Education News for 06-26-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Kasich signs legislation for schools, work force (Dispatch)

Gov. John Kasich signed wide-ranging education and work-force development legislation yesterday that will implement a third-grade reading guarantee, a tougher evaluation system for schools starting next year and a requirement that schools provide tutoring and other intervention to struggling readers. The new law also will change the way teachers are evaluated and tested. Kasich signed Senate Bill 316 on location at the Fifth Third Bank Madisonville Operations Center in Cincinnati, surrounded by business executives and lawmakers. Read more...

• Gov. John Kasich signs third grade reading guarantee bill into law (Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS - Gov. John Kasich on Monday signed a bill that steps up public education standards across Ohio and includes a requirement that some third-graders be held back if they cannot read at grade level. The third grade reading guarantee was the hot-button topic in Senate Bill 316, a multi-faceted education and workforce development bill that the Republican governor signed in Cincinnati. Kasich said he doesn't intend the new law to be a form of punishment for 8- and 9-year-old boys and girls who want to move on to the fourth grade. Read more...

• Third-graders could be held back (Enquirer)

New education reforms Gov. John Kasich signed into law Monday prompted mixed emotions – excitement and apprehension – among Cincinnati-area parents and educators. Senate Bill 316 will, among other things, cause some third-graders to be held back if they cannot read on grade level. The bill also would encourage public schools to adopt more online classes, and cause teachers who have two negative evaluations to get more training and take subject-matter tests to keep their jobs. Read more...

• Governor signs education bill (Blade)

MADISONVILLE - Gov. John Kasich has signed a sweeping education bill that seeks to strengthen ties between the state's employers and public schools and makes dozens of other policy changes. Mr. Kasich gave final approval to the bill Monday at Fifth Third Bank's operations center in Madisonville. Under the measure, Ohio third graders lagging in reading skills face the possibility of being held back for up to two school years as they get academic help. Read more...

• Ohio Education Reforms Signed Into Law (ONN)

SPRINGFIELD - Gov. John Kasich signed an education bill on Monday that seeks to strengthen ties between the state's employers and public schools and makes dozens of other policy changes. Kasich said the centerpiece of Senate Bill 316 will focus on making sure elementary school kids read at a satisfactory level before they pass to the next grade level, reported ONN's Lot Tan. "The worst thing we can do is to have social advancement because you're stealing a kid's future," said Kasich. Read more...

• Ohio agency heads told to plan for no growth or a cut in next state budget (Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS - State agency heads will be lucky if they get to keep current funding levels when Gov. John Kasich rolls out the next state budget in the spring. That's the tone being set by a budget guidance document released Monday by Kasich's administration that asks state agencies to plan a pair of scenarios for the 2014-15 budget -- one where they see no growth in funding and a second in which agencies are hit with a 10 percent cut in general revenue funds. Read more...

• Governor signs education portion of budget update, with his tougher reading (Ohio Public Radio)

Now that Gov. John Kasich has signed the idea into law, Ohio schools will be told not to let third graders move onto fourth grade, unless they’ve shown they can read. At a signing ceremony today in Cincinnati, the governor noted the law tells schools to spot non-readers earlier in elementary school and provide tutoring and other special help…to get them up to speed. The new law provides $13 million to local schools to help them pay for special reading programs, but some education activists contend that’s nowhere near enough money. Read more...

Local Issues

• Rossford board OKs audit to seek ways to save (Blade)

Rossford Schools will have a performance audit done by the Ohio state auditor in an effort to find ways to save money. The board of education agreed to the audit last week after hearing a presentation by Derek Merrin, a performance analyst for the auditor's office. Mr. Merrin said the purpose of a performance audit was to find savings for local governments and school districts. Recommendations could be ignored or implemented any way the school board liked. Read more...

• Granville considers pay-to-participate for school activities (Newark Advocate)

GRANVILLE - A pay-to-participate policy for Granville Schools this year might include an increase in the high school student activity fee, the addition of a middle-school activity fee and still another charge for each sport, club or activity. Serious discussion of such a policy, first brought up in March when the board approved a Reduction In Force resolution laying off several staff members, began at Monday night's board of education meeting. No action was taken. Read more...

• Teachers upset over contract talks swarm Brecksville-Broadview Heights School Board meeting (WEWS 5 ABC)

BRECKSVILLE - Teachers wearing red shirts overwhelmed the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Board of Education meeting Monday night. Hundreds of teachers, unhappy with contract negotiations, tried to pack into the board room with a capacity for only 50. They came to show solidarity for their union and to hear the board's financial report. The board was reluctant to move or postpone the meeting, so the fire marshal was called to clear out the standing room only crowd. Read more...

