Opposition to voucher expansion has doubled to more than 170

Only a month has passed since we last published the long list of local communities opposing the statewide expansion of vouchers contained in the Governor's budget. But in that short period of time, the number of school districts passing a resolution in opposition has now passed 170.

Here's the list.

Adena local	Lorain County ESC
Allen East Local	Lordstown Local
Anthony Wayne Local	Loudonville-Perrysville
Antwerp Local	Louisville City
Athens City	Lynchburg-Clay Local
Austintown Local	Madeira City
Barnesville EV	Mahoning County C&TC
Bath Local	Manchester Local
Bellbrook-Sugarcreek	Marietta City
Belmont-Harrison Vocational	Mathews Local
Belpre City	Miami County ESC
Berea City	Miamisburg City
Big Walnut Local	Millecreek West Unity
Bloom-Carroll Local	Milton-Union Local
Bloomfield-Mespo Local	Minford Local
Bluffton EV	Monroeville Local
Boardman Local	Morgan Local
Bridgeport	Muskingum Valley ESC
Bristol Local	National Trail Local
Brown Local	Nelsonville-York City
Brown County ESC	New Lexington City
Buckeye Local (Jefferson)	New Richmond
Caldwell EV	New Riegel
Campbell City	Newcomerstown EV
Chagrin Falls EV	Newbury Local
Chillicothe City	Noble Local
Chippewa Local	North Olmsted
Circleville City	Northern Local
Clay Local	Northmont City
Clinton-Massie Local	Northwest Local (Scioto
Clyde Green Springs	Northwestern Local
Columbiana County ESC	Northwood Local
Columbiana EV	Oak Hill Union Local
Coshocton City	Oak Hills Local
Coshocton County JVS	Oakwood City
Coventry	Oberlin Local
Crestline EV	Ohio Valley ESC
Crestview Local	Old Fort Local
Crooksville EV	Ottawa-Glandorf
Cuyahoga Falls	Parma City
Cuyahoga Heights	Put-in-Bay Local
Dublin City	Revere Local
East Guernsey Local	Ridgedale Local
East Liverpool City	Ripley Union Lewis Huntington
Eastern Local (Meigs)	River View Local
Eastern Local (Pike)	Ross Local
Fairbanks	Ross-Pike ESC
Fairborn City	St. Clairsville-Richland City
Fairfield Union	St. Marys City
Fayetteville-Perry Local	Sandusky City
Federal Hocking Local	Sheffield-Sheffield Lake
Felicity-Franklin Local	Shelby City
Findlay City	South Central Ohio ESC
Firelands Local	South Range Local
Fort Frye	Southeast Local (Portage)
Fort Loramie Local	Southern Local
Franklin Local	Southern Ohio ESC
Galion City	Southington Local (Lucas)
Gallipolis City	Springfield Local (Summit)
Garaway Local	Southwest Local
Geneva Area City	Springfield Local
Genoa Area Local	Springfield City
Goshen Local	Streetsboro City
Graham	Sylvania Local
Grand Valley Local	Trimble Local
Granville EV	Trumbull Career & Tech
Green Local (Franklin Furnace)	Tuscarawas Vlley Local
Greenfield EV	Tuslaw Local
Hardin-Houston Local	Union Local
Huber Heights City	Urbana City
Huntington Local	Vanlue Local
Indian Creek Local	Vantage Career Center
Indian Valley Local	Van Wert City
Jackson City	Vinton County Local
James A. Garfield Local	Warren City
Jennings Local	Warren Local
Kalida Local	Washington Local
Kenston Local	Washington-Nile
Keystone Local	Waverly
LaBrae Local	Wayne County Career Center
Lancaster City	Wayne Local
Leetonia EV	Wellston City
Liberty Local	West Muskingum
Licking County ESC	Wheelersburg
Lincolnview Local	Williamsburg Local
Lisbon EV	Yellow Springs EV
Logan-Hocking Local	Zane Trace Local
	Zanesville City

Education News for 11-21-2012

State Education News

• Graduation test to be subbed out (Columbus Dispatch)

Ohio will dump its high-school graduation test and replace it with a tougher college-readiness exam and a series of end-of-course tests…Read more…

