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Education News for 03-25-2013

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State Education News

  • Before high school, students hearing value of college planning (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Several seventh- and eighth-graders at Ridgeview Junior High School in Pickerington already have started to map out their college plans, which include the University of Florida…Read more...

  • Stomachs growled, so lunch-food limits eased (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Some schools are beefing up cafeteria meals after the federal government ended limits on the amount of meat and grain on their menus…Read more...

  • Schools scrambling to ready for online testing (Lima News)

    • Like others in the region, Delphos schools will be ready when state online testing begins in the 2014-15 school year, but also like many, getting there won’t be easy…Read more...

  • How we got to 612 schools (Newark Advocate)

    • Public education in Ohio dates back to before it was a state, with the Northwest Ordinance putting an emphasis on creating schools to educate children…Read more...

  • Voucher plan concerns some area officials (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • School officials from Trumbull, Mahoning and Ashtabula counties on Friday met with state lawmakers about Gov. John Kasich's school funding plan and its potential impact on local districts…Read more...

  • Frustrated state lawmakers discuss school funding with Valley superintendents (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Area school superintendents complained in a meeting with state legislators Friday about the proposed cutback of $600 million in public-school funding and the money they have to pay to charter schools…Read more...

Local Education News

  • School bus fleet ages and grows more costly to maintain as state shifts burden to local taxpayers (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • That school bus you see hauling kids down the road might look nice and yellow, but chances are good it’s old, costly and one of the reasons educators are making sacrifices in the education they provide…Read more...

  • Strengthening school security; Sheriff’s office proposes plan to place deputies in county districts (Lorain Morning Journal)

    • The Lorain County Sheriff’s Office wants to work with school districts in townships to periodically station deputies in school buildings…Read more...

  • Licking County schools wary of adding more shared services (Newark Advocate)

    • Every day, students attending Flying Colors Public Preschool learn a variety of lessons, including how to share…Read more...

  • Big districts can lead to bus issues (Newark Advocate)

    • Amanda King has an hour bus ride to and from Philo High School. This senior uses the morning trip to get the remainder of sleep out of her eyes, and the way home is spent in anticipation of getting something to eat before chores and homework…Read more...

  • Perrysburg Schools named Best Community for Music Education (Toledo Blade)

    • Perrysburg School District has, for the seventh year in a row, been selected as on of the Best Communities for Music Education by the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation…Read more...

  • Kenston, teachers union without contract, working with federal mediator (Willoughby News Herald)

    • A federal mediator is working with the Kenston Education Association and district administrators to help iron out differences arising in contract negotiations…Read more...

  • Columbiana school board clarifies use of bond funds (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • During a special meeting, the Columbiana school board unanimously adopted a resolution clarifying how the proceeds would be spent if…Read more...

Editorial

    A new leader for Ohio schools (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    The swearing-in Monday of Richard Ross as Ohio's new state school superintendent comes at a critical time for state education policy. Pending reforms put a premium on stability and integrity at the top…Read more...

  • Kasich's funding formula fails traditional schools; redrafting by the General Assembly is imperative (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • The Ohio legislature ought to rewrite Gov. John Kasich's flawed school-funding formula to reflect the state's higher priority -- adequate funding of the state's traditional public schools…Read more...

  • Mayor Coleman: Let us help (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Over the past several months, we’ve seen our community come together like never before behind the cause of educating our children…Read more...

  • Promising minds are overlooked (Columbus Dispatch)

    • It’s unfortunate that most of the top high-school achievers who are poor don’t apply to the nation’s most-selective colleges and universities…Read more...

  • Settle on system for measurement of Ohio school performance (Lorain Morning Journal)

    • The problem with labels is they rarely tell the whole story. In the case of the Ohio Department of Education’s newest label, the story of school performance has become muddled…Read more...

Education News for 09-28-2012

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State Education News

  • Probe: Kids wrongly put in seclusion (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The Columbus school district has used its seclusion rooms — some as small as a closet, some reeking of urine or covered in spit…Read more...

