Gadfly Bites 1/26/22—New elected board present, same as the last two

1. It is, purportedly, a new day in the three Ohio school districts still nominally overseen by Academic Distress Commissions. But as you read this utterly ridiculous description of the recent shenanigans surrounding Youngstown City Schools’ elected board, you will see that despite a couple of new names and a slightly different administration dynamic, things seem very much back to the bad old days up there. (Vindy.com, 1/26/22) That’s right: the same old accusations of secret phone calls, bad motives, power plays, and the utter desecration of Robert’s Rules of… Quick! Forget all that! Look over here! (Mahoning Matters, 1/26/22)
    
2. Speaking of traditional school districts going off the rails (were we?), the treasurer of Findlay City Schools will be hosting a four-part series of presentations for the public collectively titled “School Finance 101”. It is supposed to be about “transparency” so the punters will know more about how the money flows in their district. Madam Treasurer has, it seems, done this dog and pony show before in lots of different districts but it always seems to have followed the same general pattern. I would love to know what the official agenda is for the session on charter schools (in person event; no Zoom - sorry), but all I can find from the past is a single slide. Lots of things have changed in terms of charter school funding in Ohio in the last six months. Hope the presentation is clear on that score. (Findlay Courier, 1/24/22)
   
   

3. Crain’s Cleveland is the first – and so far only – media outlet to note that Ohio jumped from 24th to 12th in this year’s NAPCS ranking of state charter school laws. Hopefully other outlets will celebrate National School Choice Week with this news, and acknowledge the recent policy changes enacted by the General Assembly and Governor DeWine that lead to the jump. But I’m not holding my breath. (Crain’s Cleveland Business, 1/25/22)
    
4. Here at last is a proper celebration of National School Choice Week in Ohio, brief though it may be: the story of an early childhood education specialist in Columbus who not only helps other parents find the best educational fit for their children, but who has also recently embraced school choice for her own children. Huzzah! (10 TV News, Columbus, 1/26/22)
   

    

5. And finally today, going back to the topic of educational policy changes, let’s talk about Ohio’s Dyslexia Law. HB 436 was enacted back in January 2021, mandating universal dyslexia screenings starting in Kindergarten. The first year of implementation will also include kids in grades 1-3 just to make sure everyone who needs to be caught early is caught. Nice! That first implementation, however, does not start until next school year – which seems to me like a ton of lead time. But since the Ohio Department of Education (and the state board) need to get all the rules and policies together before then to ensure screenings, referrals, and service provision are handled properly, affected can get the interventions they need, perhaps 18 months or so is prudent. According to this piece, an 11-member committee has been working on the implementation guidebook for the last six months and has nearly 400 public comments to sift through before moving on to whatever is the next stop on the policy-implementation conveyor belt. (IdeaStream Public Media, Cleveland, 1/24/22)

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