Education News for 06-01-2012

Local Issues

• Catholic schools plan inner-city tuition fund (Dayton Daily News)

Catholic school officials are working to create a “sustainable fund” to pump cash into financially struggling urban elementary schools in the Dayton area, the first step toward a regional need-based tuition-assistance program. Read More...

• Board of Education votes to accept recommendations of Independent Fact-Finder (WOIO - Cleveland)

Following the May 29 release of an independent Fact-Finder's recommendations, made to resolve changes in contract language between the Cleveland Board of Education and the Cleveland Teachers Union, the Board voted tonight to accept the Fact-Finder's recommendations. Read More...

• City schools need 9.15 mills (Dispatch)

Columbus City Schools need 9.15 new mills to raise the $355 million that the district says would maintain current programs and fund new ones through the summer of 2017, officials told a special “ millage committee” yesterday. That would cost taxpayers about $280 extra for each $100,000 in property value, and doesn’t include possible extra mills for construction bonds. Read More...

• Cleveland Schools Board of Education backs plan to cut teachers' holidays, professional development days (Plain Dealer)

The Cleveland school board and Cleveland Teachers Union leaders don't agree on a possible solution to their pay dispute -- one that would close about $13 million of the district's projected $19 million deficit next school year. Read More...

• Debt linked to ex-charter school treasurer grows (Dayton Daily News)

Another $52,000 was heaped onto the debt owed to taxpayers by embattled former area charter school treasurer Carl Shye with the release Thursday of the final audit New City Community School in Dayton.
This is the 18th state audit in which Shye is accused of mishandling public funds, putting the total owed to $819,369, according to state data. He was indicted last month on federal charges of embezzling $472,579 from four Ohio schools, including New City and another Dayton school. Read More...

• Student Goes From Homeless to Harvard (Fox 8 – Cleveland)

David Boone, 18, walks the halls of Cleveland’s MC2STEM High School in his navy blue blazer, looking like a young man who owns the world. Chances are good that’s the kind of success he will find one day, not only because of where he’s going but because of where he’s been. “Childhood is childhood. You live, you learn, and sometimes some challenges are thrown at you,” he said. Read More...

• Team will try to line up record 75 miles of pennies (Dispatch)

At 6:30 a.m. Sunday, an armored truck will arrive at the Columbus Arts Festival and an off-duty police officer will stand guard over its weighty contents: 1,275 bags of pennies. The 30-pound sacks will be distributed across Genoa Park, where more than 2,000 students and other volunteers will wait with plastic cups to be filled with the coins. Read More...

• The price of pay-to-play (Enquirer)

Kendall Knudson knows first hand the pain of soaring pay-to-play high-school sports fees. Those fees sidelined the Lakota East sophomore – and countless other area teens – this spring. What’s more, Kendall is forced to think about Lakota Schools’ record-high $550 fee per sport whenever she huddles with her former teammates prior to a track meet to cheer them on. Then she takes a disappointing walk to the stadium stands to watch. Read More...

Education News for 05-31-2012

State Education News

• State Gets Go-Ahead To End Federal Tutoring Program (WBNS)

The state auditor was investigating allegations of fraudulent billing in connection with a federal tutoring program, 10TV’s Kristyn Hartman reported on Wednesday. Officials from the Ohio Department of Education said that they wanted to get rid of the federally funded tutoring program designed to help students at underperforming schools. The Supplemental Educational Services program, part of the No Child Left Behind program, is designed to gives students help outside of the classroom. Read More...

• Educators, Parents Call For Better Funding For Ohio Public Schools (ONN)

Parents and educators from Cincinnati protested in front of the Ohio Statehouse Wednesday afternoon. At the center of controversy Wednesday was an education funding formula that many believe puts some districts at a disadvantage. "We have to raise money by selling wrapping paper in order to have enough pencils for our children to take tests, but literally 20 minutes away every child has a laptop," said Ruth Ann Wolfe. Read More...

