- Public radio’s Andy Chow published his year-end education wrap up yesterday. He wrote mainly about charter schools and resurrected an old quote from our own Chad Aldis in regard to the delayed award of federal Charter School Program grant funds. Thanks, Andy! (WVXU-FM, Cincinnati, 12/29/16)
- One of the few non-charter-specific items Andy mentioned in his wrap up was the potential change in Ohio’s new graduation requirements mooted near the end of the year. This issue was taken up by the state board of education in its last meeting of the year and was ultimately kicked down the road a bit further by the creation of a study group to look at the issue. In question is whether more stringent end-of-course exam requirements – in force for the Class of 2018 – will result in a “graduation rate apocalypse”. However, in the real world, we have the example of Shelby City Schools, a smallish district in North Central Ohio whose leaders are taking the new requirements seriously and are working hard to identify those students who may not reach the needed points – and putting plans and support in place to make sure they put in the work and get the grades they need to graduate on time. Sounds like exactly the right response to me. Go Whippets! (Richland Source, 12/27/16)
- We close the year in clips with another study in contrasts. First up, editors in Akron opined on the dangerous “consequences” of the demise of the “5 of 8” school staffing rule in Ohio back in 2015, echoing the dire findings of a new report from Policy Matters Ohio (Akron Beacon Journal, 12/29/16). The positive intent of the ending of that old rule was to allow schools and districts more flexibility in staffing decisions. The fear on the other side was that art and music teachers as well as librarians would be adversely affected when schools were not required to have a specific number of them on staff. According to the PMO report, that is exactly what happened. However, the flexibility originally intended is clear in the real world as well. Case in point, Youngstown City Schools, whose CEO, unhampered by the strict 5 of 8 requirements, this year hired 11 new social workers to provide vital services to his high-need students. Anyone who knows me knows I love the arts and libraries too, but it seems to me that Akron City Schools are likely in the same boat as Youngstown here and would probably rather have more service providers on staff than fiddlers. Just sayin’. (Youngstown Vindicator, 12/29/16)