  • Area high schoolers learn financial responsibility (Lima News)

    • Most area high schoolers don’t think about retirement, buying a house or managing a mortgage on a daily basis, if at all…Read more...

  • Mansfield case may have triggered state's new booster club law (Mansfield News Journal)

    • Mansfield City Schools Superintendent Dan Freund applauds a new law authorizing the Ohio Attorney General's…Read more...

  • State report cards provide school districts with targets (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Report card day has traditionally been a happy day for some kids and a day of trepidation…Read more...

Local Education News

  • CPS is part of ongoing audit (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • A statewide attendance-rigging investigation includes schools in the Cincinnati Public Schools district…Read more...

  • Chief Eric Gordon: 'It's do or die time' for district (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • The Cleveland schools are in a position to greatly improve the education of the city's children…Read more...

  • City schools to hire 2 bus companies (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The Columbus school district plans to spend $400,000 to hire two more school-bus companies for 60 days…Read more...

  • Sizing up the schools (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • Niles City Schools Superintendent Mark Robinson said that although he's not pleased with his district's…Read more...

  • Parents in Cleveland and across Ohio have choices (WEWS)

    • For parents of children in under-performing schools in Ohio…Read more...

Editorial

  • Nasty surprise (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • The Akron school district has to refund all at once $3.2 million, most of it payments it should not have received from tax increment deals…Read more...

  • Worth a look (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Foster care never is an ideal solution, especially for the long term. Frightened children whose homes are in crisis are sent to stay with strangers…Read more...

Education News for 08-29-2012

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State Education News

  • New K-12 standards bring change to teacher colleges too (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • New “Common Core” curriculum standards coming to Ohio and 44 other states next year won’t just impact kids. Aspiring teachers – and the colleges that train them...Read more...

  • Columbus school board talks ethics in secret (Columbus Dispatch)

    • In the middle of a state investigation into data rigging, the Columbus school board spent more than three hours behind closed doors last night, talking about ethics and meeting with private attorneys...Read more...

  • Riverside School District receiving ODOT grant (Willoughby News Herald)

    • The Riverside Local School District has been awarded $491,000 from the Ohio Department of Transportation for several projects related to safety. The funds will go toward the district's action plan...Read more...

  • Success will continue to drive Youngstown district (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • City schools Superintendent Connie Hathorn says student success will continue to drive the school district. “... Everything we do, every program we offer, every decision we make” is based on student success...Read more...

Local Education News

  • Cleveland kindergartner assigned to nonexistent school gets apology (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • Cleveland public schools CEO Eric Gordon had to make a telephone call Tuesday that no school superintendent wants to make. That's a telephone call in which you tell a parent that you're sorry for instructing her young child...Read more...

  • Elementary-school students in Upper Arlington chat with astronaut aboard the International Space (Columbus Dispatch)

    • As she pondered her greatest fear of space travel, the astronaut bobbed up and down in zero gravity, her mass of curly hair a dark halo behind her head...Read more...

  • Bus tests help Northridge schools’ plan to cut routes (Columbus Dispatch)

    • If the bus had made it to his kids’ Licking County school in 30 minutes or less, Bill Jones would have been validated...Read more...

  • Young professionals to mentor high school students (Marion Star)

    • A group of young community-minded individuals preparing to help carry the community into the future is making plans to encourage the next generation to do the same...Read more...

  • Urbana Schools offers free breakfast to all students (Springfield News-Sun)

    • For the first time, all students at Urbana City Schools this year will be eligible to receive breakfast at no cost at the beginning of each school day...Read more...

Education News for 08-09-2012

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State Education News

  • Use of 'seclusion rooms' divides educators (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • Little-known “seclusion rooms” in Ohio schools are a vital tool for helping special needs students...Read more...

  • Appointee running for education board (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Stanley Jackson’s newest opponent isn’t wearing a helmet and spikes. Jackson, the former Ohio State quarterback whom Gov. John Kasich appointed to the State Board of Education in June...Read more...

  • Party held to bid Heffner farewell (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Hugs, cake and a lingering sense of shock marked a small going-away party for state Superintendent Stan W. Heffner yesterday inside the Department of Education...Read more...