Local Issues

• Area educators react to decision on No Child Left Behind change in Ohio (News Herald)

Area educators are expressing mixed reaction to this week's announcement that Ohio schools will be freed from several regulations of the No Child Left Behind Act. The U.S. Department of Education approved the state's waiver application Tuesday. Schools in the state will now be given greater flexibility to meet accountability standards, including removal of some reporting requirements, and they will also have more freedom in use of federal funds, according to the Ohio Department of Education. Read More...

• Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's bid for local control of charter schools fits national push for accountability (Plain Dealer)

Mayor Frank Jackson's bid for more local control of charter schools in Cleveland wasn't a big reach by national standards. Most states require charter schools -- public schools that receive tax money, but are privately run -- to be created through major educational institutions such as local school districts, universities or the state education department. Read More...

• Utica High School Students To Receive iPads (WBNS )

UTICA, Ohio - North Fork Local Schools officials said that they will lease 560 iPads to students in the next four years, 10TV News reported on Wednesday. According to administrators, the tablets would be paid for using money that would have been used to purchase textbooks and paper. Read More...

• Picture of inspiration goes viral (Dispatch)

By the second lap, Matt Woodrum had slowed down. The fifth-grader with cerebral palsy clearly was in pain. 'You’re not stopping, are you?' his gym teacher asked, already knowing the answer. 'No.' Matt pushed on. The determination that the 11-year-old showed in completing the 400-meter race on May 16 inspired not only his classmates and school officials, but also viewers around the world who have seen the viral YouTube video online. Read More...

• ODE: Monroe taking right path to emerge from fiscal emergency (Middletown Journal News)

MONROE — Monroe stakeholders have taken the right approach to reach financial solvency for the school district, a state education official said. Roger Hardin of the Ohio Department of Education, said he’s seen a series of trends when it comes to dealing with fiscal emergencies in school districts. Read More...

Editorial & Opinion

• New opportunity (Findlay Courier)

Now that Ohio has been granted relief from some federal education mandates, lawmakers and educators need to raise the bar in education. The No Child Left Behind Act, which has been in place since 2001, requires states, among other things, to test students in reading and math in order to receive federal dollars. Those states which don't have a 100 percent compliance rate by 2014 would risk losing federal money. Read More...

• Proficient learners (Beacon Journal)

In 2001, education reformers on Capitol Hill and the White House set a high goal for the nation’s public schools: The No Child Left Behind Act would ensure that every child was proficient in math and reading by 2013-14. States would set proficiency targets and measure districts and schools on Adequate Yearly Progress. Progressively stern interventions awaited districts and schools that failed persistently to make the required progress. Read More...

• Keeping No Child Left Behind waiver is Ohio's next challenge: editorial (Plain Dealer)

It's no surprise that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan gave Ohio and seven other states a waiver Tuesday from some of the most onerous and unattainable mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act. Eleven other states have gotten waivers -- and more, if not all, probably will end up with them, given the impossibility of meeting the mandate that 100 percent of students test proficient in math and reading by 2014. Read More...

• Get on board (Dispatch)

With the federal government’s decision to free Ohio from the unrealistic mandates of the No Child Left Behind law, state lawmakers have even greater obligation to come to terms with Gov. John Kasich’s efforts to move schools toward academic improvement. Read More...

Education News for 05-30-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Federal waiver in hand, state to get tough evaluating schools (Dispatch)

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration gave Ohio extra flexibility to use its own education standards yesterday in exchange for the state using a hammer on school districts to ensure they adequately prepare students for college and careers. Also yesterday, a state study of the Kasich administration’s revised accountability system showed that about a quarter of all Ohio traditional and charter school districts — including Columbus and virtually all urban schools — would flunk. Read More...

• Student pay-to-play fees rise at local schools (Dayton Daily News)

Many area families will have to pay two or three times the amount they paid last year for their kids to participate in school sports and other activities as part of districts’ efforts to cut costs. For the affected districts, the average increase is more than 100 percent. At Beavercreek, Huber Heights, Valley View and Vandalia-Butler school districts — each of which recently announced multimillion-dollar cuts to stem widespread budget deficits — costs will be higher for the 2012-13 than they were this past school year. Read More...

