Education News for 03-25-2013

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 12-06-2012

State Education News

• Senate will redo bill on grading districts (Columbus Dispatch)

Republican leaders in the Senate say the goal of a new A-to-F report-card system and tougher school-accountability system is to ensure that all students graduate from high school ready for college…Read more...

• Educators open to stricter standards (Hamilton Journal-News)

If making teachers take a rigorous exam to get their license, similar to the way lawyers take the bar exam in order to practice law…Read more...

• Educators debate proposed exam (Springfield News-Sun)

Ohio educators responded with tempered support to the American Federation of Teachers’ call for a more stringent exam…Read more...

• Political Fight Threatens To End Funding For Autism Treatment In This Session (WBNS)

The state education department spends over $250 million dollars annually in special education costs for children with autism…Read more...

Local Education News

• Many kids miss school as 'stomach flu' spreads in Ross County (Chillicothe Gazette)

Several local schools reported a large number of students out sick Wednesday, one day after health officials said the so-called “stomach flu” appears to be fairly widespread…Read more...

• Licking Heights school copes without busing (Columbus Dispatch)

There were a lot of whistles and hand signals, a few kids wandering through the parking lot yesterday with their cellphones pressed to their ears…Read more...

• Schools create rainy day fund (Newark Advocate)

Granville school officials have established an emergency “contingency” fund that is dependent in part upon how quickly the Granville Inn is sold…Read more...

• Custodians, groundskeepers laid off at Heights (Newark Advocate)

Licking Heights Board of Education last week moved forward with another round of reductions, laying off custodians and reducing the hours of dozens of bus drivers…Read more...

• Teachers get STEM training (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

Some teachers were a little overwhelmed by the vast amount of information available in the new Defined STEM program…Read more...

Editorial

• Short takes (Columbus Dispatch)

KIDS OFTEN are involved with activities at school beyond the traditional school day, and often when it’s dark. Combine poor visibility with a lack of sidewalks and well-marked or well-lit crosswalks…Read more...

• Better busing (Findlay Courier)

Earlier this year, Gov. John Kasich's administration introduced "Beyond Boundaries," a program to help school districts, local governments and state agencies deal with less state funding…Read more...

Education News for 11-14-2012

State Education News

• Schools, governments urged to share costs (Columbus Dispatch)

The message to local schools and government entities from Gov. John Kasich’s administration is clear: Team up, and share services to cut costs…Read more...

• Criminal referrals likely over school data (Columbus Dispatch)

As state officials said there’s a “strong likelihood” they’ll refer Columbus school employees for criminal prosecution…Read more...

• Ohio Education Officials Unveil Plan For Future Based On Tennessee Model (WBNS)

Ohio has 400,000 people who need a job and a 100,000 job openings, and officials said the problem is education. For example, only 1 of out 4 Ohioans has a college degree, and many others lack the skills for 21st century jobs…Read more...

Local Education News

• Accounting policies create transparency in district finances (Hamilton Journal-News)

Monroe Local Schools officials have instituted new accounting policies to prevent falling again into fiscal emergency and state control…Read more...

• Mixup delays Marion City school buses (Marion Star)

A paperwork mix-up with the state took 14 Marion City Schools bus drivers off their routes, delaying the delivery of students, primarily elementary pupils, from school to their homes…Read more...

• PAVE program's future at risk after state cuts funding (Newark Advocate)

As president of the Prevent Assault and Violence Education program, Emily Minton has talked to countless middle school students about bullying…Read more...

• Award given to national good behavior program used in many local schools (Newark Advocate)

A game designed to reward students for good behavior and used in almost every Licking County elementary school has received its own reward…Read more...

• Akiva students learn lessons at OSU'S Lake Erie lab (Youngstown Vindicator)

They caught fish from Lake Erie using a net, measured sun penetration in the water and scooped plankton from the lake bottom…Read more...

Editorial

• Good adviser (Columbus Dispatch)

The search for a new superintendent for Columbus City Schools should benefit substantially from the steady hand and sincere concern…Read more...

Education News for 09-06-2012

State Education News

• First day of school busing accomplished quietly (Columbus Dispatch)

Busing, the remedy for decades of intentional segregation in the Columbus school district, began peacefully on Sept. 6, 1979…Read more...

