.

As a former public school teacher, I know how carefully traditional public schools are scrutinized. Every dollar is accounted for. School board members are subject to financial disclosure laws and strict ethics requirements. Yet in this case, we saw the largest online charter school in Ohio collapse under the weight of financial and legal controversy, leaving students, families, and taxpayers to pick up the pieces.

The fact that courts are still grappling with how to secure and recover public funds years after ECOT’s closure is proof that Ohio must place stronger, clearer oversight over charter schools and the individuals who control them. Transparency requirements, enforceable financial safeguards, and real-time accountability measures are not burdens - they are necessities when public dollars are at stake.

Ohio taxpayers deserve confidence that education funding is going into classrooms, not courtrooms.

I will continue working to strengthen oversight laws so that what happened with ECOT can never happen again.”