• Ohio granted waiver to federal education law (Enquirer)

Ohio public schools are no longer under the gun to get 100 percent of their students proficient in math and reading by 2014. Ohio on Tuesday joined seven states that won federal approval to waive that requirement and other aspects of No Child Left Behind education law. “This is a major step forward that will allow us to raise the bar for our schools,” said Stan Heffner, Ohio’s superintendent of schools. In total, 19 states have received federal waivers, including Kentucky, which received one in February. Read More...

• Federal government waives No Child Left Behind standards for Ohio (Plain Dealer)

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Education has granted Ohio's request to waive some compliance standards of the 2001 No Child Left Behind law and replace them with benchmarks that Ohio's education department deems more realistic. Ohio's waiver was among eight that Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced today, bringing the total number of state waivers granted to 19. "We couldn't be more proud of the creativity, courage and innovation shown by these states," Duncan told reporters. Read More...

• Middle-schoolers get additional shots at taking high-school courses (Dispatch)

By the time 12-year-old Kallie Boren starts high school, she’ll have enough credits to be a sophomore. She’s set to finish the seventh grade at Pickerington’s Lakeview Junior High School with two high-school credits, for Spanish I and honors Algebra I. She’ll earn four more next school year by taking Spanish 2, honors geometry, integrated science, theater and technology. “I’d like to get ahead when I’m in high school,” she said. “I like the challenge.” Read More...

Local Issues

• High-school students taking courses in Columbus State program must choose major (Dispatch)

High-school students who take classes at Columbus State Community College through a special state program will have to declare a major and follow a program of study starting in the fall. They also will be required to take the courses they need to graduate, such as English, math and science, at their high school before they can take courses in those areas at Columbus State. “We simply want to put students on a clear path to success,” said Karen Gray, Columbus State’s director of dual enrollment. Read More...

• Akron schools’ anti-bullying program dismantled to avoid deficit (Beacon Journal)

Akron Public Schools has eliminated its innovative anti-bullying program to balance the books this year, according to the latest five-year budget projections the school board approved at a special meeting Tuesday. The program is part of the district’s Office of Drug/Violence Prevention, which is tasked with handling the social and emotional problems that can interfere with learning. Akron Public Schools had received funding for the program through competitive federal, state and local grants, which dried up in 2010 for all 50 states. Read More...

• Utica gets iPads for high-schoolers (Newark Advocate)

UTICA - Utica High School students are going to be connected in a new way in the 2012-13 school year. Every student will be given an iPad on the first day of school in the fall. "I think it's the way education is going," Principal Mark Bowman said. "Myself and my staff are very excited, and my students are very excited. Any time you can get kids excited about coming to school, that's great." The North Fork Local School District is leasing 560 iPad 2s at a cost of $74,500 per year for four years, with the option to buy each for $1 at the end of the lease. Read More...

Editorial

• No one is representing the children (Dispatch)

Working in the world of state-level education policy, frustration and disappointment are part of the job. I admit to giving in to frustration and even a little anger over the past year at the all-too-frequent hypocrisy. Everyone always says, “It’s about the kids,” but in reality, policy too often has little to do with children or their well-being. The focus always seems to come down to adults and institutions doing what they do best — protecting their status quo. Read More...

• Out of the loop: The state must talk to Duquesne students' districts (Post-Gazette)

Now that officials have told Duquesne's sixth- and seventh-graders they'll be attending either West Mifflin or East Allegheny schools in the fall, it's time for the state Education Department to talk to those districts, too. It's been clear that Duquesne no longer can provide the education its children require and deserve. With its high schoolers already attending the neighboring districts, extending the arrangement to next year's seventh- and eighth-graders makes sense. Duquesne students should be in classrooms where they can learn and succeed. Read More...

Education News for 05-29-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Schools test-drive state's online testing system (Lima News)

LIMA — A colorful pie chart appears on the screen, inviting pupils to create their own colonies, figuring out how best to allocate their resources. On another test question, pictures of state senators appear with information hinting to whether they belong in the North or South. Pupils drag the pictures to the appropriate spots. This is the future of state testing: All online, more colorful, more interactive, more fun. Read More...

