Education News for 07-11-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• State schools chief gets praise, not raise (Dispatch)

After a year on the job, Ohio schools Superintendent Stan W. Heffner won’t get a raise, but the state Board of Education approves of the job he’s doing. “From his appointment as interim superintendent, Stan has led the department with professionalism, objectivity and commitment to ensuring the highest quality of education for all Ohio’s children,” board President Debe Terhar noted on Heffner’s first evaluation. The 19-member board met privately with Heffner during its annual retreat this week in Columbus. Read more...

Local Issues

• Partnership talks fail between EOPA, TPS (Blade)

There will be no collaboration on a Head Start grant application between Toledo Public Schools and the Economic Opportunity Planning Association of Greater Toledo, which currently administers the program locally. "There will not be a formal partnership between the two organizations," states a letter from Jerome Pecko, Toledo Public Schools superintendent, to Jim Powell, EOPA chief executive officer, dated Tuesday. Mr. Powell did not return calls seeking comment. Read more...

• O-G teachers get contract, small raises (Lima News)

OTTAWA — Ottawa-Glandorf teachers will get minimal raises during the next three years, but other concessions will keep the district from suffering financially. The school board approved the three-year contract with the Ottawa-Glandorf Classroom Teachers Association on Tuesday. Teachers previously ratified the deal that was largely hammered out in one meeting. “I think the teachers came to the table with a real good understanding of where the district is at financially,” Superintendent Kevin Brinkman said. Read more...

• Grant to help feed 1,000 CPS students (Enquirer)

EAST WESTWOOD — The Walmart Foundation Tuesday donated $50,000 to a local non-profit group to combat child hunger. The money was awarded to the local Childhood Food Solutions and will fund a summer’s worth of weekly take-home food bags for 1,000 Cincinnati Public elementary school students – 600 at Roll Hill Academy in East Westwood and 400 at Ethel M. Taylor school in North Fairmount. Both have high number of students living in poverty. Read more...

• Students say school’s too easy (Dayton Daily News)

Millions of students across the country aren’t being challenged enough in the classroom, according to a report released Tuesday by the Center for American Progress. The nonpartisan research and educational institute analyzed three years’ worth of student survey data (2009-11) from the Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress. Among the findings: 37 percent of fourth-graders reported their math work was “too easy.” More than a third of high school seniors said they hardly write about what they’ve read in class. Read more...

Education News for 07-10-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Board members focus on state audit (Blade)

Rossford school board members want to be kept in the loop. At least one wants Superintendent Bill McFarland and Treasurer James Rossler to record their meeting this week with a representative of the Ohio auditor on the subject of a performance audit of the district. At a special meeting last week, board members Beverly Koch and Jackie Brown said they wanted the nature of the audit to be decided by the board, not the administrators. Ms. Koch also said she wanted the meeting to be recorded so board members could hear what was said. Read more...

• Educators leery of third-grade requirement in state law (Times Reporter)

Area educators fear that with Ohio’s new third-grade reading guarantee, the future of 8-year-olds across the state will hinge on their performance on one test on one day. “That’s more pressure than I ever encountered in the third grade,” said Bob Fogler, superintendent of Indian Valley Local Schools in Gnadenhutten. Late last month, Gov. John Kasich signed into law Senate Bill 316. The education and workforce development legislation contains a provision that would require third-graders to be held back for as long as two years if they cannot read at grade level. Read more...

• Cincinnati Public Schools selling more schools (Enquirer)

CORRYVILLE — Cincinnati Public Schools Monday added four more closed school buildings assessed at $8.8 million to its for-sale list this summer. The seven-member school board unanimously voted to offer Central Fairmount, Kirby Road, North Fairmount and Old Shroder schools for sale. The properties join a previous list of five old schools and four pieces of land being sold: the old Bloom, Heberle, Linwood, Losantiville and George F. Sands schools and property in Millvale, Winton Hills, Mount Adams and East Price Hill. Read more...

Local Issues

• What a Mechanical Performance! Bravo! (NY Times)

CLUTCHING their scripts, Jeannette Newton and Will Russell climb onstage for a lunchtime rehearsal of a skit that will be part of New Albany High School’s end-of-year production. On cue the actors turn stage right, waiting for their co-star to make an entrance. There is a long awkward pause until a ninth grader, Mitchell Gabel, pokes his head out from backstage. “Mr. Herman,” he says, “can you come back here?” David Herman, a sturdy-looking retired Army sergeant major turned computer-science teacher, steps backstage. Read more...

