Gadfly Bites 9/11/23—School funding is a zero-sum game because we say it is

1. Gongwer covered the news of the massive parental response to expanded EdChoice voucher eligibility. I include this subscriber-only content because of the statements of the OEA boss (which provides our title today) and the comments from our own boss Chad Aldis (yes, he is), which are based far more in reality. I know soliciting parent comments is probably not the wheelhouse of the Statehouse news gatherers, but this feels to me like an instance where the full story could have used an additional dose of reality of just that sort. (Gongwer Ohio, 9/8/23)
   
   

2. Also out there dropping reality bombs is our Aaron Churchill. A previous blog of his—on the topic of how Ohio can successfully implement the science of reading—morphed into an op-ed published yesterday. (Tribune Chronicle, 9/10/23)
   
   

3. I try not to deal with politics too much in these clips (icky), but I will go so far as to say that there are some very clear and distinct choices here for school board voters in Berea, based on the candidates’ answers to these basic questions. If I do say so myself. (Cleveland.com, 9/8/23)
   
   

4. The number of non-English speaking students in Springfield City Schools has more than quadrupled in the last four years, including hundreds of newcomers from Haiti. These include French speakers as well as the less-common (to us Americans, that is) Haitian Creole speakers. Here’s a detailed look at how the district has been adding resources and staff to help students become fluent in English as quickly as possible and to give multi-lingual supports to them and their families until then. Kind of nice. (Springfield News-Sun, 9/11/23)
   
   

5. Yep. You guessed it: No progress in talks so the Youngstown teachers strike continues (along with remote learning for students who are bothering, thanks for asking). Talks are to resume today at 3 pm, with that pesky ADC language still said to be the sticking point. Honestly: I thought I was the only one clinging to that desiccated construct in the year of our lord Mohip 2023. (WFMJ-TV, Youngstown, 9/11/23)

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