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Education News for 12-13-2012

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State Education News

  • Perry Local Supt. Richard to retire, Bowe to replace him (Canton Repository)

    • After seven years, Perry Local Schools Superintendent John Richard plans to retire at the end of January to become the senior executive director of the Ohio Department of Education…Read more...

  • Ohio Senate OKs new school evaluation system (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • The Ohio Senate on Wednesday passed a Republican-backed education bill that calls for a more demanding evaluation system for schools, along with other significant changes…Read more...

  • State officials auditing troubled charter school (Columbus Dispatch)

    • A Columbus charter school already strained because of poor fiscal management now is under state scrutiny for its work with special-needs children…Read more...

  • House likely to OK school report cards (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The House is expected to approve legislation today to create a new school report card and accountability system that supporters hope will help improve student learning…Read more...

  • Steep cuts, levy crucial for Carlisle schools to avoid takeover by state (Dayton Daily News)

    • Carlisle Local Schools may consider eliminating at least one bus route in January as part of $400,000 in potential cuts to keep the district from falling into fiscal emergency status and a takeover by the state…Read more...

Local Education News

  • 25 local leaders on Coleman’s city schools panel (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The chief executive of a major corporation, a federal judge and a prominent attorney will lead a commission of 25 people appointed…Read more...

  • Berea school officials listen to parents, readjust next year's hours Sun Newspapers)

    • Berea school officials reconsidered next year’s proposed time changes for the district’s elementary schools…Read more...

  • Midview schools facing major cuts WKYC)

    • The Midview Schools may cut up to 25 percent of teachers and go to a five-hour school day. The Midview School District says if a levy fails in February, $2.3 million will need to be cut…Read more...

Editorial

  • Newfound urgency Columbus Dispatch)

    • Ohio’s new “third-grade reading guarantee” is causing big headaches, especially in big-city school districts. While they aren’t anything to celebrate, those headaches are necessary and overdue…Read more...

Where the polls stand - 50 days to go

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With just 50 days to go until the election, the race for the Presidency appears to have settled into somewhat of a constant, but small lead for the President.

According to Real Clear Politics, the President has a 46 electoral college vote lead, with 110 in toss-up

In Ohio, the President has opened up an average lead of 4.2%

NYT polling analysts at 538 have the President coming down off his convention high and settled into a 305-232 electoral college vote lead

Recent polling in Ohio suggests the President is a 72.1% favorite to win the state

The next major domestic campaign events will be the debates. The Presidential debates take place on October 3rd, October 16th, and October 22nd, with the Vice Presidential debate happening on October 11th.

The reform movement is already failing

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In my nearly four decades as a historian of education, I have analyzed the rise and fall of reform movements. Typically, reforms begin with loud declarations that our education system is in crisis. Throughout the twentieth century, we had a crisis almost every decade. After persuading the public that we are in crisis, the reformers bring forth their favored proposals for radical change. The radical changes are implemented in a few sites, and the results are impressive. As their reforms become widespread, they usually collapse and fail. In time, those who have made a career of educating children are left with the task of cleaning up the mess left by the last bunch of reformers.

We are in the midst of the latest wave of reforms, and Steven Brill has positioned himself as the voice of the new reformers. These reforms are not just flawed, but actually dangerous to the future of American education. They would, if implemented, lead to the privatization of a large number of public schools and to the de-professionalization of education.

As Brill’s book shows, the current group of reformers consists of an odd combination of Wall Street financiers, conservative Republican governors, major foundations, and the Obama administration. The reformers believe that the way to “fix” our schools is to fire more teachers, based on the test scores of their students; to open more privately-managed charter schools; to reduce the qualifications for becoming a teacher; and to remove job protections for senior teachers.

[readon2 url="http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2011/08/23/the-reform-movement-is-already-failing/"]Continue reading...[/readon2]

S.B.5 Passes - Reports from around the web

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[flickr photo=5490431105]The major news today, which I am sure you are all aware of was the passage of S.B.5 through both the House (on a 53-44 vote) and the Senate (a repeat 17-16) vote. The Governor is expected to sign the bill tomorrow. It will then go into effect 90 days later.

Or so they wished.

It is certain that labor groups and those who believe the middle class should remain strong will seek to place a referendum on the ballot this November. If enough signatures are collected the law will be suspended before going into effect. You can read about how this "Citizens Veto" will work here.

Coverage of yesterdays attack on the middle class can be found across all the major newspapers:

If you believe as we do that S.B.5 must be repealed, please sign up to receive our email alerts. We will be needing people to help get a repeal initiaive on the ballot and show out of touch lawmakers that working people won't just sit by and let hard earned rights be taken from us.