• State Educators To Replace Ohio Graduation Test With Course-Specific Exams (WBNS)

The Ohio Board of Regents, the State Board of Education and the Ohio Department of Education have agreed on a plan to replace the Ohio Graduation Test with college and career readiness tests.…Read more…

• Ohio high school testing standards to be raised (Youngstown Vindicator)

Education leaders in Ohio have reached an agreement that will transform the current high-school testing system from minimal standards to a system of higher expectations that will clearly define college and career readiness for graduates.…Read more…

Local Education News

• Cleveland schools set goal of topping other big-city districts by 2017 (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cleveland school district aims to have state test scores by 2017 that would top those that all other big-city districts in Ohio have now.…Read more…

• Community leaders launch effort to prepare students for high-skilled jobs (Dayton Daily News)

Hundreds of community leaders gathered Tuesday for Learn to Earn Dayton’s formal launch of a cradle-to-career educational initiative that aims to better prepare students for high-skilled jobs.…Read more…

• Chardon School District to begin search for new superintendent (Willoughby News Herald)

The Chardon School District is moving ahead with its search for a new superintendent to take over for the 2013-14 school year.…Read more…

Education News for 10-29-2012

State Education News

• Privilege issue stalls hearing in suit over schools’ private discussions (Columbus Dispatch)

After its in-house attorney told members of the Columbus Board of Education in July that they couldn’t hold private meetings to discuss an unfolding data-rigging investigation…Read more...

• Ohio Attorney General honors Chardon High School shooting first responders (WEWS)

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine honored a packed house…Read more...

Local Education News

• Some of the best will help kids learn to read (Cincinnati Enquirer)

A who’s who list of local business leaders is about to kick off an early childhood literacy campaign that seeks support from every workplace in the region…Read more...

• District changes evaluation process for top officials (Hamilton Journal-News)

Fairfield City Schools will change how it evaluates its treasurer and superintendent, giving those officials the first evaluations they’ve had in some time…Read more...

• Charter school’s scores outperform Springfield’s (Springfield News-Sun)

Two of Springfield’s three charter schools fared worse than the city’s traditional public schools, and a third school outperformed Springfield City Schools…Read more...

• $23M Pettisville school goes green in big way with building project (Toledo Blade)

Low emission and fuel-efficient cars get premium parking spots outside Pettisville’s new K- 12 school building…Read more...

• T.J. Lane using rarely successful plea in Chardon shooting (Willoughby News Herald)

After Keith Ledeger killed custodian Peter Christopher and wounded three other adults at Wickliffe Middle School on Nov. 7, 1994…Read more...

• Choffin school faces discipline issues after influx of Career Academy students (Youngstown Vindicator)

A teacher believes the addition of Career Academy students to Choffin Career and Technical Center is causing disruption for other students…Read more...

Editorial

• Poor excuse (Columbus Dispatch)

The second round of state Auditor Dave Yost’s probe of attendance-record-keeping practices in Ohio schools reveals two important things…Read more...

• Facing facts (Columbus Dispatch)

The bad news is that graduation rates have fallen for most Ohio high schools on the latest state report cards…Read more...

• Local school districts dealing with huge financial challenges (Youngstown Vindicator)

Here’s a sobering reality about public education in Ohio that should open the eyes of voters in the Nov. 6 election…Read more...

Education News for 10-16-2012

State Education News

• Grad rates tumble under new rule (Columbus Dispatch)

Call it the ugly truth. Many Ohio schools saw their graduation rates plummet after the state required them to track whether every high-school senior…Read more...

Op/Ed

• School Reform, But From Whose Perspective? (Education Week)

Public K-12 schooling is a popular subject in all forms of media these days, with the majority of coverage highly critical of both the professionals who work within the system…Read more...

Local Education News

• Bluffton board OKs new policies (Findlay Courier)

The Bluffton school board approved a number of new policies Monday, including one to provide reading intervention to students who may need it. Superintendent Greg Denecker said most of the policy changes were made because of changes in the laws…Read more...

• Tri-Rivers levy would fund job training, upgrade facilities (Marion Star)

Tri-Rivers Career Center is talking job development as it seeks a tax levy that officials say is needed for updating the building and equipment…Read more...

