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Education News for 05-28-2013

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State Education News

  • Coventry schools lead state in financial stress, but may have righted the ship (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • For nearly as long as Ohio has been rating school districts based on their financial health, Coventry schools has been in fiscal watch — the second-lowest level possible…Read more...

  • Bulletproof backpacks used to protect some school children (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • Guns weren't the only thing people raced to buy after 20 students and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School…Read more...

  • Columbus school board president clarifies stand on auditor (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Columbus Board of Education President Carol Perkins said this week that the district’s internal auditor’s post “is not going to be done away with,” but she issued a statement later saying that her words had been misinterpreted…Read more...

  • 3 referred to state in city schools data probe (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The Columbus school district has reported three former employees with ties to its data scandal to a state office that investigates educator wrongdoing…Read more...

  • Area schools to get $1.8M to meet new state requirements (Dayton Daily News)

    • Several districts and schools across the Miami Valley will get a $1.8 million boost to meet the state’s new early literacy and reading requirements, including two districts in Clark and all districts in Champaign counties…Read more...

  • State denies request for more information on attendance investigation (Dayton Daily News)

    • The Ohio Department of Education has denied the newspaper’s request to see Northridge Local Schools’ official written response to allegations that it scrubbed student attendance data…Read more...

  • Non-traditional high school graduates grows (Dayton Daily News)

    • The majority of Ohio public high school seniors still graduate from traditional schools but a growing number of them are graduating from non-traditional high schools…Read more...

  • Changes coming to GED; New standards, switch to digital format (Lorain Morning Journal)

    • It’s been three years since 21-year-old Larita White started working toward her GED, but her progress may be undone if she doesn’t receive the diploma before January…Read more...

  • State OKs plans to fix school data errors (New Philadelphia Times-Reporter)

    • Ohio schools that reportedly had errors in certain enrollment data have gotten state approval of plans to fix the issues…Read more...

  • It looks like there will be more money for more preschool in state (Ohio Public Radio)

    • Some conservative Ohio lawmakers and some faith leaders who generally support conservative causes want to put millions of additional dollars into more preschool…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Kids learning to COPE with stress (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Nothing gets 14-year-old Lyle Watters’ stomach tied up in knots as much as when his mom and stepdad argue…Read more...

  • Columbus schools may tap OSU provost as fill-in chief (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The Columbus school board president has asked Joseph Alutto, vice president and provost at Ohio State University, to lead Columbus City Schools until a permanent superintendent…Read more...

  • North Baltimore to evaluate digital device program (Findlay Courier)

    • Results of a pilot program that permitted North Baltimore students to use mobile electronic devices during school hours will be assessed by school officials this summer…Read more...

  • VB teachers, school begin contract talks (Findlay Courier)

    • Contract negotiations between Van Buren's teachers and administrators have begun and are proceeding well, Superintendent Tim Myers…Read more...

  • Board approves reading, math programs for 2013 (Toledo Blade)

    • At its regular meeting last week, the board of education approved the 2013 elementary intervention program, including its fees and instructors…Read more...

  • Board supports policy of student drug testing (Toledo Blade)

    • Fremont Ross High School students will undergo random drug testing next school year, following the school board’s support for a new drug testing policy…Read more...

  • District to provide iPads to students (Toledo Blade)

    • Seventh and eighth graders in Oregon schools will get a welcome amenity next year when classes start: a new iPad. The board of education last week approved a technology lease with Apple Inc. that will put an iPad…Read more...

Editorial

  • School board made good choice (Columbus Dispatch)

    • A public resolution by the Columbus Board of Education, expressing support for the recommendations of the Columbus Education Commission, is welcome…Read more...

  • Easy vote for lawmakers (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Ohio lawmakers have before them a simple piece of legislation that won’t cost a dime in state funds, has bipartisan sponsorship, enjoys the broadest possible community support and unites groups…Read more...

Education News for 03-07-2013

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State Education News

  • Both candidates for Ohio education boss have made missteps (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Gov. John Kasich’s education adviser disclosed a 2009 drunken-driving conviction as part of the Ohio Board of Education’s search to find a new state superintendent…Read more...

  • Local schools didn't use up calamity days (Mansfield News Journal)

    • Students may not be happy about it, but the winter of 2012-13 has been kind to area school districts…Read more...

  • Restructuring plan unveiled (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Three school buildings would close next year, two more would change functions and grade alignment would change in several others under a restructuring plan…Read more...

