Ed News

Education News for 10-16-2012

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State Education News

  • Grad rates tumble under new rule (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Call it the ugly truth. Many Ohio schools saw their graduation rates plummet after the state required them to track whether every high-school senior…Read more...

Op/Ed

  • School Reform, But From Whose Perspective? (Education Week)

    • Public K-12 schooling is a popular subject in all forms of media these days, with the majority of coverage highly critical of both the professionals who work within the system…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Bluffton board OKs new policies (Findlay Courier)

    • The Bluffton school board approved a number of new policies Monday, including one to provide reading intervention to students who may need it. Superintendent Greg Denecker said most of the policy changes were made because of changes in the laws…Read more...

  • Tri-Rivers levy would fund job training, upgrade facilities (Marion Star)

    • Tri-Rivers Career Center is talking job development as it seeks a tax levy that officials say is needed for updating the building and equipment…Read more...

  • New school could help lure jobs (Springfield News-Sun)

    • A major corporation’s sponsorship of the Global Impact STEM Academy not only secures help for the school but also provides a boost to local efforts to bring more businesses and jobs here…Read more...

  • LaBrae principal praises lockdown (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • LaBrae High School principal Rocco Adduci said he is pleased with the way staff and law enforcement secured the facility and took three intruders into custody…Read more...

  • TCTC decides against being part of solar project (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • The Trumbull Career & Technical Center board of directors has decided against participating in a proposed $8 million Solar Planet project…Read more...

Education News for 10-15-2012

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State Education News

  • Department of Education to release report card ratings, performance indexes and attendance rates (Dayton Daily News)

    • The Ohio Department of Education is expected to release the 2011-12 report card ratings, performance indexes and attendance rates for local schools and districts on Wednesday, according to Ohio Acting Superintendent Michael Sawyers....Read more...

  • Former Monroe treasurer could lose license (Middletown Journal)

    • Former Monroe schools treasurer Kelley Thorpe could have her treasurer’s license revoked or suspended, pending a hearing before the State Board of Education, according to documents obtained by the Middletown Journal....Read more...

  • Here’s Your Chance to Shape Ohio’s Seclusion and Restraint Policy (State Impact Ohio)

    • Seclusion rooms are enclosed spaces that are supposed to be used to calm or restrain children who become violent. Seclusion — and restraint, or physical force used to control a child — are often used for children with disabilities....Read more...

  • Week Ahead: Report Card Data, State Board of Education Voters’ Guide and More (State Impact Ohio)

    • Wednesday: Ohio Department of Education to release the rest of the “preliminary” school report-card data, including school and district letter grades....Read more...

  • TPS holds state’s 1st forum to boost parents’ interest (Toledo Blade)

    • Believing that an active parent group can do more to improve conditions at a school than any reform, Toledo officials said they hope a forum Saturday at Bowsher High School will help boost parents’ involvement in the district....Read more...

Local Education News

  • Ross County schools posting bullying incidents on their websites (Chillicothe Gazette)

    • About a year after the Gazette first reported that five of Ross County's seven school districts had failed to comply with a 2007 state law requiring a summary of bullying incidents be posted on their websites, every district now is in full compliance....Read more...

  • Cleveland school tax would have widely different costs in different neighborhoods (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland's proposed school tax would have very different costs in the district's diverse neighborhoods....Read more...

  • Bluffton staff goes viral (Lima News)

    • In a bit of a twist, it is time for the adults to be hip -- sort of. A group of Bluffton teachers and administrators have gone viral with their own music video...Read more...

  • Transportation duties to be shared (Lisbon Morning Journal)

    • LISBON - The school district intends to contract with the Columbiana County Educational Service Center to share transportation administration duties following the loss of Lisbon's bus supervisor....Read more...

  • Elgin milestone (Marion Star)

    • MARION - Elgin Local Schools students, staff and supporters celebrated a milestone in the construction of a new K-12th grade building at a topping off ceremony Friday....Read more...

  • Superintendent evaluation process varies (Middletown Journal)

    • While Race to the Top and other education reform movements are putting an emphasis on teacher and principal evaluations, there is no uniform method for evaluating superintendents....Read more...

