Education News for 01-12-2012

Statewide Education News

• Ohio education in top 10 nationally despite a so-so grade (Dispatch)

Ohio’s grade on a national report card this year slipped to a C-plus, down from a B-minus, but the state inched up to the 10th best school system in the nation. Ohio was 11th in last year’s report. Read More…

• Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson is crafting a plan for the Cleveland schools and Gov. John Kasich is poised to help make it happen (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - Mayor Frank Jackson is working on a plan to make the Cleveland schools academically successful and financially stable, a task that will require changes in state law and that Gov. John Kasich said "could set a standard for the whole state." Jackson declined Wednesday to discuss details of his plan, saying that would be premature. But he said several times that guaranteeing the success of the Cleveland schools will require both local and "systemic changes" - a term he regularly uses when talking about needing revisions in teacher work rules and pay structures for the district. Read More…

• Talks between city, school key to success (Newark Advocate)

NEWARK - A successful school system is key to improving the city of Newark, Mayor Jeff Hall said Wednesday evening. "I'm a firm believer that we need to raise our kids educated," he said. "The graduation rate, that's why you're here. That's the name of the game." Hall has been talking with Newark City Schools leaders since being elected in November and said communication between the city and district is essential. He met Wednesday with the district's Graduation Rate Committee, which is filled with district officials, board members and community representatives. Read More…

Local Issues

• Springfield faces funding cuts (WTOL 11 CBS)

SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield school district is cutting back nearly $1 million after facing funding cuts and increasing costs. The district is dealing with a deficit of nearly $700,000 for the next school year, causing them to submit a plan to the state outlining proposed cuts if finances don't improve. Schools are feeling the effects of tighter budgets, and Springfield schools are dealing with less money from property taxes, cuts in state aid and unfunded mandates. The district's superintendent, Kathryn Hott, says that the district has already made millions in cuts, but more are still needed. Read More…

• Richmond Heights Schools move toward accreditation (News-Herald)

The Richmond Heights School Board has taken the first step toward accreditation for its schools with a new mission and vision statement. The statements which were approved this week is one of several requirements of AdvancED, an organization that helps districts achieve the necessary steps prior to accreditation — a voluntary step districts may take to ensure quality performance. The mission and vision for Richmond Heights Schools were created by district leaders, and state that the district will “Learn, adapt and excel in a changing world,” and that it is “A community committed to student success through creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and communication.” Read More…

• Teachers, one-by-one, rally at board meeting (Tribune Chronicle)

NILES - One-by-one, 181 teachers stood at a microphone Wednesday at the meeting of the Niles Board of Education and urged schools Superintendent Mark A. Robinson to return to the negiotiating table. Members of the Niles Classroom Teachers Association have been working without a contract since Aug. 28. Negotiations between the union and the board broke down Dec. 1, when the negotiating committee gave what Robinson said was their ''last, best offer.” “We are projecting a deficit of $375,000 by the end of June,'' Robinson said, ''and an approximate $2.5 million deficit by the end of the next fiscal year in 2013.” Read More…

• Grants to teachers to help students with phonics, fitness (Newark Advocate)

The Granville Education Foundation has awarded funding for two grants for its 2011 Fall Grants to Granville teachers. The first grant, for $851, written by Emily Goins and Ruth Ellen Kozman at Granville Elementary School, will fund the purchase of materials for "Phonics of Reading" for GES. The second grant, for Granville Middle School, was submitted by Sue Borchers, Ralph Hicks and Craig McDonald to fund the purchase of a Concept 2D Rower for the school's Fit 4 Life program. Read More…

Editorial

• The best teachers impart lessons that truly profit students (Plain Dealer)

Everyone knows that children who fall behind benefit from a teacher who can help them succeed and raise their scores. But economists Raj Chetty and John N. Friedman of Harvard University and Jonah E. Rockoff of Columbia University have found that the best teachers can also improve students' earnings. That news ought to inspire Ohio school officials who are working on a state-mandated plan to use test scores, value-added measures and classroom observations, along with other tools, to evaluate teachers. Read More…