• South-Western schools treasurer gets $16,000 raise (Dispatch)

After he took a pay freeze for the past three school years, South-Western schools Treasurer Hugh Garside was given a $16,000 pay raise by school board members last night. The increase, to start in August, will raise his annual base pay to $134,450, making him the third-highest-paid schools treasurer in Franklin County. According to district records, only the treasurers of Columbus and New Albany-Plain schools earned more in the 2011-12 school year. Read more...

• Dover schools to launch new Internet teaching initiative (Times Reporter)

DOVER — The Dover City School District will implement a program in the 2012-13 school year that provides middle- and high-school students with access to a new wireless network using their own technology. Students at both buildings will be able to access a filtered Internet connection for educational purposes during the school day using their own laptops, netbooks, tablets or smartphones. “Social media and mobile devices have really created both a crisis and opportunity within today’s schools,” said Karie McCrate, high school principal. Read more...

Editorial

• Outsiders (Dispatch)

Take all the worries common to being a teenager in the United States and add a deep additional layer of anxiety — being lesbian, gay, transgender or bisexual — and you have some idea why the Human Rights Campaign considered it a good idea to ask LGBT teens how they’re doing. The results aren’t surprising, but are an important reminder that, in every middle school and high school, some boys and some girls are suffering because they fear their families, friends or society won’t accept who they are. Read more...

• Warren’s broken record of failure (Tribune Chronicle)

Last year, while in the first year of a three-year contract as Marietta schools superintendent, Bruce Thomas told the Warren Board of Education that his skills were better matched with Warren than Marietta. That sounded good. This year, while in the first year of a three-year contract as Warren schools superintendent, Bruce Thomas told the Lorain Board of Education that his skills were better matched with Lorain than Warren. That sounds like a broken record. Read more...

• The Opportunity Gap (NY Times)

Over the past few months, writers from Charles Murray to Timothy Noah have produced alarming work on the growing bifurcation of American society. Now the eminent Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam and his team are coming out with research that’s more horrifying. While most studies look at inequality of outcomes among adults and help us understand how America is coming apart, Putnam’s group looked at inequality of opportunities among children. They help us understand what the country will look like in the decades ahead. Read more...

Education News for 07-09-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Principals will start seeing the same scrutiny as teachers when new evaluation system goes statewide next fall (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - Teachers have been under increasing scrutiny the last few years, as Ohio and other states roll out new teacher evaluation plans. That spotlight also is falling on principals. Ohio will require school districts statewide to have an evaluation system for principals up and running by the 2013-14 school year, the same time that the new teacher evaluations take effect. Though districts already evaluate principals to varying degrees, Ohio has edged toward a more standard and rigorous measure of principal quality for a few years. Read more...

• Ohio plans tougher high-school tests (Enquirer)

Ohio is ready to swap its statewide graduation test for a series of more rigorous high school exams beginning in 2014-15. The tests are designed to measure student readiness for college or a career, something the Ohio Graduation Test could never do, said James Herrholtz, associate superintendent of the Ohio Department of Education’s division of learning. “The OGT is a low hurdle,” he said. “It was never really designed to measure whether a student is college-ready.” Read more...

• Reading guarantee for Ohio 3rd-graders starts with September screenings (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND — Much of the talk about Ohio's third-grade reading guarantee has centered on whether it's better to hold back a struggling student who can't read instead of promoting him to the next grade. But the new mandate involves a lot more than the retention issue. And some school officials are worried about how they're going to pay for it. Starting this year, school districts and charter schools will have to screen all students in kindergarten through third grade by Sept. 30. Read more...

• Westerville phasing out popular magnet schools (Dispatch)

Longfellow Elementary School in Westerville never struggled in academics. Among central Ohio elementary schools in the 2010-11 school year, its state test scores were the highest, and they were seventh-best in the state. Students could land a coveted seat only by winning a lottery. But because of budget cuts, Longfellow closed for good this summer, as did Central College Elementary, another high-performing public school in Westerville. Both will consolidate into Hanby Elementary School. Read more...

Local Issues

• Funny Math (The Other Paper)

Calculating data is boring, entering it into a computer system is mundane. Even the word data inspires narcolepsy. Maybe that’s why Columbus City Schools employees allegedly tried to liven up the process a bit by living on the data-entry edge; allegedly fudging attendance figures every June before submitting their State Report Card data to the Ohio Department of Education. After all, there’s surely nothing more thrilling than possibly misleading taxpayers and the state watchdogs in a ploy to enhance district graduation rates. Read more...