• Cleveland schools plan wins legislative support as Mayor Frank Jackson agrees to less control over new charter schools than he sought (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND — Mayor Frank Jackson scaled back his push to empower a local panel to approve new charter schools to win approval of his far-reaching Cleveland schools plan in the state legislature. Instead the new Transformational Alliance will only be advisory and will review charter school sponsors, or authorizers, and make a recommendation to the Ohio Department of Education, which will have final approval. Read More...

• Anti-truancy effort lauded (Dispatch) County and school officials yesterday touted an anti-truancy program that aims to help chronically absent Columbus students avoid court. The event was meant to take stock of several anti-truancy efforts that affect Columbus City Schools children, including Project KEY, drop-off centers for corralled truants and work by police officers to round up truants, said Edwin England, who helps oversee Project KEY. There’s little data to measure whether some of those programs have helped curb truancy. Read More...

Local Issues

• School adopts drug-test policy (Blade)

TOLEDO — St. John’s Jesuit High School & Academy plans this fall to introduce random drug tests for all students and staff, making it one of the first schools in Ohio to have such a policy. All students and staff could be asked to provide a hair sample for testing, and submission to the tests will be a condition of enrollment, the Rev. Joaquin Martinez, school president, said last week. School administrators have discussed a possible drug testing policy for about two years. It does not include testing for alcohol. Read More...

• 'Shared' treasurers saving school districts money (Dayton Daily News)

Local school district treasurers Dan Schall and Brad McKee are on the forefront of a state effort that aims to reduce costs and increase efficiencies by sharing services across public entities, such as school districts. “The governor really believes that for too long the first options considered to save money are cutting services or raising taxes, but there really is a third way,” said Randy Cole, policy manager with the Ohio Office of Budget and Management. “They can find efficiencies and change the way they perform services.” Read More...

• Licking County School Districts all pass Ohio Graduation Test (Newark Advocate)

NEWARK - Licking County's school districts all passed every section of the Ohio Graduation Tests for the first time this year. Although the results, posted online this week by the Ohio Department of Education, are only preliminary, they are encouraging, Newark Superintendent Doug Ute said. Ute's district sits at 76.1 percent of sophomores passing the science test -- up from 68.8 percent in 2011. "It's higher than it's ever been at this time," he said. "You have to keep in your mind, too, those things could change." Read More...

• Summer school numbers decrease (Journal-News)

Increasing costs of summer courses and more online options have contributed to the shrinking number of students enrolling in traditional summer school programs according to local school officials. Hamilton City Schools has seen its summer school enrollment plummet from 668 high school students in 2008 to 376 in 2011 according to a Hamilton JournalNews analysis. Keith Millard, director of secondary programs at Hamilton City Schools, said there are several contributing factors for the drop off. Read More...

• Decision on drug testing for all Vermilion students could come this summer (WEWS 5 ABC)

VERMILION - A few days after 16-year-old Jessica Fernandez committed suicide by standing in front of a train, an ex-boyfriend is speaking out. The police report states that Fernandez had a drug problem. The report does not say whether drugs had anything to do with her suicide, but James Harwood of Lorain believes it did. “Jessica was a beautiful person,” Harwood said, sitting on his couch with tears in his eyes. The 22-year-old said he is a former addict himself and has been in recovery for some time now. Read More...

• Minerva cuts teaching, bus-driver jobs (Repository)

MINERVA — As a cost-saving measure, 10 teaching positions and two bus driver slots were eliminated from the Minerva Local School District payroll. The school board also eliminated two administrative positions while filling two others. One of the positions filled was treasurer. That went to Larry Pottorf, the school system’s business manager. “The business manager also has a treasurer’s license,” Superintendent Joseph Chaddock said. “So the business manager will become the treasurer and I am eliminating the business manager’s position.” Read More...

• Area students fare slightly worse than 2011 on OGT (Chillicothe Gazette)

CHILLICOTHE - Students in Ross and Pike counties, as a whole, met fewer benchmarks on the Ohio Graduation Tests this year than in 2011, but not by much. Passing the OGTs is a requirement for all high school graduates. Introduced in 2001, the standardized tests met the federal requirement for testing. They're administered each spring to high school sophomores, as well as juniors and seniors who have not achieved proficient scores on one or more of the tests. Read More...