Education News for 01-11-2012

Statewide Education News

• State sets Race to the Top pace (Dispatch)

Despite a change of administration and decisions by some districts to abandon the effort, Ohio is on track to implement sweeping reforms to its public-school system, according to an initial assessment of $4 billion Race to the Top grants. In first-year progress reports, the U.S. Department of Education was largely complimentary of the efforts made by the 11 states and District of Columbia to meet individually set goals for improving student and teacher performance. Read More…

• Niles schools edge toward fiscal emergency (Vindicator)

NILES - The Ohio Department of Education may place the Niles schools under fiscal emergency by the end of this month unless the district can produce a plan to eliminate its projected deficits. Niles schools have been under fiscal watch since 2003. A letter to Superintendent Mark Robinson from the finance office of ODE warns that “under the current Fiscal Watch guidelines, your district could be placed in Fiscal Emergency for failure to submit an acceptable financial recovery plan.” “If they aren’t happy with what I give them, they could place us in fiscal emergency by the end of January,” Robinson said. Read More…

• Anti-bullying bill clears Ohio Senate committee (WTOL 11 CBS)

COLUMBUS - An Ohio House bill that would expand policies against bullying in schools and online has cleared a Senate committee. The Senate Education Committee on Tuesday approved House Bill 116 known as the Jessica Logan Act. The proposed legislation is named for a Cincinnati teenager who hanged herself in 2008 after weeks of bullying at her school. State Sen. Joe Schiavoni says the bill includes several concepts from a similar bill he has proposed to address bullying. Read More…

• Wanted: 2,000 tutors (Enquirer)

Education groups Thursday will kick off the second year of a massive campaign to recruit 2,000 volunteer tutors – enough to help every child in Cincinnati Public Schools improve reading and math scores. The Be the Change campaign and volunteer celebration kicks off 11 a.m. Thursday at Rothenberg Academy in Over-the-Rhine. Volunteers do not have to attend the kickoff to apply; they can also apply online, by email or phone. Tutors are asked to commit to one hour of tutoring a week. Training is provided. Read More…

Local Issues

• Hamilton school district looks to focus on improving academics through technology (Journal News)

HAMILTON — At the 2012 organizational meeting of the Hamilton City School District Board of Education, Superintendent Janet Baker said that with the district’s master facilities plan winding down, the district will be able to focus more on improving academic achievement. “A district committee is working with a technology and planning consultant with the goal of creating a comprehensive five-year technology plan,” she said Tuesday night, reporting that a committee met last week for the second time to work on the plan. Read More…

• Accounting error might lead to more cuts (Newark Advocate)

GRANVILLE - Granville's new board of education got some grim news Monday night at its first meeting. Board members learned the district's funding shortfall is worse than projected, although not enough to seek another new property tax levy sooner than expected. District Treasurer Mike Sobul said because of an accounting error in 2011 resulting from a keyboarding mistake in the district office, $396,000 in property tax revenue mistakenly was reflected in the general operating fund instead of the debt service fund, where it was supposed to be. Read More…

• West Carrollton school district reallows non-school activities (Dayton Daily News)

WEST CARROLLTON — School buildings, closed after school to non-school programs following a Nov. 8 levy defeat, have reopened in the West Carrollton school district. District officials agreed to reopen the buildings after determining it was illegal to close them to recreational sports organizations and other non-school groups, officials said Tuesday. “Basically you have to keep your buildings open,” Superintendent Rusty Clifford. Read More…

• Little Miami schools get back on financial feet (Enquirer)

HAMILTON TWP. — Buses will soon begin rolling again in Little Miami Schools, but restoration of other student services and programs – after years of historically deep budget cuts – are farther down the road, school officials said during Tuesday evening’s board meeting. The dubious distinction for the Warren County school system as the most financially distressed in Southwest Ohio will continue through 2012 despite voters in November approving a long-sought tax hike. “We’re sort of standing in a hole right now,” Little Miami Interim Superintendent Greg Power said. Read More…

