Ed News

Education News for 02-28-2013

State Education News

  • IN OUR SCHOOLS: Ohio finally releases report cards (Cincinnati Enquirer)
  • Ohio’s Department of Education on Wednesday released the rest of its school and district report card data for the 2011-12 school year, six months late…Read more…

  • Ohio schools' report cards shifting to new format (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
  • The Solon school district won't be sweating over whether it's rated Excellent or Excellent with Distinction on state report cards anymore.…Read more…

  • Yost slams how schools report data (Columbus Dispatch)
  • State Auditor Dave Yost, whose office investigated data-scrubbing among school districts throughout the state, called on the Ohio Department of Education yesterday to fix the “just-trust-me” system.…Read more…

  • School report cards finally released (Findlay Courier)
  • After a nearly seven-month delay because of a statewide investigation into attendance tampering, the 2011-12 school report cards were finally released Wednesday.…Read more…

  • Official state report cards released (Lima News)
  • The State Department of Education released the final 2011-12 report cards Wednesday.…Read more…

  • Final-Not-Quite-Final Ohio School Report Cards Released (State Impact Ohio)
  • Ohioans finally get to see their schools’ ratings in the nice, clean PDF format they’re used to, instead of the confusing and incomplete spreadsheets the Department of Education released in the fall.…Read more…

  • Ohio Department of Education releases finalized school report cards (Toledo Blade)
  • The Ohio Department of Education released finalized school report cards today, after a months-long delay prompted by a statewide investigation into allegations of data manipulation by school districts.…Read more…

  • Justices’ questions leave fired science teacher hopeful (Columbus Dispatch)
  • Attorneys for Mount Vernon schools fidgeted in their seats and dropped their heads yesterday as they listened to Ohio Supreme Court justices discuss the case of fired teacher John Freshwater.…Read more…

Local Education News

  • Local districts fair well on state report cards (Akron Beacon Journal)
  • The Ohio Department of Education has found that Akron-area school districts performed higher than state performance averages.…Read more…

  • Report cards for Ohio schools unchanged from preliminary results, but Cleveland among districts still (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
  • Your school district's rating on final report cards issued Wednesday hasn't changed since the state released preliminary ratings in the fall.…Read more…

  • Hilliard schools top new state ranking (Columbus Dispatch)
  • For years, Hilliard students consistently have accomplished more than a year’s worth of learning during the school year. …Read more…

  • Linden students collect 750 books for hospital (Hamilton Journal-News)
  • Linden Elementary’s Friday morning book club — The Morning Glories - set out to do something special for the school's participation in the 26 Days of Kindness initiative.…Read more…

  • Ohio releases final school report cards (New Philadelphia Times-Reporter)
  • Sixteen school buildings in the Tuscarawas Valley earned the ranking of Excellent With Distinction in the latest Ohio school report card data released Wednesday.…Read more…

  • No surprises as school report cards are finally released (Newark Advocate)
  • About six months later than usual, the Ohio Department of Education released final school report card data on Wednesday.…Read more…

  • Final school report card results released (Springfield News-Sun)
  • Local school districts maintained their preliminary report card ratings Wednesday when the state released final results for the 2011-12 school year.…Read more…

  • Youngstown schools stay lowest ranked in Valley (Youngstown Vindicator)
  • Final school report cards released Wednesday by the Ohio Department of Education look a lot like those issued last October.…Read more…

  • ScholArts charter school to close today (Columbus Dispatch)
  • A charter school in the Milo-Grogan neighborhood is giving up its legal fight to stay open and will hold its final day of classes today.…Read more…

  • Sequester could cut local Head Start (Marion Star)
  • As Friday’s sequester deadline looms, 47 children in Marion, Morrow, Crawford and Richland counties remain caught in the cross hairs.…Read more…

  • Clark to hire school deputies (Springfield News-Sun)
  • Clark County commissioners plan to spend more than $96,000 this year and $118,000 next year to hire deputies to boost school security, but concerns have been raised whether the county can afford the program.…Read more…

  • Schools Scramble To Submit School Safety Plans To State After 10TV Probe (WBNS)
  • Three central Ohio schools left to submit their safety plans to the state filed them within the past week after being probed by 10TV’s Jerry Revish.…Read more…

  • CrimeTracker 10 Analyzes School Safety 1 year After Chardon HS Shooting (WBNS)
  • Last year’s tragedy at Chardon High School was a painful reminder of how vulnerable places of learning can be.…Read more…

  • Chardon Healing Fund helps victims' families after school shooting (WEWS)
  • The people of Chardon have opened their hearts to help victims’ families of the Chardon High School shooting. They've also opened their wallets and the generosity has been felt from coast-to-coast.…Read more…

  • Chardon school shooting victims' families suing T.J. Lane, his family (Willoughby News Herald)
  • Families of the three students who died in the Chardon High School shootings filed a wrongful death suit Wednesday against the gunman, his parents and his legal guardians.…Read more…

Education News for 02-27-2013

State Education News

  • School-funding tweaks possible, Kasich adviser says (Columbus Dispatch)
  • Legislators got another tutorial on Gov. John Kasich’s school-funding plan yesterday, but the additional details failed to alleviate many concerns about how state aid will be distributed…Read more...

