Education News for 07-27-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Test-score probe goes statewide (Blade)

The investigation into possible manipulation of test scores at Ohio schools moved statewide on Thursday, with the Ohio Auditor's Office now questioning what role, if any, the Ohio Department of Education had in the changes. State Auditor Dave Yost and the education department had opened a joint investigation in recent weeks of alleged data manipulation at Columbus Public Schools. School officials appeared to have manipulated data there to remove scores for students who were chronically truant, improving their attendance rates and test scores. Read more...

• Automatic cuts may put teaching jobs in jeopardy (Dayton Daily News)

Ohio could lose more than 1,500 education-related jobs and more than $98 million in federal education funding if automatic discretionary spending cuts go into effect Jan. 2. “States and local communities would lose $2.7 billion in federal funding for just three critical education programs alone – Title I, special education state grants, and Head Start,” Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said in a report released Wednesday. “Nationwide, these cuts would force 46,349 employees to either lose their jobs or rely on cash-strapped states and localities to pick up their salaries instead.” Read more...

• Auditor: Cheating probe to expand statewide (Enquirer)

Prompted in part by alleged cheating by Lockland school officials to improve their district’s standing, Ohio’s auditor launched a statewide investigation of all districts on Thursday.

Similar allegations have also surfaced in Columbus and Toledo. “It appears that attendance report rigging is not a localized problem with Columbus Public schools, but that it may be more systematic,” State Auditor David Yost said in a letter sent Thursday to state Board of Education president Debe Terhar of Green Township. Read more...

• New Report Finds A Third of Ohio Students Overweight (ONN)

CINCINNATI - A new statewide health report shows one in three students who participated in a Body Mass Index screening was overweight or obese. Health officials said that children need to do a better job exercising and eating healthier to avoid medical issues. Parent Orlando Mitchell has three kids including a 16-year-old and said they had issues with their weight. "My children went through a phase and got big at one time," Mitchell said. He admits he also had weight problems as a teenager which led to health issues for him as an adult. Read more...

• Ohio auditor will investigate attendance reports of public schools and state education department (Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS — The Ohio auditor's office is launching a statewide investigation into how attendance is reported by school districts, charter schools and the Ohio Department of Education. The move announced Thursday follows revelations about questionable practices in Columbus and Toledo, as well as the Lockland school district near Cincinnati. In all three cases, the focus is on test scores that didn't count on state report cards because the student test-takers were dropped from attendance rolls and then re-enrolled during the school year. Read more...

Local Issues

• Riverside Schools, unions reach deals that extend wage freezes (News-Herald)

The Riverside School District has finalized contracts for both its unions for the next two years. Teaching and non-teaching staff have agreed to an additional two-year wage freeze that also eliminates step increases, and advancements for educational credit. The teaching staff had already agreed to a one-year wage freeze during contract negotiations last year, resulting in an effective three-year total wage freeze, Superintendent James Kalis said. Read more...

• Lorain superintendent negotiations not finished in time for board meeting (Morning Journal)

LORAIN — Lorain City Schools are still negotiating a contract for superintendent candidate Tom Tucker, so the school board had no contract to approve last night as originally intended. However, the district is on track for an August hiring of Tucker, board president Tim Williams said. “We are still at the final stages of some very specific negotiations in the contract,” Williams said, though he would not give details. “We’re optimistic about our negotiations with our superintendent,” Williams said. Read more...

• Lima levy on, campaign effort strong (Lima News)

LIMA — Not long after it saw a levy defeated by just 100 votes last march, the Lima schools levy committee was already back to work. Now, they can officially kick the campaign into gear, following the board's final decision Thursday to go back on the ballot with the same request. “We really are going to concentrate on the legacy of the Lima City Schools and the fact that Lima City Schools graduates are very proud graduates,” said Peggy Ehora, one of four to chair the committee. “We feel like the legacy for us is that people have always been proud to be a part of that system. Read more...

