Statewide Stories of the Day

State schools chief gets praise, not raise (Dispatch)

After a year on the job, Ohio schools Superintendent Stan W. Heffner won’t get a raise, but the state Board of Education approves of the job he’s doing. “From his appointment as interim superintendent, Stan has led the department with professionalism, objectivity and commitment to ensuring the highest quality of education for all Ohio’s children,” board President Debe Terhar noted on Heffner’s first evaluation. The 19-member board met privately with Heffner during its annual retreat this week in Columbus. Read more...

Local Issues

Partnership talks fail between EOPA, TPS (Blade)

There will be no collaboration on a Head Start grant application between Toledo Public Schools and the Economic Opportunity Planning Association of Greater Toledo, which currently administers the program locally. "There will not be a formal partnership between the two organizations," states a letter from Jerome Pecko, Toledo Public Schools superintendent, to Jim Powell, EOPA chief executive officer, dated Tuesday. Mr. Powell did not return calls seeking comment. Read more...

O-G teachers get contract, small raises (Lima News)

OTTAWA — Ottawa-Glandorf teachers will get minimal raises during the next three years, but other concessions will keep the district from suffering financially. The school board approved the three-year contract with the Ottawa-Glandorf Classroom Teachers Association on Tuesday. Teachers previously ratified the deal that was largely hammered out in one meeting. “I think the teachers came to the table with a real good understanding of where the district is at financially,” Superintendent Kevin Brinkman said. Read more...

Grant to help feed 1,000 CPS students (Enquirer)

EAST WESTWOOD — The Walmart Foundation Tuesday donated $50,000 to a local non-profit group to combat child hunger. The money was awarded to the local Childhood Food Solutions and will fund a summer’s worth of weekly take-home food bags for 1,000 Cincinnati Public elementary school students – 600 at Roll Hill Academy in East Westwood and 400 at Ethel M. Taylor school in North Fairmount. Both have high number of students living in poverty. Read more...

Students say school’s too easy (Dayton Daily News)

Millions of students across the country aren’t being challenged enough in the classroom, according to a report released Tuesday by the Center for American Progress. The nonpartisan research and educational institute analyzed three years’ worth of student survey data (2009-11) from the Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress. Among the findings: 37 percent of fourth-graders reported their math work was “too easy.” More than a third of high school seniors said they hardly write about what they’ve read in class. Read more...