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Education News for 02-28-2013

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State Education News

  • IN OUR SCHOOLS: Ohio finally releases report cards (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • Ohio’s Department of Education on Wednesday released the rest of its school and district report card data for the 2011-12 school year, six months late…Read more…

  • Ohio schools' report cards shifting to new format (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • The Solon school district won't be sweating over whether it's rated Excellent or Excellent with Distinction on state report cards anymore.…Read more…

  • Yost slams how schools report data (Columbus Dispatch)

    • State Auditor Dave Yost, whose office investigated data-scrubbing among school districts throughout the state, called on the Ohio Department of Education yesterday to fix the “just-trust-me” system.…Read more…

  • School report cards finally released (Findlay Courier)

    • After a nearly seven-month delay because of a statewide investigation into attendance tampering, the 2011-12 school report cards were finally released Wednesday.…Read more…

  • Official state report cards released (Lima News)

    • The State Department of Education released the final 2011-12 report cards Wednesday.…Read more…

  • Final-Not-Quite-Final Ohio School Report Cards Released (State Impact Ohio)

    • Ohioans finally get to see their schools’ ratings in the nice, clean PDF format they’re used to, instead of the confusing and incomplete spreadsheets the Department of Education released in the fall.…Read more…

  • Ohio Department of Education releases finalized school report cards (Toledo Blade)

    • The Ohio Department of Education released finalized school report cards today, after a months-long delay prompted by a statewide investigation into allegations of data manipulation by school districts.…Read more…

  • Justices’ questions leave fired science teacher hopeful (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Attorneys for Mount Vernon schools fidgeted in their seats and dropped their heads yesterday as they listened to Ohio Supreme Court justices discuss the case of fired teacher John Freshwater.…Read more…

Local Education News

  • Local districts fair well on state report cards (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • The Ohio Department of Education has found that Akron-area school districts performed higher than state performance averages.…Read more…

  • Report cards for Ohio schools unchanged from preliminary results, but Cleveland among districts still (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • Your school district's rating on final report cards issued Wednesday hasn't changed since the state released preliminary ratings in the fall.…Read more…

  • Hilliard schools top new state ranking (Columbus Dispatch)

    • For years, Hilliard students consistently have accomplished more than a year’s worth of learning during the school year. …Read more…

  • Linden students collect 750 books for hospital (Hamilton Journal-News)

    • Linden Elementary’s Friday morning book club — The Morning Glories - set out to do something special for the school's participation in the 26 Days of Kindness initiative.…Read more…

  • Ohio releases final school report cards (New Philadelphia Times-Reporter)

    • Sixteen school buildings in the Tuscarawas Valley earned the ranking of Excellent With Distinction in the latest Ohio school report card data released Wednesday.…Read more…

  • No surprises as school report cards are finally released (Newark Advocate)

    • About six months later than usual, the Ohio Department of Education released final school report card data on Wednesday.…Read more…

  • Final school report card results released (Springfield News-Sun)

    • Local school districts maintained their preliminary report card ratings Wednesday when the state released final results for the 2011-12 school year.…Read more…

  • Youngstown schools stay lowest ranked in Valley (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Final school report cards released Wednesday by the Ohio Department of Education look a lot like those issued last October.…Read more…

  • ScholArts charter school to close today (Columbus Dispatch)

    • A charter school in the Milo-Grogan neighborhood is giving up its legal fight to stay open and will hold its final day of classes today.…Read more…

  • Sequester could cut local Head Start (Marion Star)

    • As Friday’s sequester deadline looms, 47 children in Marion, Morrow, Crawford and Richland counties remain caught in the cross hairs.…Read more…

  • Clark to hire school deputies (Springfield News-Sun)

    • Clark County commissioners plan to spend more than $96,000 this year and $118,000 next year to hire deputies to boost school security, but concerns have been raised whether the county can afford the program.…Read more…

  • Schools Scramble To Submit School Safety Plans To State After 10TV Probe (WBNS)