  • State education department probes data ‘scrubbing’ by schools (Columbus Dispatch)
  • Columbus City Schools and eight other Ohio districts are now under investigation by the Ohio Department of Education for misrepresenting student enrollment data, meaning they could lose funding and educators…Read more...

  • Schools getting ready for state testing in March (Newark Advocate)
  • From March 11-15, the high school will start on a two-hour delay schedule because of the Ohio Graduation Tests. Buses will run on their normal schedule. All sophomores, and any upperclassmen who need to retest, need to arrive at 7:30 a.m…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Columbus school board well-trained in policy governance (Columbus Dispatch)
  • Keeping your nose out of the CEO’s business doesn’t come cheap. The Columbus Board of Education has spent almost $100,000 for training in “policy governance” since it adopted the management model…Read more...

  • Ignoring mayor, school board plows ahead with superintendent search (Columbus Dispatch)
  • Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman and members of his Education Commission demanded this month that the city school district drop plans to hire a full-time superintendent by April…Read more...

  • TPS board delays vote to extend pacts for 4 in cabinet (Toledo Blade)
  • The Toledo Board of Education delayed a vote Tuesday on contract extensions for most members of the superintendent’s cabinet, but board members claimed their actions were not an indication of a lack of board support…Read more...

  • Newark School Committee Discusses Arming Teachers To Improve Security (WBNS)
  • After the tragedy at Sandy Hook, Newark City Schools formed a safety committee which held its first meeting on Monday. Among the safety suggestions that were discussed was the idea of arming teachers…Read more...

  • Chardon reacts to T.J. Lane's guilty plea as it remembers school shooting (Willoughby News Herald)
  • People heading to a Chardon High School concert on Tuesday night had a variety of opinions on Thomas Lane III's guilty plea earlier the same day…Read more...

Editorial

  • A word of caution to CCS (Canton Repository)
  • Canton City Schools Superintendent Adrian Allison rightly feels a sense of urgency about restructuring the district’s schools…Read more...

  • For Chardon, an anniversary and a guilty plea (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
  • A shaken 200-pound Chardon High School football player walking down the hall wrapped in a Linus blanket…Read more...

Education News for 02-26-2013

State Education News

  • Head Start could see cuts (Canton Repository)
  • If a budget compromise among lawmakers in Washington D.C. remains elusive, spending cuts totaling $85 billion will begin Friday…Read more...

  • Attendance 'scrubbing' study continues (Cincinnati Enquirer)
  • The Ohio Department of Education has officially opened its investigation into the nine school districts, including Cincinnati and Winton Woods, cited this month by the Ohio auditor for evidence of “scrubbing…Read more...

  • High-school dropouts costly, report says (Columbus Dispatch)
  • High-school dropouts are costing about $1.8 billion in lost tax revenue every year, education advocates said in a report released yesterday…Read more...

  • Panel selects 4 state superintendent finalists (Columbus Dispatch)
  • A State Board of Education subcommittee yesterday named four finalists for state school superintendent…Read more...

  • Bills seek to remove stigma from workforce development centers (Hamilton Journal-News)
  • Workforce One Butler County provided job assistance to nearly 20,600 last year and could probably have helped thousands more, officials said. But the Fairfield agency’s services…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Chillicothe board approves $640,000 in cuts, closure of sixth-grade building (Chillicothe Gazette)
  • Chillicothe’s current crop of fifth-graders will be staying put this fall. The Board of Education on Monday approved more than $640,000 in budget reductions that include the closure of the Western…Read more...

  • Clear Fork schools ponder drug test policy (Mansfield News Journal)
  • The Clear Fork Board of Education plans to consider drug testing of student-athletes and drivers at its next meeting…Read more...

  • Licking Valley High School teen creates anti-bullying blog (Newark Advocate)
  • Haley Smith knows what it feels like to be bullied. When she was in elementary school, kids used to tease her about her red hair and freckles and even stole her glasse…Read more...