Editorial

• A Teacher Remembers the Accused Colorado Gunman (Education Week)

When I knew James Holmes, the alleged Colorado shooter, he was Jimmy. I was his 5th grade teacher. Back then, in 1998-99, Holmes lived in Castroville, Calif., a tiny town of 5,000. Since the theater shooting in Aurora, I’ve talked about Jimmy with one of his former classmates; let’s call him Chris. Jimmy was well-dressed, neat, wore glasses, liked to read, and excelled in all academic areas. He had two really good friends, including Chris, both sharp like him—in fact, top of the class. Read more...

• Skewed (Courier)

A golden rule in education is thou shall not cheat. Students learn early on that sharing answers on a test or copying someone else's work won't be tolerated. But is it cheating if school administrators manipulate attendance records to show their district is performing better on its state report card than it really is? While all evidence is not in, that appears to be what has happened in several school districts around Ohio. Read more...

Education News for 07-26-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Ohio schools chief: Data changes may spur charges (WSYX 6 ABC)

COLUMBUS - Ohio's school superintendent says the investigation of changes made to student attendance data in several districts could lead to criminal charges for any educators who commit fraud. The Columbus Dispatch reports Superintendent Stan Heffner discussed that possibility Wednesday, the same day the Ohio Department of Education announced the Lockland district in suburban Cincinnati filed false attendance data to improve its state report card. The data affect attendance and test-passing rates. Read more...

• Toledo Public Schools emails tell of desire to raise scores (Blade)

Some Toledo Public Schools leaders -- apparently under pressure to increase the state's weighted average of student test scores -- detailed in back-and-forth emails their desires to exclude special education students and those absent for a length of time from their records. "Well I sure hope we will be able to do some attendance exclusions," Teri Sherwood, principal of Walbridge Elementary, wrote to Assistant Superintendent Romules Durant on June 20. Read more...

• State: Lockland schools cheated (Enquirer)

COLUMBUS — Lockland schools falsely eliminated 36 low-scoring students from its rolls in an effort to improve its state report card, according to the Ohio Department of Education. As a result, the state has now reduced the district's academic standing and sanctions may be filed against staff. The downgrade is the result of a year-long investigation into allegations that the district had provided false data to the state. Lockland reported the students withdrew to go to other schools, then re-enrolled later that year. If a student withdraws, their test scores don’t count against the district. Read more...

• TPS leaders speak out about state investigation (WTVG 13 ABC)

TPS School Board Member Larry Sykes explains why some principals may have been tweaking attendance numbers on the state report card. He says a number of inner city students bounce around from school to school. Sykes tells 13abc, "We have to go and find those students, some are sent to different cities to live with relatives ...poverty creates a serious problem for our children and our urban districts to teach them." Sykes says he's upset at how the Ohio Department of Education is handling the issue with the Ohio Urban School Districts. Read more...

Local Issues

• Akron will provide free lunches at middle schools and high schools (Beacon Journal)

Akron’s middle and high school students won’t have to pay for school lunches this fall or even fill out paperwork for a government subsidy. The district already provides free breakfast in all its schools and free lunch in its elementary buildings. The Akron school board voted this week to extend that policy to all Akron schools under a new option for districts that participate in the national school lunch program. The change won’t cost local taxpayers any money and the district is expected to save some money because officials won’t have to print. Read more...

• 15 local schools lack safety plans (Enquirer)

Fifteen local schools have failed to file safety plans and floor plans that would be used by emergency responders in a case of a school shooting or other emergency. They join 150 schools statewide who have not submitted plans, even though it is required by Ohio law. Some are working on their plans, but have not yet filed them. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine Wednesday urged schools to comply. “We hope that we will never experience school violence and we must do all we can to prevent it,” he said during the 2012 Ohio Safe Schools Summit in Columbus. Read more...

