Education News for 07-17-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Schools facing reading issues (News-Sun)

More than one in five third-graders in a dozen Miami Valley school districts were not proficient in reading last year, according to 2010-11 report card data. In Dayton and Jefferson Twp., about 45 percent failed to meet that state standard, while in Springfield it was about 37 percent and Middletown, 30 percent. School districts are taking steps this summer to prepare for the new state third-grade reading guarantee, which would generally require districts to hold back third-graders starting in 2013-14 if they are not reading at grade level. Read more...

• Ohio’s education challenge (Vindicator)

Gov. John Kasich, a man who does not shy away from challenge, is saying that he intends to work with the legislature to come up with a better way to fund the state’s schools, likely in time for next year’s new state budget. Meanwhile, members of the General Assembly are doing the homework needed to craft reform. Parents who think their district is doing great might be shocked to find out that, compared with national achievement-test scores, in many cases student performance is substandard. Read more...

Local Issues

• Backpack program helps parents feed kids (Middletown Journal)

MIDDLETOWN — It sounded like she was talking about more than a plastic grocery bag full of six meals for her children. “This is a godsend,” Julie Oglesbay, 44, a mother of two children, said Friday afternoon at the Catalina Manufactured Home Community. “As a mother, you always want your kids’ stomachs full. This helps tremendously.” Because of a $1 million grant from Governor John Kasich’s office, a Summer Weekend Backpack Meals program was established this year in the state, including the Middletown area. Read more...

• Canton City Schools students learn guitar in summer program (Repository)

CANTON — Newly formed non-profit, Ohio Regional Music Arts and Cultural Outreach (ORMACO) teamed up with Canton City Schools’ Arts Academy at Summit, the University of Akron’s guitar department and McKinley High School to offer summer guitar lessons to City Schools students. Led by Arts Academy music instructor George Dean and James Marron, guitar professor at the University of Akron, the program will culminate in a free concert for the public. Read more...

Editorial

• The Creativity-Testing Conflict (Education Week)

Doublethink is "to hold simultaneously two opinions which canceled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them," according to George Orwell, who coined the phrase in his novel 1984. American education policymakers have apparently entered the zone of doublethink. They want future Americans to be globally competitive, to out-innovate others, and to become job-creating entrepreneurs. Read more...

Education News for 06-21-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Ohio’s school funding fares well in report (Dispatch)

As the Ohio House prepares for another series of hearings on the school-funding formula next week, a new report shows that, from a national perspective, Ohio schools are doing better than most financially. When ranked on four criteria relating to how the state allotted and distributed funding in 2009 — the most-recent year of data available — Ohio was one of three states to receive an A in distributing funds fairly among districts of varying income levels. Read more...

• Cleveland schools bill among several sent to Gov. John Kasich for signature (Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS — A bill containing Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson’s schools reform plan is among 16 bills that officially were delivered to Gov. John Kasich Wednesday for his signature. Kasich, a Republican, is expected to publicly sign the Cleveland schools bill in the near future alongside Jackson, a Democrat, in Cleveland. The bills sent to Kasich all were passed last week in a flurry of legislative action before lawmakers went on their lengthy summer break. Read more...

• Summer Reading Program Focuses On State Standards (ONN)

CINCINNATI - The National Underground Railroad Freedom center is one of four organizations hosting the Freedom Schools this summer in Cincinnati. Officials said 50 students are at each school, learning to love a good book. Adonya Streat, 9, will be in fourth grade this fall and enjoys reading Dr. Seuss books, like Green Eggs and Ham. The Children's Defense Fund are running these six week schools which is free for low income students, reported ONN's Lot Tan. Read more...

• Treasurers accused of mishandling $1.4 million (Dayton Daily News)

Two treasurers listed on a state audit released Tuesday of a now-closed local charter school are responsible for a combined $1.4 million in allegedly mishandled public funds, according to a Dayton Daily News analysis. Carl Shye and Edward Dudley were both named in an audit released Tuesday of the Carter G. Woodson Institute, which closed in July 2010. The audit singled out $168,772 in allegedly mishandled public funds in that school’s waning months. Read more...

