• There is a growing gap in college enrollment and graduation between men and women. Is it driven by the effects of more children growing up in single-parent homes? —New York Times
• “Student quarantines will cause the next major school disruptions. Here are three ways to help ensure kids will keep learning.” —John Bailey
• Florida Governor Ron DeSantis plans to replace the state’s annual exams, but the details are still to come. —The 74
• “Tennessee law restricting classroom discussions on race inspires passionate, poignant and enraged feedback.” —Chalkbeat
• California public schools in many districts are preparing to receive an influx of Afghan refugee students. —EdSource

1. Fordham’s Chad Aldis was extensively quoted in Crain’s this week—along with other commentators—discussing legislative changes recently wrought upon school funding, school choice programs, and state report cards. Decent piece if you ask me, relatively well-balanced and dispassionate. But does anyone know what that headline even means? (Crain’s Cleveland, 9/19/21)
    
2. Here is another look at the recently-released spring test score data for Ohio schools, this time focusing on those in the Miami Valley. The numbers are, for the most part, way down on 2019, and the headline bluntly says so. While the theme of the article appears to me to be “We knew this was coming—you know, pandemic and all—so there’s no need to get too bothered”, I might suggest that the key to the piece is actually this: “On the other hand, tiny Newton schools in Miami County actually saw its proficiency rate increase from 2019 to 2021 on eight of the 20 grade-level tests. And Greeneview schools’ proficiency rate increased on seven of 20 tests.” I’m sure we’ll get in-depth profiles of these districts with detailed descriptions of how they bucked the inevitable trend of suckitude any day now. Won’t we? (Dayton Daily News, 9/20/21)
   
   
3. Speaking of which, here’s the list of Ohio’s Blue Ribbon School award winners for 2020, released earlier this week. There are some predictable suburban winners on there—schools in Bay Village, Mariemont, Dublin, Kettering—but I personally will reserve my extra special kudos for the exurban and rural winners such as schools in Logan, Steubenville, Minster, and Whitehouse. (The population of those latter two add up to less than 7,000 residents. Just sayin’.) Great work! (Spectrum News 1, 9/21/21)
    
4. Here’s a look at the inaugural class of high schoolers participating in a really fancy-sounding and promising pre-apprenticeship program run through a partnership of the Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters, the Builders Association of Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, and the Educational Service Center of Eastern Ohio. To be generous, I will assume that the larger urban schools in the area (*cough*Youngstown City Schools*cough*) either didn’t want to or didn’t feel the need to participate. But that list of every suburban district whose students are participating seemed pretty exclusive exhaustive to little old me. (Youngstown Business Journal 9/19/21) Meanwhile, in Youngstown City Schools, the district is trying to contract its way out of its transportation dilemma in the short term. Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t. No way to tell from this piece, where the former supe transportation coordinator spends way more of his time apologizing to/groveling before transportation system employees rather than explaining the benefits of the plan for students and families. As I am being increasingly required to say these days: never woulda happened under Krish Mohip (nor indeed under Colleen “I bleed yellow” Murphy-Penk, either). (WFMJ-TV, Youngstown, 9/21/21) Meanwhile meanwhile, the editorial board at Vindy.com opines today on the proposed new district improvement plan with the headline “Youngstown students need a higher bar”. I, for one, would argue that the adults need one even more urgently. (Vindy.com, 9/22/21)
   
   
5. Back here in the real world, Akron City Schools’ virtual learning program at the elementary level has been experiencing some interesting hiccups. Seems that the district wanted to make sure their third party vendor created Akron-only live classes (to “mimic more of a traditional classroom and class schedule, like the students had last year with Akron teachers”). They even had to pay extra to make that happen (as the third party vendor “doesn’t usually recommend assigning one teacher to one class only”). But due to a “miscommunication”, Akron kids have been “lumped in” with larger numbers of other students from around the country for the last three weeks. This will be rectified ASAP, everyone says, with the third party vendor conjuring up 16 additional Akron-only teachers out of the ether. (“That's how they wanted it and that's what we're doing for them… They see that as what’s best for their kids and that's how we're going to do it.”) The district’s ongoing bill will be prorated to adjust for the non-provision of the paid-for services for those early weeks. Phew. (Akron Beacon Journal, 9/22/21)

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It’s no secret that many of the best public schools are located in America’s leafy suburbs. They’re typically staffed by well-trained teachers, boast up-to-date textbooks and technology, and offer advanced and specialized coursework. But sadly, most of these schools, despite being “public” institutions, are not open to all. Children must live in the right zip code to attend, thus denying entry to those who live in nearby urban communities.

But what would happen if suburban schools cracked their doors open a little wider? A recent analysis tackles this question and uncovers very promising results for urban students who are given opportunities to attend these schools.

