Ed News

Education News for 05-15-2012

in

Statewide Education News

  • Big hurdles hold up new way for state to grade schools (Dispatch)

    • Few argue that Ohio needs a more-demanding way of rating schools and districts on annual state report cards. But fierce debate has broken out among educators and political leaders over how new A-through-F grades are calculated and when new report cards will be issued. Read More…

  • Ohio School District Has Teens Watch 'Bully' Film (AP, NBC-4)

    • About 9,000 Cincinnati Public School students are seeing an anti-bullying documentary that stirred debate over its initial rating restricting children under 17 from seeing it without an adult. The district intends to use the film, which has since been lowered to a PG-13 rating, as a teaching tool to help prevent bullying. The film, "Bully," follows five kids over a school year in an attempt to demonstrate the toll bullying takes on children and families. Read More…

Local Issues

  • Allison hired as Canton Schools assistant superindendent (Repository)

    • The City Schools Board of Education approved a number of administrative changes Monday night, including the naming of Adrian Allison as its new assistant superintendent. Allison, a 1990 McKinley High School graduate, returns to Canton after serving as an associate superintendent with the Ohio Department of Education. Before that, he was Canton City Schools’ director of school improvement. Read More…

  • Kasich reading proposal could have greater impact on combined Athens elementaries (Athens Messenger)

    • At a time when the state is talking about making it tougher for third-graders with poor reading skills to advance to fourth grade, the Athens City School District is combining the two elementary schools with the lowest third-grade reading scores in the county. Read More…

  • How the casino tax money will be divided among schools, cities, counties and other governments (Plain Dealer)

    • Ohio's casino operators promise tax dollars -- millions of tax dollars -- for schools, cities, counties and other services. So what governments will get how much money? That's difficult to say because it depends on how well the casinos do, and if they end up facing competition down the line from horse tracks offering slot machines. Read More…

  • Cuts park buses (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • Citing financial constraints, the school district is cutting busing for out-of-district private and charter schools. They will instead providing public transit passes to residential students who attend those schools. Superintendent Vincent Colaluca said the move meets state requirements to provide transportation for students living within the school district. The change will not impact students attending schools within Austintown's borders such as Immaculate Heart of Mary School, he said. Read More…

  • Crowd implores board to 'let Cory walk' at graduation (Newark Advocate)

    • The Licking Valley senior class wants Cory Ryan to walk across the stage during commencement. Students have collected 722 signatures supporting the "Let Cory Walk" movement -- with 100 members of the senior class signing on, said Marissa Klein, a junior who helped create the petition and shirts. Read More…

  • Farm-to-School catches momentum (New Philadelphia Times Reporter)

    • The first local Ohio Farm-to-School program inspired Buckeye Career Center to plant a garden outside the school. The next Farm-to-School event, “Making the Connections in Your Cafeteria,” looks to stimulate other ideas for indoors. Read More…

Editorial & Opinion

  • City schools must act boldly (Vindicator, Op-Ed from Judge Nathaniel Jones)

    • A decade ago, KnowledgeWorks came to Youngstown with an audacious idea: Youngstown high school students could not only graduate on time and be prepared for college, but they could also master college material and earn college credits — all while in high school. From that idea in 2004 was born the Youngstown Early College High School, now rated excellent — the best school in the Youngstown City School District, and one of the best in the region. Read More…

Education News for 05-14-2012

in

Local Issues

  • Cincinnati success studied by Toledo (Toledo Blade)

    • As Toledo Public Schools finds itself in the midst of a political battle over who should run the federally funded Head Start program, it also finds itself in uncharted waters. For years, Head Start, a program for 3 to 5-year-olds from low-income families, has been run locally by the Economic Opportunity Planning Association of Greater Toledo. Read More…

  • What's behind Walnut Hills' No. 1 ranking? (Enquirer)

    • Walnut Hills High School and its graduates have won countless accolades and awards over the years. This week, the Evanston-based institution was ranked the top high school in Ohio by U.S. News & World Report magazine. It ranked No. 90 in the nation. What makes Walnut Hills distinctive? Read More…

  • Xenia Board of Education expected to OK outsourcing (Dayton Daily News)

    • The Xenia Board of Education is tonight expected to approve agreements that would permanently outsource its transportation, custodial and maintenance and information technology services departments. “None of us ever thought this would be happening,” said Vickie Jones, Xenia bus driver and president of the Xenia Education Support Professionals union. “We were always told there would be (jobs in) public education.” Read More…

  • Providence neighborhood center faces closing (Toledo Blade)