Local Issues

• Probe might hinder Columbus schools’ levy (Dispatch)

A citizens committee is leaning toward recommending that Columbus City Schools place no levy on the ballot in November, saying that voters might not see past the cloud created by an investigation into why district employees changed thousands of student-attendance records. Eight of the 11 members who were present yesterday on the 14-member panel said they favored or leaned toward delaying a levy request until at least spring. Three other members wanted to go forward or appeared wary about waiting. Read more...

• Board approves increase in insurance premiums (Vindicator)

Canfield - School board members approved a 5 percent increase in medical-insurance premiums for the upcoming school year. They approved the increase during Wednesday’s meeting where four of the five board members were present. Three voted yes with board President Adrianne Sturm abstaining because she purchases the district’s insurance. Sturm said it’s standard for premiums to increase each year, and a 5 percent increase is fairly low. Read more...

• Reynoldsburg may shut charter school (Dispatch)

A local charter school could be suspended next week for suspected nepotism and a poor financial outlook. Reynoldsburg school board members voted Tuesday to suspend operation of Virtual Community School of Ohio, the online charter school that the district sponsors. To keep the school open, its officials must prove it was legal to hire relatives of the superintendent and that the school can make financial ends meet. Read more...

• Lakota losing principals at high rate (Enquirer)

LIBERTY TWP. — The financial woes of one of the area’s highest-rated school districts has helped drive away more than half its principals in the last two school years. Of Lakota Schools’ 20 building principal positions, seven – 35 percent – have recently resigned due to retirement or other jobs. That follows the 2010-11 school year, which saw four principals depart, leaving Lakota with a 55 percent turnover rate among its school building leaders since spring 2011. Read more...

• City school students may get free lunches this fall (Vindicator)

Youngstown - It turns out there is such a thing as a free lunch. All city school students will get a free lunch beginning this fall if the district’s application for a new program is approved. The Community Eligibility Option provides free reimbursement to districts for all students if the district includes 62.5 percent students who are directly certified as eligible through food stamps. In the city school district, 76 percent of students are directly certified while 93 percent of students qualify for free and reduced lunches under federal guidelines. Read more...

• Proposed bond issue for Cleveland Heights-University Heights schools' master facilities plan reduced to 5.9 mills (Sun News)

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS - It appears the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school board is moving forward with Plan C, the comprehensive master facilities plan that would require a bond issue on the November ballot. Steve Shergalis, the district’s director of business services, presented a list of funding options for the plan to the board at a work session June 18 at Wiley Middle School. The primary expense is a proposed 5.9-mill bond issue that would generate $137.2 million over a 37-year period. Read more...

Editorial

• Gone studyin’ (Beacon Journal)

The Ohio House Finance Committee spent the spring brushing up on the basics of the school funding system. The House plans several regional hearings on the issue during the summer break. When it comes to funding public education, it is hard to say Ohio legislators have not done due diligence in one aspect: studying the issue. Since the Ohio Supreme Court first ruled the state’s funding system unconstitutional, a succession of governors and legislators have promised earnestly to come up with a plan that would fix funding inequities. Read more...

• Teacher prep (Chicago Tribune)

The best way to boost public education in Illinois is to make sure only the best teachers lead classrooms. Two years ago, Illinois took a huge stride toward that goal: The Illinois State Board of Education dramatically lifted standards for college students who want to become teachers. The board required college students to correctly answer about 75 percent of questions on a basic skills test in math, reading and language arts — as well as master a writing test — before they can be admitted to their colleges' teacher prep programs. Read more...

Education News for 06-11-2012

State Education News

• Ohio schools prepare for another budget hit (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Therese Konrad, who has taught in the Rocky River School District for 24 years, says her students always rise to the challenges she presents them. Read more...

• State may add schools for gifted (Columbus Dispatch)

Should Ohio have special schools for smart kids? Advocates for gifted students say a new proposal for regional schools would ensure the students have access to more rigorous courses and learning opportunities that keep Read more...

• School rating plan minds achievement gaps (Columbus Dispatch)

For years, Ohio educators have struggled to close the gaps. White students perform much better than their black and Latino peers in most of the state’s school districts. Poor students generally do worse than their wealthier Read more...