• Schools still face financial challenges (Vindicator)

Youngstown - Even though the city school district’s loss of state money isn’t as large as what was expected a couple of months ago, the school board president said financial challenges remain. “We’re not out of the woods yet,” said Lock P. Beachum Sr., Youngstown city school board president. The board decided late last year to place a replacement levy on the March ballot — seeking less millage than the levy that expires this year. But in February, the board voted to remove the replacement levy. Read More...

Editorial

• Hard-won legislative accord on Cleveland school reform should galvanize local officials (Plain Dealer)

Give Cleveland a chance to reform its struggling schools, which could mean a chance to remake the city. That's all that Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Cleveland Schools CEO Eric Gordon have been asking for as they seek legislation in the Ohio General Assembly that would, among other things, give a review panel oversight of city charter schools. Fortunately, despite some last-minute controversy about the Transformation Alliance, the mayor's proposed vehicle to monitor Cleveland charters, a deal was finally struck last week. Read More...

• Grand bargain (Dispatch)

With a deal hammered out on Thursday, one of the boldest experiments in education reform ever seen in Ohio is poised to be launched after final approval by the General Assembly in June. It aims to transform the education and prospects of the children of Cleveland, not to mention enhancing the economic prospects of Ohio. If it succeeds, much of the credit will go to Cleveland’s Democratic Mayor Frank Jackson, who exhibited political courage and remarkable political skill in crafting a bipartisan plan that led a variety of special interests to make sacrifices for the common good. Read More...

Education News for 05-25-2012

Statewide Education News

• $700 million in federal education grants coming (Cincinnati Enquirer)

National education groups said this week that they’re putting their money where their mouths are when it comes to improving teacher effectiveness. Cincinnati Public Schools said Thursday it will join the growing cadre of districts applying for the $400 million latest round of federal Race to the Top school reform grants announced this week by the U. S. Department of Education. Read More...

• Late changes stall education bill (Springfield News Sun)

State lawmakers aren’t finished revising Gov. John Kasich’s education reform bill and will continue to hash out their disagreements and attempt compromise after the holiday weekend. Senate Bill 316 was scheduled for a floor vote in the House on Thursday, but there was disagreement about changes that include:
• Raising the minimum reading test score students need to pass third grade.
• Scrapping the report card committee.
• Creating a system of charter schools for gifted students. Read More...

• Five Things You Can Learn Tomorrow About Ohio Teacher Evaluations (State Impact Ohio)

Ohio school districts are in the middle of making major changes to how public school teachers are evaluated. The changes come amid a national push to make teacher evaluation actually count. That means using it to help teachers improve and to tie performance to how teachers are paid and whether they keep their jobs. How important is this change to teachers and principals? So important that about 2,500 of them will descend upon Columbus tomorrow for a conference on what the new evaluations will look like and what they mean. Read More...

Local Issues

• Ohio Graduation Test scores down, but still good (Mansfield News Journal)

Early reports indicate Ohio Graduation Tests scores at all Richland County public schools decreased this year. Lucas High School Principal Eric Teague said he wasn't surprised scores dropped a bit in his district. Last year, scores were phenomenal and students scored a 100 percent in reading, mathematics and writing, he said. Read More...

• Inmates May Soon Work Inside Central Ohio School District (NBC-4, Columbus)

They've been sentenced to years in prison, but inmates may soon be working in and around schools in a Central Ohio district. Leaders with the Fairbanks Local Schools in Union County are currently working on a partnership with the Ohio Reformatory for Women. Read More...

• Lane to be tried as adult in Chardon High shootings (News Herald)

T.J. Lane will be tried as an adult in the Chardon High School shootings, Geauga County Probate/Juvenile Judge Tim Grendell ruled Thursday. Lane is being held in the county Juvenile Detention Center without bond. Read More...

• Special-needs students benefit from work-training program (Vindicator)

A year of hands-on vocational training has helped 10 special-needs students secure entry-level jobs. Corey and Brian Dyer, work-training coordinators for the Mahoning County Educational Services Center, brought the work-training program to Austintown Fitch High School and the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center. Read More...

