Gadfly Bites 4/20/22—Parks and wreck

Apologies for the inadvertent time warp in Monday’s clips. Should have been dated 4/18, of course. Proper 4/22 version coming up Friday!

1. In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a lot of angst in the charter school community over the Biden Administration’s proposed new rules for the federal Charter Schools Program. As the deadline for public comment arrives, the objections of both Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Fordham Institute president Mike Petrilli were noted by Gongwer. Nice! (Gongwer Ohio, 4/19/22)
   
   

2. Continuing to indulge my fascination with this weird civic arrangement, Lakewood City Schools didn’t have to look very far (I mean, why would they?) to find their “cabinet level” (supes have cabinets now?) recreation director, choosing their current high school principal for the gig. It has cost them a high level administrator, who will have to be replaced to the tune of TBD, and they have to pay more than planned for the rec director position because this dude wasn’t takin’ a pay cut to oversee pool drains and sod placement and the like. Lakewood sounds like a crazy place to me, man. Like that town in The Truman Show or something. (Cleveland.com, 4/18/22)
   
   

3. This is a story that says that many many students have fallen way behind in their learning and that hopes are pinned on out-of-school time (such as Saturdays and the upcoming summer) to help them catch up. No, it is not a year old article, even though the exact same things were being said in 2021. As we discussed on Monday, it is my contention that the education establishment decided to give up on their hopeless “the Covid slide doesn’t exist” gambit because they realized that the pandemic is a perfect opportunity by which to manifest the narrative that their pre-Covid failure to educate students doesn’t exist. This is Exhibit B for me, in which all of last school year AND last summer—equally available to help students catch up and also squandered—are also erased from their equation. (ABC6 News, Columbus, 4/18/22)
   
   

4. This op-ed about police reform school vouchers is meant to be a biting joke, although it was clearly workshopped in an echo chamber. (Cleveland.com, 4/20/22) Compare it to this, which is a true story about a school district which is losing enrollment and has been solidly rebuffed at the ballot box recently, yet still wants more taxpayer money… (Cleveland.com, 4/20/22) …or to this horrifying true story which details not only the brutalistic  punishment meted out by an adult wrestling coach to a middle school student for an unimaginably minor infraction but also the letters of support for that coach put forth during his disciplinary hearing which excused, rationalized, or entirely brushed off his actions. Read all of these and you tell me upon whom the joke is being perpetrated. I’ll wait while you consider it. (The Chronicle-Telegram, 4/20/22)

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