Leader of charter schools in Ohio linked to possible government unrest in Turkey

Media reports show millions go to for-profit charter schools; one Ohio school leader may have strong anti-U.S. sentiments

A prosecutor reportedly has asked a Turkish court to issue an arrest warrant for U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, the honorary president of the Niagara Foundation, whom President of Turkey Tayyip Erdoğan accuses of trying to overthrow him, according to a report by a London newspaper. (See: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/19/turkey-arrest-warrant-fethullah-gulen.)

The Turkish court has not ruled on the request, the newspaper reported.

In a Christmas Eve email from Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy in School Funding Executive Director William Phillis, a recent report in The Columbus Dispatch had indicated a warrant may have been issued for Gülen. Other reports said a warrant has not been issued.

"The Gülen movement operates about 150 tax-supported charter schools in the United States, 19 of which are in Ohio," Phillis said. "The Gülen schools have been the subject of investigations by state and federal agencies.

“In spite of the investigations, these schools seem to enjoy protection from state and federal officials. International politics seem to be at play. Meanwhile, these suspect charter schools keep sucking funds from Ohio school districts," Phillis said.

(Read more athe the Highlandcountypress.com)

Charter officials pay for extra days in Vegas

What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas, especially if you inappropriately charge taxpayers for the trip.

Two employees of the Columbus-based Internet charter school Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, or ECOT, attended a school-safety conference in Las Vegas in July 2013. The charter school paid for their flight, hotel and expenses.

If you’re wondering why officials from an online school, whose students take classes from home, need five days of training on responding to school shooters and the like, your curiosity might be doubly piqued to learn the conference was at the Red Rock Resort, with more than 3 acres dedicated to pool-side lounging.

“Boasting 19 irresistible private cabanas and an island fountain, our sprawling pool area offers enough space and the right balance of ambience for both pool parties and quiet relaxation,” including swim-up blackjack tables, the hotel’s website says. The adults-only Cabana Club “offers a more intimate poolside ambiance.”

It also has a few conference rooms, of course.

The conference’s “Meet & Greet Reception” was held poolside, “featuring networking, drinks, food, entertainment & door prizes,” according to the schedule.

Five days weren’t enough for the two ECOT employees, Dana Comparetto and Carol Dimoff.

“The conference ended at noon on Friday,” the audit says. “However the employees did not leave Las Vegas until Sunday night, incurring additional spending of $290 in hotel fees and $102 in meal expenditures,” which “does not meet the definition of a proper public purpose.”

(Read more at the Dispatch)

Kasich reappoints four members to State Board of Education

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is making no changes in his appointments to the State Board of Education.

The Republican today reappointed four at-large members whose terms expired yesterday -- Cathye J. Flory of Logan, Teresa A. Elshoff of New Knoxville, Thomas W. Gunlock of Centerville and Joseph L. Farmer of Baltimore in Fairfield County. Their new terms expire on Dec. 31, 2018.

The State Board of Education, which oversees state K-12 school policy and the superintendent of public instruction, consists of 11 members elected in nonpartisan races and eight members appointed by the governor.

The Republican-dominated board made headlines last year with its vote to abolish school-staffing requirements that critics contend would allow districts to eliminate art teachers, librarians, counselors and other staff members. The decades-old "5 of 8" rule mandated that schools have at least five of those eight positions for every 1,000 students.

(Read more at the Dispatch)

The Trouble with Having Trouble with the Common Core

2015 is the year when the Common Core rubber finally hits the road, and maybe even goes off the rails. 2014-15 is the first full year of the standards, and this spring will see those standards put to the standardized common core test. The results are likely to be ugly. The standards are new, challenging, with little time to prepare, and technology infrastructure is no where near where it needs to be. These are just some of the reasons we'll be hearing a lot about the impact of common core once the tests are wrapped up and results are in.

Couple this with a sizable shift to the right in state legislatures across the country, including Ohio, and we're certain to see more efforts to repeal or otherwise change the common core.