• NB teachers reject contract (Courier)

NORTH BALTIMORE - A North Baltimore teachers' union recently rejected a contract offered by its school board. Terms were not released. According to the North Baltimore Education Association, teachers have been in negotiations with the North Baltimore school board since May. In June, school board declared an impasse in negotiations until a mediator could be contacted. On June 30, the current contract expired and the teachers' association has been working under the previous negotiated agreement. Read more...

• Dayton-area young readers get a boost (Dayton Daily News)

DAYTON — Montgomery County-Dayton region has been selected to join a national effort to improve reading proficiency among third-grade students. The region will become a charter member of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Communities Network, a 124 member organization charged with implementing strategies to enhance the reading skills of low-income students. “Until third grade, children learn to read,” said Robyn Lightcap, director for ReadySetSoar, a local organization aimed at improving kindergarten readiness. Read more...

• Shawnee High School grads create app for Android (Lima News)

LIMA — First the fun, then the function. That's the idea behind a series of new applications for Android that two 2008 Shawnee High School graduates helped create. The app, “TapDeck,” will be available this month, Adam Kriegel said. The name plays off “tape deck,” and also the company he and fellow Carnegie Mellon University graduates formed, TapAudio LLC. At the moment, a gimmicky tape recorder allows the user to record up to 10 seconds of audio that can be scrambled in a variety of ways, Kriegel said. Read more...

Education News for 06-29-2012

State Education News

• Schools air funding beefs during Ohio House hearings (Dispatch)

The spending-per-pupil statistic is often used to measure efficiency of school districts across Ohio, so when Chris Pfister saw that his small, low-income, rural district’s number was higher than those of other nearby schools, he scratched his head. Read more...

Local Issues

• Attendance-record manager reassigned amid mess (Dispatch)

The man who was in charge of gathering and reporting Columbus City Schools’ state report-card data is being reassigned from the district’s data center to another job as the state moves in to investigate allegations of rigging student attendance numbers. There was no documentation to show that attendance changes were legitimate in 80 of 81 cases the district’s internal auditor reviewed. Steve Tankovich, the executive director of the Office of Accountability Systems, will be out of the district’s Kingswood Data Center by Thursday, Superintendent Gene Harris said yesterday. Read more...

• Lorain Schools likely to face fiscal emergency even if levy passes (Elyria Chronicle)

The school district is expected to become insolvent and declare fiscal emergency this spring, triggering a state financial takeover even if a levy passes in November. “I won’t have the cash to finish out the year,” School Treasurer Dale Weber said after Thursday’s Board of Education meeting where board members closed out the 2011-12 school year. The district closed out the year with a nearly $91.8 million general fund budget. The 2012-13 budget is about $89.6 million. Read more...

• Licking Heights, Southwest Licking districts plan to share food-service director (Newark Advocate)

Two local school districts plan on sharing a supervisor to drive down costs, starting this school year. Officials at one of the districts said the move could be the first of several partnerships aimed at saving money. Licking Heights Board of Education on June 26 approved a shared-services agreement with neighboring Southwest Licking Local Schools. The agreement, if approved tonight by the SWL board, will allow both districts to share Heights’ food service director, Ginger Parsons. Read more...

• Ohio Legal Rights Service Drops Lawsuit Against Columbus City Schools (State Impact Ohio)

A state agency that advocates for the rights of disabled people has dropped its lawsuit against the Columbus school district in connection with the use of seclusion rooms. Seclusion rooms are small, often padded rooms where violent or aggressive students can be taken to calm down. Read more...

• Ohio Schools Battling A Crisis (Wheeling News Register)

The blue-and-gold mascot of the Monroe Fighting Hornets was depicted on the school room wall, hovering over lists instructing children how to behave in the hallways, bathrooms and on the school bus. The hornet looked mad. Read more...

• Harris supports delaying Columbus school levy vote (Dispatch)

With the Columbus school board set to vote on Monday on whether to seek a levy in November, Superintendent Gene Harris now says she supports waiting until 2013, she told board members by memo this afternoon. The decision threw Harris’ weight firmly behind a 14-member citizen millage committee, which has been meeting for months to decide whether the district should put a property-tax issue on the fall ballot. That panel voted 8-2 on Tuesday to delay a levy until next year. Read more...