    • Three central Ohio schools left to submit their safety plans to the state filed them within the past week after being probed by 10TV’s Jerry Revish.…Read more…

  • CrimeTracker 10 Analyzes School Safety 1 year After Chardon HS Shooting (WBNS)

    • Last year’s tragedy at Chardon High School was a painful reminder of how vulnerable places of learning can be.…Read more…

  • Chardon Healing Fund helps victims' families after school shooting (WEWS)

    • The people of Chardon have opened their hearts to help victims’ families of the Chardon High School shooting. They've also opened their wallets and the generosity has been felt from coast-to-coast.…Read more…

  • Chardon school shooting victims' families suing T.J. Lane, his family (Willoughby News Herald)

    • Families of the three students who died in the Chardon High School shootings filed a wrongful death suit Wednesday against the gunman, his parents and his legal guardians.…Read more…

Kasich education team is out of control

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A week after the Governor's orchestrated school funding plan announcement, we are still waiting on him to release his actual school funding numbers

Ohioans still can’t see how their tax dollars will be divided among local school districts under Gov. John Kasich’s school-funding plan.

Although Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols had said on Friday that the information likely would be released yesterday, it turns out there was a problem with some of the data and “it’s still being worked on.”

Kasich adviser Barbara Mattei-Smith compiled and used the data to help the administration formulate its funding plan, which was released on Thursday, Nichols said.

The administration initially said such a record didn’t exist, then said it was merely her “notes” and didn’t have to be made public, before now saying the information Kasich relied on in the $15.1 billion education plan apparently was wrong.

Perhaps if his hand picked Superintendent wasn't fired for serious ethics violations, and his hand picked President of the State Board of Education spent less time comparing her ideological enemies to genocidal maniacs, and perhaps if his acting State Superintendent and his deputy weren't both looking for new jobs, we might have had the numbers by now. But if all that wasn't enough, news breaks today of even more shocking failure of leadership at the Ohio Department of Education

The Ohio Department of Education said it fired its chief operating officer after learning he was under investigation for possessing child pornography and then finding such images on his work computer.

John T. Childs, 47, of 2239 Planetree Court on the Northwest Side, was fired on Nov. 2, said John Charlton, an Education Department spokesman. Childs had been on paid administrative leave since around Oct. 15.

“He was under investigation by local law enforcement for child pornography on his home computer. We put Childs on paid administrative leave until we could investigate the alleged charges and we could look at his work computer as well,” Charlton said.

The department turned Childs’ work laptop computer over to the State Highway Patrol, which found thumbnail images "of pornographic nature."

The Governor's education team is out of control. We wish we were just talking about bureaucratic incompetence, but sadly we are now well into the realm of serious failures of ethics and criminal behavior.

Education News for 09-27-2012

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State Education News

  • More high schools teaching personal finance (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • Dozens of Ohio high schools are moving closer to complying with the state mandate to teach personal finance…Read more...

  • Schools that wiped out data the most take academic dive (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The Columbus schools that deleted the most student attendance records last year posted dramatic academic declines…Read more...

  • Report on TPS generally poor (Toledo Blade)

    • The Ohio Department of Education released a pared-down version of school report cards on Wednesday, withholding some of the most illuminating information while a statewide investigation…Read more...

  • Report cards incomplete (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • Based on preliminary report card data that the state released Wednesday, Warren City Schools are among those celebrating…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Akron, other Ohio urban school districts target attendance data system (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • Ohio’s eight largest big-city school districts say they have experienced numerous problems understanding…Read more...

  • Graduation rates fall on state's new Report (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • Graduation rates have plunged almost across the board at school districts in Southwest Ohio…Read more...

  • Some school districts may slip in ratings (Dayton Daily News)

    • A Dayton Daily News analysis of the incomplete 2011-12 state report cards released…Read more...

  • Bristol BOE OKs 3-year contract (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • The Bristol Board of Education on Wednesday approved a three-year contract with the district's employees…Read more...

  • CEO of Cleveland Schools expected to address "F" grade at State of Schools Address (WEWS)

    • CEO of Cleveland Schools Eric Gordon will host the State of Schools…Read more...