• Amherst schools cut jobs, close Shupe (Morning Journal)

AMHERST — The Amherst school board agreed to close Shupe Elementary School as a part of its plan to cut $2.5 million from its budget. The board approved cutting $1.55 million from the budget to help deal with the deficit predicted for 2012-2013 school year. With the closing of the elementary school, the district will have to restructure its lower grade levels, according to Superintendent Steve Sayers. Powers Elementary will have pre-kindergarten through second grade, while Harris Elementary will house the third and fourth grades, according to Sayers. Read More…

• East Holmes BOE outlines ways to cut costs (Times Reporter)

BERLIN — About 75 people attended the East Holmes Board of Education meeting Monday, in which a proposal to cut about $1.1 million in spending was outlined. The plan included $600,000 in cuts that were necessitated by the defeat of an emergency operating levy last November and another $500,000 in cuts that will take effect if a 3.77-mill emergency levy is defeated March 6. Read More…

Editorial

• Troubled kids (Dispatch)

Any seasoned teacher can attest that the school struggles of many kids are rooted in emotional and behavioral problems. The longer those problems go unaddressed, the worse everything else is likely to get. That makes two central Ohio programs promising: One requires bullies — and their parents — to confront the ugliness of their actions. Another offers intense therapy for preschoolers, whose behavioral issues are derailing their school careers before they start. Both programs, if successful, would provide a major collateral benefit, as well: making school better for everyone else. Read More…

• Test in November (Beacon Journal)

The Akron Board of Education acted wisely in pulling its request for a property tax increase off the March 6 ballot. The school board has opted instead to place the tax request on the ballot for the general election in November. The decision to wait carries some risk, to be sure, because it gives the board only one shot this year to raise new money that would be collected beginning in 2013. With all that is at stake in the district, school officials need time to ensure they have their ducks in a row if they hope to succeed in persuading voters to raise their property taxes. Read More…

Education News for 01-10-2012

Statewide Education News

• Biden, education chief to visit Gahanna school (Dispatch)

Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan are scheduled to speak at 12:15 p.m. Thursday in a town hall-style meeting at Gahanna Lincoln High School, White House and school officials say. The topic will be college affordability — a White House news release said more than two-thirds of Ohio college students take out loans to pay for school and graduate with an average debt of more than $27,000. Biden and Duncan are expected to lay out — in an election year for their boss with swing-state Ohio as the backdrop — what President Barack Obama’s administration has done to hold down college costs. Read More…

• New sex education standards released (News-Herald)

WASHINGTON — Young elementary school students should use the proper names for body parts and, by the end of fifth grade, know that sexual orientation is “the romantic attraction of an individual to someone of the same gender or a different gender,” according to new sexual education guidelines released Monday by a coalition of health and education groups. The non-binding recommendations to states and school districts seek to encourage age-appropriate discussions about sex, bullying and healthy relationships — starting with a foundation even before second grade. Read More…

• Waiver for gym class? (Tribune Chronicle)

WARREN - Kathy Woods is hoping to secure more time for her daughter: Time the Warren G. Harding High School freshman can spend studying, earning high school credits, finishing necessary tasks. "There's only so much time in a day," the Warren woman said recently. "When your child is active in school, sports and extracurricular activities, their days fill up quickly." Woods has asked the Warren City Board of Education to consider adopting a policy that would allow students who participate in athletics to forgo the physical education classes each student must take to graduate. Read More…

Local Issues

• Miffed tutors blame district for delaying students’ help (Dispatch)

A federally funded tutoring program for Columbus students is months behind schedule as the district tries to prevent fraud. The district’s tough approach to checking out tutoring vendors has meant that thousands of students have yet to receive any help, 2 1/2 months after tutoring could have begun. The vendors are crying foul, saying the delay is costing them business and hurting the district’s chances of improving reading and math scores. Read More…