• Budget situation better for Mansfield City Schools (News-Journal)

MANSFIELD - Mansfield City Schools officials hope the district will soon be off the state's financial concern watch list. They believe the district has turned the corner and could be off the list by September. The district was declared in a state of fiscal watch in 2006, meaning financial problems could threaten the school's ability to operate. The designation is the middle marker between caution and fiscal emergency. Read more...

• Lakota approves open enrollment (Enquirer)

The Lakota Board of Education approved at its regularly scheduled meeting Monday the hiring of a new assistant superintendent and a new open enrollment policy, which allows children of Lakota employees who don’t live in the school district to attend Lakota schools. Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia recommended Robb Vogelmann, who was named principal at Liberty Junior School three years ago, for the district’s open assistant superintendent position. Read more...

• 'Project Love' sees girl graduation success (WKYC 3 NBC)

CLEVELAND - Some would have given up on them but not Project Love. Five years ago, then-Collinwood High School Principal Deborah Moore identified the eighth grade girls entering the school at greatest risk for dropping out in the next year. According to the Ohio Department of Education, Collinwood High School had a graduation rate of 52.7 percent in 2009-2010, lower than the overall Cleveland Metropolitan School District average of 62.8 percent. Read more...

Education News for 06-25-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Former-quarterback appointee to quit charter-school effort (Dispatch)

Stanley Jackson will resign from the charter school he founded before it ever opens so he can qualify for an appointment to the Ohio Board of Education, a spokesman for Gov. John Kasich said yesterday. Jackson, 37, the former Ohio State quarterback whom Kasich appointed to the board on Monday, said during an interview with a radio station yesterday that his charter school was “in place” to open in the fall of 2013. Read more...

• Driving schools not thrilled with online class option (News-Sun)

SPRINGFIELD — Ohio teens taking driver’s education classes will be able to fulfill their 24 hours of classroom requirements online beginning in September, an idea that worries local instructors. The new law, signed by Gov. John Kasich last week, still requires eight hours of in-car instruction for drivers. Local driving school owners expressed concern that online classes may not give drivers who are just learning the roads all the benefits in-class instruction can. Read more...

• Kasich set to sign education bill here today (Enquirer)

MADISONVILLE - Ohio Gov. John Kasich is expected in Cincinnati today to sign a sweeping education bill that seeks to strengthen ties between the state's employers and public schools and makes dozens of other policy changes. The event will be held at Fifth Third Bank's operations center in Madisonville, 5050 Kingsley Dr. Under the measure, Ohio third-graders lagging in reading skills face the possibility of being held back for up to two school years as they get academic help. Read more...

• Educators debate when kids should start school (Dayton Daily News)

While most parents send their child to kindergarten when he or she is 5 years old, some people delay their child’s entry to give them an academic, social or athletic advantage. About 9 percent of U.S. kindergartners are purposefully held back, or academically redshirted, each year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. This practice of delaying an age-appropriate child’s entry into kindergarten is debated by educators and parents. Some say it can lead to academic success and confidence, while others contend it can cause alienation and behavioral problems. Read more...

Local Issues

• Reynoldsburg's student grouping shows evidence of progress (Dispatch)

Meet Elijah Carter, Taylor Kendrick and Quinaya Moore. The Dispatch followed the students through their sixth-grade year at Reynoldsburg’s Hannah Ashton Middle School, which has taken a radical approach of teaching students in one of three groups based on their ability. Advanced students such as Taylor are grouped together in C.R.E.W., struggling ones such as Elijah in Contenders and those in the middle such as Quinaya in Navigators. Hannah Ashton also allows students to move up or down through the groups, depending on their needs and abilities. Read more...

• Painesville Schools refinance bonds, which is expected to save taxpayers $1 million (News-Herald)

Painesville City Schools recently refinanced some outstanding bonds, resulting in savings of more than $1 million for tax payers. The district refinanced parts of its outstanding school construction bonds that were issued in 2004. The bonds provided the district with $31 million that helped create five new school buildings. The school board achieved the savings by approving the issuance of an $8.4 million construction bond, district Treasurer Rick Taylor said. Read more...