• Schools' summer slide’ worse for poor kids (Dayton Daily News)

American students in grades one through nine reportedly lose one month of learning, on average, during a typical three-month summer break — which is often referred to as the “summer slide” — Read more...

• Needy kids can get summer lunches (Dayton Daily News)

Forty-five percent of Ohio children were eligible for free or reduced-priced lunches this past school year through the National School Lunch Program. Read more...

Local Education News

• Summer reading program combines major Summit County entities (Akron Beacon Journal)

Reading and exercise will be key parts of a summer reading program for adults and children at the Akron-Summit County Public Library. Read more...

• Private company disrupts status quo at South High, renews student (Columbus Dispatch)

There were classes, and there were sports. But there was little else at South High two years ago. The couple of lunchtime clubs barely attracted students’ attention. Read more...

• Tech-savvy South Range grads get age-old advice (Youngstown Vindicator)

The new high school is surrounded by wide-open spaces, split-rail fences, horses and cows. Read more...

• School board OKs placing 5.9-mill levy on Nov. ballot (Youngstown Vindicator)

POLAND The Poland board of education has agreed to place a five-year, 5.9-mill emergency operating levy on the Nov. 6 general-election ballot. Read more...

Editorial

• City teachers mistakenly dig in against proposed concessions: editorial (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

It will take more than two to tango if the Cleveland schools hope to banish a looming $19 million deficit. Read more...

• Let Local Schools Make the Decisions (Wheeling Intelligencer)

A federal program intended to help students doing poorly in school turned into a fiasco in Ohio. Now the state is doing what should have been done all along - Read more...

• Legislating in Ohio for the kids -- yeah, sure: Brent Larkin (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

When it comes to charter schools, Republicans who control the Ohio House don't lie all the time. Only when their lips move. Read more...

• Charter schools get short end of the funding stick (Columbus Dispatch)

The Sunday Dispatch article “Residents carry more school costs” highlighted the need for school districts to keep going back to the levy well to cover costs Read more...

• Don't punish the kids because they can't read (Columbus Dispatch)

To improve the teaching of reading, we’re now going to flunk third-graders that districts haven’t taught to read. Somehow, this latest magic bullet seems aimed more at the victims than the culprits. Read more...

Education News for 05-29-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Schools test-drive state's online testing system (Lima News)

LIMA — A colorful pie chart appears on the screen, inviting pupils to create their own colonies, figuring out how best to allocate their resources. On another test question, pictures of state senators appear with information hinting to whether they belong in the North or South. Pupils drag the pictures to the appropriate spots. This is the future of state testing: All online, more colorful, more interactive, more fun. Read More...

• Cleveland schools plan wins legislative support as Mayor Frank Jackson agrees to less control over new charter schools than he sought (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND — Mayor Frank Jackson scaled back his push to empower a local panel to approve new charter schools to win approval of his far-reaching Cleveland schools plan in the state legislature. Instead the new Transformational Alliance will only be advisory and will review charter school sponsors, or authorizers, and make a recommendation to the Ohio Department of Education, which will have final approval. Read More...

• Anti-truancy effort lauded (Dispatch) County and school officials yesterday touted an anti-truancy program that aims to help chronically absent Columbus students avoid court. The event was meant to take stock of several anti-truancy efforts that affect Columbus City Schools children, including Project KEY, drop-off centers for corralled truants and work by police officers to round up truants, said Edwin England, who helps oversee Project KEY. There’s little data to measure whether some of those programs have helped curb truancy. Read More...

Local Issues

• School adopts drug-test policy (Blade)

TOLEDO — St. John’s Jesuit High School & Academy plans this fall to introduce random drug tests for all students and staff, making it one of the first schools in Ohio to have such a policy. All students and staff could be asked to provide a hair sample for testing, and submission to the tests will be a condition of enrollment, the Rev. Joaquin Martinez, school president, said last week. School administrators have discussed a possible drug testing policy for about two years. It does not include testing for alcohol. Read More...

