Statewide Education News
- Raising the bar at Ohio pre-K’s (Dispatch)
Thousands of poor youngsters start kindergarten unprepared to learn and behind their peers, delays that can cause them to struggle throughout their school years. A proposal being considered by Ohio lawmakers aims to reduce those learning gaps by requiring all tax-funded preschool and childcare programs to participate in a rating system to help guide parents and ensure high standards. Read More…
- Turn in a bully anonymously (Marietta Times)
Anonymous phone lines to report bullying and other behavior could be coming to local school districts. Providing some means to anonymously report bullying, harassment and intimidation is part of House Bill 116, signed into law by Ohio Gov. John Kasich earlier this year. It requires schools to expand their anti-bullying policies and include possible suspension for cyberbullying. Read More…
- Rallying cry of city students: Do your best on state test (Vindicator)
Students at Williamson Elementary School got rousing support as they prepare to take the Ohio Achievement Assessment next week. "We want them to bring on the OAA because we are ready," Principal Wanda Clark shouted at a Thursday morning rally at the school. "Are we ready?" Students shouted back that they are. First- and second-graders marched in the school gymnasium, holding posters and cheering, "Do your best, pass the test." Read More…
- Cyberbullying Law Now In Place; Students Note Positive Changes (NBC-4)
Bullying doesn't stop when your kids leave school, and as many as half of American teenagers said they've been bullied online. But now, there is something schools can do about it. Ohio's new law, The Jessica Logan Act, prohibits cyberbullying whether or not it's on school property, and schools are required to alert students and parents about discipline options if cyberbullying occurs. Anonymous reporting is also part of the act, but are schools changing their policies? Read More…
Local Issues
- Newark High School to get iPads, laptops
Newark City Schools administrators plan to add 400 laptops and 100 iPads to the high school this fall, with the goal of getting them into students' hands as much as possible. Superintendent Doug Ute envisions a time when teachers are more fully integrating technology into their lesson plans and students will carry their devices rather than heavy books in backpacks to and from school. Read More…
- Oregon Schools working on alternative energy project (WTOL )
Oregon City Schools put the massive blades for its 900 kilowatt wind turbine in place on Thursday, and they will help provide more than 80% of the energy for Clay High School. The turbines serves as a working monument to the district's commitment to the environment and taxpayers. Read More…
- Beavercreek district plans 30 layoffs, extensive cuts (Dayton Daily News)
The Beavercreek City School District plans to eliminate more than 50 full- and part-time jobs and cut academic courses across the district following a third-straight levy defeat. About 30 of the job cuts will come through layoffs and the rest through attrition, said Beavercreek Superintendent Nick Verhoff. Read More…
- Reality Check gives students glimpse of adulthood (Hamilton Journal News)
Students at Fairfield Freshman School had kids, bought a car, a house, insurance and other necessities — all within the space of 45 minutes or less. Granted, the children were represented by ping-pong balls. That’s because the students were participating in Reality Check, an annual event coordinated by the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce. Read More…
- CPS busing costs go up, up, ouch! (Cincinnati Enquirer)
Transportation cost overruns are blowing up Cincinnati Public Schools budget. The state’s third-largest school district expects to spend a whopping $29.5 million this year just to transport 21,000 kids to and from school each day. That’s 9 percent, or $2.3 million, more than budgeted and $1.3 million more than last year. Read More…
- KSU delegation visits Senior High to see Algebra Project work (Mansfield News Journal)
A delegation from Kent State University watched this week as Mansfield Senior High School math teacher Amanda Clawson led her Algebra Project junior class in analyzing two equations. "How are they different? How are they the same?" Clawson asked. Read More…
- Lorain City School layoffs; District cuts 182 positions, notices sent next 2 days (Lorain Morning Journal)
Lorain City Schools will be sending layoff notices today and tomorrow as the district cuts 182 positions, according to Interim Superintendent Ed Branham. “Letters are going out to be passed out to (today),” Branham said. The first group receiving the letters today will be secretaries, media clerks and health professional, with teachers and teachers and the remaining people being laid off get notices Friday, he said. Read More…
- State admonishes teacher fired for viewing porn on school laptop (New Philadelphia Times Reporter)
Howard “Mike” Winland, a former Strasburg elementary teacher, has been admonished by the State Board of Education for viewing pornographic images on a district laptop computer. Unless he engages in additional conduct unbecoming to the teaching profession, however, Winland will retain his teaching license. Read More…
- Unioto, ACLU near deal to avert bullying lawsuit (Chillicothe Gazette)
Five months after the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio threatened legal action against Union-Scioto Local Schools for allegedly not doing enough to address anti-gay bullying, the two sides are said to be close to an agreement that would stave off a lawsuit. What began as an incident Oct. 17 between two Unioto High School students flared into national news this past fall after a video of the attack went viral online. The mother of the victim, a 15-year-old freshman, said her son was attacked because he's gay and that the school had not done enough to protect him. Read More…
- Updated academic plan approved for Youngstown schools (Vindicator)
State Superintendent Stan Heffner has approved an updated plan to get the city school district out of academic distress. Though the plan in place since July 2010 focused on elementary schools, the updated document aims more at the district’s high schools. The plan was approved last month by the city schools’ academic-distress commission and submitted to Heffner, state superintendent of public instruction. Read More…