  • Avon Local Schools preliminary report card looks similar to last year (Sun Newpapers)

    • The Ohio Department of Education released preliminary School Report Card Data for the 2011-2012 school year late last month. The reports are not complete and the release of the official reports is running behind schedule, but the preliminary data shows...Read more...

  • School board likely to mull results, plan of action (This Week News)

    • Parents in the Johnstown-Monroe school district whose children attend nonpublic schools should have time to make other transportation arrangements if their child's route takes more than 30 minutes to complete....Read more...

  • Licking Heights anticipates highest grade on official state report card (This Week News)

    • Although official results haven't been released, Licking Heights Superintendent Philip Wagner said the district learned it likely will be graded "Excellent with Distinction" on the Ohio Department of Education's state report card....Read more...

  • Superintendents Are Retiring With Large Pension Plans (WCMH)

    • In the last few months, five superintendents from some of the largest school districts in Central Ohio have decided to retire. They're taking hefty retirement packages and taxpayers are helping pay for them....Read more...

  • Two Westlake elementary schools earn Blue Ribbon distinction (West Life)

    • Kim Conley, principal of Hilliard Elementary School, said teachers and staff at her school are never satisfied with the status quo....Read more...

  • Youngstown students give up day off to learn lessons in teamwork (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Youngstown Eighth grader Jarell Thompson wants to help other students who don’t fit in....Read more...

Editorial

  • Toledo tax crapshoot: Natural seven or snake eyes? (Toledo Blade)

    • Lucky seven? We’ll find out soon. If you’ve looked at the fall ballot, you know that voters in the city and school district of...Read more...

  • Get Ohio school data cleared up (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • A testy exchange between an Ohio Board of Education member and state Auditor Dave Yost last week helped make it clear serious problems exist in some of the state's largest school systems....Read more...

Education News for 10-12-2012

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State Education News

  • Superintendent evaluation process varies (Hamilton Journal-News)

    • While Race to the Top and other education reform movements are putting an emphasis on teacher and principal evaluations, there is no uniform method for evaluating superintendents…Read more...

  • CTC programs take students from classroom to workforce (Portsmouth Daily Times)

    • The Scioto County Career Technical Center has changed faces since its old days as “VoTech,” with a significant growth…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Former Cleveland schools CEO Barbara Byrd Bennett to take over top post in Chicago (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard stepped down Thursday after a little more than a year in the post, a spokeswoman for Mayor Rahm Emanuel said…Read more...

  • Levy failure would result in loss of up to 20 teachers (Lorain Morning Journal)

    • Failure of Amherst schools 4.9-mill levy, Issue 28, would mean up to 20 more teaching positions would be eliminated, Superintendent Steve Sayers said…Read more...

  • Nonstudents enter LaBrae High, triggering a lockdown of school (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • LaBrae High School was on lockdown for 90 minutes Thursday morning after three young men walked into the school who were not students there and were noticed by a teacher…Read more...

Editorial

  • Access denied (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • State agencies catch grief for layers of bureaucracy that waste time and money. Many times, the problem originates with the General Assembly. Ohio’s Statewide Student Identifier system…Read more...

Education News for 10-11-2012

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State Education News

  • Yost has found evidence of deceit in some schools (Columbus Dispatch)

    • As members of the Columbus Board of Education listened from the audience, state Auditor Dave Yost said that interviews have produced evidence of “mal-intent” behind the changing of student data…Read more...

  • More state report card concerns (WKYC)

    • Cleveland School officials were able to see firsthand more state report card data today. As expected, the district is in academic emergency and could face falling under an academic distress commission's control…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Grades mixed on CPS school-choice push (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • Cincinnati Public Schools has been working for more than two years to bring successful charter schools into its portfolio. But to date it has zero partnerships to show for it…Read more...

  • Frank Jackson and Eric Gordon campaign for tax increase; opponents raise objections (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • Mayor Frank Jackson and schools chief Eric Gordon continue pushing their message that the proposed new school tax is needed to help the schools and, in turn, the city and region…Read more...