• ‘Major Problems’ Found With City-Funded Tutoring Program (WBNS 10 CBS)

COLUMBUS - A local tutoring company is under investigation for allegedly billing for tutoring services that did not occur. Columbus City Schools officials said that Apostolic Faith Temple, Inc. is being investigated for alleged fraudulent invoicing for the 2010-11 school year. AFT, Inc. received more than $324,000 in public money for tutoring services that are now being called into question. AFT, Inc. is a Supplemental Education Services provider, which is a federally-funded No Child Left Behind program. Read more...

• Mansfield schools work to halt teen dating abuse (News-Journal)

Teen dating violence is on the rise, and north central Ohio schools are trying to deal with it. Mansfield City Schools invited the Mansfield Domestic Violence Shelter in February to present information on teen dating violence to more than 600 students. "We want students to recognize behavior that is not appropriate," Mansfield Senior High School Assistant Principal Margaret Sternefeld wrote in a news release. Jill Donnenwirth, director of community-based service for the shelter, said several other area schools have invited the organization to speak to students. Read more...

• Schools accused of faking data (Dayton Daily News)

Ohio Department of Education officials said they will review data submitted by all school districts and charter schools to look for potential red flags on whether they may be manipulating attendance or graduation data to improve their report card performance. The department on Wednesday lowered last year’s report card rating for Lockland School District in Hamilton County from “Effective” to “Continuous Improvement” after an investigation found it falsely reported withdrawing 36 students during the school year to boost the district’s state test results. Read more...

• Oregon school chief asks for 8% cut in pay (Blade)

Oregon’s school board approved a request from Superintendent Michael Zalar to cut his pay 8 percent, returning his salary to what it was in 2011. Mr. Zalar submitted a resolution Wednesday night to the board seeking the reduction, saying he felt it was in the “best interest of the district, school, and the community.” “I feel this is the right thing to do. I am doing this voluntarily. This is not something I feel coerced to do,” Mr. Zalar said. The concession, which the board approved unanimously during a special meeting to get community input on the district’s budget and spending. Read more...

Editorial

• Cyber excess: Taxpayers should not over-fund charter schools (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

There is something very wrong with an education funding system that has public school districts chopping staff and ending programs while a publicly funded charter school is making so much money that it can pay millions to its spinoff companies. The operators of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, the state's first and largest online charter with more than 11,300 students, channeled their innovation into two offshoot management entities, one a nonprofit and the other a for-profit firm. Read more...

Education News for 07-25-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Educators hope to clarify Ohio Lottery profits for schools (News-Herald)

Record earnings for the Ohio Lottery have educators worried about public perception of that news. While it is required by law that all earnings from the Ohio Lottery be distributed to K-12 education, the Ohio Department of Education says the breakdown of where that money goes isn’t as simple. According to ODE, there are many possibilities for the extra revenue, and they all depend on state legislators. For instance, a spokesman for ODE said that although the extra money is guaranteed to be given to Ohio education. Read more...

• 150 Ohio Schools Out Of Compliance With Safety Information (WBNS 10 CBS)

COLUMBUS - State law requires schools to turn in safety blueprints to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. According to Attorney General Mike DeWine, more than 150 schools are out of compliance with the law. There are no penalties for schools that do not submit their safety information. DeWine said that prevention is on the top of his safety list. “Law enforcement does not have access to this information,” DeWine said. “Fire and rescue do not have access to this information.” Representatives from more than 250 Ohio schools and communities gathered. Read more...

• Toledo schools join Columbus in attendance data trouble (Dispatch)

Toledo City Schools leaders were wrong to think that they were allowed to “scrub” attendance records to improve their state report-card numbers, a state spokesman said. “We do not allow school districts to manipulate that data to improve attendance rates or test scores,” Ohio Department of Education spokesman John Charlton said. “Districts may correct data that they entered incorrectly, but only under a specific set of rules and state laws.” Read more...

Local Issues

• Court upholds Granville teacher license suspensions (Newark Advocate)

Licking County Common Pleas Judge David Branstool upheld a decision by the Ohio Department of Education to suspend the teaching licenses of two Granville teachers accused of falsifying state test scores. In a decision rendered Friday, Branstool affirmed the state board’s decision to suspend for one year the licenses of English language learner teachers Jane Pfautsch and Mary Ellen Locke, over irregularities involving state testing procedures in 2010. Read more...