• Lorain school board looks at another round of budget cuts (Morning Journal)

LORAIN — The Lorain school board will decide on another round of budget cuts Wednesday in its quest to drop $12.5 million from its budget. At Wednesday’s school board meeting, Interim Superintendent Ed Branham is expected to recommend $5.2 million in cuts, according to Branham. In October, the district approved cutting $1.5 million in expenses before the 1.5 percent earned income tax levy failed in November. Read More…

• Westerville, Dublin schools study budget cuts (Dispatch)

Two school districts have added details about plans to make budget cuts because their tax issues failed on the November ballot. In Dublin last night, the district’s school board outlined plans for bigger elementary classes next school year, along with shorter days and reduced busing for high-schoolers. Members of Westerville’s school board presented a framework to decide which programs will be saved if voters approve a March levy. Read More…

Editorial

• Online textbooks could work for California (L.A. Times)

It's time for college textbooks to catch up with the 21st century. Online, open-access textbooks that rely heavily on information in the public domain would not only cost students a fraction as much, but they also could be readily updated and easily customized to individual professors' courses. That's a big deal considering that many of the most commonly used traditional textbooks cost more than $150. Buying used books isn't the option it used to be because professors often demand the latest version even when the changes are minimal. Read More…

Education News for 01-09-2012

Statewide Education News

• Reviews mixed 10 years after sweeping education reform (Enquirer)

Former Hamilton High School Principal Tracey Miller remembers it like it was yesterday. It was a few days into the new year in 2002, right before students returned from Christmas break. Miller was one of a few people working when the phone rang. He expected it to be a telemarketer. Instead, he found a U.S. Secret Service agent on the other end of the line. “He said ‘I want to talk to you about President Bush visiting your school,’” said Miller. “I thought it was a joke.” Read More…

• Open enrollment allows students to cross school district boundaries -- in some cases (Plain Dealer)

In half of Northeast Ohio's school districts, the doors of the local public school are firmly shut to keep out any child who doesn't live in the district. Some of them offer rewards to tipsters who expose families illegally using the schools without being subject to district taxes. A demand for tuition payments -- or even prosecution -- can follow. That's what happened to Kelley Williams-Bolar of Akron, whose arrest for sending her two daughters to Copley-Fairlawn schools captured the attention of school choice advocates across the country last year. But in the other half of the region's districts, the schoolhouse doors swing wide open to children who live outside the boundary lines -- and officials happily take the money that transfers along with them. Read More…

• Open enrollment hurts some schools in funding (Middletown Journal)

BUTLER COUNTY — Ohio’s open enrollment policy allows students to take advantage of academic programs not offered at their home schools, but it’s also costly for districts. Seven of Butler County’s 10 public school districts accept open enrollment students. Only Fairfield, Lakota and Ross schools do not. “A district may have a certain academic program that a student wants to go to,” Ohio Department of Education spokesman Patrick Gallaway said. “There are cases where one district adopted a pay-to-play policy on sports so some students went to an adjacent district where they didn’t have to pay.” Read More…

• Rules in place for districts' 'calamity days' (Daily Record)

WOOSTER - "Snow day," a popular term based on the most typical reason school is called off, will no doubt soon be a well-used phrase once again. This year as every other, rules and regulations are in place to handle what the state formally calls a "calamity day," available for more than just adverse weather. "Snow days are typically what they would be used for, but there could be other issues a district could face," said Patrick Gallaway, associate director of communications for the Ohio Department of Education. They don't just apply to severe weather conditions, he said. Read More…

Local Issues

• Most local charter schools focus on a niche (Dispatch)

There are charter schools that serve immigrant students. Children with autism. Students interested in art or science or martial arts. Although Columbus started slowly as a home to charter schools, experts say the metropolitan area now is a 'mecca' that hosts one of the most-diverse ranges of charters in Ohio. Central Ohio has 81 charters. Only 21 are traditional; the rest range from schools that serve dropouts to ones that focus on using new technology. Read More…