• Few local districts fiscally red-flagged (News-Sun)

Twenty-seven public school districts across the state are in either fiscal caution, fiscal watch or fiscal emergency, according to the Ohio Department of Education. “That number might be a few districts low (on average), but the numbers are pretty typical,” said Roger Hardin, who oversees the fiscal oversight program for the ODE. “It’s a fluid list, and districts come and go.” Most importantly for the Springfield area, no local districts made the list, which was released last week. Read more...

• Schools pruned records, four say (Dispatch)

A team of data-processing workers inflated Columbus schools’ attendance figures by routinely and purposely removing large numbers of absent students from the rolls, four former district data analysts told The Dispatch. At the same time, district administrators summoned school principals to the Kingswood Data Center. There, they were schooled in how to alter other students’ attendance data to improve the schools’ academic standing. Read more...

• Cost savings, convenience among points of contention in new Zane Trace busing plan (Chillicothe Gazette)

Not everyone is on board with Zane Trace's new busing plan. A dual-route approach, which is set to be implemented in August, staggers school hours and puts students in grades six through 12 on separate bus routes -- an hour earlier -- than students in kindergarten through grade five. A number of bus drivers, some of whom lost their jobs this past week as a result of the switch to dual routes, have criticized school Superintendent Richard Spindler and the board of education for hastily approving a plan the drivers said might not necessarily save the district money. Read more...

• 14 Monroe district accounting errors (Journal-News)

The state auditor’s office reported 14 accounting citations in the Monroe Local School District’s latest audit report. “There is usually not anything listed on the audit report,” said Monroe treasurer Holly Cahall, who was not the treasurer during the time of the fiscal 2011 audit. “But 14 (incidences) would seem like a significant number.” Asked about the number of infractions the audit report listed, state auditor spokesman Mike Maurer said 14 is a higher than normal number. Read more...

Editorial

• States Raise the Bar With Standards Implementation (Education Week)

This month marks the two-year anniversary of the release of the Common Core State Standards, a set of rigorous academic expectations for English/language arts and mathematics that were envisioned, developed, and now adopted by 46 states and the District of Columbia. The most telling shift in K-12 public education in recent history is that virtually every state has set new college- and career-ready standards—common-core or state-approved. Read more...

• Start fiscal restraint at the top (Plain Dealer)

When the economy turns sour and public-sector employees are asked to accept pay freezes or cuts, it's only fair to expect that their leaders should have to submit to financial limits, too. That seems to have happened in the case of hardworking Cleveland schools CEO Eric Gordon, once again willing to accept a stripped-down contract. Yet some public boards of trustees seem tone-deaf in tough times, risking the wrath of employees and taxpayers alike. Read more...

• Voice questions (Beacon Journal)

John Kasich tapped Stanley Jackson last week to fill a vacancy on the Ohio Board of Education. The governor described the former Ohio State quarterback as “a man of great character” and “a man of faith.” That may be so. The state Senate has the task of confirming the choice. Senators would do well to look more closely at Jackson’s qualifications and preparation for the job. The Columbus Dispatch went searching for the charter school that Jackson supposedly founded. The newspaper discovered the school does not exist. Read more...

Education News for 06-22-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Kasich lauds his pick of ex-OSU quarterback for state school board (Dispatch)

Gov. John Kasich described his new pick for the Ohio Board of Education yesterday as “a man of great character,” “a man of faith” and a “great addition” to the board. On Monday, Kasich appointed former Ohio State quarterback Stanley Jackson, 37, to replace Dennis Reardon on the 19-member board and serve the final six months of an at-large term. The Republican governor’s critics raised questions about Jackson’s qualifications for the board and Kasich’s vetting process. Read more...

• Ohio schools must prep for food allergy reactions (Telegraph Forum)

Food allergies are a part of the modern day school room. Ask just about any teacher, principal and of course school nurse (for schools that still have one) and they'll tell you that food allergies are among their many daily concerns when it comes to the well-being of students. Nationwide Children's Hospital estimates that one in 20 children have a food allergy. It's no wonder school personnel must address this very serious health concern. Read more...

Local Issues

• Advocates complain that juveniles in jail aren’t getting schools’ attention (Dispatch)

They’re “off the radar” kids. Special-needs juveniles who are doing time in jails and prisons with adults are entitled to, but often are not receiving, an education behind bars. That’s the thrust of a complaint filed against Columbus City Schools and the Focus Learning Academy by the Children’s Law Center Inc. The 14-page, class-action complaint was filed with the Ohio Department of Education. It is an administrative complaint, not a lawsuit. Read more...