  • Ohio schools swing, miss on most levies (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Fewer than 1 in 5 school levies across Ohio passed in Tuesday’s special election, which had the most education issues of any August vote in seven years...Read more...

Local Education News

  • Most Summit County school districts on November ballot (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • Ten of Summit County’s 17 school districts will have tax issues...Read more...

  • $1.6M cost-savings expected from schools sharing subs (Journal-News)

    • A new process to provide area districts with substitue teachers in the upcoming school year could save the school systems more than $1 million, officials said...Read more...

  • Mom of boy who died sues Mansfield City Schools (Mansfield News Journal)

    • The mother of a Newman Elementary School third-grader who died after suffering an asthma attack at school has sued the Mansfield City School board and some of its employees...Read more...

  • OSU-M to help Mansfield schools raise test scores (Mansfield News Journal)

    • Mansfield City Schools is looking to increase math literacy and raise standardized testing scores this year thanks to a partnership with The Ohio State University at Mansfield...Read more...

  • 2 local schools placed on state noncompliance list (Springfield News-Sun)

    • Two local schools were included on a list of 88 in Ohio that failed to comply with state safety requirements designed to help authorities...Read more...

  • Suit filed against Warren school district, board over furlough (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Kristen Lewis, who was laid off from Warren City Schools after being romantically linked to then-Superintendent Bruce Thomas, has filed a lawsuit against the school district and its board...Read more...

  • School board reinstates bus route (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • The board of education Wednesday reinstated a second bus route for Roosevelt Elementary students for the new school year. The district cut to one bus while it was in state fiscal emergency at the advice of the state Finance and Planning Commission...Read more...

Education News for 07-31-2012

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Statewide Stories of the Day

  • State probe doesn't worry school chiefs (Courier)

    • Area superintendents said Monday they are not worried about their districts as Ohio's auditor expands an investigation into schools falsifying attendance records to improve their state report cards. "We're not concerned at all," Findlay Superintendent Dean Wittwer said. "We work extremely hard on our practices." The statewide review by Auditor Dave Yost comes after reports recently surfaced that staff, first at Columbus and Toledo schools, then at a suburban Cincinnati school, falsified attendance records. Read more...

  • State TPS investigation update (WTVG 13 ABC)

    • Dr. Jerome Pecko was on vacation when new developments broke in the State investigation into whether TPS tweaked attendance numbers on the state tests. The Auditor's office has announced it will investigate ODE, since several school districts may have violated state regulations. Dr. Pecko tells 13abc, "I am pleased that the auditor is going to take a look at not only what the school districts are doing but also what is going on down in Columbus." TPS has hired a legal team to look into the case. TPS leaders believe the law is unclear on whether districts can throw out data. Read more...

  • Kasich wants answers from inquiry into data manipulation at schools (Blade)

    • Ohio Gov. John Kasich said on Monday that he wants answers on the investigation into school-data manipulation at two of the state's largest school systems — with one being Toledo Public Schools — as well as the Ohio Department of Education. "I know there are things in the paper now about the data affecting our schools. Got to get to the bottom of it," the governor told an audience of more than 200 people at the Toledo Rotary Club meeting in the ballroom of the downtown Park Inn. Read more...

  • Teachers Retiring In Greater Numbers As Pensions Change (WBNS 10 CBS)

    • COLUMBUS - Some local school districts are seeing two or three times the usual number of teacher retirements. Cathy Williams said that she is one of many giving up her post. “I am retiring before I lose most of my pension," Williams said. Williams spent 35 years teaching, much of it at Champion Middle School in Columbus. She taught students who have special needs. "I am a caretaker. I am a nurse. I am a doctor, a lawyer, a judge,” Williams said. “I make sure that my students are protected.” Read more...

Local Issues

  • Opposing sides debate how to solve Monroe fiscal emergency (Middletown Journal)

    • Both sides agree the Monroe School District has to deal with its financial issues. Why the problem exists and how it should be fixed appears to be where the two sides part. Placed in “fiscal emergency” by the state auditor’s office in May, and facing a $2.2 million operating deficit and a bond retirement debt of $3.1 million, Monroe schools will ask voters to approve a five year, 7.05-mill emergency property tax levy during the Aug. 7 special election. The levy will raise $2.5 million a year for the district. Read more...