  • School board president wants Connie Hathorn to stay (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Superintendent Connie Hathorn still doesn’t have a new contract, but as of Wednesday afternoon, he had the backing of the school board’s majority…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Strongsville teachers, district hold talks - but no positive results (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • No positive news emerged and no further talks are scheduled following a meeting Wednesday night of officials from the Strongsville school district and its striking teacher's union…Read more...

  • Coleman’s panel asks: Is elected school board best? (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s Education Commission will bring in experts later this month to explore whether an elected school board is the best governance model for Columbus City Schools…Read more...

  • Marion superintendent interviews beginning (Marion Star)

    • The Marion City Schools Board of Education announced it will start interviewing superintendent candidates today as it searches for a successor to James Barney…Read more...

  • No more talks scheduled; parties in Strongsville teacher strike remain divided (Sun Newspapers)

    • Contract talks between the teachers union and the district won't resume in the coming days, said Strongsville Board of Education President David Frazee March 6…Read more...

  • Medina: Outrage at superintendent's 'supersized' bonus (WKYC)

    • Parents, teachers and students in the Medina School district are outraged over a supersized bonus for the superintendent…Read more...

Education News for 01-25-2013

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State Education News

  • State auditor: School data system broken (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • Ohio Auditor Dave Yost is expected to recommend multiple changes to the way school districts and the state report attendance data…Read more...

  • ‘Hitler’ reference offensive (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The Anti-Defamation League is calling on Ohio School Board President Debe Terhar and other critics of gun-control legislation to stop referencing Adolf Hitler…Read more...

  • Galion ponders armed teachers (Mansfield News Journal)

    • Come February, Galion schools could be among the first in Ohio to discuss arming teachers after the tragic shooting in Connecticut…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Sycamore students follow passions, earn high school credits (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • If you think high school is boring and irrelevant, you need to talk to Sycamore High School students Mitchell Bie and Matt Rickert…Read more...

  • Schools need to get online (Columbus Dispatch)

    • More online learning could be coming to a school near you, based on a meeting yesterday of Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s Education Commission, which is examining how to improve education in the city…Read more...

  • Washington-Nile School switches to natural gas (Portsmouth Daily Times)

    • The Washington-Nile Local School Board voted during their meeting…Read more...

  • Berea, Olmsted Falls schools exploring alternative approaches to keep kids safe (Sun Newspapers)

    • As a parent, Sarah Fox was amazed to learn her son’s school practices a lockdown drill that includes remaining in rooms, essentially hiding from an active shooter…Read more...

  • Still no response from CMSD on outrageous violence videos (WOIO)

    • Still no response from Cleveland Schools on outrageous videos of violence at John Adams High School. Two weeks and counting…Read more...

Editorial

  • This H-bomb is a dud (Columbus Dispatch)

    • State school-board President Debe Terhar, if she hasn’t given up social media entirely, likely is getting an education this week in what the Internet-savvy know as Godwin’s Law of Nazi Analogies…Read more...

  • Ms. Terhar must go (Toledo Blade)

    • State Board of Education President Debe Terhar apparently doesn’t have the decency or good sense to resign. So it falls to Gov. John Kasich to make that happen…Read more...

The Terhar debacle roundup

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Fallout from State Board of Education President's offensive and ignorant Facebook post, comparing President Obama to Hilter spread far and wide yesterday.

The latest development has a tepid statement from the Governor's spokesperson saying "the governor has no comment about Terhar’s posting and no plan to remove her as board president". A true profile in courage and leadership.

The Ohio Department of education had its head resign over a serious ethics violation, and the current acting superintendent and his deputy are reportedly applying for district level jobs. Education leadership in Ohio is in disarray. Now the governor expects education professionals to take the State Board of Education President seriously after this disgraceful incident? Certainly her fellow board members don't think so

“I don’t think she can be perceived as being objective,” said Jeffrey Mims, a board member from Dayton. “Whether she wrote the statement or not, the fact that she harbored those statements on her Facebook page, I think you just can’t be associated with that.”

Ann Jacobs, a board member from Lima, said the board is supposed to be nonpartisan but Terhar’s posting is the latest sign of how partisan it’s gotten in recent years.

Here's a sampling of some of the coverage

Her continued presence on the board brings disgrace to the State Board of Education, Ohio's education system and all the professionals who strive everyday to bring excellence to educating Ohio's young people.