    • A South Toledo neighborhood center could have to close its doors in a matter of months, depriving an underserved community of essential services, its leaders fear. The Providence Center, formerly known as Aurora Gonzalez Community and Family Resource Center, faces the June 30 expiration of a two-year, $75,000 grant from United Way of Greater Toledo. Read More…

  • Lisbon school officials pleased with sophomore mini-laptop program (Salem News)

    • School officials like what they have seen so far of a program begun last November to place a mini-laptop computer in the hands of every sophomore. Technology Director Steve Stewart reported at this week's school board meeting the response has been nothing but positive to the program, although it is still a learning process for the staff and administrators. Read More…

  • Columbus schools may offer health care (Dispatch)

    • Columbus City Schools could open five school-based health clinics under a plan a consultant is to craft over the summer. The “wellness centers” would provide health services to students, district staff members and maybe the public, officials said. “The main focus is our students,” said Debbie Seastone, a school nurse who coordinates the district’s wellness initiative. “We know that healthy children make healthy learners.” Read More…

Editorial & Opinion

  • Faulty warranty (Dispatch)

    • In a dispute with fellow Republicans over how to approach important public-school reforms, Gov. John Kasich is taking the more difficult, but wiser course: Changes shouldn’t be put off or watered down, even if they’re painful. Tops on the governor’s list is the so-called third-grade reading guarantee: a policy to closely watch the reading ability of children in kindergarten through third grade, give extra help to those struggling and to no longer promote to fourth grade children who can’t read at the third-grade level. Read More…

Education News for 05-10-2012

in

Statewide Education News

  • Ohio Senate approves of changes to education reforms despite Gov. Kasich's objections (Plain Dealer)

    • The Ohio Senate on Wednesday approved a plan to hold back some third-graders not reading at grade level. But Gov. John Kasich, who originally proposed the concept, said the Senate’s version undermines his vision to improve education. Read More…

  • Members of community gather to look at ways to prevent bullying (Chillicothe Gazette)

    • Educators, community members and presenters at a seminar on bullying Wednesday agreed the response to the problem shouldn't be a response at all, but rather a strategy of education and prevention. About 40 people attended the three-hour session at the Ross County Service Center, which was sponsored by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown's office in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education, the Ohio Department of Education, the Anti-Defamation League and several other governmental and non-governmental agencies. Read More…

  • Senate passes education bill it revised (Dispatch)

    • Downplaying complaints by Gov. John Kasich that legislators had weakened his education package, the Senate yesterday overwhelmingly approved legislation establishing a new third-grade reading guarantee and tougher report-card grading system for schools and districts. “I don’t think we are that far apart from the governor’s legislation,” Senate President Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond, told reporters after the vote. “We share the same goal.” Read More…

  • Senate rewrites reading proposal (Springfield News Sun)

    • Ohio’s General Assembly approved several bills Wednesday that aim to improve education, crack down on illegal prescription use and reform state gambling laws. The Senate passed a revised version of Gov. John Kasich’s education reform bill in a 30-2 vote, despite his vocal opposition to changes made to the “third-grade reading guarantee.” Read More…

Local Issues

  • No questions please: Embattled director of local Autism school calls a press conference (Canton Repository)

    • The director of Dragonfly Academy claims local school districts owe her more than $500,000 in billed invoices and says disgruntled parents are harassing her through social media. Brianne Bixby-Nightingale held an invitation-only news conference Wednesday afternoon at the school, but refused to answer questions from The Repository, the only media to attend. Read More…

  • College at high school (Marietta Times)

    • By the time the 23 seniors in Waterford High School teacher Deana Dye's sixth-period calculus class graduate, they will have three college math courses under their belts. "It's been tough, but you know it's going to be helpful, so that's why we did it," said Waterford senior Shane Kern. The year-long calculus class covers a trio of courses offered at Washington State Community College, where the students will also receive credit for their work. Read More…

  • Monroe school district placed on fiscal emergency (Middletown Journal News)

    • The Auditor of State Dave Yost placed the Monroe Local School District on fiscal emergency Wednesday, a first for a Butler County school district. “We need to focus really on what is at hand,” Monroe Board of Education president Brett Guido said. “This does not need to define us. It doesn’t have to be a deciding factor as to what defines us as a district and a community. We’ll pull through.” Read More…

  • Countdown: Central Ohio high schools at top of the class (Columbus Business First)