• 'Shared' treasurers saving school districts money (Dayton Daily News)

Local school district treasurers Dan Schall and Brad McKee are on the forefront of a state effort that aims to reduce costs and increase efficiencies by sharing services across public entities, such as school districts. “The governor really believes that for too long the first options considered to save money are cutting services or raising taxes, but there really is a third way,” said Randy Cole, policy manager with the Ohio Office of Budget and Management. “They can find efficiencies and change the way they perform services.” Read More...

• Licking County School Districts all pass Ohio Graduation Test (Newark Advocate)

NEWARK - Licking County's school districts all passed every section of the Ohio Graduation Tests for the first time this year. Although the results, posted online this week by the Ohio Department of Education, are only preliminary, they are encouraging, Newark Superintendent Doug Ute said. Ute's district sits at 76.1 percent of sophomores passing the science test -- up from 68.8 percent in 2011. "It's higher than it's ever been at this time," he said. "You have to keep in your mind, too, those things could change." Read More...

• Summer school numbers decrease (Journal-News)

Increasing costs of summer courses and more online options have contributed to the shrinking number of students enrolling in traditional summer school programs according to local school officials. Hamilton City Schools has seen its summer school enrollment plummet from 668 high school students in 2008 to 376 in 2011 according to a Hamilton JournalNews analysis. Keith Millard, director of secondary programs at Hamilton City Schools, said there are several contributing factors for the drop off. Read More...

• Decision on drug testing for all Vermilion students could come this summer (WEWS 5 ABC)

VERMILION - A few days after 16-year-old Jessica Fernandez committed suicide by standing in front of a train, an ex-boyfriend is speaking out. The police report states that Fernandez had a drug problem. The report does not say whether drugs had anything to do with her suicide, but James Harwood of Lorain believes it did. “Jessica was a beautiful person,” Harwood said, sitting on his couch with tears in his eyes. The 22-year-old said he is a former addict himself and has been in recovery for some time now. Read More...

• Minerva cuts teaching, bus-driver jobs (Repository)

MINERVA — As a cost-saving measure, 10 teaching positions and two bus driver slots were eliminated from the Minerva Local School District payroll. The school board also eliminated two administrative positions while filling two others. One of the positions filled was treasurer. That went to Larry Pottorf, the school system’s business manager. “The business manager also has a treasurer’s license,” Superintendent Joseph Chaddock said. “So the business manager will become the treasurer and I am eliminating the business manager’s position.” Read More...

• Area students fare slightly worse than 2011 on OGT (Chillicothe Gazette)

CHILLICOTHE - Students in Ross and Pike counties, as a whole, met fewer benchmarks on the Ohio Graduation Tests this year than in 2011, but not by much. Passing the OGTs is a requirement for all high school graduates. Introduced in 2001, the standardized tests met the federal requirement for testing. They're administered each spring to high school sophomores, as well as juniors and seniors who have not achieved proficient scores on one or more of the tests. Read More...

• Schools still face financial challenges (Vindicator)

Youngstown - Even though the city school district’s loss of state money isn’t as large as what was expected a couple of months ago, the school board president said financial challenges remain. “We’re not out of the woods yet,” said Lock P. Beachum Sr., Youngstown city school board president. The board decided late last year to place a replacement levy on the March ballot — seeking less millage than the levy that expires this year. But in February, the board voted to remove the replacement levy. Read More...

Editorial

• Hard-won legislative accord on Cleveland school reform should galvanize local officials (Plain Dealer)

Give Cleveland a chance to reform its struggling schools, which could mean a chance to remake the city. That's all that Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Cleveland Schools CEO Eric Gordon have been asking for as they seek legislation in the Ohio General Assembly that would, among other things, give a review panel oversight of city charter schools. Fortunately, despite some last-minute controversy about the Transformation Alliance, the mayor's proposed vehicle to monitor Cleveland charters, a deal was finally struck last week. Read More...

• Grand bargain (Dispatch)

With a deal hammered out on Thursday, one of the boldest experiments in education reform ever seen in Ohio is poised to be launched after final approval by the General Assembly in June. It aims to transform the education and prospects of the children of Cleveland, not to mention enhancing the economic prospects of Ohio. If it succeeds, much of the credit will go to Cleveland’s Democratic Mayor Frank Jackson, who exhibited political courage and remarkable political skill in crafting a bipartisan plan that led a variety of special interests to make sacrifices for the common good. Read More...

