Gadfly Bites 2/12/20 – Voucher Grouchers 9: Slogging through Eternity

1. As sagas go, today’s voucher groucher update feels more like the laggy parts near the middle where the themes are expounded on but not much plot actually happens. A set of nine hearings was scheduled to gather testimony from grouchers and supporters alike—come one, come all!—including on Saturday and on President’s Day. (Gongwer Ohio, 2/10/20) Why? In the name of being exhausting exhaustive, I think. But Gongwer’s reportage suggests other possibilities. (Gongwer Ohio, 2/11/20) The first of those conference committee hearings took place yesterday, running rather late into the evening. (Anyone else having Common Core flashbacks?) Luckily for reporters, several of the more vocal voucher grouchers held a press conference at the Statehouse earlier in the day so as to make sure they hit the news cycle could be heard. (Toledo Blade, 2/11/20)
    
2. All of the complaints levied by the grouchers yesterday were a) repeats and b) about money. Shocking, I know. But what do we do about tiny, destitute West Branch Local Schools in Mahoning County? They have far worse money problems—right now—than any of the grouching districts are predicting even in their worst case voucher scenarios. A previous report states that West Branch has been deficit spending annually for more than 10 years (the district supe called it “a habit” at that time) and that their deficit has now risen to $700,000. The usual means of alleviating such a thing—hitting up taxpayers—is apparently a no go since voters there have not approved a new levy since Bill Clinton was president. Cuts are coming, as they supposedly have been in previous years, but it all sounds very dire. This time the cuts include consolidation of students and idling one or more buildings. What, pray tell, is the problem? Why has this gone on for so many years? Loss of students, says the superintendent. To wit: District enrollment has dropped by 495 students over the last 10 years. Surely it was vouchers, right? Charters? Open enrollment? Wrong. District officials attribute the attrition to “people moving away and families not having as many children”. So the solution is probably clear to you now, right? Given the stance of voucher grouchers, the state obviously should compensate West Branch for all these lost students. Seriously? Won’t someone make this district whole again due to the area’s lack of fertility and attractive amenities?! (Vindy.com, 2/12/20)
   
   

3. Speaking of money, here’s a school district that miraculously found a productive use for the state’s new student wellness funding and will begin serving actual real students immediately. I know, right?! (Alliance Review, 2/10/20)
    
4. And speaking of cutting things, the dismantling of former CEO David Hardy’s administration in Lorain continues as positions he put in place are being eliminated. The “replacements”, if you can call them that, are intriguing due to the requirements that interim CEO Greg Ring is attaching to them before they are filled. Almost as if only certain folks will be allowed to take the new positions. (Elyria Chronicle, 2/11/20)
   
   

5. There was a state school board meeting this week. The only highlight that appears to have mattered enough to merit media coverage was committee discussion and a vote to move the state’s new teacher evaluation framework—OTES 2.0—forward. And by “forward”, I mean toward another vote—this time by the full board—on the same thing in March. (Gongwer Ohio, 2/10/20)
    
6. In Northeast Ohio, important folks (teachers, parents, administrators, psychologists) went out of their way to explain: “Technology good!” Kudos also for the inclusion of parents/students from urban and suburban districts as well as from the Menlo Park Academy charter school. (Northeast Ohio Parent, 2/11/20)
   
   

7. But seriously. How are the children? The Ginn Academy in Cleveland Metropolitan School district this week launched its new College and Career Readiness Center, in collaboration with a non-profit support organization and some community partners. Starting in the fall, freshmen at the all-boys school will “begin to learn about the work world and start exploring career paths. They will hear about different fields through various speakers and activities.” Sophomores will take an online evaluation that will examine their personalities, interests, aptitudes, and values. It will “determine their strengths and determine what jobs might fit with their skillset”. A local job training company called Futureplans.com (click today!) was hired to implement this program. Its CEO says, “We're looking at only what you're good at, what are your strengths? And how do those strengths tie into opportunity for a living wage job, high demand job.” Juniors and seniors will then work to complete job training or certification toward one or more of those matched career fields in addition to their academic requirements. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 2/10/20) Now that the smoke has cleared and folks at Toledo’s Scott High School realize that their free college tuition dreams are true, some of them are scrambling. “I was only aiming to graduate from high school,” said one senior quoted here. “I wasn’t planning on going to college. I was aiming for a D because that’s a passing grade, a C at most. Now I’m trying to fix everything just so I can get accepted to the colleges I want to go to.” The school’s guidance counselor’s workload has also increased by about 420% very suddenly. “There’s some fear for a lot of the students because now they have all these options and are questioning what to do with them or how fast do things need to be done,” he said. Step one, said Mr. Counselor, is teaching students and parents how to fill out the FAFSA…whose filing window opened back in October. (Toledo Blaze, 2/11/20) Meanwhile, the South Asian diaspora is apparently proud of its youngsters, going the extra mile to profile eight students of Indian descent from across the country recognized for their volunteerism recently via the 25th annual Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Two of those students are from Ohio, including one who attends Mason City Schools (one of the best districts in the state, so those unreliable report cards say) and one who attends Metro Early College High School in Columbus (an independent STEM school—toward which I am hopelessly biased, as you all know—and whose report cards also tell no lies). (India West, 2/11/20) We end this segment in Youngstown. The good news: a group of Chaney High School students had a lot of great things to say about their school, their teachers, their city, and their futures. The message: opportunity is available here, if students can avoid the distractions (and the naysayers) and take it. The bad news: this uplifting message about teenagers was part of something called the Views and Brews series hosted by the business community. Ummm…cheers? (Youngstown Business Journal Daily, 2/11/20)

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