    • A recent ranking of more than 20,000 high schools around the country has given high marks to some in Central Ohio. The region is home to five of Ohio’s top 10 high schools, according to U.S. News & World Report. The company analyzed data on 21,776 high schools, including more than 860 in Ohio, to compile the ranking. Read More…

  • Mother wants son to have chance to walk with class at Licking Valley graduation (Newark Advocate)

    • Susie Ryan knows her son, Cory Ryan, is two years away from fulfilling the requirements he needs to graduate from Licking Valley High School. But she doesn't want him to walk across the stage at graduation two years from now with students he doesn't know. Susie wants her son to have the opportunity to have a social graduation and walk across the stage with his friends at Licking Valley's commencement May 27. Read More…

  • North Baltimore considers shared administrative duties (Findlay Courier)

    • North Baltimore school board is exploring the idea of having the district's superintendent handle some of the responsibilities of principal at Powell Elementary School on a regular basis. No decision has been reached, school officials said this week. Last March, elementary Principal Patty Landenberger informed the North Baltimore school board she was leaving her post after two years, citing personal reasons. Read More…

  • State will get East Side church’s charter-school application again (Dispatch)

    • The Ohio Department of Education must reconsider a Columbus church’s application to sponsor charter schools but not before adopting a rule to help guide the decision, a Franklin County judge has ruled. Brookwood Presbyterian Church’s application was denied by the state agency in 2008, prompting the church to launch a legal battle. The department issued its denial after deciding that the church is not “an education-oriented entity.” Read More…

  • Youngstown school officials: Moving students will help (Vindicator)

    • City school district officials hope that moving some students to different buildings next academic year will bolster student achievement. Last week, the schools academic distress commission approved plans by Superintendent Connie Hathorn to move ninth-graders from P. Ross Berry Academy on the city’s East Side to East High School. The district also plans to move second- through fifth-graders from University Project Learning Center to Kirkmere Elementary School. Read More…

Editorial & Opinion

  • Take time with school regulations (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • There are those who believe that children who attend school at ages 3 and 4 have an enormous head start over those who wait until kindergarten or first grade. That's why many states, including nearby West Virginia, established ''pre-K'' school programs. The National Institute for Early Education Research cites West Virginia's pre-K program as one of the nation's best. That's one of the reasons that on our side of the border, complaints are mounting that Ohio lags far behind in emphasis on pre-K education. Read More…

Education News for 05-09-2012

in

Statewide Education News

  • Kasich upset education plan altered (Dispatch)

    • Again at odds with fellow Republicans, Gov. John Kasich blasted Senate leaders yesterday for altering his third-grade reading guarantee, arguing the changes “weaken efforts to improve education for Ohio’s children.” Kasich said he was “troubled by moves under way in the Senate,” specifically efforts to delay for a year a requirement that third-graders pass the state reading test before moving up to the fourth grade, and dropping the cut score so that fewer students are affected. Read More…

  • Biometric Scanner Use At Schools Prompt Parent Concerns (WBNS, Columbus)

    • Central Ohio schools’ use of new technology has prompted safety concerns for some parents, 10TV’s Tanisha Mallett reported Tuesday. Biometric scanners store information that can be accessed when a finger touches a scanner. Tina, a mother of a middle school student, said that she was concerned about privacy rights. Read More…

Local Issues

  • Cleveland School Board Considers Selling Administrative HQ (Fox 8, Cleveland)

    • The Cleveland School Board considered a resolution Tuesday night to put the district’s administrative headquarters up for sale. The idea is part of a plan to consolidate six buildings used for administrative purposes into one building, possibly leasing space in a downtown building. Read More…

  • Cleveland schools will bus more students next year while saving money (Plain Dealer)

    • Thousands more Cleveland schoolchildren will have bus rides to school in the fall under a new busing plan presented to the school board Tuesday night. Elementary school students would have to walk no more than a mile, instead of the 1.75-mile maximum now, under the plan. And high school students won't have to walk up to three miles to school anymore. Their walks would be cut to a mile and a half at most. Read More…

  • School Cracks Down on Prom Dress Code (Fox 8, Cleveland)

    • With necklines plunging lower, and hemlines getting shorter, are dresses too sexy for prom?
    No matter the answer to that question, sexy dresses will not make it through the dance doors at Jefferson High School come prom night. “Over the past years, there were a lot of comments about the dresses the students were wearing,” said Principal John Montenaro. Read More…

  • Springfield teachers authorize call to strike (Toledo Blade)