Education News for 01-31-2012

Statewide Education News

• Standard tests will be done online (News-Sun)

SPRINGFIELD — Online testing would be cheaper and more efficient than the current tests, making it worth the cost to prepare schools for the change in coming years, said state Superintendent Stan Heffner. “The new test should actually cost less,” Heffner said. “They’ll get instant feedback and at a cheaper cost.” Heffner, the Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction, was the featured speaker at the Springfield Rotary Club on Monday. Read More…

• Officials look for ways to boost student use of free summer meal plans (Dispatch)

Kids get hungry in the summer, too. But when school lets out, the number of youngsters taking advantage of government-paid free-meal programs drops by about 80 percent. Federal, state and community officials gathered in a summit at a Mid-Ohio Foodbank location in Grove City yesterday to brainstorm about ways to boost the number of kids from low-income neighborhoods enrolled in free breakfast and lunch programs in the summer months. Read More…

• Cleveland schools' New Tech program to be featured on national webcast (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - Cleveland's New Tech high school serving the West Side will be one of the schools featured in a national Internet broadcast Wednesday celebrating Digital Learning Day with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. New Tech West will be one of several schools showcased in short videos during a morning webcast. Then New Tech Principal Erin Frew, Spanish teacher Marixa Marriero and 11th-grader Britany Dickens will talk about the school live via Skype in a "Town Hall" discussion that afternoon. Read More…

Local Issues

• Local businesses, organizations work to promote science and tech learning (Newark Advocate)

NEWARK - Two actresses from the Licking County Players pondered aloud last week how they could use six simple machines to knock over 10 bowling pins without using their hands. On the stage of the Midland Theatre, they rode a bike over a homemade ramp -- er, wedge -- and sat on a seesaw -- make that lever -- while they considered the possibilities with the help of a robot named Hal, voiced by fellow local actor Dennis Kohler. The actresses asked questions of the students in the audience. Read More…

• Panel OKs Liberty cutbacks (Tribune Chronicle)

LIBERTY - Contentions popped up Monday between the Financial Planning and Supervision Committee appointed by the State Auditor's Office and the Liberty Local School District over staff cuts the school board approved last week. The board eliminated or reduced to part-time status 16.5 employees next school year, which would save the district $1.2 million. "There's no other plan you think would be better?" committee member and Liberty parent Kristen Rock asked Superintendent Stan Watson. Read More…

• Westerville school board to vote on support-staff pay freeze (Dispatch)

The Westerville school board will vote today on a deal that would freeze pay for the district’s support-staff workers for the next two years. Union members also would shoulder the full burden of their health-care deductibles under the deal, but only if the district’s other employee unions follow suit. Board members called the 4 p.m. meeting after being briefed by the district’s bargaining team yesterday morning. District officials said the support-staff union came to them with the proposal. Read More…

• Northridge principals' salaries, duties increase (Newark Advocate)

JOHNSTOWN - Northridge Local School District administrators are earning a little bit more money this year to go along with their new and expanded duties. The district removed its high school principal position this past summer, bumping middle school principal Amy Anderson to principal of grades six through 12, Robin Elliot up to assistant principal for grades 6-8 and Marisa Knopp to intermediate school principal and special education director. Read More…

Editorial

• Giving dropouts reasons to return (Plain Dealer)

Forget about the GED certificate, the usual alternative for high-school dropouts. An innovative program being introduced at Owens Community College near Toledo this fall aims to help dropouts drop back into high school and move on to college. The combination of intensive counseling, flexible schedules and free tuition and books has worked elsewhere in the country, but this will be the first time it's tried in Ohio. Read More…

• How to grade a teacher (L.A. Times)

We're teachers who believe that teacher evaluation, including the use of reliable test data, can be good for students and for teachers. Yes, yes, we know we're not supposed to exist. But we do, and there are a lot more of us. In February the membership of United Teachers Los Angeles will vote on a teacher-led initiative urging union leaders to negotiate a new teacher evaluation system for L.A. Unified. The vote will allow teachers' voices to be heard above the din of warring political figures. Read More…