• City schools cut 21 positions, $3M (Dayton Daily News)

DAYTON — Dayton Public Schools approved a budget Tuesday that cuts 21 positions and $3 million for fiscal year 2012, which is slightly more than 1 percent of its projected total expenditures. Those positions are for 12 part-time home instructors, three clerical employees and six high school physical education teachers. The 12 home instructors will be laid off and the other nine employees in the affected positions will be offered employment opportunities within the district, according to spokeswoman Melissa Fowler. Read more...

• Poland board members have their work cut out for them (Vindicator)

News earlier this month that the Poland Board of Education will place a five-year, 5.9-mill additional operating levy on the Nov. 6 ballot has unleashed a tsunami of passionate protest among many in one of most respected and best performing school districts in the Mahoning Valley. Judging by those passions that range from polite questioning to outright outrage and the school board’s 0-3 record of winning additional tax-levy approval over the past two years. Read more...

Editorial

• A new tack on funding California's schools (L.A. Times)

Wouldn't it make sense for education funding in California to be transparent and equitable, with money spent according to students' varying needs? Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing to inject some overdue clarity and logic into the process by allocating to schools a flat amount per pupil, plus a large additional sum for low-income students or those who aren't fluent in English. The governor's plan is far from perfect — it's especially lacking in accountability — and the Legislature appears unwilling to support it this year for reasons both political and philosophical. Read more...

Education News for 06-21-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Ohio’s school funding fares well in report (Dispatch)

As the Ohio House prepares for another series of hearings on the school-funding formula next week, a new report shows that, from a national perspective, Ohio schools are doing better than most financially. When ranked on four criteria relating to how the state allotted and distributed funding in 2009 — the most-recent year of data available — Ohio was one of three states to receive an A in distributing funds fairly among districts of varying income levels. Read more...

• Cleveland schools bill among several sent to Gov. John Kasich for signature (Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS — A bill containing Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson’s schools reform plan is among 16 bills that officially were delivered to Gov. John Kasich Wednesday for his signature. Kasich, a Republican, is expected to publicly sign the Cleveland schools bill in the near future alongside Jackson, a Democrat, in Cleveland. The bills sent to Kasich all were passed last week in a flurry of legislative action before lawmakers went on their lengthy summer break. Read more...

• Summer Reading Program Focuses On State Standards (ONN)

CINCINNATI - The National Underground Railroad Freedom center is one of four organizations hosting the Freedom Schools this summer in Cincinnati. Officials said 50 students are at each school, learning to love a good book. Adonya Streat, 9, will be in fourth grade this fall and enjoys reading Dr. Seuss books, like Green Eggs and Ham. The Children's Defense Fund are running these six week schools which is free for low income students, reported ONN's Lot Tan. Read more...

• Treasurers accused of mishandling $1.4 million (Dayton Daily News)

Two treasurers listed on a state audit released Tuesday of a now-closed local charter school are responsible for a combined $1.4 million in allegedly mishandled public funds, according to a Dayton Daily News analysis. Carl Shye and Edward Dudley were both named in an audit released Tuesday of the Carter G. Woodson Institute, which closed in July 2010. The audit singled out $168,772 in allegedly mishandled public funds in that school’s waning months. Read more...

Local Issues

• Probe might hinder Columbus schools’ levy (Dispatch)

A citizens committee is leaning toward recommending that Columbus City Schools place no levy on the ballot in November, saying that voters might not see past the cloud created by an investigation into why district employees changed thousands of student-attendance records. Eight of the 11 members who were present yesterday on the 14-member panel said they favored or leaned toward delaying a levy request until at least spring. Three other members wanted to go forward or appeared wary about waiting. Read more...

• Board approves increase in insurance premiums (Vindicator)

Canfield - School board members approved a 5 percent increase in medical-insurance premiums for the upcoming school year. They approved the increase during Wednesday’s meeting where four of the five board members were present. Three voted yes with board President Adrianne Sturm abstaining because she purchases the district’s insurance. Sturm said it’s standard for premiums to increase each year, and a 5 percent increase is fairly low. Read more...

• Reynoldsburg may shut charter school (Dispatch)

A local charter school could be suspended next week for suspected nepotism and a poor financial outlook. Reynoldsburg school board members voted Tuesday to suspend operation of Virtual Community School of Ohio, the online charter school that the district sponsors. To keep the school open, its officials must prove it was legal to hire relatives of the superintendent and that the school can make financial ends meet. Read more...