• Homeless Kids (Marietta Times)

The number of homeless children in the U.S. increased by 38 percent from 2007 to 2010, with Ohio's population of homeless children jumping by nearly 13,000 during that time, according to a recently-released report. During the 2010-2011 school year, there were a reported 63 homeless children in the Marietta City school district, a number that is on the rise. The National Center on Family Homelessness report "America's Youngest Outcasts 2010," released in December, says more than 1.6 million children, or one in 45, are homeless annually in America. This equates to more than 30,000 children each week and more than 4,400 each day. Read More…

• School income tax collections up in the county (Newark Advocate)

NEWARK - Licking County schools are on pace to collect more in income taxes this fiscal year. Although the county's five districts with income taxes saw drops from 2008 to 2009, collections are on pace to rise significantly for some. Newark collections fell from a high of $8.4 million in 2008 to $7.2 million in fiscal year 2011. Midway through the current fiscal year, the district is on pace to collect $8.2 million. Read More…

• Bullied Teen Speaks Out (ONN)

HAMILTON - Courtney Lyn Bacher never thought that she would be physically attacked or verbally assaulted by a bully at her high school. "I was by myself, when I had four guys come up and yell at me calling me names. I couldn't escape. I felt like I wasn't worth anything," Bacher said. The bullying began in eighth grade but it escalated during Bacher's high school years. Bacher posted a video sharing with friends and strangers how the abuse affected her, reported ONN's Lot Tan. Read More…

Editorial

• Pilot programs for evaluating Ohio teachers, if done well, could yield great benefits (Plain Dealer)

In contrast with the fireworks and ultimate failure of public employee reforms drawn up in Statehouse backrooms, Ohio education officials are tackling another politically sensitive issue -- teacher evaluations -- with restraint and transparency, in consultation with school districts and teachers. Read More…

• The right choice under their noses (Times Reporter)

Three Tuscarawas County school superintendents were hired last summer, all from outside their school districts. Sometimes, school boards have to cast a net outside the district to get just the right person for the job. But in an ideal situation, a replacement can be groomed from within. And that’s exactly what happened when the Garaway Board of Education last month agreed to replace retiring Superintendent Darryl Jones with someone who worked in the same building, High School Principal Teresa Alberts, the only candidate considered. Read More…

Education News for 01-06-2012

Statewide Education News

• Monroe school board sends treasurer complaint to state officials (Middletown Journal)

MONROE — The Monroe Board of Education submitted a letter of professional misconduct to the Ohio Department of Education’s office of professional conduct on Tuesday detailing the actions of former treasurer Kelley Thorpe. The 55-page document was filed by the district’s attorney, Bill Deters, and it stated that the reason why Thorpe was being reported was “the employee has engaged or may have engaged in conduct unbecoming to the teaching profession.” Read More…

• Facebook video puts bullying in the spotlight (Journal-News)

ROSS TWP. — When the week began, Ross High School senior CourtneyLyn Bacher was on the brink of suicide for the years of bullying that she’s had to endure. But now, she’s a girl on a mission, determined to bring bullying to light, even if it means putting her own problems in the public light. The difference is a tearful six-minute video she made in the early hours of Tuesday and posted to her Facebook account. Read More…

• Students learn with donated iPads (Beacon Journal)

GREEN - Teaching grade-schoolers to speak Mandarin might not be difficult in Asia, but in America, the challenge is daunting. But the students in J.T. Kuzior’s Green Primary School third-grade classroom are doing just that, using a computer application that helps them learn the language. Thanks to a local businessman, the nearly 1,000 students at the school in grades 1-3 are getting foreign language instructions and lessons in other subjects twice each week using the latest technology. Read More…

Local Issues

• Clear Fork schools propose more than 100 budget fixes (News-Journal)