  • Newark high-schoolers on edge (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Officials continued to keep a close watch yesterday after a Newark High School student reported that she had been raped before school on Tuesday morning…Read more...

  • Children Told To Leave School After District Said They Did Not Prove Residency (WBNS)

    • Family members said that they provided the Westerville City School District everything it needed for their children to attend. Just more than a month ago, a teacher sent the siblings home with all of their books…Read more...

  • CMSD Report Card’s Property Value Implications (WJW)

    • It is almost report card time for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. A second round of preliminary report card data will be released next week. “(Tuesday) night, the State Board of Education voted to release the spread sheets…Read more...

  • TCTC studies land deal for solar project (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • By the middle of this winter, a crop of solar-collection panels could begin to emerge on 10 of the 30 acres of farmland between the state Route 5 bypass and the Trumbull Career and Technical Center…Read more...

Editorial

  • Role reversal (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Recent developments in Ohio’s public schools make it clear that school boards should be more independent and watchful, not less, to guard against potential problems. More diligence by board members…Read more...

Education News for 10-10-2012

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State Education News

  • School report card date set (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • Ohio will be handing out state report card ratings for districts and schools Oct. 17, state officials said Tuesday, now that State Auditor Dave Yost’s investigations into enrollment…Read more...

  • State to release new report cards (Columbus Dispatch)

    • A second round of preliminary school report-card data that includes school ratings and attendance rates will be released next week. The State Board of Education voted 12-3 yesterday to make the additional data public…Read more...

  • Parent attacks dress code policy (Dayton Daily News)

    • A Tippecanoe High School student’s mother isn’t happy with the new principal’s interpretation of the dress code…Read more...

  • State board to release some report-card data (Toledo Blade)

    • The state board of education voted Tuesday to release some of the school report card information it has withheld pending a state auditor’s investigation of attendance-data manipulation in some districts…Read more...

  • Ohio officials discuss Ledgemont Schools' fiscal emergency (Willoughby News Herald)

    • Community and staff members filled Ledgemont Elementary School’s cafeteria Monday to hear an Ohio Department of Education official outline the ramifications of the school district’s fiscal emergency status…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Riverdale, teachers union reach contract settlement (Findlay Courier)

    • Contract agreements have been reached between Riverdale school's administration and the teachers union, officials…Read more...

  • Schools, families adjust to healthier school lunches (Hamilton Journal-News)

    • Many students and parents have reacted strongly to National School Lunch Program updates introduced this year that mandate calorie limits and more fruits…Read more...

  • Parents cite bullying issue as reason to reject Lima schools levy (Lima News)

    • Bullying is at the center of an effort to defeat next month’s Lima schools levy. Three families upset about what they say is a bullying problem in the district called a news conference…Read more...

  • Switzerland of Ohio schools paring $1M from budget (Marietta Times)

    • The Switzerland of Ohio Local school district is working to cut $1 million from its budget. The district has already laid off three employees and instituted a teacher hiring freeze…Read more...

  • Career center banks on surplus (Marietta Times)

    • The Washington County Career Center is projected to be in the black for the next five years, even as expenses overtake revenue, according to a forecast approved…Read more...

  • Catholic teachers will vote on union (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • About 100 Catholic elementary school teachers will decide later this month whether to be part of a union…Read more...

Editorial

  • Why secrecy? (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The Dispatch has filed a lawsuit against the Columbus Board of Education for a simple reason: Public meetings should be open to the public. The board has ignored repeated requests by the newspaper to honor that legal requirement…Read more...

Education News for 10-09-2012

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State Education News

  • New bully-prevention guidelines make their way into area schools (Athens Messenger)

    • With the passage of the Jessica Logan Act earlier this year, schools across the state are now revising anti-bullying policies…Read more...

  • Some standard tests not counted in schools rankings (Chillicothe Gazette)

    • Every year, Ohio schoolchildren take standardized tests to help determine their progress in key subjects and the effectiveness of education at that school…Read more...