• Northeast Ohio schools might be insulated from falling residential property values (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND — Home values in the Cleveland school district have fallen more than 21 percent in the last few years. They're down 26 percent in the Euclid school district and 33.5 percent in Maple Heights, which had the largest fall in Cuyahoga County. Those drops will mean a tax bite for those districts, but not the budget disaster you might think. The falling values won't bring real tax relief for homeowners, either. The Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office on Tuesday released changes in the residential property values for all school districts in the county after its reappraisal. Read more...

• Youngstown school board OKs 2 new contracts (Vindicator)

Youngstown - The school board approved two new contracts with two unions, both calling for no cost-of-living increases and an increased health-care contribution from employees. The board approved the three-year agreements at a regular meeting Tuesday with the five building-trade unions and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1143. Both pacts run through Jan. 31, 2015. The contracts call for the employees to pay 10 percent of the health-care premium cost. Read more...

• Marietta board discusses 3rd grade mandate (Marietta Times)

Questions and concerns about the state's recently passed third-grade reading guarantee were heard at the Marietta City Board of Education meeting Monday. Director of teaching and learning Jason Smith explained that portions of the guarantee - which requires children to meet a certain level of proficiency in reading or face repeating the third grade - will go into effect in the upcoming school year. However, it is unlikely any students would face retention at the end of the 2012-13 school year. Read more...

• Middletown school’s pay more for BCESC services (Middletown Journal)

MIDDLETOWN — The Middletown City School District’s Board of Education entered into a contract Monday night worth more than $1 million with the Butler County Educational Service Center. The total contract is is approximately $140,000 higher than last year’s contract partly because it includes the salary of a new, shared business manager with Monroe. However, it will amount to a savings in the long run, according to Middletown superintendent Greg Rasmussen. Read more...

• USV to pay former superintendent $39,000 (Lima News)

MCGUFFEY — The Upper Scioto Valley school board has come to an agreement with former Superintendent Rick Rolston, who the board fired in January. The board will pay Rolston $39,000. It is his per diem rate from Jan. 5, when the board voted to begin proceedings to terminate him, to April 25, when the board hired Dennis Recker to assume the position. Rolston, who came to the district in late 2008, demanded a hearing on the termination. A referee appointed by the state department of education recommended that Rolston’s contract not be terminated. Read more...

• OAPSE union files grievance against Dawson-Bryant district (Ironton Tribune)

COAL GROVE — This year’s free summer lunch program was not a success for the Dawson-Bryant Local School District and the local Ohio Association of Local School Employees (OAPSE) union has filed a complaint with the district claiming the program displaced its workers, Superintendent Dennis DeCamp said at Monday’s board of education meeting. In past summers, DeCamp said, the school district offered summer meals to students in need, but the turnout was so low, thousands of dollars was lost on the project. Read more...

Education News for 07-24-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• More school districts than usual go to ballot (Dispatch)

Three dozen school districts in Ohio are asking voters for more money on the Aug. 7 ballot, the most levies in a special election in seven years. Not since 2005, when 51 tax issues for schools appeared on the ballot, have there been more. August ballots typically have fewer school levies than general and primary elections. In the past decade, August ballots have averaged 35 school levies, about a third of them approved. The high was 105 levies in 2005; the low was 18 in 2009. In central Ohio, Groveport Madison, Buckeye Valley and North Fork Local are on next month’s ballot. Read more...

• State starts inquiry into Toledo Public Schools records (Blade)

The Ohio Department of Education has started an investigation into whether Toledo Public Schools violated state law when the district manipulated some students' attendance data to improve state report-card scores, a probe that could result in serious sanctions against educators who were involved. Some might even lose their jobs. The investigation was ordered after TPS Superintendent Jerome Pecko admitted to The Blade last week that schools retroactively withdrew and re-enrolled chronically absent students to erase their poor attendance records. Read more...

