- A commentary written by Elyria teacher and education activist Matt Jablonski – on the topic of Ohio’s putative “graduation rate apocalypse” – cites a 2014 blog by our own Aaron Churchill while opining. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 1/24/17)
- The current Academic Distress Commission in Lorain is sunsetting, with the new CEO-version getting underway in early March. Last week, Lorain school board members participated in a final assessment of the outgoing ADC (specifically, how well the district is following their approved academic recovery plan) with a panel of reviewers. Hint: not very well, as far as outcomes are concerned. Comments from all the interview subjects in this piece are tiresomely cagey and unnecessarily gloomy. Let us hope that all of this will be swept out when the “Lorain Plan” finally dawns. (Northern Ohio Morning Journal, 1/23/17)
- Speculation is running rampant around the Statehouse on the topic of education funding in the upcoming biennial budget. To wit: this piece from Monday speculating on the likelihood of direct funding for charter schools. Some of the voices quoted on this topic are more credible than others. Just sayin’. (Gongwer Ohio, 1/23/17) Yesterday, Governor Kasich added some fuel to the speculatory fire by telling a group of education leaders that while the budget will be “restrained” due to lack of funds, primary and secondary education programs will see “an annual 1% state funding increase”, with the possibility of more in the second year of the biennium if state revenues improve. (Gongwer Ohio, 1/24/17) It is worth noting that Kasich’s remarks were given during what was primarily meant to be a celebration of innovative education models from across the state. In their coverage, The D focused more on the governor’s budget and policy comments than they did on the awesomeness that is the Cristo Rey schools in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Cleveland, which was being celebrated yesterday. (Columbus Dispatch, 1/24/17) The Blade does a little better in relating the awesomeness that is Toledo School for the Arts, also honored yesterday, along with covering Kasich’s budget deets. (Toledo Blade, 1/24/17) The awesomeness that is Dayton Early College Academy (DECA) was front and center in the DDN, as it should be. Kudos for the coverage! (Dayton Daily News, 1/24/17)
- The good folks at the Enquirer strike a tone that one might call “snarky” – if one was inclined to categorize it – in giving an update on Accelerate Great Schools Cincinnati. The actual content of the update includes a new leader, ongoing work to increase the number of high quality seats in the Queen City, and complications based on Ohio’s charter sponsor evaluation system. See – the snark-free version. (Cincinnati Enquirer, 1/24/17)
- Perhaps a bit surprisingly, teachers in Louisville this week overwhelmingly agreed to the new contract offered by the district. Even though it hews very closely to the recommendations of a mediator, whose report was overwhelmingly not agreed with by (presumably the same) teachers last year. The school board still must still vote, but hope are high for a resolution. (Canton Repository, 1/23/17) And what of the “missing 10”? Those 10 teachers who did not return to the classroom after the strike ended because they were suspected of having deleted “thousands” (!) of vital computer files before heading out to the picket lines? Six of them are back in the classroom, settlements having been reached between them and the district. One of them has decided to leave the district. And as we noted on Monday, three of them are in the process of being terminated, the settlements made with the other six apparently not being agreeable to them. So, not entirely resolved yet. But closer. (Canton Repository, 1/24/17)
- Finally, a couple of head-scratchers. The Akron school board this week approved moving the management of the Resnik Memorial Scholarship Fund to the Akron Community Foundation. The scholarship was meant for Akron grads who wanted to pursue science or math in college and the announcement seems celebratory. After 31 years of less than one-half of one percent growth and no increase in capital, the fund stands at $200,000. The new arrangement will mean lower overhead, allow others to contribute to the fund, and allow for more aggressive investment and growth. Surely all of these “positives” were known and were available to have been harnessed sometime in the intervening three decades? Weird. LeBron James makes a cameo in this piece as well. (Akron Beacon Journal, 1/23/17) Dayton City Schools is celebrating $10.5 million in grants to help some of its lowest-performing schools. What’s so head-scratching about that, you ask? These are SIG grants – recently deemed pretty unhelpful all told – and the lame duck supe and the teachers union rep can’t even agree on what to use them for anyway. (Dayton Daily News, 1/24/17)