• Lakota losing principals at high rate (Enquirer)

LIBERTY TWP. — The financial woes of one of the area’s highest-rated school districts has helped drive away more than half its principals in the last two school years. Of Lakota Schools’ 20 building principal positions, seven – 35 percent – have recently resigned due to retirement or other jobs. That follows the 2010-11 school year, which saw four principals depart, leaving Lakota with a 55 percent turnover rate among its school building leaders since spring 2011. Read more...

• City school students may get free lunches this fall (Vindicator)

Youngstown - It turns out there is such a thing as a free lunch. All city school students will get a free lunch beginning this fall if the district’s application for a new program is approved. The Community Eligibility Option provides free reimbursement to districts for all students if the district includes 62.5 percent students who are directly certified as eligible through food stamps. In the city school district, 76 percent of students are directly certified while 93 percent of students qualify for free and reduced lunches under federal guidelines. Read more...

• Proposed bond issue for Cleveland Heights-University Heights schools' master facilities plan reduced to 5.9 mills (Sun News)

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS - It appears the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school board is moving forward with Plan C, the comprehensive master facilities plan that would require a bond issue on the November ballot. Steve Shergalis, the district’s director of business services, presented a list of funding options for the plan to the board at a work session June 18 at Wiley Middle School. The primary expense is a proposed 5.9-mill bond issue that would generate $137.2 million over a 37-year period. Read more...

Editorial

• Gone studyin’ (Beacon Journal)

The Ohio House Finance Committee spent the spring brushing up on the basics of the school funding system. The House plans several regional hearings on the issue during the summer break. When it comes to funding public education, it is hard to say Ohio legislators have not done due diligence in one aspect: studying the issue. Since the Ohio Supreme Court first ruled the state’s funding system unconstitutional, a succession of governors and legislators have promised earnestly to come up with a plan that would fix funding inequities. Read more...

• Teacher prep (Chicago Tribune)

The best way to boost public education in Illinois is to make sure only the best teachers lead classrooms. Two years ago, Illinois took a huge stride toward that goal: The Illinois State Board of Education dramatically lifted standards for college students who want to become teachers. The board required college students to correctly answer about 75 percent of questions on a basic skills test in math, reading and language arts — as well as master a writing test — before they can be admitted to their colleges' teacher prep programs. Read more...

Education News for 06-20-2012

State Education News

• Ex-OSU quarterback needs no resume for state post (Columbus Dispatch)

Gov. John Kasich didn’t get a look at former Ohio State quarterback Stanley Jackson’s playbook before he appointed him to the state Board of Education. Read more...

Local Education News

• Cleveland School District plans to move STEM high school students (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

The Cleveland School District's MC²STEM high school for science, technology, engineering and math plans to move its juniors and seniors to Cleveland State University. Read more...

• Charter-school treasurer’s accounting questioned in state audit (Columbus Dispatch)

The state auditor says another charter-school treasurer is responsible for misspending about $170,000 in taxpayer money and has committed ethical misdeeds. Read more...

• Streetsboro schools receive $80,000 grant to improve online classroom (Ravenna Record-Courier)

Streetsboro -- The Streetsboro City School District plans to purchase 30 new computers plus a SMART board with money from an $80,000Blended Learning grant that was awarded to the school system by the Ohio Etech Commission. Read more...

• Summer Meals Program Underway In Mansfield (WMFD)

The Mansfield City Schools will again be the vendor for the Ohio Summer Food Service Program in the city. Read more...

Editorial

• A full accounting (Columbus Dispatch)

If an investigation proves some Columbus City Schools officials are falsifying student-attendance records to make schools’ performance ratings look better, the district should come clean with the details, however embarrassing. Read more...

• State needs to back education mandates with dollars (Marietta Times)

Children who don't learn to read at an early age often lag behind their peers throughout school. In extreme cases, they become so frustrated by failure they either stop trying to succeed in the classroom or drop out of school. Read more...

Education News for 06-19-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• New approaches urged to get boys to read (Dispatch)

Tyler Teague is the kind of reader educators say is the toughest to reach. The 11-year-old would pick up a book if required by his teacher, but it’s not something he’d do for fun. “It felt like a chore and that you had to do it,” said Tyler, who will attend Hilliard Tharp Sixth Grade School this fall. Educators have long struggled to motivate boys to read on their own. Boys tend to be more active, hands-on learners and would rather clean their rooms than read Little Women, educators say. Read more...