Debe Terhar breaks Godwin's law

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The State Board of Education President Debe Terhar, in all her professional glory

State Board of Education President Debe Terhar said she was not comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler when she posted a photograph of the Nazi leader on her Facebook page with a message critical of the administration’s new gun-control efforts.

But she does say we “need to step back and think about it and look at history” to see that tyrants have disarmed their citizens.

Terhar, a Cincinnati Republican elected last week by the 19-member school board to a second term as its president, recently posted the picture with this commentary: “Never forget what this tyrant said: ‘To conquer a nation, first disarm its citizens.’ — Adolf Hitler.”

The photograph apparently originated with the Facebook page of Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children, which features a variety of anti-Obama, pro-gun posts and photos, such as scantily clad women hoisting large guns, a polar bear with the words “Holy f*** I’m glad I’m white,” and another saying “Where’s Lee Harvey Oswalt when you need him?”

When the Sipatch asked her about her Facebook post she said, “I’m not comparing the president to Adolf Hitler, it’s the thought of disarming citizens, and this has happened throughout history. What’s the true intention of the Second Amendment? It was to protect us from a tyrannical government, God forbid.”

Why is the State Board of Education President trolling racist Facebook pages in the first place, let alone making offensive comparisons to a genocidal maniac?

In one simple Post, Debe Terhar shows herself to:

  • Have a serious lack of professionalism
  • Questionable judgment
  • The inability to apologize
  • Lacking in historical understanding
  • A belief that we are stupid enough to believe she wasn't comparing the President to Hitler

Apparently in Terhar's world, only educators are to be held accountable.

Now is the time to do something about gun violence

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In the wake of the Sandy Hook school shootings, the President has released his plan to improve gun safety and hopefully prevent future massacres and gun related deaths.

His full plan can be read here.

Here's a list of his major principles:

  • Require criminal background checks for all gun sales.
  • Take four executive actions to ensure information on dangerous individuals is available to the background check system.
  • Reinstate and strengthen the assault weapons ban.
  • Restore the 10-round limit on ammunition magazines.
  • Protect police by finishing the job of getting rid of armor-piercing bullets.
  • Give law enforcement additional tools to prevent and prosecute gun crime.
  • End the freeze on gun violence research.
  • Make our schools safer with more school resource officers and school counselors, safer climates, and better emergency response plans.
  • Help ensure that young people get the mental health treatment they need.
  • Ensure health insurance plans cover mental health benefits.

On top of these principles the President also issued 23 executive orders:

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.

3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.

5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.

11. Nominate an ATF director.

12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.

13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.

16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.

17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.

18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.

19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.

20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.

23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.

The NEA has issued a strong endrosement of this plan

NEA President Dennis Van Roekel issued the following statement:

“The senseless tragedy in Newtown was a tipping point and galvanization for action. As educators, we have grieved too long and too often—for the children killed, their families and the heroic educators who gave their lives trying to protect their students. Now more than ever we need to do what is necessary to make sure every child in our nation’s public schools has a safe and secure learning environment.

“We commend President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for moving swiftly and presenting concrete, bold steps to keep children safe and begin addressing gun violence in America. We believe the common-sense recommendations put forth by President Obama are an important first step toward keeping children safe, providing more support for students and educators, and keeping military-style weapons out of the hands of those who shouldn't have them. To solve the problem, we must have not only meaningful action on preventing gun violence but also bullying prevention and much greater access to mental health services, so that educators and families can identify problems and intervene before it’s too late.

In a letter to Vice President Biden, the NEA outlined its proposal that, while including sensible gun safety recommendations, focuses on truly preventive measures, including greater access to mental health services, plus the infrastructure, training and programs that will ensure safe learning environments for the nation’s children.

The presidential recommendations are in line with the views of NEA members. A new NEA member poll released yesterday indicates overwhelming support for stronger gun violence prevention laws, including background checks and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazine clips. The NEA members polled also overwhelmingly rejected the idea of arming educators.

“The idea of arming teachers as some had suggested was rightly and soundly rejected by the president’s task force. We especially welcome the president’s comprehensive approach by allowing school districts the option to design and implement appropriate measures to make schools safer and protect their students.

“With the clock ticking to prevent another Sandy Hook and Americans demanding swift action, the nation’s attention now is squarely on Congress. The time is now for Washington to put politics aside and work together to keep our children safe and reduce the incidence of gun violence in our communities.”