Statewide Education News

Governor Kasich discusses fracking, taxes and schools (WKYC 3 NBC)

CLEVELAND - Governor John Kasich says he will do anything he can to help get Mayor Frank Jackson's Cleveland School transformation plan passed. He declined to talk about possible outcomes if the plan does not pass. Right now no Democratic lawmaker is willing to sponsor the bill that is intended to create more quality schools, change school governance, change teachers' seniority rights and pass a November levy. Kasich talked about this in an exclusive Thursday interview with Tom Beres. Read More…

Youngstown school officials given more freedom (Vindicator)

Youngstown - The commission overseeing the city school district’s academic recovery has given administrators more freedom to trim staff and determine class size but wants the final say on any district reorganization. The commission on Thursday eliminated the effective date and notice requirements regarding teacher layoffs. Under the teachers’ contract, the district must notify teachers by April 30 if they are on the reduction-in-force list for the next school year. Read More…

Tutoring helps raise test scores (News-Sun)

SPRINGFIELD — Two intensive tutoring programs helped raise test scores in four of five areas last school year at Springfield High School. Through an Ohio Graduation Test boot camp and a Winter Institute, the number of students testing at advanced and accelerated levels increased by 9 percent, said Chris Shaffer, campus director. Students testing at limited, basic and proficient levels decreased by 7.5 percent. Passing the Ohio Graduation Test, which students at Springfield and other high schools took this week, is a requirement for graduation. Read More…

Ohio Gov. John Kasich wants legislative sponsors for Cleveland schools plan; Mayor Frank Jackson asks for patience (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - Gov. John Kasich says Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson seems to be having trouble finding a legislator from the Cleveland area to step up and sponsor his schools plan in Columbus. But Jackson said he deliberately has not asked anyone to sponsor the plan yet because he wants legislators to be comfortable with what he is proposing. "That's not what they tell us," Kasich said Thursday after a luncheon speech in Cleveland. "I've been told for five weeks we are going to have co-sponsors. We have to get them soon." Read More…

Local Issues

Outrage over Westerville pay-to-play plan isn’t unanimous (Dispatch)

Some parents are relieved that Westerville school leaders plan to charge athletes more than twice as much to participate — they feared a bigger increase. But other residents say the district should be more lenient after voters approved a March 6 levy that will cost taxpayers an additional $221 per year on a $100,000 home, starting in 2013. School administrators unveiled a plan on Monday to charge $240 per high-school sport, up from $100, and $120 for middle-school, up from $50. Read More…

North Ridgeville schools superintendent prepares to unveil staffing cuts, pay-to-play plan (Sun News)

NORTH RIDGEVILLE - Schools Superintendent Larry Brown will unveil a plan March 20 for staffing cuts and a pay-to-participate program beginning in the 2012-2013 school year. Brown, speaking during a North Ridgeville Chamber of Commerce luncheon March 15, said the plan is necessary to avoid a $1.3 million deficit by the end of the next school year. Brown talked for about an hour, outlining the district’s various accomplishments and discussing its need for additional revenue. Read More…

Painesville Schools launches D.O.G.S. to emphasize male role models (News-Herald)

Painesville Schools have launched a new program that seeks to bring fathers into the school buildings. Maple Elementary is the first school in the district to launch the WATCH D.O.G.S. program, or Dads of Great Students, which began in 1998 and is now in more than 2,000 schools across the country. The program looks to give students positive male role models, whether it be dads, uncles or grandfathers, and provides an extra adult to watch over the school. Read More…

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's proposed panel to review charter schools could meet behind closed doors (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - Mayor Frank Jackson's proposed panel to hold Cleveland's public charter and district schools accountable would be able to work behind closed doors, according to the latest draft of laws needed to create it. Proposals given to state legislators last Saturday call for the Cleveland Transformation Alliance, which would have the power to block new charter schools from opening if they did not meet standards, to be exempt from state open meetings or open records laws. Read More…

Ledgemont facing budget cuts, seeking new board member (News-Herald)

The need to balance a tightly squeezed budget has prompted Ledgemont School Board members to make cuts in personnel. “No one’s happy about doing it but unfortunately it has to be done,” said District Treasurer Kelly Moore following a board meeting this week. Reductions include the elimination of seven teaching positions, a high school special education tutor, and an elementary aide; and modifying the full-time status of a music teacher position to part-time. Read More…

It is cheaper not to fire principal accused of misconduct, officials say (Journal-News)

MADISON TWP. — The decision not to fire Madison Elementary School Principal Matthew Gray following numerous incidents of misconduct, including a physical altercation with a student last May, is one of cost-savings, according to school officials. The Madison school board unanimously voted March 5 not to renew Gray’s contract, which expires July 31. The day after the board action, Superintendent Tom York said Gray was told to work from home the remainder of the school year. Gray will continue to receive his annual salary of $78,763. Read More…

Hilliard schools official resigns amid financial probe (Dispatch)

A Hilliard athletic director transferred more than $10,000 from a tournament bank account into personal accounts as “mad money,” according to an investigation that apparently prompted his resignation. An accountant who handled the investigation also questioned Neill “Chip” Ebert, the athletic director at Hilliard Bradley High School, about a $40,560 gap between the deposits reported to the Ohio High School Athletic Association and what ended up in the tournament accounts over a 2-1/2-year period. Read More…