Statewide Education News
- Ohio making strides in Race to the Top (Dispatch)
Ohio is “meeting expectations” on implementing changes under its $400 million Race to the Top grant, a study released yesterday says. The Center for American Progress, a Washington-based nonprofit, found that “despite weathering major changes in leadership, Ohio has made significant progress” toward putting the law into effect. The state is one of 19 that have gotten federal money in exchange for promising a variety of changes in how it oversees education and measures success. Read More…
- Educators work to improve students’ college, career readiness in Ohio (News-Herald)
Schools in Lake and Geauga counties have begun work on aligning K-12 curriculum with the expectations of area colleges and universities in hopes of better preparing students for the future. As part of the Ohio Department of Education’s High School-Higher Education Alignment Initiative, the Lake and Geauga group was one of 14 in the state that received a grant in February to help with this alignment. Read More…
- School, safety officials who responded to Chardon High shooting to be honored at Statehouse (News-Herald)
About 50 school and law enforcement officials from Chardon and Geauga County will be honored at the Ohio Statehouse Wednesday for their response to the Feb. 27 shootings at Chardon High School. The group, traveling by bus, will meet with Gov. John Kasich and his Cabinet; be served lunch; visit with state legislators John Eklund and Mary Brigid Matheney, both of Geauga County; and be recognized with presentations before the Senate and House of Representatives. Read More…
Local Issues
- Retirees soften cuts at Dublin schools (Dispatch)
Two central Ohio school districts are finalizing layoffs for next school year after November levy failures. The Dublin school board voted last night to cut 46 teaching jobs –– though only 16 people will lose jobs –– and 133 supplemental contracts, mainly sports coaches and advisers to student clubs. Westerville school officials have yet to propose layoffs to the school board, but a tentative list of reductions includes 71 teachers, about 7 percent of the teaching staff. That could be lower based on retirements, officials said. Read More…
- District will transition to new standards (Vindicator)
BOARDMAN - The Boardman School District, like every other school district in the state, will transition to the Common Core Standards by the 2014-15 school year. The standards have been adopted by 44 other states and the District of Columbia. In Ohio, they will replace the current Academic Content Standards. The common core is K-12 standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy. Ohio has also revised its social studies and science standards. Read More…
- Chardon leans on each other for support a month after deadly school shooting (ONN)
CHARDON - Chardon residents tell ONN's Cristin Severance that not a day goes by that they don't think about the victims or their families. A group of Chardon women who meet at a local coffee shop every week said they've needed each other's support since the shooting. "We support each other in this special sisterhood we have going," said Vera Erasmus. The women are Chardon's version of "The View," and they volunteer at organizations and work out together every day. "I really can't believe it’s been a month," said Erasmus. Read More…
- Lakota approves preschool venture with county ESC (Journal-News)
LIBERTY TWP. — The Lakota Local School District and the Butler County Educational Service Center have reached an agreement to jointly provide preschool services to students in the district. The board approved the one-year contract agreement by a vote of 4-1 Monday night. It is part of an effort by the district to help reduce an estimated $9 million deficit for the 2012-13 school year. Board Member Julie Shaffer voted against the plan. Read More…
- Poland board takes no action on pay-to-play (Vindicator)
POLAND - School-board members continued discussions of pay-to-participate athletic fees, but they did not make a decision. The board heard from Athletic Director Brian Banfield, who said the average cost of pay-to-participate athletics at Ohio schools is $140 per high-school sport. “I would support a fee of $150 for high-school athletes and $75 for middle-school athletes and a family cap,” Banfield said at Monday’s board session. Read More…
- Cleveland Teachers Union and Mayor Frank Jackson move closer to agreement on mayor's schools plan, but hurdles remain (Plain Dealer)
CLEVELAND - Mayor Frank Jackson and the Cleveland Teachers Union worked through several issues involving Jackson's schools plan Monday morning, reaching one major understanding but remaining far apart on two issues. The major accord came with how to handle the layoff and recall of teachers, with Jackson agreeing Monday to use the plan suggested by teachers last week. The compromise plan would rely on teacher evaluations first, and tenure and seniority second. Currently, layoffs and recalls are based mainly on seniority and tenure. Read More…
- City schools consider health clinics within district buildings (Chillicothe Gazette)
CHILLICOTHE - The Chillicothe City School District is seeking a medical provider for a partnership that would blur the line between visiting the school nurse and visiting the doctor's office. The school district is looking to open clinics in the high school/middle school building and Mount Logan Elementary School, each offering a wide range of medical care provided by an on-site nurse practitioner or physician assistant. The goal for these clinics, or school-based health centers, is to improve overall student health while also boosting attendance and test scores. Read More…
- Emergency response training planned at Stow-Munroe Falls schools (Beacon Journal)
STOW - In the wake of last month’s fatal shootings at Chardon High School, the Stow-Munroe Falls school district plans to train its employees on what to do if an armed intruder comes into one of its buildings. “We are all mindful of the fact that things like that can happen in any community, and then it does,” Stow Mayor Sara Drew said. “It really makes you remember that you need to be prepared.” Teachers will undergo training in the ALICE program this week. Read More…
- Bay Village school board OKs superintendent's retire-rehire plan (Sun News)
The Bay Village school board agreed March 26 to a retire-rehire plan for Superintendent Clint Keener. The plan calls for Keener to resign effective the end of the workday July 31, and the board will rehire him effective Aug. 2 at a lower salary. The plan will allow Keener to begin collecting his pension from the State Teachers Retirement System. The new four-year contract will pay Keener $108,000 during the 2012-2013 school year with gradual increases in subsequent years. At the end of the pact, during the 2015-2016 school year, Keener will earn $126,500. Read More…
Editorial
- The ‘community’ in community learning (Beacon Journal)
The first time I heard the phrase “community learning center,” my brain played one of those word-association tricks. Somewhere between the sound of the sequence of words and comprehension, it locked in on “community learning,” not the more usual and rational “learning center.” This led to a moment of puzzlement: What will the community be learning? Idiosyncratic? Probably. But with time that initial word link has been like some sort of trace element, casting its own shade of meaning on the phrase. Read More…
- Student tests prove poverty (Plain Dealer)
As I write this, a good number of my 11th-grade economics students have taken the Ohio Graduation Test in reading for the third time. Twice before, they have failed to perform on the test that state officials say is a basic indicator of a 10th-grader's ability to read and comprehend. I have worked with struggling readers most of my career. Each student's story is unique. However, many come with common histories of abuse, neglect or both. Our classroom houses three teachers to help these students: an English teacher, a special education teacher and myself. Read More…