  • Some districts on ballot show spending hikes (Springfield News-Sun)
  • Eighteen area school districts have levies on the ballot May 7, and all of them have made budget cuts of some type in the past few years…Read more...

  • Latest round of negotiations ends with no settlement as Strongsville teachers prepare for strike (Sun Newspapers)
  • With a potential teacher strike less than a week away, a four-and-a-half -our negotiation session between the Strongsville teachers union and the school district…Read more...

  • Sylvania council votes to terminate director of food service (Toledo Blade)
  • The Sylvania City Schools Board of Education voted unanimously Monday night to terminate the district's director of food service for allegedly misreporting the number of free or reduced meals…Read more...

  • Austintown teachers reach tentative deal with board (Warren Tribune Chronicle)
  • A tentative deal was reached late Monday between a teachers union and the Austintown school administration…Read more...

Editorial

  • Adequacy gap (Akron Beacon Journal)
  • When John Kasich met with superintendents the day he unveiled his new funding plan for public schools, he hardly could have been more emphatic. He declared: “If you’re poor, you’re going to get more. If you are richer, you’re going to get less…Read more...

  • Youngstown schools cannot afford to lose superintendent (Youngstown Vindicator)
  • When the restructuring plan for the Youngstown City School District is unveiled to the public March 6, the community will realize how important it is to have the right person in charge to ensure a successful transformation…Read more...

Education News for 02-25-2013

State Education News

  • 'Bad apples' mean end of tutor program (Cincinnati Enquirer)
  • Last year, Telina Crooms’ young daughters spent their Saturdays at the Price Hill Recreation Center doing crafts, learning yoga, listening to classical music and, most importantly, learning math at a popular Price Hill tutoring program…Read more...

  • Kasich education proposals aim to cut regulations (Columbus Dispatch)
  • Gov. John Kasich’s proposed school-funding plan and voucher expansion have received plenty of attention, but he also wants a variety of other education-policy changes…Read more...

  • Here’s what the federal budget cuts mean (Columbus Dispatch)
  • Title I money, which goes to the neediest school districts, would decrease by $725 million during the next year, potentially eliminating support to some 2,700 schools serving 1.2 million students…Read more...

  • Cuts might be bad, but no one is panicking yet (Columbus Dispatch)
  • Congress has less than a week to undo scheduled spending cuts of $1.2 trillion over the next decade, but the halls of the Capitol didn’t just lack urgency last week…Read more...

  • GED test, cost to change in 2014 (Hamilton Journal-News)
  • Impending changes to the General Educational Development test, or GED, make 2013 an important year for students who want to pass the exam and achieve his or her Ohio High School Equivalence Diploma…Read more...

  • Open enrollment to face state review (Zanesville Times-Recorder)
  • A program that allows students to attend any participating school district in the state will be reviewed for the first time in 20 years amid consensus the tax dollars involved make winners of some districts and losers of others…Read more...

Local Education News

  • State transportation subsidies put schools on the road to tax increases (Akron Beacon Journal)
  • Area school superintendents say they are alarmed by Gov. John Kasich’s proposal to keep the transportation budget unchanged at a time when fuel and equipment costs…Read more...

  • Reynoldsburg students learning while doing in Capstone program (Columbus Dispatch)
  • The students base their research projects on problems they want to solve: A solar-powered cellphone charger. A hydroponic system that helps low-income families…Read more...

  • Mentors at Ohio State help Latino youth (Columbus Dispatch)
  • At age 15, Martin Perez found himself working in a tortilla factory on Columbus’ West Side — 247 miles from his family home in Michigan…Read more...

  • Columbus school board gave Harris all the power (Columbus Dispatch)
  • If it looks like the Columbus Board of Education hasn’t been paying close attention to the details of running a $1 billion-a-year enterprise, it’s by design…Read more...

  • District eyes cuts, transportation fees (Springfield News-Sun)
  • Urbana City School board members are reviewing about $650,000 in potential cuts and possibly closing a school building as part of $1 million in spending reductions by the 2013- 2014 school year…Read more...

  • Local teachers learn to be 'First Responders' (WKYC)
  • Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's "Active Shooter Training for Educators" will be held in the Cleveland area all-day Monday in Valley View…Read more...

  • Youngstown schools spent $7 million on substitute teachers over the last five years (Youngstown Vindicator)
  • THE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT HAS SPENT NEARLY $7 million on substitute teachers the last five years, with more than three more months left in this school year…Read more...

Editorial

  • CCS plan addresses urgent challenges (Canton Repository)
  • The restructuring plan for Canton City Schools that Superintendent Adrian Allison unveiled last week will aggressively tackle two urgent challenges facing the district…Read more...