  • DPS to provide busing to fewer students (Dayton Daily News)

    • Dayton — Dayton Public Schools will bus about 3,000 fewer students this year than last under a plan district officials say should eliminate transportation problems, including late or sporadic bus service, that have plagued the district. That means more students will be walking to school after the district tightened eligibility requirements for bus service. The changes take effect with the start of school on Aug. 15. Last year, the school district transported students who live farther than 1.5 miles from their school. Read more...

  • At Crayons to Computers, teachers shop for free (Enquirer)

    • Carmie Boesch looks forward to the days she gets to shop at Crayons to Computers. Besides picking out supplies for her Woodford Paideia Academy students, Boesch gets ideas from other educators shopping at the free store for teachers. And it saves her money. In the past two years Boesch has shopped for supplies that would have cost $5,300, said Robbie Atkinson, Crayons to Computers’ director of operations. Because her school is one of 258 in a 16-county region where 60 percent or more of the students qualify for free or reduced meals, she shops for free. Read more...

Editorial

  • Diving Into How Students Learn Best (Education Week)

    • In a fortunate turn, advances in research and theory are emerging at a long-awaited moment in U.S. education: the agreement of 46 states and the District of Columbia to adopt the Common Core State Standards. The standards were developed with the recognition that global socioeconomic imperatives, combined with the dizzying pace of technological innovation, create new urgency for the development of engaging and challenging ways to educate our nation’s young people. Read more...

Education News for 06-28-2012

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Statewide Stories of the Day

  • City schools may face 3 audits over attendance records (Dispatch)

    • The Ohio Department of Education told Columbus City Schools it has two weeks to turn over records and communication concerning district administrators changing student attendance records. The department will hire an independent auditor to look into allegations that district officials manipulated attendance to improve the state report card. The state auditor’s office said yesterday it, too, would launch its own probe, meaning up to three auditing teams — including the district’s internal auditors — could investigate the charges. Read more...

  • DREAM Act for Ohio proposed (Dispatch)

    • Ohio’s version of the DREAM Act, designed to make the children of illegal immigrants eligible for in-state tuition and financial aid, was rolled out this week by a pair of Senate Democrats. “This bill is necessary to offer all students the chance of achieving the American dream,” said Sen. Charleta B. Tavares, D-Columbus, who jointly sponsored the bill with Sen. Tom Sawyer, D-Akron. “This country was built on the foundation of encouraging individuals to reach their highest potential. We should not penalize young people for striving for success.” Read more...

  • Brecksville-Broadview Heights city school negotiations turned over to federal mediation (WOIO 19 CBS)

    • BRECKSVILLE - Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District Board has determined that the only way to move stalled negotiations forward is by turning them over to a federal mediator, according to David Tryon, board president. "We have given the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association (BEA), the union that represents area teachers, written notice declaring impasse and requested the services of the federal mediator pursuant to Section 9 (H.) of the current agreement," said Tryon. Read more...

Local Issues

  • Two aides to be fired over abuse of student in seclusion room (Dispatch)

    • There was no reason for two school aides to take a boy into a seclusion room, close the door and then pin him in a way that is so dangerous it could have killed him, the Columbus school district says. The boy hadn’t been violent and didn’t pose a danger to anyone, a district investigation found. Beatty Park Elementary aides Fred Harrison and Leslie A. Polk will be fired, the district says. “Schools are not supposed to hurt,” noted hearing officer Jerry McAfee in his report. The hearing to determine the aides’ guilt took place in late May, and a decision was reached last week. Read more...

  • Carlisle district’s cuts create surplus (Middletown Journal)

    • CARLISLE — Through more than $1 million in budget cuts, the Carlisle School Board was able to turn a projected deficit for fiscal year 2013 into a small surplus, but Treasurer Dan Bassler says the district still needs some help. “We went from a projected budget deficit of $860,000 to a surplus, by cutting that much out of our budget,” Bassler said. “But as of now, that would give us a $160,000 surplus after the year. That’s not a whole lot to get excited about. “We’re still going to need money and support from the citizens of Carlisle.” Read more...