  • Columbus City Schools do 180 on data scrubbing (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Columbus City Schools leaders shifted last week from saying they don’t know whether administrators were changing attendance records. Their new position: They were changing records, and they thought it was OK…Read more...

  • Yost: State could save $430,000 a year with access to students’ names (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The state Education Department could save more than $430,000 each year — and do a better job policing school data — if it had access to students’ names, the state auditor said yesterday…Read more...

  • Manufacturing Day raises career awareness (Dayton Daily News)

    • Six area manufacturers and Miami University joined a national effort Friday to address a skills gap that has resulted in 600,000 unfilled…Read more...

  • Excellence expected (Lorain Morning Journal)

    • In the midst of an investigation into false attendance data, the state has released limited preliminary report cards to school districts…Read more...

  • Many local school leaders go without evaluations (Springfield News-Sun)

    • Half of Clark and Champaign counties’ top school district officials haven’t been evaluated in more than a year, despite board policies in each district…Read more...

  • GED test fee to triple starting in January 2014 (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • If you’ve been thinking about finally earning your GED, now would be a good time to do it. Beginning in January 2014, the cost of taking the test will triple from $40 to $120, and the content will be more difficult…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Mayor taps adviser to give briefings on city schools (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman has picked former Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut to advise the city in the mayor’s recently announced initiative to assess and improve the Columbus schools…Read more...

  • Growth, loss of state aid spur Dublin schools’ request (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Enrollment in Dublin schools has grown at one of the fastest rates in central Ohio over the past decade, and so has district spending…Read more...

  • Columbus schools: Correct numbers may fuel vouchers (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Jonathan Beard has a personal stake in the outcome of Columbus City Schools’ data scandal…Read more...

  • Kids flood into Whitehall schools (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Whitehall school officials knew the numbers were off. The state had predicted that the district’s enrollment was on the decline, and it planned to design all five new schools for a smaller student population…Read more...

  • ‘Dispatch’ suing over board’s private talks (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The Dispatch Printing Company sued the Columbus Board of Education yesterday, saying the board violated Ohio law when it barred the public from meetings to discuss a student- data scandal…Read more...

  • Westerville schools chief plans to retire (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The chief of Westerville schools will retire at the end of this school year, he told members of the school board yesterday…Read more...

  • Worthington schools’ spending up, but less than area average (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The Worthington school district spent more money last year on fewer students and teachers than it did a decade before, but the spending increase has been lower than the average for area districts, a Dispatch analysis of state and district data shows…Read more...

  • Schools talk cyberbullying, implement hotlines (Dayton Daily News)

    • School districts across the Miami Valley are beefing up their anti-bullying policies and hosting school and community events this month to educate students and families about the dangers of bullying…Read more...

  • Marion school chief: No feedback yet on attendance probe (Marion Star)

    • Marion City Schools has not received any feedback from the state regarding "questionable attendance policies and practices," its superintendent…Read more...

  • State continues probe of Hamilton’s attendance data (Middletown Journal)

    • Investigators from the state auditor’s office will be in Hamilton Monday to finish a probe into whether three local schools scrubbed attendance data, possibly to improve their report card ratings…Read more...

  • Learning center challenges students (Toledo Blade)

    • Springfield Middle School student Koceila Beddek bent over the NASA space map, adjusting tiny mirrors to direct the laser across the room and hit the moon…Read more...

  • Chardon Healing Fund strategic planning meeting looks at future plans (Willoughby News Herald)

    • The Chardon Healing Fund recently held a Journey to Healing strategic planning meeting to share information with community members on the various healing supports and services currently available…Read more...

Editorial

  • A Common Core of knowledge (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • Put a bunch of West African immigrants in a room, let them get comfortable after a drink or two, and before long they begin to swap stories…Read more...

  • Policing Ohio's online courses (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • It's time the state legislature created a far more transparent and accountable system for Ohio's online programs and schools…Read more...

  • Auditor's findings must not sink Cleveland schools levy (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • Cleveland's schools have been tortured by a steady drip of bad news, some of it self- inflicted, but voters must keep the faith and support Issue 107…Read more...