  • Catching charter-school cheaters (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
  • Recent criminal charges filed against officials at Cleveland's Lion of Judah Academy charter school for allegedly shifting $1.2 million…Read more...

  • Don't rush for schools chief (Columbus Dispatch)
  • Conducting a search right now for a new superintendent of Columbus City Schools poses serious challenges: What top-notch executive would leap…Read more...

  • Support technology education (Marion Star)
  • Earlier this week we published a story about middle school students taking part in a robot competition. Young teens and tweens from across the county spent the day testing their machines in competition with each other…Read more...

Education News for 02-22-2013

State Education News

  • Educators, state agency in deadlock over funds (Akron Beacon Journal)
  • The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and more than 350 school districts are in a fight over millions of dollars in Medicaid money that is used to provide services…Read more...

  • Ohio Federation of Teachers members take concerns about evaluations to state legislators (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
  • Members of the Ohio Federation of Teachers fanned out across the offices of state legislators today to air their concerns…Read more...

  • More changes coming to Youngstown schools (Youngstown Vindicator)
  • Next year will see restructured schools and programs for the city school district for the second time in three years…Read more...

Local Education News

  • School chief will face no charges (Cincinnati Enquirer)
  • A local school superintendent investigated by prosecutors said an agreement Thursday ending his case doesn’t end the need for more state funding for poor families…Read more...

  • No charges for schools chief who ripped Kasich (Columbus Dispatch)
  • The Warren County prosecutor will not charge a Dayton-area superintendent who blasted Gov. John Kasich’s school-funding plan…Read more...

  • McDonald police to patrol village schools (Youngstown Vindicator)
  • The McDonald Board of Education has agreed to hire village police officers at $25 an hour to patrol the school campus daily…Read more...

  • Youngstown superintendent is finalist for another job (Youngstown Vindicator)
  • The city schools superintendent is one of four finalists for the top job in the Little Rock, Ark., school district…Read more...

Editorial

  • School funding? Still clear as mud (Canton Repository)
  • Tuesday night, in his third State of the State address, Gov. Kasich was generous in his praise of the Legislature for backing the “big ideas” he championed in his first two years as governor…Read more...

  • Ohio heroes make life better for all (Columbus Dispatch)
  • When Gov. John Kasich initiated the Governor’s Courage Award during last year’s State of the State speech, he called attention to the brave and selfless acts of ordinary Ohioans — and some famous ones…Read more...

Education News for 02-21-2013

State Education News

  • Teachers' credentials for helping students struggling with reading under discussion (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
  • Ohio lawmakers are considering some tweaks to the coming third grade reading guarantee to make sure enough teachers will have the required credentials to work…Read more...

  • Kasich aide among 30 seeking schools post (Columbus Dispatch)
  • Gov. John Kasich’s top education adviser heads the list of 30 candidates for Ohio superintendent of public instruction…Read more...

  • Tuition for fulltime kindergarten appears OK, officials say (Newark Advocate)
  • Granville School officials are proceeding with plans to offer full-time kindergarten classes on a tuition basis next school year, believing that Gov. John Kasich’s proposed new budget will now allow it…Read more...

  • Chardon Schools officials receive Governor's Courage Award for dedication after shooting (Willoughby News Herald)
  • Chardon High School Principal Andy Fetchik said it was humbling to be on stage at the State of the State Address with other recipients of the Governor’s Courage Award…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Kent ponders school security (Akron Beacon Journal)
  • Kent schools Superintendent Joseph Giancola is considering new ways to ensure student safety…Read more...

  • Mayor denies he intends to disband school board (Columbus Dispatch)
  • Mayor Michael B. Coleman insisted yesterday that he is not trying to take over Columbus City Schools, a day after the school board…Read more...

  • Butler Tech to issue $3 million in bonds (Hamilton Journal-News)
  • The Butler Tech Board of Education has authorized Treasurer Ed Pokoro to issue up to $3 million in Bond Anticipation Notes to refinance existing debt and secure funds for future capital improvements…Read more...

  • Districts try to recover money lost to charter schools (Hamilton Journal-News)
  • Area school districts are taking different approaches to recoup the millions of dollars they are losing to charter schools each year…Read more...

  • District approves purchase agreement for buses (Hamilton Journal-News)
  • Fairfield City Schools approved a lease/purchase agreement for its 30 new buses at a special meeting Wednesday morning, according to spokeswoman Gina Gentry-Fletcher…Read more...

  • Galion school board tables talk of arming teachers (Mansfield News Journal)
  • The Galion school board meeting was a mixed bag Wednesday, with board members approving a number of initiatives, but some old topics remained in focus…Read more...