• Franklin County changes plan for disabled students (Dispatch)

The two schools operated by the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities will start the 2014-15 school year with a new curriculum designed to help students ages 14 to 22 transition to adult services and jobs. Board members approved the restructuring plan last night. It effectively phases out school services for children 6 to 13 at both Northeast and West Central schools. Read more...

• City schools avoid suit, hand over ‘seclusion room’ files (Dispatch)

A federal lawsuit to force Columbus schools to hand over records about its use of seclusion rooms has been dismissed because the district provided them. The Ohio Legal Rights Service, a state agency that works to protect people with disabilities, sued Columbus City Schools in March. The agency said the district was blocking its attempt to investigate whether children had been abused in the closetlike rooms. The agency sought the names and contact information of students who had been placed in seclusion rooms and records related to incidents that occurred in the rooms dating back to Jan. 1, 2011. Read more...

• Closed Tallmadge school to find new life as private school (Beacon Journal)

TALLMADGE: Overdale Primary School, which closed in the spring of 2011 as part of budget cuts made by the Tallmadge school district, will hear little footsteps echoing in its halls again this fall. Stow-based Cornerstone Community School placed a top bid of $320,000 on the property last week, and the school board approved the sale. Read more...

• Sponsor pulls plug on Academy of Excellence (Beacon Journal)

Former Akron Councilman Ernie Tarle’s Academy of Excellence charter school has lost its sponsor and won’t open this fall in Akron. Charters are publicly funded, privately operated schools that must have a state-approved sponsor to operate. Read more...

Education News for 06-28-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• City schools may face 3 audits over attendance records (Dispatch)

The Ohio Department of Education told Columbus City Schools it has two weeks to turn over records and communication concerning district administrators changing student attendance records. The department will hire an independent auditor to look into allegations that district officials manipulated attendance to improve the state report card. The state auditor’s office said yesterday it, too, would launch its own probe, meaning up to three auditing teams — including the district’s internal auditors — could investigate the charges. Read more...

• DREAM Act for Ohio proposed (Dispatch)

Ohio’s version of the DREAM Act, designed to make the children of illegal immigrants eligible for in-state tuition and financial aid, was rolled out this week by a pair of Senate Democrats. “This bill is necessary to offer all students the chance of achieving the American dream,” said Sen. Charleta B. Tavares, D-Columbus, who jointly sponsored the bill with Sen. Tom Sawyer, D-Akron. “This country was built on the foundation of encouraging individuals to reach their highest potential. We should not penalize young people for striving for success.” Read more...

• Brecksville-Broadview Heights city school negotiations turned over to federal mediation (WOIO 19 CBS)

BRECKSVILLE - Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District Board has determined that the only way to move stalled negotiations forward is by turning them over to a federal mediator, according to David Tryon, board president. "We have given the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association (BEA), the union that represents area teachers, written notice declaring impasse and requested the services of the federal mediator pursuant to Section 9 (H.) of the current agreement," said Tryon. Read more...

Local Issues

• Two aides to be fired over abuse of student in seclusion room (Dispatch)

There was no reason for two school aides to take a boy into a seclusion room, close the door and then pin him in a way that is so dangerous it could have killed him, the Columbus school district says. The boy hadn’t been violent and didn’t pose a danger to anyone, a district investigation found. Beatty Park Elementary aides Fred Harrison and Leslie A. Polk will be fired, the district says. “Schools are not supposed to hurt,” noted hearing officer Jerry McAfee in his report. The hearing to determine the aides’ guilt took place in late May, and a decision was reached last week. Read more...

• Carlisle district’s cuts create surplus (Middletown Journal)

CARLISLE — Through more than $1 million in budget cuts, the Carlisle School Board was able to turn a projected deficit for fiscal year 2013 into a small surplus, but Treasurer Dan Bassler says the district still needs some help. “We went from a projected budget deficit of $860,000 to a surplus, by cutting that much out of our budget,” Bassler said. “But as of now, that would give us a $160,000 surplus after the year. That’s not a whole lot to get excited about. “We’re still going to need money and support from the citizens of Carlisle.” Read more...