• New school could help lure jobs (Springfield News-Sun)

A major corporation’s sponsorship of the Global Impact STEM Academy not only secures help for the school but also provides a boost to local efforts to bring more businesses and jobs here…Read more...

• LaBrae principal praises lockdown (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

LaBrae High School principal Rocco Adduci said he is pleased with the way staff and law enforcement secured the facility and took three intruders into custody…Read more...

• TCTC decides against being part of solar project (Youngstown Vindicator)

The Trumbull Career & Technical Center board of directors has decided against participating in a proposed $8 million Solar Planet project…Read more...

Education News for 02-07-2012

Local Issues

• Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson proposes sweeping plan to improve education for city students – (Plain Dealer)

Mayor Frank Jackson hopes to triple the number of Cleveland students attending good schools by throwing out union rules governing teacher pay and layoffs, partnering more with high-performing charter schools and giving successful district schools more flexibility in how they do their jobs. Read More…

• Michele Evans resigns as CEO of Canton City Schools – (Canton Repository)

Saying the Board of Education for City Schools had lost confidence in her ability to lead the district, Michele Evans gave up her job. Evans resigned, effective Monday, as superintendent and the school board accepted her resignation Monday afternoon with a unanimous vote following a closed-door meeting. Read More…

• Classroom Turns To Technology, Goes Green – (Ohio News Network)

Historical relics surround students in Darren Plessinger's American Government class at Pickaway Ross Career and Technology Center. In the midst of the nation's forefathers and past flags, the teenagers are riding the wave of the future, ONN's Harrison Hove reported. The class is getting high tech while going green and saving on paper and books. Read More…

• Panel says middle school students should start thinking about college – (News Herald)

Educators from multiple school districts in Lake and Geauga counties met recently with representatives of area colleges and universities to ask questions and discuss student success. The panel of higher education included Notre Dame College, Lakeland Community College, Lake Erie College, Ursuline College, Kent State University, Cleveland State University, The University of Akron and John Carrol University. Read More…

• Bullying can have long-lasting effect – (Youngstown Vindicator)

Nearly 30 years have passed since Jodee Blanco’s high-school graduation, but remnants of the damage she endured from having been bullied remain. “I was the kid no one wanted to be caught dead hanging out with,” Blanco, a New York Times best-selling author and anti-bullying activist, said during her presentation Monday at Boardman High School. Read More…

• Schools jump on health kick – (New Philadelphia Times Reporter)

With recent studies showing that more than one-third of third-graders in the Tuscarawas Valley are obese, area schools are taking action to reverse the trend. Educators are employing a variety of methods to help students eat better and become more active. Read More…

• Buckeye adds oil, gas industry classes – (New Philadelphia Times Reporter)

With the avalanche of opportunities the gas and oil industry is bringing to the Tuscarawas Valley, Buckeye Career Center is finding itself a key player. It's making an impact locally, according to Erin VanFossen, assistant director of Adult Workforce Education at Buckeye Career Center in New Philadelphia. That's why there will be classes offered to help provide opportunities. Read More…

• Mason board mulls merging schools – (Cincinnati Enquirer)

School officials here met late into the evening Monday discussing and debating details on a merger of two schools. The Mason Board of Education went into executive session for more than three hours as the board considered layoffs from combining Western Row and Mason Heights elementaries next school year. The board took no action but announced late Monday it will vote on the proposed merger at its regular public meeting on Feb. 14. Read More…

Editorial & Opinion

• Cleveland school plan may be a tough sell, but it shouldn't be DOA: editorial – (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

For years, some in Cleveland have argued that the powers that be should blow up Cleveland's struggling public school system and start over from scratch. Whether, are willing to use dynamite remains to be seen. But the new and certain-to-be controversial academic transformation they're rolling out this week may well seem the political equivalent of playing with fire. Read More…