    • Negotiations that have stretched for a year could spiral out of control between the Springfield Board of Education and its teachers' union, which has passed a strike authorization measure. Members of the Springfield Education Association unanimously voted Monday to allow negotiators to serve the school board with a 10-day strike notice. That notice could come as soon as Friday, union President Marty Perlaky said, if district negotiators don't give the union a counterproposal. Read More…

  • Teen bullied to point of suicide, Mentor hosts seminar to combat bullying (WEWS, Cleveland)

    • Sen. Sherrod Brown hosted a seminar at Mentor Memorial Junior High School Tuesday night aimed at helping schools address bullying. The goal of the event was to teach administrators, staff, bus drivers and educators to recognize and report bullying and the harassment of students. The seminar focused on promoting healthy, safe and productive schools for students. Read More…

  • Walnut Hills rated top Ohio high school (Enquirer)

    • Several local schools placed well in U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 Best High Schools rankings, which came out Tuesday. Walnut Hills High School was ranked the top school in Ohio and the 90th best in the nation. Others in Ohio’s top 10 included Indian Hill (3) and Wyoming (4) high schools. They ranked 104 and 143 nationally. Read More…

  • Teacher’s aide grabs student, is fired (Dispatch)

    • A teacher’s aide for special-needs students at Livingston Elementary School was fired last week because she grabbed a girl who was spitting at her face. The child had been spitting on aide Linda M. Finch for days before the March incident for which she lost her job, documents show. Read More…

Editorial & Opinion

  • Schools in crisis (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • Policy Matters Ohio released early this year findings from a survey of Ohio school finance officials showing “alarming levels of fiscal distress” in districts across the state. The Cleveland-based think tank found that roughly two-thirds of the respondents face budget shortfalls, and those projecting shortfalls above 5 percent had almost tripled since 2010. Hard-pressed rural, urban and suburban districts planned to manage the budget gaps by cutting staff, programs and extracurricular activities, freezing wages and reducing spending on benefits, supplies and equipment. Read More…

Education News for 05-08-2012

in

Statewide Education News

  • Kasich school plan may change (Dispatch)

    • Republican leaders in the Senate plan to slow down Gov. John Kasich’s initiatives for holding back third-graders who aren’t proficient in reading and for a tougher report-card rating system for schools and districts. Under the Senate plan, new report cards would be issued by Sept. 1, 2013, for the 2012-13 school year, not this summer for the current school year. And the so-called reading guarantee would start in the 2013-14 school year, instead of this fall. Read More…

Local Issues

  • School bus drivers test skills on safety course (WLIO-Lima)

    • They drive our kids to school every day. Rarely do parents second guess the skills of school bus drivers. For the drivers, the safety of the children is of the up-most importance. To help improve their safe driving skills, bus drivers took to the course as part of the regional school bus safety Road-E-O Saturday. Driving a car through an obstacle course of cones may be difficult for some people, but imagine doing it in a 30 to 40 foot school bus. That is exactly what area bus drivers did Saturday morning, helping to sharpen their driving skills. Read More…

  • Animals on loose not considered ‘calamity’ for closed schools (Dispatch)

    • Unsure whether lions, tigers and bears remained loose near Zanesville, three Muskingum County school districts canceled classes the day after Terry Thompson released his menagerie of exotic pets and shot himself in the head. A calamity? Read More…

  • Effort Underway To Repeal Westerville School Levy (NBC-4, Columbus)

    • The levy controversy in Westerville just won't go away. Even though voters approved a 6.71-mill emergency operating levy in March, voters may soon see a levy issue on their November ballot as well. However, the new issue would be to repeal the levy. Monday, the group Taxpayers for Westerville Schools began collecting signatures in an effort to repeal the levy. Read More…

  • Official: Public can fight school privatization (Vindicator)

    • To stop privatization of public education, citizens need to become active. “Go to hearings, send 10 million emails to the governor and the legislators,” William L. Phillis, executive director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding, told about 200 people at Boardman High School Monday. Phillis was a speaker at a public forum sponsored by township schools and the Mahoning County Educational Service Center, Read More…

  • Salem bus drivers treated to breakfast on their ‘day’ (Salem News)

    • SALEM - City school bus drivers received a pat on the back Monday as part of School Bus Driver Appreciation Day in Ohio. "They do an awesome job of keeping our kids safe," Salem City Schools Transportation Supervisor Tom Mather said about his drivers. As for the kids, he said "they're safer in a school bus than any other form of transportation." Read More…

  • Eastmoor neighbors concerned about Africentric relocation plan (Dispatch)