• Getting primed and ready (Vindicator)

Youngstown - Children entering kindergarten in the city schools are getting a summer primer for what it means to be good citizens and good students. The students are participating in Success By Six, a program of the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley that prepares children for kindergarten. The PNC Foundation is funding Community Solution’s Project KIND program this week. Project KIND — Keys to Improvement for Necessary Development — focuses on social and emotional skills. Read more...

• Program offers boost to dropouts (Blade)

A new collaboration among Owens Community College, Toledo Public Schools, and Gateway to College National Network is designed to help high school dropouts continue their education. The program allows those between ages 16 and 20 who are high school dropouts or likely to drop out to complete their high school diploma requirements while also earning college credit. They will be dually enrolled at TPS and Owens until completion of a high school diploma. Read more...

• Niles board OKs contract (Tribune Chronicle)

NILES - The Niles Education Association and the district agreed on a contract that will provide no base salary increases through this and the next school years but will allow eligible teachers to receive their step increases this year and a half-step increase next year. Those teachers who are not eligible for step increases in the 2012 and the 2013 school years will receive one-time stipends of between $250 and $500, depending on whether they are on the single or family medical insurance plans. Read more...

• C-TEC approves 2 percent payment for teachers (Newark Advocate)

NEWARK - C-TEC teachers will receive a one-time payment of 2 percent of their salaries in 2013 in lieu of a raise. "It's not an increase to the base," Board President Bev Niccum said. The payment will be paid throughout the year, totaling 2 percent. The Career and Technology Education Centers of Licking County has extended the same payment to all full- time, non-union employees, excluding the superintendent and treasurer. One percent of C-TEC's payroll is about $53,000. Read more...

• Fairfield to vote on bus contracts (Journal-News)

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield City Schools Board of Education is expected to vote on bus contracts at its regular meeting Thursday. The agenda for the regular meeting at 6 p.m. in the community room at Fairfield High School states that staff recommends approval of contracts with Burer’s Garage, which would handle bus maintenance through 2015, and with Universal Transportation Services, which would handle special needs transportation through 2017. Read more...

• Mediocrity Not An Option For ‘Differently Abled’ Students (WBNS 10 CBS)

COLUMBUS - From a distance, Colerain Elementary School looks like any school in central Ohio. Up close, though, it is a place unlike any other. Each student is held to the same “rise and shine expectations” during their time at the school, regardless of whether they walk or wheel through the hallways, 10TV’s Kristyn Hartman reported. Jose Mendez, 11, zooms through the halls in a chair he controls with his foot. Read more...

• Summer school changes with technology at West Geauga, Willoughby South (News-Herald)

Area students needing to attend summer school for remediation purposes or choosing to do so to get ahead on their education may find themselves leaning more heavily on technology than teachers. Such is the case in the West Geauga School District, where all classes are taken online through the IQity program. Middle School Principal Jim Kish coordinates summer school for the district. Read more...

Editorial

• Wrong turn (Dispatch)

Many Central Ohioans rely on a dependable and affordable public transit system, especially in an economy where more people are riding the bus because they are lucky enough to still have jobs or need the bus to look for work or go to school. Transit-union leaders should be mindful of this as they lead workers at the Central Ohio Transit Authority to the brink of a strike which could hit on the eve of one of the city’s biggest Downtown-commuting events, Red, White and Boom. Read more...

• If Cleveland school offices make a move, it has to be the right one (Plain Dealer)

Anyone who has ever considered moving knows just how much planning it requires, including the basic questions: Should you buy a new home or lease an apartment? Live in the heart of the city or farther out? That's doubly so for the Cleveland School District, which is considering selling its grand downtown office on East Sixth Street and moving to a new location, as yet unknown. Moves can be difficult, but this one, done right, should be a win-win for the district and residents. Read more...

Education News for 06-27-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Kasich asks agencies not to seek more funds (Dispatch)

Those looking for a sign that state agencies will soon see relief from the punishing economic downturn won’t find much to like in Gov. John Kasich’s latest budget move. But those who have observed Kasich’s desire to hold the line on spending should not be surprised that he has asked state agencies to start the next budget process with plans to spend no more than what they are getting in fiscal year 2013, which starts on July 1. Read more...

• U.S. Department of Education data shows career-training graduates struggle to repay loans (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND — Students who completed career-training programs at almost 100 institutions across the country, including one in Northeast Ohio, have so much difficulty repaying their student loans that the schools could be banned from offering federal financial aid, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education. The federal agency has put those schools on notice for failing to meet any of the three benchmarks set by its Gainful Employment regulations. Read more...

