- Chad’s testimony earlier this week in front of the state board of education was covered, a bit belatedly, by Gongwer. Some nice details in here of the wide variety of business covered by the board this month, including the fact that discussions are to begin shortly between the Ohio and U.S. departments of education regarding the $71 million Charter School Program grant awarded to the Buckeye State. (Gongwer Ohio, 10/21/15)
- A new Chair of the Ohio House of Representatives’ Education Committee was announced this week – Rep. Andrew Brenner (R-Powell), who has served as Vice Chair for the last 10 months. Fresh off the passage of HB 2, let’s hope good will, good work, and good luck continue for the committee. But that’s my wish, not necessarily the wish of the folks writing, reading, or commenting on this particular news item. (Columbus Dispatch, 10/23/15)
- Ohio charter schools were given access to $25 million in facilities funding via the most recent state budget. This past week, the framework for schools to access this funding started to come together during a meeting of the Ohio School Facilities Commission. Applications for the grants will be scored on quality in three areas: education, instruction, and finances. Hopefully the bar will be pretty high in all of these areas, but even so, the OSFC chief predicts more a demand for grant funds than we have available." (Gongwer Ohio, 10/22/15)
- The House version of a U.S. Senate charter school reform bill was introduced this week. Should be some fun hearings, especially in light of (see what I did there?) the new “Charter School Black Hole” report released by the Center for Media and Democracy, also liberally quoted (see what I did there?) in this piece from the formerly-Big D. (Columbus Dispatch, 10/21/15)
- Gadfly Bites readers may not be aware that its humble compiler is the humble possessor of an MCRP degree (Google it). That is probably why this quirky piece from the sticks – Athens – drew my interest. A tiny school district and the tiny village it serves are at loggerheads over connecting two buildings – a new bus garage and a wellness center – into the village’s sanitary sewer system. Yes, you read that right. I can’t make any sense of the actual reason for the conflict, but am heartened that litigation is on hold for the moment as these two pillars of the community try out court-ordered mediation before proceeding with what would be the most boring episode of Matlock ever. (Athens Messenger, 10/23/15)
- Some readers may be rethinking their decision to subscribe to Gadfly Bites over the esoteric nature of that last clip, but stick with me. If I hadn’t stumbled on the sewer story, I never would have found this: a guest commentary piece from an Ohio University dean commenting on the previously-mentioned $71 million CSP grant awarded to Ohio. You should definitely read it all, but it ends with this: “Our taxpayer money should go to traditional public schools, and the U.S. Department of Education’s grant money should have gone to a more deserving state. Ohio was given the largest piece of the “Charter School Program” pie. Unfortunately, we didn’t deserve it. Not one bite. Let your state representatives know we don't need more sub-par charters in our future. Our traditional public schools are producing far better results today.” (Athens Messenger, 10/23/15)