• Ohio Gov. John Kasich, despite his vow against tax hikes, will back the Cleveland schools' proposed 15-mill levy (Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS – Gov. John Kasich, who has vowed to revolt against anything resembling a tax hike and signed an anti-tax pledge with a powerful Washington conservative group, is making an exception and backing the proposed 15-mill Cleveland school levy. "The schools are doing it the right way because they're fixing their problems first, and then asking for more resources. If the governor lived in Cleveland he would vote for it and the governor will give the mayor whatever help he needs," Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said in a statement. Read more...

• Districts shift start dates for local schools (Dayton Daily News)

School is starting more than a week earlier than usual at two of the Dayton area’s largest public districts this year, and about a week and a half later than it had been at another district. “In May, our kids take a lot of tests — AP (Advanced Placement), SAT, International Baccalaureate, college placement and, of course, the state tests,” said Jim Schoenlein, Kettering City Schools superintendent. “They will now get a couple more weeks of preparation as compared to some others.” Read more...

Local Issues

• Westerville teachers union weighing strike (Dispatch)

The teachers union in Westerville might consider striking if labor negotiations don’t improve with the school board, according to emails sent by union leaders and obtained by The Dispatch. Leaders of the Westerville Education Association, the union that represents about 1,000 teachers in the district, have not returned emails or calls over the past week. But in a half-dozen emails in recent weeks, the union’s leaders discouraged teachers from preparing classrooms early for the upcoming school year or volunteering at certain school events. Read more...

• CPS teachers excited about new curriculum (Enquirer)

CORRYVILLE — New national curriculum standards being piloted at Cincinnati Public Schools this fall will better prepare kids and “bring teaching back to life.” That was how Shroder High School teacher Denise Pfeiffer described it as she joined six other CPS teachers Monday in a presentation to the school board. The teachers were among 46 employees of the region’s largest district who attended a week-long conference last week on the new Common Core Standards. Read more...

• Chillicothe City Schools' computer network to get $140,000 upgrade (Chillicothe Gazette)

CHILLICOTHE - The Chillicothe City Schools' aging computer network, which has been prone to crashes in recent years, will receive a $140,000 upgrade this summer, the board of education decided Monday. The upgrade, which should be complete by September, mainly will focus on the high school, middle school and Mount Logan and Tiffin elementary schools. Allen and Worthington elementary schools received upgrades several years ago. Read more...

• Riverdale finances 'not good at all' (Courier)

MOUNT BLANCHARD - Riverdale School finished the fiscal year with a balance of more than $300,000, but district Treasurer Jodie Ribley said the figure is well below where it should be. "Some of the other county schools have carryovers of $1.3 million right now, we only have $346,000," Ribley told Riverdale school board on Monday. "That's barely enough to cover payroll and no other expenses throughout the month." The district's payroll is about $200,000, she said, and "our expenses each month run between $400,000 and $600,000. Read more...

Editorial

• Grading Ohio school principals is a good idea (Plain Dealer)

As school districts strive to improve education, it makes sense that Ohio insist that principals be held accountable for student achievement along with teachers. According to Ohio's budget bill, Ohio school districts must create a system for evaluating principals and teachers by 2013. Both principals and teachers are to be graded on similar terms -- half on student achievement and the other half on observations and other measures. And those grades will matter. Schools can base hiring, retention and pay raises on whether principals are rated as accomplished. Read more...

• Don't be quick to predict outcome of Cleveland's latest school tax levy campaign (Plain Dealer)

It's tempting to predict the failure of the Cleveland School District's recently announced campaign to raise school taxes by about 50 percent. The local economy is still in the dumps. Many parents remain disengaged. And school officials are making the same tired promises as their many predecessors. History, however, suggests a knee-jerk forecast could make me look foolish. The Cleveland district's last successful tax request was in 1996 and won approval after early predictions that city voters would reject it. Read more...

