Statewide Education News

Ohio’s No. 1 elementary school succeeds in an area better known for hardship – (Columbus Dispatch)

For those driving into town on the “Dean Martin Highway,” old steel mills and run-down houses along a sliver of land between the freeway and the Ohio River are bleak reminders of the city’s economic woes. But decades of lost jobs and declining population are Steubenville’s past. The city has a new story to tell. Read More…

Cellphones put to use in some schools - (Dispatch)

In some classrooms, teachers confiscate smartphones from students caught texting or surfing social-media websites. Damon Mollenkopf doesn’t bother. The teacher at Westerville North High School actually encourages students to chat with each other on social-networking websites, with the hope that they’re talking about history. “The kids can be having a separate conversation, but it can be quiet, on Twitter,” said Mollenkopf, who keeps an eye on his tablet computer to watch their dialogue. “I can say, ‘Hey, this person makes a good point.’” Read More…

The right start for a brighter start - (Cincinnati Enquirer)

More attention - and funding - for preschools will ensure that more kids are ready to succeed.
Preschool is moving to the head of the class when it comes to education funding. Ohio in December won $70 million from the federal government’s $500 million Early Learning Race to the Top grants along with eight other states. It has joined a national movement to make preschool a top funding priority. The state plans to increase preschool offerings over the next several years to thousands of low-income youngsters while boosting quality standards for preschools. Read More…

School studies rank Ohio high - (Springfield News Sun)

Increased accountability credited, one school leader says.
Ohio ranked 10th and 21st for its K-12 education performance and policy as compared to all other states and the District of Columbia for 2011, according to two national studies released this month. In a third study, released last week by the National Council on Teacher Quality, the state’s teachers tied for fifth in the nation. Read More…

Ohio officials: Plan to expand school voucher program has stalled - (Ravenna Record Courier)

Legislation that would expand the school voucher program to more students and allow them to use those vouchers at more schools is not going forward. “HB 136 is not going anywhere quickly from what I understand,” said Ohio Board of Education member Bryan Williams. State Sen. Tom Sawyer said legislators have not been hearing support to match the cries of protest against the bill. Read More…

Closing the gap in early learning - (Cincinnati Enquirer)

With budgets tight, Ohio, Kentucky lag
The children buzzing about Ethel M. Taylor Academy’s preschool class in Millvale appeared to be playing. Three youngsters scooped candy sprinkles into empty liter soda bottles for make-believe Kool-Aid. They were really learning to measure and estimate. Nearby, two boys shared cloth dolls and a stuffed horse; they were actually practicing “friendship words.” And a girl and boy stacked colored shapes onto various sized circles; they were solving problems. Read More…

Group supporting school choice ranks states – (Canton Repository)

Ohio’s education system ranks 21st in the nation, according to a new report by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative public policy organization that advocates school choice. ALEC’s 17th Report Card on American Education ranks schools across the country (50 states and the District of Columbia) based on data from national test scores, state education policy, charter school regulations and other benchmarks. Read More…

Ohio still leaves sexual education to each district – (Columbus Dispatch)

National coalition issued guidelines for curriculum at every grade level
A national group says schools should have specific guidelines for teaching sexual education, such as in which grades children should learn the proper names for genitalia, but Ohio doesn’t plan to follow the recommendations. Some school officials say that’s a mistake. “I’m hoping most people ... are using national standards,” said Jodi Palmer, girls athletic director for Upper Arlington schools. Read More…

Ohio seeks to get more kids in summer food program – Canton Repository

Ohio education and food program officials want to increase the number of children in low-income areas who participate in a program that offers them free breakfasts or lunches during the summer, when they’re not getting meals at school. Increasing access and participation in the federally funded Summer Food Service Program is the focus of a summit Monday in Grove City. It comes on the heels of news that a record high of nearly 841,000 Ohio students, or about 45 percent, are eligible for free or reduced-cost school lunches based on their family incomes. Read More…

Student Homelessness is on the Rise in Ohio – (State Impact Ohio)