• Pickerington school district increases background checks (Columbus Dispatch)

A new policy that went into effect this school year requires volunteers who have unsupervised contact with Pickerington…Read more...

• Schools money dispute still unresolved (Newark Advocate)

Licking Heights Local Schools still contends neighboring Reynoldsburg City Schools is withholding more than a million dollars in tax revenues from the district…Read more...

• New policy allows Granville students to bring own technology to class (Newark Advocate)

Given the widespread use of iPhones, iPads and laptops among young people, it was only a matter of time…Read more...

Local Education News

• Hartville, Lake schools settle annexation issue (Akron Beacon Journal)

The Lake High School complex would be annexed to Hartville as part of the settlement of a lawsuit the village filed against the school board…Read more...

• Westerville levy repeal scrubbed from ballot (Columbus Dispatch)

A request to roll back a Westerville schools tax was tossed from the fall ballot yesterday by the Franklin County Board of Elections. All three board members at the meeting agreed to remove the issue after hearing legal arguments from both sides…Read more...

• Utica High School students embrace iPads (Newark Advocate)

Students in Charles Smith's physical science classes won't just turn in paper lab reports anymore…Read more...

• School districts seek grants to study shared services (Newark Advocate)

Both of the city's school districts on Tuesday approved separate resolutions agreeing to collaborate in an effort to reduce expenses…Read more...

• Hands-on civics lesson (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

Nothing else is as important - next to being born or dying - as voting, explained Trumbull County Board of Elections…Read more...

Editorial

• Thin blurred line (Akron Beacon Journal)

John Kasich is preparing to unveil a long-delayed new school funding model to address what he considers a key flaw: an imbalance in school spending…Read more...

• School cheaters committed fraud (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

Ohio's public school cheating scandal - by administrators, not students or teachers - may be worse than previously thought…Read more...

Education News for 08-30-2012

State Education News

• Lax sex ed lets fallacies flourish (Columbus Dispatch)

Plenty of Americans thought Missouri Rep. Todd Akin was out of line, wrong and maybe even a little nutty when he said that a woman’s body has a way of preventing pregnancy in cases of “legitimate” rape...Read more...

• Attendance scandal claims a casualty (Columbus Dispatch)

State Auditor Dave Yost warned Columbus schools leaders a month ago that contacting the district’s internal auditor as she investigates claims of data rigging could have serious consequences...Read more...

• Hathorn predicts improvements in Youngstown schools (Youngstown Vindicator)

Although the release of the state report cards is weeks away, city schools Superintendent Connie Hathorn expects it to show improvement...Read more...

Local Education News

• Bay Village school district sees health insurance premium hike (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Health and prescription insurance premiums for school district employees will increase by more than 9 percent beginning...Read more...

• Man challenges effort to roll back school tax (Columbus Dispatch)

Gene Hollins says he has friends on both sides of the ballot issue that aims to repeal part of a property tax for the Westerville school district...Read more...

• Crawford County partnership links education, economic development (Mansfield News Journal)

Adding the word education isn't just a change in semantics for a local group...Read more...

• Lakewood teachers to receive base pay raises (Newark Advocate)

For the first time since the 2009-10 school year, Lakewood teachers will receive a base pay raise...Read more...

• Preschool programs return to Southwest Licking (Newark Advocate)

At this time last school year, the classrooms inside Southwest Licking's former kindergarten center were empty and quiet, but that no longer is the case...Read more...

• Parents Threaten To Take School District Back To Court Over Busing Issues (WBNS)

Parents were threatening to take a school district back to court over whether their children should be bused to private schools...Read more...

• Willoughby-Eastlake Schools to bring new technology into the classrooms (Willoughby News Herald)

The Willoughby-Eastlake School District is preparing to train 200 teachers as it moves to bring in newer technology in the classroom...Read more...

Welcome to the Future

Welcome to the Future, or more correctly
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In today's economic and political environment, our public school system and those who serve in it are under increasing pressure and stress. Smaller budgets and greater demands mean we must all be extra vigilant to guarantee that our future, indeed the future of our students, is not irreparably harmed by reactionary forces using this time of uncertainty to push their ideological agenda.

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