Authored by Ann Mantil of Brown University, the study examines a Boston-area program called METCO, named after the non-profit organization that administers it. For decades, this program has allowed Boston students to attend public schools in the suburbs without having to change their residence. Families apply to participate in METCO and school districts voluntarily accept non-resident pupils on a space available basis. The program today serves just over 3,000 students annually—roughly 4 percent of the city’s students—and more than 90 percent of its participants are Black or Hispanic.

To gauge program impacts, Mantil tracks ninth-grade METCO participants’ high school graduation and college enrollment rates and compares them to two groups: (1) Boston students who never applied to METCO and thus attended the city’s district or charter schools, and (2) Boston students who applied to the program but were not selected for participation. The first comparison includes a larger sample of students, but may not account for unobserved differences between the METCO and non-METCO students (e.g., parental motivation). The second comparison group is more limited in size, but the methodology better controls for unobserved variables. Regardless of the comparison, the results are overwhelmingly positive. Consider the following:

• Controlling for pupil demographics, METCO students’ graduation rates were a whopping 35 percentage points higher than students attending Boston district schools, and their college enrollment rates were 32 percentage points higher. METCO participants also held a significant advantage in graduation rates relative to Boston charter students—30 percentage points higher—though their college enrollment rates were more comparable (an 11-percentage-point advantage). METCO students’ superior college enrollment rates were almost entirely driven by their higher rates of matriculation to four-year universities (rather than two-year colleges). 
• Again controlling for demographics, METCO students registered significantly higher graduation and college enrollment rates relative to students who applied but were not accepted into the program. In terms of high school graduation, METCO students’ rates were 18 percentage points higher than the comparison group and 17 points higher for college enrollment. For this analysis, no breakdown of results versus Boston district or charter school students were given, perhaps reflecting the smaller sample size.

Given these impressive benefits—which we also found for Ohio’s Black students who use interdistrict open enrollment—policymakers should consider ways to unlock opportunities in suburban public schools. One option is statewide open enrollment, something Ohio lawmakers should strongly consider. Absent that, local leaders could step up and create regional programs that coordinate interdistrict transfers such as the one in the Boston area. However accomplished, giving more inner-city children the chance to attend great schools and climb the social ladder is the right thing to do.

Source: Ann Mantil, “Crossing District Lines: The Impact of Urban-Suburban Desegregation Programs on Educational Attainments,” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (2021).

1. Please don’t let the focus of this piece on school transportation woes in central Ohio school districts fool you. Numerous issues of accuracy and lateness have been building in districts large and small for years—long before anyone ever heard of SARS-CoV-2. Just ask charter and private school families. (As if!) It is only to be hoped that now that they have a proper scapegoat (remember that Dayton City School was pointing the finger at parents as recently as two weeks ago) and scads of money, districts will actually manage to make some useful fixes to those old yellow bus problems. Unfortunately, I am not at all confident that this will indeed come to pass even now. Note that Columbus City Schools just now hooking up a real time GPS tracking system to its buses and that only transportation staff will have access to that information. The mom interviewed here seemed to be willing to give the district a pass on how long the trips took (very nice of her), but simply wanted to know where her kid was and when he would arrive. There’s an app for that, Columbus City Schools. Buy it! (Columbus Dispatch, 9/20/21)
    
2. All three of my loyal, long-time Gadfly Bites subscribers will recall that Youngstown City Schools faced a slew of those old transportation problems way back in 2016 and incoming CEO Krish Mohip fixed them all. But he was hyper focused on student- and family-based solutions back then. Fast-forward to today where we see that the improvement plan put forward by the elected school board (inexplicably still in existence), focused only on the base goal of returning nominal full control of the district to themselves, is being criticized by some for soft-pedaling student academic achievement in favor of “low goals” which are easier to achieve. As the reporter puts it: “District leaders are not expecting to see huge jumps in the percentage of students being able to read and comprehend materials at their grade levels, according to the plan. Improvements are expected to be incremental and based on age and grade levels.” As perpetual Gadfly Jimma McWilson, director of the African Education Party, puts it: “They are saying that 84 percent of the third- through fifth-grade students taking math in the 2024-2025 school year will not be proficient. How can you make a plan in which 84 percent of the students are projected to be below grade level in their understanding of a subject?” Have we come a long way, or no way at all? Or perhaps it is a long way…only in a circle. (Vindy.com, 9/19/21)
   
   

