Statewide Stories of the Day

Federal waiver in hand, state to get tough evaluating schools (Dispatch)

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration gave Ohio extra flexibility to use its own education standards yesterday in exchange for the state using a hammer on school districts to ensure they adequately prepare students for college and careers. Also yesterday, a state study of the Kasich administration’s revised accountability system showed that about a quarter of all Ohio traditional and charter school districts — including Columbus and virtually all urban schools — would flunk. Read More...

Student pay-to-play fees rise at local schools (Dayton Daily News)

Many area families will have to pay two or three times the amount they paid last year for their kids to participate in school sports and other activities as part of districts’ efforts to cut costs. For the affected districts, the average increase is more than 100 percent. At Beavercreek, Huber Heights, Valley View and Vandalia-Butler school districts — each of which recently announced multimillion-dollar cuts to stem widespread budget deficits — costs will be higher for the 2012-13 than they were this past school year. Read More...

Ohio granted waiver to federal education law (Enquirer)

Ohio public schools are no longer under the gun to get 100 percent of their students proficient in math and reading by 2014. Ohio on Tuesday joined seven states that won federal approval to waive that requirement and other aspects of No Child Left Behind education law. “This is a major step forward that will allow us to raise the bar for our schools,” said Stan Heffner, Ohio’s superintendent of schools. In total, 19 states have received federal waivers, including Kentucky, which received one in February. Read More...

Federal government waives No Child Left Behind standards for Ohio (Plain Dealer)

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Education has granted Ohio's request to waive some compliance standards of the 2001 No Child Left Behind law and replace them with benchmarks that Ohio's education department deems more realistic. Ohio's waiver was among eight that Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced today, bringing the total number of state waivers granted to 19. "We couldn't be more proud of the creativity, courage and innovation shown by these states," Duncan told reporters. Read More...

Middle-schoolers get additional shots at taking high-school courses (Dispatch)

By the time 12-year-old Kallie Boren starts high school, she’ll have enough credits to be a sophomore. She’s set to finish the seventh grade at Pickerington’s Lakeview Junior High School with two high-school credits, for Spanish I and honors Algebra I. She’ll earn four more next school year by taking Spanish 2, honors geometry, integrated science, theater and technology. “I’d like to get ahead when I’m in high school,” she said. “I like the challenge.” Read More...

Local Issues

High-school students taking courses in Columbus State program must choose major (Dispatch)

High-school students who take classes at Columbus State Community College through a special state program will have to declare a major and follow a program of study starting in the fall. They also will be required to take the courses they need to graduate, such as English, math and science, at their high school before they can take courses in those areas at Columbus State. “We simply want to put students on a clear path to success,” said Karen Gray, Columbus State’s director of dual enrollment. Read More...

Akron schools’ anti-bullying program dismantled to avoid deficit (Beacon Journal)

Akron Public Schools has eliminated its innovative anti-bullying program to balance the books this year, according to the latest five-year budget projections the school board approved at a special meeting Tuesday. The program is part of the district’s Office of Drug/Violence Prevention, which is tasked with handling the social and emotional problems that can interfere with learning. Akron Public Schools had received funding for the program through competitive federal, state and local grants, which dried up in 2010 for all 50 states. Read More...

Utica gets iPads for high-schoolers (Newark Advocate)

UTICA - Utica High School students are going to be connected in a new way in the 2012-13 school year. Every student will be given an iPad on the first day of school in the fall. "I think it's the way education is going," Principal Mark Bowman said. "Myself and my staff are very excited, and my students are very excited. Any time you can get kids excited about coming to school, that's great." The North Fork Local School District is leasing 560 iPad 2s at a cost of $74,500 per year for four years, with the option to buy each for $1 at the end of the lease. Read More...

Editorial

No one is representing the children (Dispatch)

Working in the world of state-level education policy, frustration and disappointment are part of the job. I admit to giving in to frustration and even a little anger over the past year at the all-too-frequent hypocrisy. Everyone always says, “It’s about the kids,” but in reality, policy too often has little to do with children or their well-being. The focus always seems to come down to adults and institutions doing what they do best — protecting their status quo. Read More...

Out of the loop: The state must talk to Duquesne students' districts (Post-Gazette)

Now that officials have told Duquesne's sixth- and seventh-graders they'll be attending either West Mifflin or East Allegheny schools in the fall, it's time for the state Education Department to talk to those districts, too. It's been clear that Duquesne no longer can provide the education its children require and deserve. With its high schoolers already attending the neighboring districts, extending the arrangement to next year's seventh- and eighth-graders makes sense. Duquesne students should be in classrooms where they can learn and succeed. Read More...