- While many folks in the education realm here in Ohio are congratulating themselves on lowering the state’s graduation standards for the Class of 2018, some are still questioning the wisdom of the action (our own Aaron Churchill included) and some are worried about unintended consequences and/or unforeseen problems on the horizon. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 7/18/17) Speaking of which, did you know that Ohio has added 49 more possible work credentials that high schoolers can earn? The new credentials – including veterinary assistantship and forklift operation – bring the statewide total to over 250, but not every school offers every possible option, of course. Interesting. (WBNS-TV, Columbus, 7/19/17)
- In other statewide education news, the Superintendent Paolo DeMaria appears to be supportive of a bill to expand and change Ohio’s voucher programs. Nice. (WKSU-FM, Kent, 7/14/17) And the Straight A Innovation Fund, eliminated in the recently-passed state budget bill, will not disappear overnight. Ongoing projects funded last year will still get their final funding and will, hopefully, go as far as possible with that last drip from the faucet. The Ohio Department of Education will wind down oversight of the program in the next 12 months or so. (Gongwer Ohio, 7/17/17)
- All right. Enough of the tease. I know why you came here today: an update on the CEO search in Lorain. And I’m going to give it all to you. First up, a joint meeting of the elected board and the Academic Distress Commission held earlier this week was full of “angst”, according to the Morning Journal. What’s the issue? The process that brought them all to this point of course; particularly the search process that resulted in the five CEO finalists. Isn’t it always about process? (Northern Ohio Morning Journal, 7/18/17) But what specifically seems to be the problem with the process? For at least some folks, it’s the fact that the process didn’t result in current district supe Jeff Graham ending up on the list of finalists. Pesky old “process”. (Elyria Chronicle, 7/18/17) So, “process” be damned. How about adding Lorain’s mayor to the list of finalists? Hizzoner says thanks but no thanks. (Northern Ohio Morning Journal, 7/18/17) Finally, after all the agita, last night was the public Meet the CEO Candidates Night. That is, the five actual proper candidates. How’d it go? For some reason, charter schools seems to have been the only issue anyone wanted to talk about. Weird. A decision could be made as early as Friday. (Elyria Chronicle, 7/19/17)
- Meanwhile, in Youngstown, this week’s Academic Distress Commission meeting focused on a data update from the 2016-17 school year. I would say the numbers are “a mixed bag”, but that would do a disservice to some of the very dismal indeed numbers related to test scores and proficiency rates. Yowza. (Youngstown Vindicator, 7/19/17)
- Finally today, we document two bits of weirdness in Fordham’s hometown of Dayton. First up, the district’s summer school program was shut down unexpectedly on Monday for a pretty stupid reason. Seriously? Y’all couldn’t think of anything else productive to do? (Dayton Daily News, 7/17/17) Meanwhile, the district has been busily hiring dozens of new teachers over the summer…all of whom may go on strike before spending one day in a DPS classroom. Negotiations are set to recommence about ten days before the scheduled start of school. Oy vey. (Dayton Daily News, 7/19/17)
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