Local Issues

• Fostoria school board OKs insurance contract (Courier)

FOSTORIA - Fostoria school board on Monday approved a contract of about $58,000 with Ohio School Plan, Toledo, for the district's property, fleet, liability and violence insurance for 2013-2015. Separately, the board approved a $50,195 bid from Roppe Corp., Fostoria, and a $45,500 bid from Lakeside Interior, Perrysburg, to replace the carpeted area on the first floor academic wing at the junior/senior high school. Read more...

• Belmont Co. school districts get grant to explore sharing some services (WTOV 9 NBC)

BELMONT COUNTY — As school districts continue to face challenges of budget cuts while trying to maintain programs and state mandates, two Belmont County districts have been awarded a grant allowing them to explore sharing administrative services. The Barnesville and Union Local school districts have been awarded a $100,000 grant that will allow educators to explore sharing administrative services through Project Share. Read more...

• Greenon district to keep salary freeze (News-Sun)

ENON — Greenon school board members plan to vote Thursday to freeze pay for district administrators and central office employees, a continuation of a two-year wage freeze for all district employees that has saved an estimated $460,000 to date. “It’s not a new crisis or a new issue,” said Treasurer Ryan Jenkins. “It’s just us following through with everything we said we would do.” In the spring of 2011, the district’s two labor unions — the Greenon Federation of Teachers, representing certified staff, and the Ohio Association of Public School Employees, representing classified staff. Read more...

• Residents clear about education needs (Vindicator)

Youngstown - Residents of the city are clear about what needs to happen to improve the schools. The next step is devising a plan to get there. More than 115 people attended an education town-hall meeting Monday at Stambaugh Auditorium where the representatives of the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation of Bethesda, Md., discussed the findings of a community-engagement effort launched last February. Read more...

• Cleveland schools CEO Eric Gordon likely to head district until 2015 (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - First-year Cleveland schools chief Eric Gordon will likely be back for three more. Today, after a year board President Denise Link and Mayor Frank Jackson consider successful, the school board will consider extending Gordon's contract as chief executive officer through June 2015. Gordon has worked closely with Jackson for the last four months, promoting to residents and legislators a school overhaul plan that lawmakers in Columbus approved last week. He will soon have to shift gears to recommend a tax increase for the board to put before voters in November. Read more...

• Ten lose jobs as Zane Trace board OKs $500K in budget cuts (Chillicothe Gazette)

KINGSTON - Ten Zane Trace employees -- eight of them bus drivers -- lost their jobs Monday after the board of education approved a reduction in force. With a projected $1.28 million deficit looming in 2014, the board moved forward on a series of cuts expected to save the district more than $500,000 annually. Also losing their jobs Monday were a middle school intervention specialist and a custodian. In addition, the board will leave vacant two teaching positions and a custodial position. Read more...

Editorial

• All layered up (Beacon Journal)

The hope of the Kasich administration, which last week released a report on local governments sharing services, is to encourage greater collaboration at the grass roots. To do so holds much potential for reducing expenses and improving services, quite a feat at a time of sharply curtailed state support for cities, counties and schools. “Beyond Boundaries: A Shared Services Action Plan for Ohio Schools and Governments” plows some familiar ground, previous reports establishing the burden created by the state’s overlapping units of government. Read more...

• Controversy over busing in Austintown was avoidable (Vindicator)

There is no denying that public education in Ohio is confronting major financial challenges. Significant reductions in state funding, along with the expansion of charter schools and voucher programs, are forcing districts to reduce spending — without affecting academics. The growing number of systems in state-designated fiscal watch and fiscal emergency illustrates the scope of the problem. Tensions are high, which means that lines of communication among school boards, administrators and the public, especially parents, must be open at all times. Read more...

• Ohio's third-grade reading standard is improved by revision (Plain Dealer)

Education in Ohio got a boost last week, when Gov. John Kasich and Republican lawmakers brokered sensible agreements to help struggling third-graders and impose more accountability on charter schools that cater to teenagers at risk of dropping out. The compromises are in an education reform measure, Senate Bill 316, now awaiting Kasich's signature. Kasich had wanted to hold back every third-grader who scored below proficient on reading. That would have forced an estimated 17,000 students to repeat the grade -- more than teachers could handle or parents would tolerate. Read more...