• Elida schools to seek earned-income tax (Lima News)

ELIDA — Elida school officials said they listened to voters who say they want an alternative to property taxes. Now they hope those voters come through for them. The school board unanimously voted Tuesday to put a five-year, 0.75 percent earned-income tax on the November ballot. It will raise $2.06 million a year for operations and keep the district out of deficit spending, where it is headed in two years. Superintendent Don Diglia said officials talked to a lot of people before deciding to go with an income tax. Read more...

The Ohio Coalition for Quality Education (Miamisburg) had an exclusive video discussion on education issues with two of Ohio's leading policymakers. You can view this video here…

Local Issues

• Panel: Delay Columbus schools tax vote until 2013 (Dispatch)

A citizens committee urged the Columbus school board not to go to voters in November for a tax increase, but rather wait until next year. The panel voted 8-2 yesterday morning to delay putting new millage on the ballot until either the spring or fall of 2013. While Superintendent Gene Harris offered the committee two options that would have placed an issue on this November’s ballot, the panel shot down those proposals. Each option would have totaled 7.5 mills, adding about $230 in new tax for each $100,000 in appraised property value. Read more...

• Wickliffe Schools looking into privatized bus service (News-Herald)

Tuesday's Wickliffe School Board meeting featured comments from both sides about the possibility of the district switching to privatized school bus services. Matthew Molek, vice president of Ohio Association of Public Schools Employees local 196, which includes district bus drivers, asked the board to hold off on considering privatizing bussing, at least until the union's current contract runs up. "Right now we are right in the middle of our contract," Molek said. "My comment is: Honor the contract until next year, and we'll look at it then." Read more...

• Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District contracts expire June 30 (Sun News)

June 30 is the last day of the current contract for nearly 450 teachers and support staff in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District. And that is a concern for both the unions and their supporters. Those concerns were voiced June 25 when the employees and supporters crammed into the Board of Education building for the regular monthly school board meeting. According to a release from the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Organization of Support Staff. Read more...

• Residents urge board to reconsider options (Vindicator)

Austintown - Public displeasure continued to be voiced Tuesday over the current busing situation for Catholic students living in the township. A handful of residents, including township Trustee Jim Davis, addressed the Austintown school board during Tuesday’s regular meeting, urging the members to change their minds about cutting busing to Catholic schools outside of the township. The proposal, announced in May, offers public-transit vouchers to private-school students instead of using district vehicles. Read more...

• Board gives thumbs-up for TPS' top officials (Blade)

The Toledo Board of Education gave its top two administrators a vote of confidence Tuesday in midyear evaluations. The board expressed support for both Superintendent Jerome Pecko and Treasurer Matt Cleland after conducting evaluations last week in closed meetings. The evaluation results read publicly Tuesday did not include any rating of performance or specific areas identified by the board as weaknesses or strengths in either man's performance. Read more...

• Board of Education extends Eric S. Gordon's contract as CEO for 3 Years (WOIO 19 CBS)

CLEVELAND - Tuesday night, the Cleveland Board of Education voted to extend Eric S. Gordon's contract as Chief Executive Officer through June 2015. Gordon previously served CMSD as its Chief Academic Officer from 2007 to 2011. After a national search produced three finalists from outside the district in its search for a CEO last year, the Board by-passed the top candidates for CEO and awarded a one-year contract to Gordon in June, 2011. Read more...

Editorial

• What to do with Ohio's extra cash (Plain Dealer)

On Saturday, Ohio closes the books on this fiscal year -- the first of two in the Ohio biennial budget -- and opens another check register. Thanks to an uptick in the local economy as well as good management by Gov. John Kasich and the General Assembly, Ohio is, and will stay, in the black. Probably next week, Budget Director Tim Keen will announce final 2011-12 numbers, but some trends already are clear. For the 11 months ending May 31, tax collections were $1.3 billion (7.8 percent) greater than the year-earlier period while spending fell by $130 million (0.5 percent). Read more...

• More money not sure fix for schools (Tribune Chronicle)

Ohio has received high marks from researchers looking into how public education funding is handled. But tell that to officials and taxpayers in financially beleaguered school districts. They understand that good grades in a national study are one thing, but the reality of not being able to balance a district's budget is something else. Just three states - Ohio, New Jersey and Utah - received ''A'' grades for education financing in a study by Rutgers University and the Education Law Center. Read more...