  • Getting primed and ready (Vindicator)

    • Youngstown - Children entering kindergarten in the city schools are getting a summer primer for what it means to be good citizens and good students. The students are participating in Success By Six, a program of the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley that prepares children for kindergarten. The PNC Foundation is funding Community Solution’s Project KIND program this week. Project KIND — Keys to Improvement for Necessary Development — focuses on social and emotional skills. Read more...

  • Program offers boost to dropouts (Blade)

    • A new collaboration among Owens Community College, Toledo Public Schools, and Gateway to College National Network is designed to help high school dropouts continue their education. The program allows those between ages 16 and 20 who are high school dropouts or likely to drop out to complete their high school diploma requirements while also earning college credit. They will be dually enrolled at TPS and Owens until completion of a high school diploma. Read more...

  • Niles board OKs contract (Tribune Chronicle)

    • NILES - The Niles Education Association and the district agreed on a contract that will provide no base salary increases through this and the next school years but will allow eligible teachers to receive their step increases this year and a half-step increase next year. Those teachers who are not eligible for step increases in the 2012 and the 2013 school years will receive one-time stipends of between $250 and $500, depending on whether they are on the single or family medical insurance plans. Read more...

  • C-TEC approves 2 percent payment for teachers (Newark Advocate)

    • NEWARK - C-TEC teachers will receive a one-time payment of 2 percent of their salaries in 2013 in lieu of a raise. "It's not an increase to the base," Board President Bev Niccum said. The payment will be paid throughout the year, totaling 2 percent. The Career and Technology Education Centers of Licking County has extended the same payment to all full- time, non-union employees, excluding the superintendent and treasurer. One percent of C-TEC's payroll is about $53,000. Read more...

  • Fairfield to vote on bus contracts (Journal-News)

    • FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield City Schools Board of Education is expected to vote on bus contracts at its regular meeting Thursday. The agenda for the regular meeting at 6 p.m. in the community room at Fairfield High School states that staff recommends approval of contracts with Burer’s Garage, which would handle bus maintenance through 2015, and with Universal Transportation Services, which would handle special needs transportation through 2017. Read more...

  • Mediocrity Not An Option For ‘Differently Abled’ Students (WBNS 10 CBS)

    • COLUMBUS - From a distance, Colerain Elementary School looks like any school in central Ohio. Up close, though, it is a place unlike any other. Each student is held to the same “rise and shine expectations” during their time at the school, regardless of whether they walk or wheel through the hallways, 10TV’s Kristyn Hartman reported. Jose Mendez, 11, zooms through the halls in a chair he controls with his foot. Read more...

  • Summer school changes with technology at West Geauga, Willoughby South (News-Herald)

    • Area students needing to attend summer school for remediation purposes or choosing to do so to get ahead on their education may find themselves leaning more heavily on technology than teachers. Such is the case in the West Geauga School District, where all classes are taken online through the IQity program. Middle School Principal Jim Kish coordinates summer school for the district. Read more...

Editorial

  • Wrong turn (Dispatch)

    • Many Central Ohioans rely on a dependable and affordable public transit system, especially in an economy where more people are riding the bus because they are lucky enough to still have jobs or need the bus to look for work or go to school. Transit-union leaders should be mindful of this as they lead workers at the Central Ohio Transit Authority to the brink of a strike which could hit on the eve of one of the city’s biggest Downtown-commuting events, Red, White and Boom. Read more...

  • If Cleveland school offices make a move, it has to be the right one (Plain Dealer)

    • Anyone who has ever considered moving knows just how much planning it requires, including the basic questions: Should you buy a new home or lease an apartment? Live in the heart of the city or farther out? That's doubly so for the Cleveland School District, which is considering selling its grand downtown office on East Sixth Street and moving to a new location, as yet unknown. Moves can be difficult, but this one, done right, should be a win-win for the district and residents. Read more...