Andy Smarick at Bellwether Education Partners, a right wing corporate reform think tank, believes there are serious challenges ahead for Common Core

Rather than addressing conservatives’ intellectually serious concerns, too many proponents, time and time again, have antagonized the right. Skeptics have been told their opposition is a “circus,” just “political,” and “not about education,” and that they must be “comfortable with mediocrity,” “paranoid,” and/or “resistant to change.”

Just weeks ago, Secretary Duncan caricatured opponents as “politicians who want to dummy down standards…to make themselves look good.” The reliably liberal NPR just ran a laudatory piece on the professor from “an elite liberal arts college in Vermont” who authored Common Core math. The world’s most influential philanthropist called the substance of what we teach our kids “a technocratic issue”—that is, a matter for technical experts wielding political power—akin to standardizing electric outlets.

All of this inflames, not enervates, the conservative opposition.

The problem with having a problem with the common core however, is what to do instead of it? Going back to old standards isn't an option - that's something everyone agrees on. Developing new standards is costly and time consuming (as the CCSS have demonstrated) and k-12 education is a ship that doesn't turn easily, or quickly. This leads opponents offering up all kinds of bizarre solutions, Here's what the Ohio tea party legislators dreamed up last year

Shame on GOP members of the Ohio House Rules and Reference Committee for bowing to partisan pressure and voting out of committee a deeply flawed bill to eliminate Ohio's Common Core educational standards and replace them on an interim basis with old Massachusetts standards. The committee voted 7-2 along party lines Wednesday to approve the controversial plan.
[...]
The bill envisions dumping Common Core next year, switching to pre-2011 Massachusetts standards for the next three academic years and then imposing a new standard that Ohio would develop. The nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission estimates the one-time cost of developing the new standards at up to $15.75 million.

Needless to say, it didn't go anywhere. But your first idea often contains the kernels of your best - and if this is the best idea opponents of Common Core have, they are in even deeper trouble than the standards themselves.

Education, long-term policy changes favored by GOP Statehouse leaders

Kasich's budget will likely contain small business and income tax cuts balanced in part with tax hikes on tobacco and oil and gas producers, renewing Medicaid expansion and charter school reforms.

Leaders in the GOP-controlled House and Senate gave some hints of what they want to focus on beyond Kasich's budget.

Newly elected House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, a Clarksville Republican, said he's working on a group of policy changes dubbed "Ohio 2020." Rosenberger said the plan will touch on everything from education to infrastructure to workforce development, with the goal of getting lawmakers to think long-term.

"Take education, for example -- you can't keep moving the goal posts every two years," Rosenberger told reporters after leading his first session. He added he's concerned about the rate at which Ohio high school students take remediation courses in college.

(Read more at Cleveland.com)

Racial divide widens in Ohio classrooms. Minority students less likely today to be taught by own race

In a kindergarten classroom in Akron, students eagerly raise their hands as Chelsea Griffin, a recent Kent State University graduate, leads a lesson on her last day of student teaching.

The kids want to be first in everything. And they want to please their teacher.

Griffin, 23, likes to think that she once shared her students’ carefree outlook on life.

She grew up in a supportive middle class family with great friends and teachers. But she first noticed around third grade that her race set her apart.

Her chances of confiding in a teacher who also identified as multiracial were slim. In 2006, only 20 multiracial teachers worked in Ohio’s public schools, according to state data.

In the predominantly white suburb where Griffin grew up, 136 of the 137 teachers remain white.

Griffin admits to internalizing bits of her sometimes confusing search for racial identity. The experience wasn’t all negative, she added, but she figures a few students or, at the least, a single teacher who looked like her might have given her more comfort and confidence.

“You know when you wake up that you’re black. When you’re the minority, you feel like you’re constantly reminded of that,” Griffin said. “And going to not as much of a diverse school, I think you’re reminded of that more. And so that may have been something that I struggled with — not feeling like part of the whole culture of the school.”

(Read more at the Akron Beacon Journal)