Education News for 07-23-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• 2.8 million school absences erased (Dispatch)

Columbus City Schools officials wiped 2.8 million student absence days off the district’s computers during the past 51/2 school years, with some key officials responsible for tens of thousands of deletions. The officials routinely erased more recorded student absences than they reported to the state — in some years, substantially more — according to district data tables The Dispatch obtained by filing a public-records request. Read more...

• Many third-graders lag in reading proficiency (Enquirer)

Twenty-one percent of Ohio’s third-graders – 25,963 students – were not proficient in reading last school year, according to preliminary test results released by the Ohio Department of Education. That’s up from 20 percent in 2010-11. Starting in 2013-14, scoring poorly on the test will have major consequences for third-grade students. That’s when a new law by Ohio Gov. John Kasich will require them to repeat the school year if they don’t do well enough on the test despite two years of reading intervention. Read more...

• Youngstown schools miss targets, lose $1.8M (Vindicator)

Youngstown - The city school district will see its school-improvement money slashed more than 50 percent for next year because the schools didn’t meet growth goals. The federal School Improvement Grant money allotted for University Project Learning Center, Chaney and East totaled $3.3 million. For next year, the amount is reduced to about $1.5 million, said Doug Hiscox, deputy superintendent for academic affairs. “Each year, you have to go through a process for evaluating how well things were done or whether you met targets,” he said. Read more...

Local Issues

• Toledo Public Schools records adjusted to lift state test scores (Blade)

Toledo Public Schools has manipulated some students' attendance data to improve state report-card scores, the district's superintendent told The Blade on Friday. Under the practice, schools retroactively withdraw and re-enroll chronically absent students to erase their poor attendance records. Ohio school districts apparently are allowed to throw out test scores of students who are not continuously enrolled from October through the testing dates in March and May. Read more...

• Middle school students learn how to navigate college through CampUS program (Newark Advocate)

GRANVILLE - Alma Zahar is a 13-year-old student at Southmoor Middle School in Columbus. She's had thoughts of becoming a doctor but had no idea how to go about it. "That takes a lot of years," she said. "But I wasn't sure what schools to go to. But this explained to me what type of colleges there are: community college, technical college and four-year college." Zahar was just one of about 40 middle school students at Denison University from Saturday to June 29 learning how to navigate the path to college in a program called CampUS. Read more...

• Cleveland's school tax levy must be tied to creative parental classroom involvement (Plain Dealer)

The Perry family of Collinwod may represent one of Cleveland's best hopes for passing an enormous 15-mill school levy request that will likely appear on the November ballot. But to make that happen, it's pretty important that their son, Shaquille, stays alive. It's that simple. Shaquille is an emerging role model for the city. He should be encouraged and protected. He's a good example of what a determined young man can do in the face of formidable odds when bolstered by strong parental support. He will enroll at Kentucky State University this fall. Read more...

• Audit finds former Imagine school officials made undocumented purchases (Repository)

State auditors say former employees of a Canton-based community school made nearly $4,500 worth of questionable purchases during a Best Buy shopping trip in 2010. The Ohio Auditor’s Office flagged the transactions during its most recent annual financial review of Imagine Schools on Superior at 1500 Superior Ave. NE. The school, formerly known as Pathways to Success Canton Community School, serves roughly 180 students between kindergarten to fourth grade and is not affiliated with a public school district. Read more...

• Harris shakes up leadership of Columbus schools (Dispatch)

Columbus Schools Superintendent Gene Harris will shake up her top staff, in part to cover for reassignments resulting from a state investigation into whether district officials rigged school performance data. In a memo dated Monday, Harris said she would again name the district’s former lobbyist to a major leadership role. With the departure of former Chief Academic Officer Keith Bell to become superintendent of Euclid schools, Harris will promote the district’s chief operating officer, John Stanford, to the new post of deputy superintendent. Read more...

