Gadfly Bites 12/21/22—Pressure-packed

1. Fordham’s Aaron Churchill has got a lot to say in this otherwise quiet week before Christmas. First up is an op-ed which spells out the findings of our recent EdChoice voucher research in opposition—very direct opposition, mind you—to the allegations made against the program by the voucher grouchers plaintiffs in the anti-voucher lawsuit currently pending in a Franklin County court. (Cleveland.com, 12/21/22)
   
   

2. Before that, Aaron was among the stakeholder voices discussing what awaits the next superintendent of Columbus City Schools. He includes important issues like focusing curriculum on areas of student need, partnering with local colleges on dual-enrollment programs, and helping students recover from pandemic-era learning loss. All sounds good to me. (Columbus Dispatch, 12/20/22)
   
   

3. Aaron also discussed the importance of the district working with charter and private schools and the families who choose them, especially in terms of transportation. That topic was top of the agenda at this week’s meeting of the elected school board—even more important than talking about the leadership changes underway. The district’s interim transpo boss said implementation of new bus routes on January 3 is “still on track”. Dry runs of the new routes are happening now and parents have been informed of the details specific to their children “at least six times”. What could possibly go wrong, right? (Columbus Dispatch, 12/21/22)
    
4. The Dayton Daily News series on local high school seniors choosing from among their myriad postsecondary options continues. First we have two young men considering trade school rather than college. I am once again loving the fact that the DECA charter school student clearly has both options available to him. As all of these young people should in my extremely humble opinion. (Dayton Daily News, 12/20/22) Troi Smith, graduating in the spring from Northmont High School, has already enlisted in the Army. He says he has been interested in pursuing military service since the age of 10. (Dayton Daily News, 12/20/22) And even for those already committed to formal postsecondary education, the choice of a four-year degree vs. any number of other, shorter certificate programs remains. Here we see how two seniors, including one from DECA, settled on the latter path for themselves. All of these pieces are well worth your time, and author Eileen McClory is to be commended for her great work in bringing them to us. This is the real real, folks. The ultimate iteration of what we in the education policy world do, why we do it, and why it really matters. (Dayton Daily News, 12/21/22)

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