Statewide Education News

Kasich upset education plan altered (Dispatch)

Again at odds with fellow Republicans, Gov. John Kasich blasted Senate leaders yesterday for altering his third-grade reading guarantee, arguing the changes “weaken efforts to improve education for Ohio’s children.” Kasich said he was “troubled by moves under way in the Senate,” specifically efforts to delay for a year a requirement that third-graders pass the state reading test before moving up to the fourth grade, and dropping the cut score so that fewer students are affected. Read More…

Biometric Scanner Use At Schools Prompt Parent Concerns (WBNS, Columbus)

Central Ohio schools’ use of new technology has prompted safety concerns for some parents, 10TV’s Tanisha Mallett reported Tuesday. Biometric scanners store information that can be accessed when a finger touches a scanner. Tina, a mother of a middle school student, said that she was concerned about privacy rights. Read More…

Local Issues

Cleveland School Board Considers Selling Administrative HQ (Fox 8, Cleveland)

The Cleveland School Board considered a resolution Tuesday night to put the district’s administrative headquarters up for sale. The idea is part of a plan to consolidate six buildings used for administrative purposes into one building, possibly leasing space in a downtown building. Read More…

Cleveland schools will bus more students next year while saving money (Plain Dealer)

Thousands more Cleveland schoolchildren will have bus rides to school in the fall under a new busing plan presented to the school board Tuesday night. Elementary school students would have to walk no more than a mile, instead of the 1.75-mile maximum now, under the plan. And high school students won't have to walk up to three miles to school anymore. Their walks would be cut to a mile and a half at most. Read More…

School Cracks Down on Prom Dress Code (Fox 8, Cleveland)

With necklines plunging lower, and hemlines getting shorter, are dresses too sexy for prom?
No matter the answer to that question, sexy dresses will not make it through the dance doors at Jefferson High School come prom night. “Over the past years, there were a lot of comments about the dresses the students were wearing,” said Principal John Montenaro. Read More…

Springfield teachers authorize call to strike (Toledo Blade)

Negotiations that have stretched for a year could spiral out of control between the Springfield Board of Education and its teachers' union, which has passed a strike authorization measure. Members of the Springfield Education Association unanimously voted Monday to allow negotiators to serve the school board with a 10-day strike notice. That notice could come as soon as Friday, union President Marty Perlaky said, if district negotiators don't give the union a counterproposal. Read More…

Teen bullied to point of suicide, Mentor hosts seminar to combat bullying (WEWS, Cleveland)

Sen. Sherrod Brown hosted a seminar at Mentor Memorial Junior High School Tuesday night aimed at helping schools address bullying. The goal of the event was to teach administrators, staff, bus drivers and educators to recognize and report bullying and the harassment of students. The seminar focused on promoting healthy, safe and productive schools for students. Read More…

Walnut Hills rated top Ohio high school (Enquirer)

Several local schools placed well in U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 Best High Schools rankings, which came out Tuesday. Walnut Hills High School was ranked the top school in Ohio and the 90th best in the nation. Others in Ohio’s top 10 included Indian Hill (3) and Wyoming (4) high schools. They ranked 104 and 143 nationally. Read More…

Teacher’s aide grabs student, is fired (Dispatch)

A teacher’s aide for special-needs students at Livingston Elementary School was fired last week because she grabbed a girl who was spitting at her face. The child had been spitting on aide Linda M. Finch for days before the March incident for which she lost her job, documents show. Read More…

Editorial & Opinion

Schools in crisis (Akron Beacon Journal)

Policy Matters Ohio released early this year findings from a survey of Ohio school finance officials showing “alarming levels of fiscal distress” in districts across the state. The Cleveland-based think tank found that roughly two-thirds of the respondents face budget shortfalls, and those projecting shortfalls above 5 percent had almost tripled since 2010. Hard-pressed rural, urban and suburban districts planned to manage the budget gaps by cutting staff, programs and extracurricular activities, freezing wages and reducing spending on benefits, supplies and equipment. Read More…