Education News for 03-07-2013

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State Education News

  • Both candidates for Ohio education boss have made missteps (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Gov. John Kasich’s education adviser disclosed a 2009 drunken-driving conviction as part of the Ohio Board of Education’s search to find a new state superintendent…Read more...

  • Local schools didn't use up calamity days (Mansfield News Journal)

    • Students may not be happy about it, but the winter of 2012-13 has been kind to area school districts…Read more...

  • Restructuring plan unveiled (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Three school buildings would close next year, two more would change functions and grade alignment would change in several others under a restructuring plan…Read more...

  • School board president wants Connie Hathorn to stay (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Superintendent Connie Hathorn still doesn’t have a new contract, but as of Wednesday afternoon, he had the backing of the school board’s majority…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Strongsville teachers, district hold talks - but no positive results (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • No positive news emerged and no further talks are scheduled following a meeting Wednesday night of officials from the Strongsville school district and its striking teacher's union…Read more...

  • Coleman’s panel asks: Is elected school board best? (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s Education Commission will bring in experts later this month to explore whether an elected school board is the best governance model for Columbus City Schools…Read more...

  • Marion superintendent interviews beginning (Marion Star)

    • The Marion City Schools Board of Education announced it will start interviewing superintendent candidates today as it searches for a successor to James Barney…Read more...

  • No more talks scheduled; parties in Strongsville teacher strike remain divided (Sun Newspapers)

    • Contract talks between the teachers union and the district won't resume in the coming days, said Strongsville Board of Education President David Frazee March 6…Read more...

  • Medina: Outrage at superintendent's 'supersized' bonus (WKYC)

    • Parents, teachers and students in the Medina School district are outraged over a supersized bonus for the superintendent…Read more...

The Network for Public Education launches

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Diane Ravitch and a host of other pro-public education supporters have launched a new and exciting endevour to counter corporate education reformers - The Network for Public Education

Here's their announcement

Our public schools are at risk. As public awareness grows about the unfair attacks on public education, parents, teachers, and concerned citizens are organizing to protect our public schools.

Public education is an essential institution in a democratic society. We believe that we must stand together to resist any efforts to privatize it.

We must also stand together to oppose unsound policies that undermine the quality of education, like high-stakes testing and school closings.

High-stakes testing takes the joy out of learning. It crushes creativity and critical thinking, the very qualities our society needs most for success in the 21st century. High-stakes testing does not tell us whether and how well students are learning or teachers are teaching; it does waste precious time and resources.

No school was ever improved by closing it. Every community should have good public schools, and we believe that public officials have a solemn responsibility to improve public schools, not close or privatize them.

The movement to support public education is growing every day:

From teachers in Seattle who are boycotting the MAP test, to students testifying in Washington about the devastating effect of school closures, to children, parents and teachers standing together in Chicago, to voters in Indiana, to students organizing against excessive testing in Providence, Rhode Island, and Portland, Oregon; from school boards in Texas opposing high-stakes testing; parents, educators, students, and other citizens are taking bold action to speak out for our schools.

We reject phony reforms that undermine our schools and set them up for failure and privatization. We oppose the constant increase in testing, with ever higher stakes attached to them. We have had enough of school closures, and the rapid expansion of selective charter schools.

Our public schools need our support. Our schools are part of our democratic heritage. They should be anchors of stability and hope in our communities.

We believe in keeping public education public. We oppose efforts to transfer public funds to private corporations. We oppose the transfer of public funds and students to for-profit corporations. We say to big business: hands off our public schools!

Today we are launching a new organization, the Network for Public Education. This group will serve to connect all those who are passionate about our schools – students, parents, teachers and OTHER citizens. We will share information an research on vital issues that concern the future of public education. We hope to inspire one another as we work together and learn together about how to resist the attacks on public education.

We are many. There is power in our numbers. Together, we will save our schools.

We hope to help support the growing social movement to support public schools. When you join this network, you will become a part of this movement. We will send out regular bulletins, and use our website to share the latest information about what is happening around the country. We will link activists, grassroots organizations, and bloggers from coast to coast, and whenever possible, support one another.

Our neighborhood schools are not just a local concern any more. It took the work of many before us to build our schools, and it will take the work of many more of us to make sure they are standing for the next generation. Let’s get started.

Education News for 03-06-2013

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State Education News

  • Ohio school superintendent finalists have questions in past (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Richard A. Ross, Gov. John Kasich’s education adviser and former superintendent of Reynoldsburg City Schools, pleaded guilty to a operating a vehicle while intoxicated, reckless operation, speeding, and driving without a seatbelt after being pulled over in Powell, Ohio...Read more...

  • State no longer flags school-worker probes (Columbus Dispatch)

    • We used to be able to tell you whether the state was investigating local educators for misconduct. Those days, apparently, are over…Read more...

  • Officials concerned about looming cuts (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • Schools could see a loss in shared service programs and staff positions if proposed funding cuts are implemented, according to area officials…Read more...

