Statewide Stories of the Day

Vote on Cleveland schools in doubt (Dispatch)

With his plan to overhaul the Cleveland school district stalled in the state legislature, Mayor Frank Jackson will return to Columbus today to urge lawmakers to approve the legislation this week before they leave for summer recess. But Republican leaders said House Bill 525 will not be put up for a vote this week. “We are not ready to move this bill,” Rep. Ron Amstutz, a Wooster Republican and co-sponsor of the legislation, said yesterday. Read More...

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson plans to visit Columbus to encourage state lawmakers to approve his education reform plan (Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS — With negotiations over his education reform plan reaching a tipping point, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson publicly called on state lawmakers to approve the proposal today so he can move ahead with a school tax campaign. But House Speaker William G. Batchelder had doubts that the mayor's timeline will be feasible, adding that the mayor might have to wait until mid-June. In an interview Wednesday, and later at a news conference at a Cleveland school, Jackson said he intends to be in Columbus today to help resolve any differences. Read More...

Actions by districts puzzling (Tribune Chronicle)

The Mahoning County Educational Service Center has been working with the Ohio Department of Education and Gov. John Kasich's administration on ways to operate more efficiently. The state has at times highlighted the efforts made by Mahoning's ESC. These include: Sharing a treasurer and merging fiscal departments with the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center beginning in August. Joining forces with 16 other government entities. Read More...

Schools facing trend of dropping traditional textbooks for digital versions (News-Herald)

In the future, will students be carrying backpacks filled with technological learning devices rather than textbooks? Area educators recently weighed in on the subject as well as on the Obama Administration’s recent release of the Digital Learning Playbook encouraging electronic textbooks to be placed in the hands of all students by 2017. Though West Geauga Schools use some online resources, high school principal David Toth said President Obama’s goal is “a lofty vision.” Read More…

Ohio auditor flags credit card purchases, busing bills in Warrensville Heights schools (Plain Dealer)

WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS — A former superintendent and treasurer of the Warrensville Heights city schools used district credit cards for $6,710 in purchases that weren't supported by required documentation, according to the Ohio auditor's office. Most of the money went to hotels and airfare, with the remainder spent at restaurants and retail stores. The state audit released Tuesday covered the period from mid-2007 to mid-2008. Read More...

Bold political thinking: Pizza’s not a vegetable (Dispatch)

WASHINGTON — The notion that Congress could consider pizza a vegetable might be just too much to digest. The SLICE Act, for School Lunch Improvements for Children’s Education, has been introduced in response to congressional action last fall ensuring that two tablespoons of tomato paste slathered on pizza could continue to be classified as a full vegetable serving in the federal school lunch program. Read More...

Local Issues

Akron mom convicted in school switch now education activist (Dispatch)

Kelley Williams-Bolar, the Akron mother of two who received clemency from Gov. John Kasich last year related to her school-switching conviction, has formed the Ohio Parents Union, an organization focused on education reform. Williams-Bolar has “morphed from a desperate mom to an impassioned activist,” according to a story about her in Colorlines, an online publication of the Applied Research Center, a “racial justice think tank.” Read More...

Riverside Schools to eliminate 23 teachers (News-Herald)

Riverside Local Schools will cut 23 teaching positions effective Aug. 21. The cuts to the 2012-13 school year come from across the district in social studies, science, language arts, physical education, computers, industrial arts and family consumer science. Superintendent James Kalis said that the administration has done its best to keep cuts as far away from instruction as possible and will seek an operating levy with hopes of restoring some positions. Read More...

Deal to freeze Springfield teachers' pay OK'd by board (Blade)

The Springfield Local Board of Education unanimously approved a contract Wednesday that calls for a pay freeze and for teachers to pay an increased share of health insurance premiums. Members of the Springfield Education Association voted to ratify the agreement Tuesday. The previous contract expired June 30, 2011. The new agreement takes effect July 1, 2011; the economic concessions begin July 1, 2012. The contract expires June 30, 2013. Read More...

Despite cutting teachers, new LH tax issue likely (Newark Advocate)

PATASKALA - Licking Heights has cut teacher positions and frozen teacher salaries, but officials contend they still might need to place a funding issue on the November ballot. The school board on May 15 approved a resolution suspending the contracts of four teachers, a consumer and family science teacher, a physical education teacher and two music teachers. District officials estimate the move could save Heights at least $120,000 next school year. Read More...

More Northeast Ohioans ‘Redshirting’ Kindergarten-Bound Kids (WJW 8 FOX)

AVON LAKE — Simply knowing their colors or days of the week isn’t always an indicator that your 5-year old child is ready for kindergarten. As a result, more and more families in Northeast Ohio are holding back their child from entering school: it’s a growing controversial trend called redshirting. “They would have been 10 months behind the oldest child in the class and now they’re 10 months ahead of those children. Read More...

Hubbard district faces cuts (Tribune Chronicle)

HUBBARD - Only weeks after winning a prestigious award for her work, Hubbard Elementary assistant principal Robyn Fette may be stripped of her administrative position as the district seeks to cut costs. Board of Education member Don Newell confirmed Wednesday that Fette's position may be eliminated but refused to comment further. Board President Dr. Benjamin Hayek told a reporter Tuesday that the reorganization plan is to be presented at next month's board meeting, which is scheduled for June 25. Read More...

Public schools' plan in jeopardy (WKYC 3 NBC)

CLEVELAND - The Cleveland public schools' reform plan is stalled out in the Ohio legislature and in jeopardy. Mayor Frank Jackson held a news conference Wednesday in an effort to pressure the legislature to act on the reform plan. He will be in Columbus today and says his plan was for the Ohio House to vote on the plan. The mayor says he expects the vote to take place. Part of the holdup in the legislature is concern over how charter schools will be reviewed by a local panel -- before they open in Cleveland. Read More...

Niles school board spares 15 teachers but lays off 19 other district workers (Vindicator)

NILES - A motion to eliminate 15 teaching positions in the city school district failed Wednesday when the five-member board of education deadlocked 2-2 with one abstention. A vote to lay off 19 non-teaching employees passed by a vote of 3-2. “We’ve just put ourselves in fiscal emergency,” said Superintendent Mark Robinson. “The only way out of this is to pass a levy this November that would [generate] enough money that we can collect in 2013. Read More...

Granville terminates teacher over test issues (Newark Advocate)

GRANVILLE - The Granville Board of Education this week terminated the contract of English language learner teacher Jane Pfautsch, on the recommendation of the referee who oversaw Pfautsch's school-district appeal hearing in March. Board members unanimously voted in favor of the resolution after an executive session during Monday's regular May meeting. In November, the board suspended the contracts of both Pfautsch and ELL teacher Mary Ellen Locke just after the Ohio Board of Education suspended their teaching licenses for one year each. Read More...

Big changes coming to Indian Creek (WTOV 9 NBC)

WINTERSVILLE — Today truly was the last day for students at Bantam Ridge Elementary in Wintersville. Changes coming to the district will close down the building to students for the next school year. The changes are all apart of district's attempt to consolidate because of cuts from the state. The students who went to Bantam Ridge this year will move to Wintersville Elementary for next year. Read More...