Gadfly Bites 8/28/23—No bueno

Back from a little vacation. Sorry (for you) that’s it’s over! 

1. The biggest thing we missed talking about while I was gone: The teachers strike in Youngstown. After last minute negotiations couldn’t break whatever impasse persisted to that point, the strike began on Wednesday, August 23, wiping out days one and two of the new school year. (Ideastream Public Media, 8/23/23) School year started in earnest in the district on Friday, August 25, fully remotely. School buildings are to remain closed to students and community members for the duration of the strike, although meal pickups are happening outside the buildings every day (parents being required to cross picket lines to do so, I would imagine). We learn here that full-time substitute instructors will use prepared curriculum, and district administrators and non-striking teachers will also be helping with online instruction. (WKBN-TV, Youngstown, 8/24/23) I was hoping to have an update for you on how the first remote day went, but nothing has been published in the media as yet. How odd. Instead, we have this weekend update from the teachers union talking about what they are hoping for when/if negotiations resume. (And it’s a twist which will likely make my long-time Gadfly Bites subscribers—Happy Monday to all eleven of you!—say “of course”.) While we had some contradictory information last week about what the sticking point might be—district officials said money, union officials denied it—but the answer is, as it always seems to be up here, HB 70. To wit: Union officials say that they want language removed from the contract that allows the superintendent to keep what is termed “extraordinary power”, similar to what the CEO had when the district was run by an Academic Distress Commission. District leaders say they cannot legally do so since, in reality, that governance is still in place for at least two more years, despite what day-to-day operations may have looked like since the ADC offramp legislation went into effect in 2021. (WFMJ-TV, Youngstown, 8/27/23)
   
   

2. Meanwhile, here is a glowing profile of Youngstown Community School, a K-8 charter school celebrating its 25th anniversary with its praises sung by staff, community members, and former and current school parents. It is also noted, gently, that the school has traditionally outperformed Youngstown City Schools academically-speaking. YBJ FTW. (Youngstown Business Journal, 8/28/23)
   
   

3. You know who’s not mincing any words? The editorial board of the Toledo Blade. In this piece, they blast the city council’s vote against a charter school expansion in the city last week. Not just the one member who seemed to have changed her tune between zoning committee and council votes, but every single no voter on council. Worth a read to see the case they make in favor of that school and its proposed growth plan. (Toledo Blade, 8/25/23) On a somewhat-related note: Remember the “absorption” of Toledo’s only Spanish-language charter school by Toledo City Schools a couple of years ago? The Blade provides us a little update of how things are going there ahead of a new school year. Another one worth a close read, in my opinion. Everything seems pretty sunny as presented, but surely some members of the community have to be bothered that the school is no longer fully bilingual in terms of either teachers or student body, despite the increase in resources as provided by the district versus a standalone charter school. Seems pretty clear to me that things have not changed for the better, but at least the Hispanic parents still at the school remain actively involved, even if their work appears to be supplementary rather than complementary these days. (Toledo Blade, 8/24/23)
   
   

4. Here’s a look at Dohn Community High School, a Cincinnati charter school whose leadership is taking time to prep staffers on ways to identify—and interrupt—physical and online bullying, gang activity, and suicide warning signs. “We’re trying to educate our teachers,” said school director Ramone Davenport. “We don’t want to scare them and we don’t want to say this is what happens on an everyday basis, ‘cause it doesn’t, but we don’t want them to be scared either to deal with issues.” (WLWT-TV, Cincinnati, 8/25/23)
   
   

5. Here’s a brief look at the first day of school in Columbus City School District last week. No word on transportation issues other than officials “hoping” for a smooth one. Some numbers that stood out to me in that regard: The district is said to have around 45,000 kids enrolled this year. This seems low to me, but who knows. Later on, we hear that transportation services are provided to “more than 38,000 children”, including district, charter, private, and STEM school students. I suspect this means we are close to the point where more non-district students are using Columbus’ yellow buses than district students. Hopefully someone in the media will be as intrigued by these numbers as I am and ask the question soon. I feel like those numbers matter. (Columbus Dispatch, 8/23/23)
   
   

6. New STEM school just dropped in Xenia! Woohoo! I hope all those lucky ducks have a great first year. (Dayton Daily News, 8/20/23)
   
   

7. After more than 18 months in a temporary home, students and staff at St. Anthony of Padua School in Parma will start this school year back in their building following a catastrophic arson fire. Lots of upgrades and new spaces were built into the repair work, which will hopefully be a fitting reward for the hardships of the last two school years. School starts at St. Anthony on September 5. (Cleveland.com, 8/24/23)
   
   

8. U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona was in Cincinnati last week, visiting Oyler School, praising its wraparound services model, and vowing to create more such schools because “I’m a big fan of what works for kids and this does work.” I promise there’s no data provided on improved academic outcomes for any Oyler students. (WVXU-FM, Cincinnati, 8/22/23)

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