  • Panel warns Yo. BOE: Keep Hathorn or we’ll take over (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Youngstown schools Superintendent Connie Hathorn is staying put in the district, and the board of education has been warned to keep it that way, or lose control of the schools altogether…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Jobs, busing may feel ax as Columbus schools face $25 million shortfall (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Eliminating more than 300 jobs, shortening the school day, dropping middle-school sports and ending all high-school transportation — including for charter and private schools…Read more...

  • Fairfield schools to increase security (Hamilton Journal-News)

    • Fairfield City Schools plans to increase security following a review of its buildings in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting…Read more...

  • Group of Strongsville High School students say they 'will not be silenced' from talking about (Sun Newspapers)

    • About 20 students at Strongsville High School held a silent rally outside the Board of Education office March 5…Read more...

  • All sides in Strongsville teachers strike say they want deal, but no talks are scheduled (Sun Newspapers)

    • It's official - all sides involved in the ongoing Strongsville teachers strike have said they are ready to continue negotiating…Read more...

  • Austintown teachers break off without a vote on a new contract (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Austintown teachers met Tuesday but broke off without a vote on a new contract with the school board…Read more...

Education News for 03-05-2013

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State Education News

  • 2 are finalists for Ohio education chief (Columbus Dispatch)

    • A state Board of Education subcommittee today named Ohio’s acting schools superintendent and the governor’s top education adviser as finalists for state superintendent of public instruction…Read more…

  • State Ed Board spends 50K to “find” current superintendent (Plunderbund.com)

    • Last year the State School Board hired Ray and Associates, an Iowa-based company that “specializes in educational executive leadership searches”, to help identify a new State Superintendent.…Read more…

  • Ohio Bill Would Allow Schools To Use Levies To Cover Security Costs (WBNS)

    • School districts strapped for cash may soon have another way to pull money for school security.…Read more…

Local Education News

  • IN OUR SCHOOLS: Principals face layoffs from CPS (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • The budget scramble has begun at Cincinnati Public Schools, and it may cost some workers their jobs.…Read more…

  • Strongsville teachers strike moves into 2nd day; more substitutes will be in classrooms (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • Teachers braved biting cold on picket lines today during the first day of the Strongsville Education Association's strike against the district, while students and principals faced their own ordeal inside the schools.…Read more…

  • Lima Senior students bring 'Shark Tank' lessons to middle schoolers (Lima News)

    • They’re called Spring Shoes, and Lima North Middle School fifth-graders Michael Younger and J’Veahn Soles assured the “Sharks” the shoes would be the next big thing.…Read more…

  • State tells Newcomerstown: 'We're not here to take control' (New Philadelphia Times-Reporter)

    • State and local officials met for the first time Monday to begin formulating a plan that will get Newcomerstown out of fiscal emergency status.…Read more…

  • Legend Elementary deemed 'School of Promise' (Newark Advocate)

    • Legend Elementary is one of 163 schools statewide to be recognized as a School of Promise by the Ohio Department of Education based on its 2011-12 report card.…Read more…

  • Massive ‘Building for Success’ program gets mixed reviews (Toledo Blade)

    • So big was the project, so vast its purported benefits to the city and its schools, and yet it barely passed.…Read more…

  • Strongsville High School students leave class during strike, feel unsafe and describe overcrowding (WEWS)

    • Strongsville High School students described a chaotic school day as their teachers took to the picket line.…Read more…

  • Schools lose beneficial drug prevention program P.L.U.S., investigate other options (Willoughby News Herald)

    • Beginning next year, area schools will no longer have access to the long-time drug prevention program they’ve come to know.…Read more…

Editorial

  • ‘A passion to be spent’ on teaching children (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • “The situation is dire, the agenda urgent. … There is work to be done and passion to be spent by all of us who appreciate the stakes for our children and for the nation’s future.…Read more…

  • State should give Cleveland school reform plan a chance to work: editorial (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • The Cleveland and Lorain school districts have fallen into the academic doghouse, failing to meet federal standards for four years and earning the state's lowest academic rating -- "emergency," essentially an F.…Read more…

  • Resolve Strongsville teachers strike quickly: editorial (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • No doubt about it: The ugly, confrontational Strongsville teachers strike is a disservice to the future of the suburban district, rated "excellent with distinction" by the state.…Read more…

  • Punish school statistics’ scrubbers (Marietta Times)

    • In what amounted to a spot check of Ohio school districts, state Auditor Dave Yost found eight that engaged in "scrubbing" of attendance reports.…Read more…

  • Common sense school rules (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • Several common-sense changes in state rules that often hobble rather than help public schools are being proposed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich.…Read more…

Education News for 03-04-2013

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State Education News

  • Private biller says schools missing out on $200 million (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services hasn’t fully reimbursed school districts for Medicaid related services since 2005. That’s when the state’s previous reimbursement system crumbled under a lack of oversight…Read more...

  • Charter school money is big question mark in Gov. John Kasich's education budget (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • Much of the debate so far on Gov. John Kasich's education budget has focused on whether he would give enough state money to public schools and how he would distribute it between poor and rich districts…Read more...