• Male teachers are rare in elementaries (Hamilton Journal News)

Men make up only 10 percent of the elementary school teachers in Butler County, a trend seen nationally and one that concerns education experts. The Hamilton JournalNews analyzed staff lists in 10 Butler County districts, and of the 1,603.8 full-time equivalent teachers in elementary schools, 164 — or 10.2 percent — are men, according to 2010-11 data from the Ohio Department of Education. Read More...

• Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's education plan does not get legislative approval, but deal is made to pass it soon (Plain Dealer)

Mayor Frank Jackson did not get final approval from state lawmakers on his education reform plan, but they struck a deal late Thursday that it would be passed soon. Jackson was adamant he wanted his sweeping plan to pass Thursday so he could move ahead with a school tax campaign. Raising property taxes would help offset the school district's projected budget deficit. Read More...

• Cleveland mayor reaches agreement to fix troubled schools (Dispatch)

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson reached an agreement tonight with state legislative leaders on a bill to overhaul his struggling school district. House Speaker William G. Batchelder, R-Medina, said there will be a news conference on Friday to announce the details, but said it is his intent to pass House Bill 525 when the legislature returns to Columbus in mid-June. Read More...

Education News for 05-24-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Vote on Cleveland schools in doubt (Dispatch)

With his plan to overhaul the Cleveland school district stalled in the state legislature, Mayor Frank Jackson will return to Columbus today to urge lawmakers to approve the legislation this week before they leave for summer recess. But Republican leaders said House Bill 525 will not be put up for a vote this week. “We are not ready to move this bill,” Rep. Ron Amstutz, a Wooster Republican and co-sponsor of the legislation, said yesterday. Read More...

• Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson plans to visit Columbus to encourage state lawmakers to approve his education reform plan (Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS — With negotiations over his education reform plan reaching a tipping point, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson publicly called on state lawmakers to approve the proposal today so he can move ahead with a school tax campaign. But House Speaker William G. Batchelder had doubts that the mayor's timeline will be feasible, adding that the mayor might have to wait until mid-June. In an interview Wednesday, and later at a news conference at a Cleveland school, Jackson said he intends to be in Columbus today to help resolve any differences. Read More...

• Actions by districts puzzling (Tribune Chronicle)

The Mahoning County Educational Service Center has been working with the Ohio Department of Education and Gov. John Kasich's administration on ways to operate more efficiently. The state has at times highlighted the efforts made by Mahoning's ESC. These include: Sharing a treasurer and merging fiscal departments with the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center beginning in August. Joining forces with 16 other government entities. Read More...

• Schools facing trend of dropping traditional textbooks for digital versions (News-Herald)

In the future, will students be carrying backpacks filled with technological learning devices rather than textbooks? Area educators recently weighed in on the subject as well as on the Obama Administration’s recent release of the Digital Learning Playbook encouraging electronic textbooks to be placed in the hands of all students by 2017. Though West Geauga Schools use some online resources, high school principal David Toth said President Obama’s goal is “a lofty vision.” Read More…


• Ohio auditor flags credit card purchases, busing bills in Warrensville Heights schools (Plain Dealer)

WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS — A former superintendent and treasurer of the Warrensville Heights city schools used district credit cards for $6,710 in purchases that weren't supported by required documentation, according to the Ohio auditor's office. Most of the money went to hotels and airfare, with the remainder spent at restaurants and retail stores. The state audit released Tuesday covered the period from mid-2007 to mid-2008. Read More...

• Bold political thinking: Pizza’s not a vegetable (Dispatch)

WASHINGTON — The notion that Congress could consider pizza a vegetable might be just too much to digest. The SLICE Act, for School Lunch Improvements for Children’s Education, has been introduced in response to congressional action last fall ensuring that two tablespoons of tomato paste slathered on pizza could continue to be classified as a full vegetable serving in the federal school lunch program. Read More...

Local Issues

• Akron mom convicted in school switch now education activist (Dispatch)

Kelley Williams-Bolar, the Akron mother of two who received clemency from Gov. John Kasich last year related to her school-switching conviction, has formed the Ohio Parents Union, an organization focused on education reform. Williams-Bolar has “morphed from a desperate mom to an impassioned activist,” according to a story about her in Colorlines, an online publication of the Applied Research Center, a “racial justice think tank.” Read More...