BELLVILLE - Clear Fork school board members are considering an array of proposals to bring the district's budget in line -- including cuts to programs, services and staff. Clear Fork Valley Local Schools Board of Education presented more than 100 possible ideas Thursday to raise revenues and reduce costs. The list was created with input from teachers and administrators. Board members asked the public to offer additional feedback. Read More…

• Cleveland School Closing Due to Safety Concerns (WJW 8 FOX)

CLEVELAND—Almira at the Nathaniel Hawthorne School is shutting its doors because of safety concerns for students and staff, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District announced Thursday. "During a routine inspection of the Nathaniel Hawthorne building, the current swing-site location of Almira students and staff, a custodian noticed that two structural support beams were deteriorating. Read More…

• Mock interviews prepare students for real world (Journal-News)

FAIRFIELD — Job interviews some local teens took Thursday may not have been the genuine article, but they gave the kids a taste of the “real world” regardless. Members of the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce conducted mock job interviews with several students throughout the week to give Fairfield High School students an idea of what to look out for when they begin to pound the pavement looking for a real job. Read More…

• Van Buren teachers issue second no confidence vote (Courier)

VAN BUREN - Teachers represented by the Van Buren Education Association told the school board Thursday that the association has adopted a vote of no confidence in Van Buren Superintendent Tim Myers. "Superintendent Myers has participated in enacting the implementation of the board of education's last, best and final offer upon members of the Van Buren Education Association, rather than negotiate a mutually agreed-upon contract," Jennifer Obenour, a Van Buren teacher, told the board. Read More…

Editorial

• Don’t leave kids behind in ‘Race’ (Tribune Chronicle)

Kindergarten really isn't the beginning of a youngster's education. Children begin learning from birth, at home and through avenues other than formal education. That means some are better prepared than others to begin school. Those who enter kindergarten and first grade without adequate preparation too often fall behind classmates and never catch up. During the past decade or so, educators have come to understand their work needs to begin before kindergarten, sometimes as early as age 3 in pre-school programs. Ohio has a reasonably widespread network of such facilities, certified by the state Department of Education. Read More…

• Schools of choice (Beacon Journal)

The Akron school district is making an aggressive effort to draw families back into the city school system. John Higgins, a Beacon Journal staff writer, described Thursday the recruiting campaign aimed at 6,000 homes where students have left or are likely to opt out of the district. Advocates of school choice would contend, with some justification, that the enrollment campaign in itself reflects a positive effect of competition in the school market, as the district is forced to fight harder to retain students and state funding. Read More…

Education News for 01-05-2012

National Stories of the Day

• Both Sides Hang Tough on Teacher Evaluations - New York Times

When it comes to labor issues, it is often difficult to tell what is really going on. Negotiations are often a game of chicken, with each side holding firm and acting tough — until one side pulls the brake or jumps to safety. In the case of the city’s Education Department and the United Federation of Teachers, it appears, from the outside, that both sides are determined to sail off the cliff. Read More…

Local Issues

• Akron Public Schools try to win back students - Akron Beacon Journal

Leggett elementary, located a few blocks from the Summit County Jail, serves some of the poorest kids in Akron. The school boasts an “Effective” rating on the latest state report cards and a new school building, but Principal Philomena Vincente still faces competition from charter schools. Read More…

• Dayton Schools hope to avoid $12M deficit – Dayton Daily News

Dayton Public School officials are trying to determine whether to put a property tax levy on the November ballot to avoid a projected $12 million deficit in 2014. The school board’s new president, Ronald Lee, said Wednesday that “later this year is a possibility” for a levy. Read More…

• CPS cited for fire code violations – Cincinnati Enquirer

The Cincinnati Fire Department cited Cincinnati Public Schools for numerous safety code violations following a Dec. 26 fire at the vacant building that used to house Quebec Heights School. Fire Chief Ronald Coldiron noted in the citation that the “current condition of the premises presents a hazard to the public and safety personnel.” Read More…