  • State’s ‘guarantee’ on school funding may vanish (Columbus Dispatch)

    • School districts have been guaranteed for years that no matter what the state’s funding formula says, they won’t see their basic state funding cut…Read more...

  • School security gets renewed emphasis from state (Columbus Dispatch)

    • For LaDonna Calingo, the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre was a call to action…Read more...

  • Kasich’s school plan hits education centers (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Centers that provide support services to school districts across Ohio could see tens of millions in combined state funding cuts under Gov. John Kasich’s proposed two-year budget…Read more...

  • Cursive 'is a dying art' (Findlay Courier)

    • Before smartphones, before personal and laptop computers, and before typewriters, people put pen or pencil to paper by hand writing. And the best of handwriting was cursive…Read more...

  • Lorain schools will soon be under the guidance of state academic commission (Lorain Morning Journal)

    • Lorain City School’s recently passed levy stopped a state financial takeover, but its poor performance on state report cards will soon land it under the guidance of a state academic commission…Read more...

  • Schools accepting voucher applications (Springfield News-Sun)

    • Parents of students who are eligible for the EdChoice voucher program can apply now at participating private schools…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Chillicothe school district takes leaner approach (Chillicothe Gazette)

    • For the past 102 years, the Western School Building on Cherry Street has served as a venue for learning in the Chillicothe City Schools…Read more...

  • Student competition to create an invention produces simple result (Columbus Dispatch)

    • A marble careens down a track and smacks a switch. A hair dryer breathes to life, sending a ping pong ball flying, releasing a toy car. The miniature Mustang zooms through a loop and releases a resting hammer that slams onto a waiting nail…Read more...

  • Westerville schools losing kids, funding to charters (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Students are leaving Westerville schools at a rate that has alarmed district officials, spurring them to seek ways to draw students back and retain others…Read more...

  • Schools use Internet to crush rumors (Lima News)

    • Rumor had it that Waynesfield-Goshen schools would soon drop its music programs. The grapevine also whispered that the district wanted to take over the community youth basketball program…Read more...

  • District hears plan to arm teachers (Springfield News-Sun)

    • Two separate plans to protect local students are being debated in Clark County, highlighting the decisions districts face in the wake of shootings like Sandy Hook Elementary…Read more...

  • Niles audit finds savings (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • Interim Superintendent Frank Danso said study, reflection and discussion will be necessary for the district as it moves forward after a recent audit…Read more...

  • Increased police presence after rumors of planned shooting at Perry Middle School (Willoughby News Herald)

    • Perry Village Police provided an increased presence at Perry Schools Friday as a precaution after rumors of a shooting threat at Perry Middle School…Read more...

Editorial

  • We must spend surplus wisely (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • After months of pinching pennies, imagine finding yourself with almost $2,000 left over after you’ve paid all your bills. What do you do with the windfall: Put it into your children’s education…Read more...

  • Business, labor, education and government entities pledge to find opportunities for people long (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • As Cleveland's economic turnaround gathers momentum, one of this community's great challenges is to extend that success to businesses, individuals and neighborhoods…Read more...

  • How Teachers Are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms (PEW Internet)

    • A survey of teachers who instruct American middle and secondary school students finds that digital technologies have become central to their teaching and professionalization…Read more...

SB21 - Brings changes to 3rd grade reading law

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Earlier this week, the Ohio Senate passed SB21 (30-1), a bill that would alter requirements of the 3rd grade reading guarantee. The changes were a positive step, and will make it easier for schools and educators to meet the standard, that previously were nearly impossible to meet.

According to a Gongwer report

The bill would eliminate language that required teachers to "be actively engaged in the reading instruction of students for the previous three years," which was seen as a roadblock to hiring new teachers or other qualified educators and was considered a very difficult or nearly impossible standard to meet.

"Given the importance of the third-grade reading guarantee to the future of our children, we listened very carefully" to the suggestions of principals and superintendents, sponsoring Sen. Peggy Lehner (R-Kettering) said.

The bill also includes

  • Closing the loophole whereby a child could avoid being held back by skipping the test.
  • Exempts students who have significant cognitive disabilities
  • Removes "credential" and replaces it with "completion of a program" which would cover programs, such as Orton-Gillingham, that do not produce a credential upon completion.
  • Replaces a value-added score requirement when the teacher is an effective reading instructor, as determined by criteria established by ODE.
  • Allows schools the authority to get a waiver by resolution for their action plan required when the district is unable to hire sufficient teachers with the approved credentials.

The lone no vote was Sen. Joe Schiavoni who said he voted against the bill because, although he supports the policy, the lack of funding is a problem.

"We need to put the $130 million, the $100 million-dollar tag on this to help schools pay for this," he said.

Sen. Gardner, who will chair the subcommittee that will hear the K-12 portion of the budget bill, said he expects to see bicameral, bipartisan support to provide more funding to support the goals of the TGRG in that legislation.

Let's hope so. It's not often we get education bills moving in the right direction. This bill still needs to pass the House.

You can read the full text of the bill, here. For those who would prefer a more plain english explanation, here's LSC's analysis.

SB21 - 3rd Grade Reading Guarantee Changes by