Editorial

• Coming face to face with the sad state of runaway teens (Blade)

On a recent evening, an unexpected knock on my study window in the back of the house brought me face to face with the problem of runaway teenagers. A young girl in her early teens, clad in not-too-clean clothes, begged to be let in. Instead, I met her in front of the house. Waiting for police to arrive, we talked in the driveway. She had run away from a nearby group home for troubled teens, she told me. She said she had run away at least 30 times in the past three years. Somehow, every place she was sent annoyed her to the point she thought her only option was to run away. Read more...

• If Clevelanders want a future for their public schools, it will cost them 15 mills (Plain Dealer)

Gasp. That's the sound that came from many Clevelanders when they learned last week that the Cleveland public schools are asking for a 15-mill levy to implement Mayor Frank Jackson's hard-won school reform plan. Despite their skepticism of -- or even outright anger at -- their long-troubled school system, voters must take a leap of faith for the future of Cleveland's 41,000 students. The levy would deliver an estimated $77 million annually to support the Cleveland Plan for Transformation over the next four years. Read more...

• Fast action by board is troubling (Tribune Chronicle)

The Warren Board of Education wants to achieve academic excellence. But it decided against conducting an excellent search for a new school superintendent. The board last week named Warren G. Harding High School principal Michael Notar as the district's next superintendent. The board did not accept any applications or conduct any interviews prior to deciding who would be in charge of the district. Board members said there was no need because of how familiar they are with Notar. Read more...

Education News for 07-20-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Newark appears on track to meet 23 of 26 indicators on Ohio Achievement Assessment (Newark Advocate)

NEWARK - Although state report cards likely are a month away, Newark administrators said they are excited about preliminary Ohio Achievement Assessment results. According to preliminary results released by the Ohio Department of Education, Newark students passed more indicators than in 2011, including seventh-grade reading. Although nothing is final until report cards are released, Newark is on track to meet 23 of 26 indicators, said Maura Horgan, director of secondary curriculum instruction. Read more...

• Youngstown schools: Cost to update curriculum estimated at nearly $500,000 (Vindicator)

Youngstown - Getting the school district’s curriculum up to state standards will be an expensive proposition. One of the elements of the Academic Recovery Plan for the district updated by the state-appointed Academic Distress Commission earlier this year calls for up-to-date Ohio standards based pre-kindergarten through 12 plans in literacy, math, science and social studies. Teams of teachers and administrators determined the books, materials and supplies needed to accomplish that and the cost is nearly $500,000 for grades seven through 12. Read more...

Local Issues

• Cleveland schools CEO Eric Gordon says building, operating funds come from different accounts (WEWS 5 ABC)

CLEVELAND - It's been a monumental week for the Cleveland Municipal School District. Since last Friday, ground has been broken for four new, 21st century elementary schools: Paul L. Dunbar, Miles, Almira, and Orchard. Groundbreakings for the new Max Hayes and John Marshall high schools are coming soon. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the school board voted to seek a new 15 mill levy to finance the new education reform plan and avoid a huge budget deficit next year. Read more...

• Cleveland school district faces big challenge passing 15-mill tax increase, some councilmen say (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND — Taxpayers can't quite wrap their heads around the 15-mill school tax the school board proposed Wednesday night, some Cleveland City Council members say, predicting the tax is likely to fail by a large margin. "It's going to go down in utter defeat," said Ward 2 Councilman Zack Reed. Councilman Mike Polensek, of Collinwood, said he and his office have received call after call from families shocked at a request that is twice as big as he expected -- an amount that he said families can't afford. Read more...

• Fostoria board OKs 2013 appropriations (Courier)

FOSTORIA - Fostoria school board approved fiscal year 2013 general fund temporary appropriations of more than $21.7 million at Thursday's regular meeting. The meeting was rescheduled from Monday to accommodate board members' schedules. The district finished fiscal year 2012 on June 30 with a carryover balance of $400,939, according to information from Treasurer Jaime Pearson, so the available general fund balance is more than $22.1 million on July 1, which is the beginning of the fiscal year. Read more...