  • Cardinal School District facing fiscal emergency (Willoughby News Herald)

    • The outcome of a five-year 9.7-mill renewal levy in the Nov. 6 election will determine whether the Cardinal Local School District will be placed in a state of fiscal watch or emergency…Read more...

  • Incomplete Ohio report cards show few Valley changes (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • Youngstown City Schools remain in academic watch, narrowly missing a continuous improvement designation…Read more...

Editorial

  • Booster rules, Court merger (Findlay Courier)

    • Sports and band booster clubs, and parent teacher organizations, serve an important function by aiding students…Read more...

Where the polls stand - 6 weeks out

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With just 6 weeks of campaigning left, the President continues to hold a strong position.

In the Electoral College, Real Clear Politics calculates that the President currently holds the edge with 247 votes to Mitt Romney's 191, an increase of 10 votes for the President since last week.

In Ohio, all polling continues to show the President with a small, but significant lead.

The NYT polling analyst, 538, also shows President Obama with a large projected win in the electoral college

In Ohio, President Obama is projected to have a 76.5% chance of prevailing - his largest margin to date.

Not included in these analysis is a just released poll by Ohio's newspapers, which showed the Presdient leading Mitt Romney 51-46. The very same poll also confirmed polling trends that Sen. Sherrod Brown leads Josh Mandel by a sizable margin 52-45

Education News for 09-05-2012

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State Education News

  • Temple creates enrichment program for home-school families (Lima News)

    • A new program at Temple Christian School will offer opportunities for home-schooled children that aren’t as easy to come by at home…Read more...

  • Hunger in the classroom a growing trend (WKYC)

    • A new study that included Ohio found that teachers are reporting many of their students are hungry…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Carroll works on energy savings (Dayton Daily News)

    • A recent energy conservation project is putting Carroll High School in the spotlight. The Catholic school is the first in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati…Read more...

  • Mansfield City Schools celebrate 'turnaround' (Mansfield News Journal)

    • The Mansfield City Schools Board of Education offered reflection and exhilaration…Read more...

  • Perrysburg Public Service Director Jon Eckel retires, rehired under new policy (Toledo Blade)

    • The public hearing on Perrysburg Public Service Director Jon Eckel's retirement was quick Tuesday, lasting only a few seconds, without any public outcry -- as quiet as the ensuing hearing about his rehiring…Read more...

  • Teen Behind Cryptic Video To Be Released, Bomb Squad Checks School (WBNS)

    • A teenager accused of making a video that other parents and students deemed threatening was in juvenile court…Read more...

Editorial

  • Ohio welcomes Teach for America (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • Just as Gov. John Kasich promised in his State of the State address in 2011, Teach for America graduates finally can teach in Ohio. So far, about 50 are assigned…Read more...

  • Ditching private schools (Los Angeles Times)

    • A study released last week by the libertarian Cato Institute showed that students are transferring in unexpectedly large numbers from private schools to charter schools…Read more...

Stan Heffner's Double Standards

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Stan Heffner seems to have a set of double standards when it comes to ethics

Stan Heffner last week, talking about the scrubbing scandal

“I will be asking our office of professional conduct to launch investigations along with the attorney general’s office if I find there is evidence of fraud so we have civil and criminal investigations at the same time,” Heffner said after speaking at the Columbus Metropolitan Club yesterday. “Those people have no business in our public schools.”

Stan Heffner today, in the wake of the Inspector General's detailing his serious ethics violations

Ohio schools Superintendent Stan Heffner quickly apologized for ethics allegations outlined in a state watchdog investigation released today but stopped short of stepping down from the post he has held for a year.

“I accept the findings of the Inspector General’s report. I was wrong and I’m sorry for my lack of judgment,” Heffner said in a statement released by the Ohio Department of Education.

“I’ve apologized to my staff, my friends and colleagues at the department, and the board. I have learned from my mistakes, and I will work with the board to take whatever steps they feel are necessary to resolve this matter and move forward.”