Statewide Stories of the Day

Ohio House adds gifted schools to education bill (Dispatch)

Ohioans could see charter schools set up for gifted students in 16 regions of the state under a still-evolving education plan in the legislature. An Ohio House committee continued making changes yesterday in Gov. John Kasich’s sweeping education proposal, which already had been altered by the Senate before that chamber approved its version this month. In another revision, the House Education Committee removed a provision that would have allowed school principals to pass third-graders who failed the state reading test. Read More…

State Superintendent Stan Heffner talks about direction of schools (News-Herald)

State Superintendent Stan Heffner was in Lake County this week to lay out the direction of Ohio’s schools. The former Madison Schools Superintendent, in a gathering Monday at Lakeland Community College’s Mooreland Mansion, keyed in on the importance of retooling the current Kindergarten through 12th grade system. Classrooms of the future will be learner-centered rather than teacher-centered; content coverage will be replaced with learning and doing; and textbook dependency will take a back seat to multiple sources of information, Heffner said. Read More…

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's schools plan slows down in Ohio legislature amid concerns over charter schools (Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS - Negotiations to pass Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's education reform plan have reached a critical stage, as state lawmakers continue to wrestle with provisions that deal with charter schools. At the heart of the stalemate is a new panel Jackson proposed to serve as gatekeeper for charter schools in Cleveland. Charter-school proponents want to weaken the panel's authority but Jackson and his Democratic supporters in the legislature have held their ground. Read More…

State schools chief outlines changes ahead (Canton Repository)

CANTON — By the 2014-15 school year, school as we know it will change. Ohio Department of Education Superintendent of Public Instruction Stan Heffner made the rounds in Stark County on Tuesday to deliver that message and ask public school districts and parents to prepare. “Since 1989, we have focused on a minimum set of standards,” he said during a meeting at The Repository, “but as technology evolved, our system didn’t.” Now, said Heffner, plans are progressing to replace the existing state standards with the new College and Career Ready Standards. Read More…

Budget fine-tuning wins panel’s support (Dispatch)

The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel will avoid a significant budget cut next year, youths can take driver’s education online and Thomas Edison is headed to Washington, under changes completed last night in the wide-ranging mid-biennium review. The bill, introduced by Gov. John Kasich this spring and described by House Finance Committee Chairman Ron Amstutz, R-Wooster, as a “process improvement package,” touches on nearly every agency in state government, often with minor adjustments intended to improve efficiency. Read More…

Local Issues

Galion school board votes to cut 20 positions (News-Journal)

GALION - After cutting 32 positions last year, the Galion schools are faring no better. Tuesday night, in a special meeting of the Galion City Schools Board of Education, the district did away with more than 20 additional positions -- some administrative -- in a cost-saving measure that made a dismal five-year-forecast look only a little better. The move last year saved the district $960,000. This year, the jobs being cut will save $956,000, said Superintendent Kathy Jenney. Read More…

Indian Valley High going totally electronic in fall (Times Reporter)

GNADENHUTTEN — This fall, Indian Valley High School will go totally electronic when its comes to educating students. The Indian Valley Board of Education voted Monday to implement the One-to-One Laptop Initiative for students in all four grades in the high school at a cost of $222,605. That amount will cover the cost of everything involved in making the switch, from purchasing computers to teacher training. Read More…

More local teachers considering retirement (Journal-News)

A proposed change to the state’s teacher retirement system may be the reason more local teachers are seeking retirement after this school year. Nick Treneff, spokesman for the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, said the state has seen a “slight increase” in the number of retirees recently. He said the state is proposing changes to the State Teachers Retirement System and the Schools Employees Retirement System that may result in more contributions and less take-home pay for teachers, and could push the retirement eligibility age back at least five years. Read More…

Howland schools expect tough times (Tribune Chronicle)

HOWLAND - The Howland Board of Education approved a measure that will require some financial investment from its student athletes in the upcoming year. According to Tom Krispinsky, treasurer, the board approved a measure Monday that will cost student athletes $100 per student per sport at the high school level and $75 per student for unlimited sports at the junior high level. The measure does cap a maximum of $200 per student and $400 per family for grades 7 through 12. There is, however, a little relief for some. Read More…

Bluffton looking at deficit spending (Courier)

BLUFFTON - Bluffton school board this week approved a revision of the district's five-year forecast for fiscal years 2012-16, which predicts the district may outspend revenue this year by $345,616, said Superintendent Greg Denecker. "More than likely, that number will not be that great," he said. "Not everything is in" and the district's fiscal year does not end until June 30, he said. The amount is "probably a conservative projection," he said. Read More…

East Holmes district recalls six teachers (Times Reporter)

BERLIN — The East Holmes Board of Education approved an extensive realignment of its teaching staff Monday in the wake of a decision in March to eliminate 16 full-time teaching or staff positions as a cost-savings measure. Six teachers were recalled because more teachers retired than the district anticipated. Among the changes: Special-education classes were eliminated at the Winesburg and Mount Hope buildings. Students in those classes will be shuttled to classes at the Berlin and Chestnut Ridge buildings. Read More…

Hamilton High School honors seniors headed for military (Journal-News)

HAMILTON - Hamilton High School paid tribute Tuesday to its 17 seniors that will be joining a branch of the United States military upon graduation. Keynote speaker was Lt. Col. Joseph Copas, U.S. Army, a graduate of Taft High School in Hamilton who enlisted in the military in 1983. “I can’t think of any two more honorable careers than being a teacher or serving in the country,” Copas said. “How appropriate it is that we gather for a recognition of what these young men and women are about to do.” Read More…

Springfield teachers ratify new contract (ONN)

HOLLAND - On what would have been the day Springfield Local Schools teachers hit the picket lines, they ratified their new contract after almost a year of working without a contract and a year's worth of negotiations. A potential deal has been reached between Springfield teachers and the Board of Education. Now it's just up to both sides to approve it. There are 233 members of the Springfield Education Association, and while not every one of them approved of the new contract, majority rules. Read More…