    • Residents of the northern end of Eastmoor say they have a lot of questions about Columbus City Schools’ plans to move Columbus Africentric Early College to a former apartment complex near them. In the meantime, Bexley-area officials remain interested in using the old Woodland Meadows property even after the campus is built. They met with Columbus school-district officials yesterday, Columbus schools spokesman Jeff Warner said. Read More…

  • State dept. of education recognizes local teacher (Chillicothe Gazette)

    • A Ross County educator recently was recognized by the Ohio Department of Education for her local leadership as an advocate for families and young children. Maryjo Flamm-Miller, program specialist for Ross County Job & Family Services, received the 2012 Irene Bandy-Heddon Community Leadership Award from ODE's Office of Early Learning and School Readiness. The Community Leadership award was one of several awarded during a conference April 21 in Columbus. Read More…

Education News for 05-07-2012

in

Statewide Education News

  • Why Lions, Tigers and Bears Roaming the ‘Hood Aren’t a Free Pass to Skip School Days (State Impact Ohio)

    • A sign warns passing motorists about exotic animals on the loose from a wildlife preserve October 19, 2011 in Zanesville. Ohio state law doesn’t recognize lions, tigers, bears and a monkey with Herpes roaming the neighborhood as an acceptable reason to close schools. Read More…

  • Lectures by videocast; assignments at school (Newark Advocate)

    • Tami Fitzgerald spends virtually no time lecturing to her Advanced Placement physics class. At least, not in person. Instead, she comes into the students' study halls and living rooms by way of videocast. Students watch her lectures instead of the usual homework. Then, when they come to class the next day, they work on assignments that traditionally would have been assigned as homework. Read More…

  • Principal roles changing for 21st century schools (Dayton Daily News)

    • There was a time when principals were mostly known as building managers, the people in charge of making sure of two things: Maintaining discipline when a student became too disruptive for the teacher and keeping office supplies stocked. Read More…

Local Issues

  • Ruby Weems, who founded and ran the Weems School: Whatever happened to ...? (Plain Dealer)

    • Whatever happened to Ruby Weems, who founded and ran the Weems School and is responsible for paying back taxpayer money that was improperly spent there? The other shoe hasn't dropped yet in the case in the case of Weems, which illustrates just how long and complicated the process can be. Her Tremont charter school was shut down by its sponsor, Cincinnati-based Educational Resource Consultants of Ohio, in 2009. Read More…

  • Schools look for solutions to challenges of new technology (Lancaster Eagle Gazette)

    • Back in the good ol' days when a cellphone could only call and text, defining on and off school grounds was as simple as drawing a line. But now, in the age of smartphones and Facebook, school districts are struggling with how to address use of these technologies. This year, school districts are rewriting policies to comply with two new rules. The first is the Jessica Logan Act, signed into law in February, which requires school districts to address cyberbullying. Read More…

  • Dragonfly Academy director defends school (Canton Repository)

    • The director of Dragonfly Academy said she welcomes any state investigation involving the private school for autistic children. Dragonfly will reopen on Monday, Brianne Bixby-Nightingale, the school’s chief executive officer, said in an email Saturday. Read More…

  • TPS summer school returns (Toledo Blade)

    • Summer school is back after a two-year hiatus at Toledo Public Schools. Canceled in 2010 because enrollments were too low to cover its costs, summer school's resurgence is thanks to a new, cheaper format. Students will use a computer-based curriculum to take courses they missed or failed, saving staffing costs. The format also means fewer students need to enroll. Read More…

  • Schools might not be eligible for calamity days because of animal escape incident (Zanesville Times Recorder)

    • The three school districts that canceled classes for a day in the wake of the release of dozens of exotic animals from the Thompson farm in October might not be able to declare a calamity day. West Muskingum, Maysville and Zanesville City schools are required to make up the lost day of class work, according to current Ohio law. Read More…

  • Other Ohio school districts trying shared superintendents (Marietta Times)

    • The Warren Local and Fort Frye Local school districts' agreement Wednesday to share current Warren Local Superintendent Tom Gibbs is not a new concept in Ohio. Over the last four years districts in both Wayne and Fairfield counties have opted to share superintendents. In 2008, Jon Ritchie, superintendent of Orrville City Schools in Wayne County, became superintendent for Rittman Exempted Village Schools as well. And as of last week Ritchie agreed to take on a third district-Southeast Local Schools. Read More…

  • Advancements force new look at old policies (Newark Advocate)