Nineteen year old Leana and her two children are living with a friend’s family for now, until she gets an apartment of her own. Leana doesn’t want people to know she’s homeless, which is why she didn’t want us to take a picture of her face. Leana and her three siblings grew up in their grandmother’s two-bedroom house. By the time she was 18, Leana had one child, and was pregnant with her second. Read More…

Programs geared to helping high school dropouts, other students succeed in college – (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Innovative programs meant to help high school dropouts and students who are not academically prepared earn college degrees are debuting in Toledo and Columbus this year. They are likely to expand to other cities, including Cleveland. Owens Community College near Toledo will offer a dual-credit program on its campus this fall to 50 students who dropped out of the Toledo public schools. Those who complete the program will earn a high school diploma and an associate degree. Read More…

Local Issues

Learning differently - (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

Going to school wasn't something Marco Dukes looked forward to each day. The process was all part of a routine the 14-year-old said he tried sticking to, but one for which he could never spark any enthusiasm. "I was just kinda there," the eighth-grader said. "Just there 'cause I had to be." This year, Dukes has a different view of the public school system - one that he said is helping him focus more on his own abilities. He is among some 30 Warren City Schools students attending the district's Alternative School. Read More…

Akron teachers’ negotiations under more scrutiny with November levy looming - (Akron Beacon Journal)

The Akron school board’s decision to sit out the March primary and instead try for a new-money levy in November raises the stakes at the bargaining table for teachers, whose two-year contract expires this year. Read More…

Maumee schools get head start on new state requirements - (WTOL)

A local school district is getting to work tackling some new state requirements. Maumee City Schools presented its plan to undertake several initiatives. Technology is just one of the many areas that will be changing. The year 2014 might seem far away, but Ohio schools have a great deal of changes to implement before then. Read More…

Changes in dress code debated - (Columbus Dispatch)

Vocal opposition to a uniform or restrictive dress-code policy during a recent meeting at Northridge High School is typical of how many such community conversations start, but it doesn’t always mean that a district won’t later adopt such a policy. About 50 parents and students turned out for a forum this week after administrators informed parents that they wanted to have a conversation about the district’s dress code. Read More…

Despite cost, Hathorn defends academic-recovery plan - (Vindicator)

The city school district spent more than $3.4 million on the state-required academic- recovery plan last year, and the costs keep mounting. With the exception of the $600,000 spent on consultants to provide leadership mentors, monitor school-district systems and oversight, the majority of the costs are expected to recur annually as long as the plan is in place. Read More…

West Side might get K-8 charter school this fall - (Columbus Dispatch)

Nearby city schools are rated poorly
The state’s largest charter-school operator is eyeing Columbus’ West Side as the perfect spot to open its first K-8 building in the city. Akron-based White Hat Management hopes to open a Signal Tree Academy in Columbus this fall that will focus on “21st Century Learning,” including technology and media, project-based teaching and global awareness. The private, for-profit charter operator runs two Life Skills Centers for high-school dropouts in the city. Read More…

Debate heats up over school choice – (Massillon Independent)

Without the Ohio Educational Choice Scholarship program, Mary Sanchez would have sent her daughter, Shekinah, to kindergarten at Dueber Elementary five years ago. The school is one of nine in the Canton City Schools District considered low-performing, according to report-card data from the Ohio Department of Education. Read More…

Property tax decrease to hit school districts – (Hamilton Journal News)

All of Butler County’s 10 districts projected to receive less money.
While local taxpayers will see a drop in their tax bills this year, it also means school districts will take a hit in the revenue they receive from the county. Each of Butler County’s 10 school districts are projected to receive less money in inside millage tax collection in 2012 than they did in 2011, and to make matters worse, tax delinquency rates are not included in those figures, a JournalNews analysis found. Read More…

Editorial & Opinion

Students should make career choices earlier – (Columbus Dispatch)

In response to the Jan. 23 Dispatch article “ Credit college kids after year or two,” Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro is on the right track, but his idea needs to be tweaked. Petro's notion is that college students should be awarded a career-readiness certificate after one year and an associate degree after two years. I managed enrollments at a college for 13 years and found that the primary reason students did not persist in college was because they arrived completely unaware of why they were there. Three of my largest majors were “undecided,” “general studies,” and “none.” Read More…