• Riverside Schools to eliminate 23 teachers (News-Herald)

Riverside Local Schools will cut 23 teaching positions effective Aug. 21. The cuts to the 2012-13 school year come from across the district in social studies, science, language arts, physical education, computers, industrial arts and family consumer science. Superintendent James Kalis said that the administration has done its best to keep cuts as far away from instruction as possible and will seek an operating levy with hopes of restoring some positions. Read More...

• Deal to freeze Springfield teachers' pay OK'd by board (Blade)

The Springfield Local Board of Education unanimously approved a contract Wednesday that calls for a pay freeze and for teachers to pay an increased share of health insurance premiums. Members of the Springfield Education Association voted to ratify the agreement Tuesday. The previous contract expired June 30, 2011. The new agreement takes effect July 1, 2011; the economic concessions begin July 1, 2012. The contract expires June 30, 2013. Read More...

• Despite cutting teachers, new LH tax issue likely (Newark Advocate)

PATASKALA - Licking Heights has cut teacher positions and frozen teacher salaries, but officials contend they still might need to place a funding issue on the November ballot. The school board on May 15 approved a resolution suspending the contracts of four teachers, a consumer and family science teacher, a physical education teacher and two music teachers. District officials estimate the move could save Heights at least $120,000 next school year. Read More...

• More Northeast Ohioans ‘Redshirting’ Kindergarten-Bound Kids (WJW 8 FOX)

AVON LAKE — Simply knowing their colors or days of the week isn’t always an indicator that your 5-year old child is ready for kindergarten. As a result, more and more families in Northeast Ohio are holding back their child from entering school: it’s a growing controversial trend called redshirting. “They would have been 10 months behind the oldest child in the class and now they’re 10 months ahead of those children. Read More...

• Hubbard district faces cuts (Tribune Chronicle)

HUBBARD - Only weeks after winning a prestigious award for her work, Hubbard Elementary assistant principal Robyn Fette may be stripped of her administrative position as the district seeks to cut costs. Board of Education member Don Newell confirmed Wednesday that Fette's position may be eliminated but refused to comment further. Board President Dr. Benjamin Hayek told a reporter Tuesday that the reorganization plan is to be presented at next month's board meeting, which is scheduled for June 25. Read More...

• Public schools' plan in jeopardy (WKYC 3 NBC)

CLEVELAND - The Cleveland public schools' reform plan is stalled out in the Ohio legislature and in jeopardy. Mayor Frank Jackson held a news conference Wednesday in an effort to pressure the legislature to act on the reform plan. He will be in Columbus today and says his plan was for the Ohio House to vote on the plan. The mayor says he expects the vote to take place. Part of the holdup in the legislature is concern over how charter schools will be reviewed by a local panel -- before they open in Cleveland. Read More...

• Niles school board spares 15 teachers but lays off 19 other district workers (Vindicator)

NILES - A motion to eliminate 15 teaching positions in the city school district failed Wednesday when the five-member board of education deadlocked 2-2 with one abstention. A vote to lay off 19 non-teaching employees passed by a vote of 3-2. “We’ve just put ourselves in fiscal emergency,” said Superintendent Mark Robinson. “The only way out of this is to pass a levy this November that would [generate] enough money that we can collect in 2013. Read More...

• Granville terminates teacher over test issues (Newark Advocate)

GRANVILLE - The Granville Board of Education this week terminated the contract of English language learner teacher Jane Pfautsch, on the recommendation of the referee who oversaw Pfautsch's school-district appeal hearing in March. Board members unanimously voted in favor of the resolution after an executive session during Monday's regular May meeting. In November, the board suspended the contracts of both Pfautsch and ELL teacher Mary Ellen Locke just after the Ohio Board of Education suspended their teaching licenses for one year each. Read More...

• Big changes coming to Indian Creek (WTOV 9 NBC)

WINTERSVILLE — Today truly was the last day for students at Bantam Ridge Elementary in Wintersville. Changes coming to the district will close down the building to students for the next school year. The changes are all apart of district's attempt to consolidate because of cuts from the state. The students who went to Bantam Ridge this year will move to Wintersville Elementary for next year. Read More...