    • Back in the good old days when a cellphone could only call and text, defining on and off school grounds was as simple as drawing a line. Now, in the age of smartphones and Facebook, school districts are struggling with how to address use of such technologies. This year, school districts are rewriting policies to comply with two new rules. Read More…

  • Class strikes chord for autism awareness (Findlay Courier)

    • Standing in front of about 30 Central Middle School sixth graders, special education teacher Angel Buck held back tears as she told of how her daughter was recently diagnosed with autism. "My fear is my daughter is going to go to school and get made fun of," Buck said to a clearly impacted crowd. Health teacher Kevin Swan also shared stories of his young son who has Asperger's syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, to the young middle schoolers. Read More…

  • Cleveland schools' teacher cuts are catching up to loss of students (Plain Dealer)

    • The Cleveland schools, which expect to have a levy on November's ballot, have seen heavy losses of students since voters last passed a tax increase in 1996. Its teaching staff has been slashed too -- just at a much slower rate. Read More…

  • Hathorn: KnowledgeWorks won’t work in Youngstown (Vindicator)

    • While a Cincinnati-based education reform group believes the city schools need a complete overhaul, the superintendent says the district requires consistency. Last February, KnowledgeWorks presented ideas for the district, which its representatives said required a whole new system. Among the organization’s plan was professional development to the tune of $450,000 per school over four years. Read More…

  • Student body (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • Celeste Thorne said she never thought the baby's feet she had tattooed to her leg months ago would prompt LaBrae High School officials to send her home two days in a row. Thorne got the tattoo, which includes her late baby sister Sabrina's name, on her 16th birthday in August. Late last month she was removed from class because the tattoo was visible. "I never really thought about it, not like that," said the 16-year-old sophomore. "I didn't see it as a big deal. I wore shorts at the beginning of school and you could see the tattoo then. I don't see the difference now. I just don't get it." Read More…

  • Hamilton strengthens career education initiative (Hamilton Journal News)

    • The primary goal for the Career Technical Education program at Hamilton High School is to make sure that each of its students is prepared to enter the workforce or enter college, but the ramifications of that go much deeper. “Our mission is to change the dynamics of each student’s family in a positive way forever,” said Kent Bryson, assistant principal in charge of CTE. Read More…

  • SPARK of success (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • A smile breaks across Haylee Bartram's face as she realizes "Mrs. Doris" has arrived. The 5-year-old knows what to expect from Doris Freeman - a whole new round of lesson plans and supplies designed to help Haylee, who attends preschool at Warren's Willard school, prepare for kindergarten. "She gets excited to see her," said Loretta Bartram, Haylee's mom. "She knows she'll have books or something with her, fun stuff we can do together." Read More…

  • Rachel’s Challenge: Pay it forward (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • In her short life, 17-year-old Rachel Joy Scott managed to make believers out of countless folks about the importance of spreading kindness in the hope it might become contagious. Even though Rachel no longer walks among us, her message continues to resonate. Read More…

Editorial & Opinion

  • State budget surplus justifies revisiting funding for schools (Vindicator)

    • When Gov. John Kasich and the Republican controlled General Assembly adopted the state’s $55 billion biennium budget, they justified the deep cuts in funding for school districts and local governments by contending that they had to deal with an $8 billion deficit in the spending plan. Indeed, Kasich had used the $8 billion figure as a sledgehammer in his 2010 race for governor against Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland. He accused Strickland and the Democratic controlled House of Representatives of mismanaging the state’s finances. Read More…

  • Pass new Ohio law to put public-sector treasurers on notice: editorial (Plain Dealer)

    • Ohio Auditor Dave Yost's Fiscal Integrity Act is a much-needed piece of legislation that would make it easier for the Ohio Department of Education to punish unscrupulous charter school treasurers. It would also provide swifter remedies for abusive public-sector fiscal managers across the state. The Ohio General Assembly should give recently introduced House Bill 529 and Senate Bill 339 swift approval. Read More…

  • Control bullying at schools (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • It's impossible to really know whether the number of violent incidents is on the rise in Warren City Schools or if the number of violent incidents reported to police is on the rise. Either way, Warren's rash of attacks reported to police this year, especially in its elementary schools, serves as a detriment toward academic and fiscal success. Read More…

  • Ohio's new educational standards won't fit its old budget: editorial (Plain Dealer)

    • The times -- as well as the tests -- they are a-changin' for Ohio's public schools. That is a good thing. But just changing tests isn't enough. The state must also show it has a reasonable strategy to use the new tools to improve learning -- and to make sure that have-not districts and disadvantaged children also have the resources to take full advantage of them. Read More…