Education News for 01-24-2012

Statewide Education News

• Shared leader saves districts money (News-Sun)

MECHANICSBURG — Board members knew they were taking a risk last year when they hired Dan Kaffenbarger to serve simultaneously as the superintendent for two separate school districts in Champaign County. Several months into the job, the gamble seems to be paying off, although Kaffenbarger is less sure than before that the practice of sharing superintendents will become a common occurrence in the future. Read More…

• Ohioan is nominated for federal schools job (Dispatch)

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has nominated former Ohio schools superintendent Deborah Delisle to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Education for Elementary and Secondary Education, Sen. Sherrod Brown said yesterday. Delisle, who was named state superintendent under former Gov. Ted Strickland, resigned in March after it became clear that new members of the State Board of Education appointed by Gov. John Kasich would replace her. She had spent 2 1/2 years at the post. Read More…

• National Park Service seeking teachers who want to spend their summer as park rangers (WEWS 5 ABC)

BRECKSVILLE - Teachers have an great opportunity to spend their summer outdoors learning and giving. Cuyahoga Valley National Park is seeking qualified teachers who would like to work as a park ranger this summer in the Teacher-Ranger-Teacher (TRT) program. The TRT program offers teachers eight weeks working in national parks across the country and developing lessons to connect their students to the park during the following school year. Teachers have the opportunity to earn graduate credit for the experience. Read More…

Local Issues

• City schools brace for lean budget (Chillicothe Gazette)

CHILLICOTHE - Chillicothe school leaders again are taking the long view as they prepare for a series of lean budget years. The district is projecting a negative cash balance of $3.1 million in 2013. The forecast only gets bleaker after that, with projections showing negative cash balances of $7 million in 2015 and almost $12 million in 2016. The school board did its best to get ahead of the shortfall in April 2011, making $1.55 million in cuts to help stave off the projected multi-million dollar deficit in 2013. Read More…

• Liberty BOE OKs $1.2M in cuts (Vindicator)

Liberty - The board of education on Monday unanimously approved $1.2 million in personnel cuts, a process Superintendent Stan Watson called “gut wrenching.” The cuts will take effect next fiscal year, which begins July 1. They include the layoffs of two administrative positions: supervisor of maintenance/transportation, and the cafeteria supervisor. In addition, seven teaching positions will be eliminated and several positions will switch to part time. Read More…

• Lakota considers sharing services with ESC (Journal-News)

LIBERTY TWP. — In an effort to help address a $9 million budget deficit projected by the 2012-13 school year, the Lakota schools board of education is considering a proposal to restructure its preschool program. Under the proposal, the district’s preschool program would partner with the Head Start program, which is operated by the Butler County Educational Service Center. The restructuring of the preschool program would offer an opportunity to share services, reduce cost and generate multiple benefits, according to the district. Read More…

• Digital academy could help city keep students (News-Sun)

SPRINGFIELD — More than $1.1 million in state funding follows nearly 200 Springfield students to online schools, but that could change as the district prepares to launch its own virtual school. “Drawing the students back will bring the funding with them, and that’s always a plus,” said Superintendent David Estrop. “But we also see this as clearly consistent with what the community wants to do.” A pilot program of up to 25 students will kick off the digital school this spring. Read More…

• New Westerville levy means sports, art, band (Dispatch)

Westerville school officials announced last night which programs would be restored if voters approve a March tax issue. Sports, marching band and all other extracurricular activities are included, along with arts classes, electives and programs that help gifted students and programs for those who need reading help. The programs that would be restored are roughly the top half of a priority list that Superintendent Dan Good presented last week. All programs on his priority list are to be cut or reduced by next school year because of a November levy failure. Read More…

Editorial

• Niles BOE should cut from the top (Tribune Chronicle)

The Niles City Board of Education will have a difficult time solving its fiscal crisis and its contract dispute with the teachers because the teachers have no incentive to settle. Employees hired before 2008 pay zero for their health care premiums and little toward their health care deductibles and co-pays. There is no way on Earth they're going to get a better deal, so continuing to work under the old contract that expired Aug. 28 suits them just fine. Read More…