Education News for 02-03-2012

Statewide Education News

• Cuts in Ohio's state budget could make Northeast Ohio communities consider combining services (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - Gov. John Kasich's $112 billion state budget, which cut $455 million in funding for local governments, has caused communities statewide to consider collaborating and sharing services. That was the focus of a special forum held before about 55 people Thursday evening at the City Club in downtown Cleveland. Orange Mayor Kathy Mulcahy, one of three panelists, said that regionalism could be good for local governments but that she realizes a lack of trust among city leaders and the potential loss of supportive officials -- if they are not re-elected -- hinders the process. Read More…

• Bill's school scheduling limits draw fire from educators (Times Reporter)

Area superintendents are cool to the idea of restricting the school year from Labor Day to Memorial Day — a measure that proponents say would help Ohio’s tourism industry. “This sends the wrong message to the people of Ohio with new school standards coming out,” said Newcomerstown Schools Superintendent Jeff Staggs. He wondered why the state would condense the time that school districts have to prepare their students to get ready for new tests and curriculum that will take effect in 2014 and 2015. Read More…

• Monroe schools fall into 'fiscal watch' (Enquirer)

MONROE — Despite recent deep budget cuts with more planned in 2012, the Monroe school district was placed in “fiscal watch” Thursday by the Ohio Auditor’s office. “These are undoubtedly tough times for the Monroe Schools that will require difficult decisions,” Ohio Auditor David Yost said. “I encourage the district to utilize every tool available to chart a path back to fiscal health.” The Butler County district had already been placed in “fiscal caution” last fall by the Ohio Department of Education and school district officials said they were not surprised by this latest development. Read More…

• County boards share services, budgets (Dispatch)

Because federal funds won’t be increasing and state money is diminishing, county boards of developmental disabilities across Ohio are cutting their budgets. “The money we all once had isn’t coming back, and programs are adjusting accordingly. And, yes, change is difficult, particularly when our sons and daughters are vulnerable,” John L. Martin, the director of the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities, told board members in charge of such programs in Union County last week. Read More…

Local Issues

• School Background Checks Under Scrutiny (WBNS 10 CBS)

GRANDVIEW HEIGHTS - A California teacher was in jail on $23 million bond on Thursday after being accused of tying up his students and other children up and taking pictures. The teacher, Mark Berndt, had passed his background check, CrimeTracker 10’s Jeff Hogan reported. A central Ohio superintendent said on Thursday that there were checks in place to prevent a school employee from getting away with criminal behavior. Read More…

• CPS rolls out career-counseling tool (Enquirer)

Cincinnati Public Schools’ high school students will soon have their own personal guidance counselors -- ones that start working with the student as early as ninth grade, will be available anytime they’re needed and who memorize their career goals and do college research in a split second. Oh, the counselors aren’t people. They’re embodied in a software program called Naviance Succeed. CPS has partnered with the software giant Naviance, based in Arlington, Va., for a computer program that allows students to create individual success plans for college and career. Read More…

• Hebrew is elementary at Youngstown's Akiva Academy (Vindicator)

Youngstown - By using the Rosetta Stone program, Akiva Academy sixth- grader Alexander Smith, 12, may work on Hebrew at his own pace. “It’s supposed to be one of the easiest [languages], but I struggle,” he said. Using the program, though, lets him focus on areas that give him difficulty. Sixth- and seventh- graders at the school began using Rosetta online about a month ago with plans for fourth- and fifth-graders to begin using it soon. Read More…

• City schools OK tutoring for 2,901 students (Dispatch)

After a long delay, the Columbus City Schools now have approved tutoring for 2,901 students in a federally funded program, and the district is awaiting information from companies that have signed up an additional 600 children. Because of a time lag in invoicing, the district doesn’t know how many students have begun being tutored. As of Wednesday, the district had received bills for 241 students. Read More…

Editorial

• Passing the Blue Ribbon Schools test (L.A. Times)

When the 2011 winners of the coveted National Blue Ribbon Schools award were announced, only one of the 305 recipients was in Los Angeles, and that was a charter school. By contrast, two were located about 30 miles away, in Santa Ana — in a school district less than one-tenth the size of L.A. Unified. Yet Santa Ana Unified is far from affluent. A higher percentage of its students are poor and not fluent in English than in L.A. Unified. Close to 95% are Latino — making Santa Ana the most demographically homogenous school district in Orange County. Read More…