3. The reference to “the state’s performance index” measure, as mentioned in the above piece, is worth noting. Because Ohio’s new school and district report cards are also top of mind in this piece, in which the elected board of Berea City Schools tries to come to grips with its spring test results. The numbers seem pretty bad to me, like they are most everywhere, but the Bereanites (for surely that is what they are called) put as much lipstick on them as possible. But, along with the usual protestations that traditionally follow the release of test data (“The goal is not to ace these tests, but to understand the material. The kids are more than a number on tests” and “[T]he goal is always to try to get better…[and] to increase student achievement”), I am detecting a new mantra sneaking in (“Test scores are the by-product of student growth” and “These results create the District Report Card, and it is an evolving assessment”) that has an eye toward future excuses that will need to be made due to the new and improved (?) report cards on the way the future. (Cleveland.com, 9/17/21)
    
4. In perhaps not as straightforward a sentiment as I would like, the mom of some Ohio Virtual Academy graduates (who is also VP of the National Coalition of Public School Options) opines in favor of more (and better?) virtual education options for families. (The News-Herald, 9/17/21)

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Over the last few months, there have been growing concerns over a teacher shortage in some Ohio districts. It's unclear how much of the scarcity is being driven by the pandemic, as detailed teacher-related data are difficult to come by. But there is research that points to underlying factors that have nothing to do with Covid-19.

One is waning interest in teaching among young people. In a 2018 brief published by ACT, researchers used data from questionnaires to examine the responses of students who were “very” or “fairly” sure about their college major. From 2007 to 2017, high schoolers’ interest in teaching decreased significantly. Education was third among the top ten intended majors in 2008, but by 2012 it had dropped to eighth place and it’s remained there since.

Research published in 2019 by the Center for American Progress found declining enrollment in teacher preparation programs. Nationally, there were more than one-third fewer students enrolling in 2018 than in 2010. Ohio posted a decline of nearly 50 percent, and was one of nine states where the drop in enrollees totaled more than 10,000 between 2010 and 2018. Ohio also saw drops in enrollment for Black and Hispanic prospective teachers, a worrisome trend given the lack of diversity in Ohio’s teacher workforce.

Fast forward a few years, and it’s much easier to understand current teacher shortages. It’s likely that the pandemic is exacerbating the problem because of health concerns and burnout, but it didn’t cause it. And that means policymakers and advocates need to focus on underlying issues that were present before the pandemic in order to address the current problem.

For instance, consider teacher pay. As a former teacher myself, I can attest to the fact that teachers don’t choose the profession for money. But there’s no denying that compensation can and does impact career decisions. ACT surveyed a sample of students during the 2017–18 school year to gauge how their perceptions of the teaching profession impacted their interest. They discovered that the primary reason students weren’t interested in teaching was financial. Among students who reported being uninterested, nearly two thirds cited salary as one of their top three reasons. Salary concerns were also mentioned by students who were “potentially” interested. In fact, 72 percent of potentially interested students said that better pay would increase their interest in teaching. Meanwhile, 39 percent of students who reported being uninterested in the classroom said they would consider teaching if starting salaries were raised to the $50,000 to $59,000 range. In Ohio, that’d be quite the jump. By law, the minimum starting salary for a teacher is only $30,000. Districts can and do offer more, but starting salary averages across the state range from nearly $32,000 in rural high-poverty districts to just over $40,000 in suburban districts with very low poverty rates.

Increasing these numbers is easier said than done. Thanks to the recently passed state budget, however, Ohio districts could soon be in a position to do so. That’s because the budget includes a new funding formula that could eventually raise the base amount given to public schools for each pupil from $6,020 to $7,200. This increase doesn’t immediately apply because lawmakers opted to phase in the new formula. But if the legislature fully funds the formula over the next few years, Ohio’s public schools will receive significantly more money that they could then use to raise starting salaries. Doing so might not impact the current number of teachers in the pipeline, but it would be a smart long-term investment and could help Ohio attract more quality teachers.

For those who balk at the money angle, there are other ways to expand the teacher pipeline. For example, the profession isn’t traditionally friendly to career changers. Without a bachelor’s or master’s degree in education—and the costs that come with obtaining them—it’s difficult to get into the classroom. High-quality programs that recruit recent college graduates and career professionals, train them under alternative licensure frameworks, and then place them in public school classrooms could vastly expand the teacher pool.

State law already offers alternative teacher licensure pathways that would make this possible. But aside from Teach For America, there aren’t many programs currently operating in Ohio. State leaders can and should change that, and they should do it with teacher residencies. These programs, which seek to replicate the residency model used in the medical field, allow prospective teachers to obtain certifications and experience while also earning a salary. Candidates typically spend a year embedded in a school, co-teaching alongside a teacher of record and gradually taking on full ownership of certain aspects of the classroom. Several residency programs exist across the country, including in Boston, Memphis, and Los Angeles. Ohio leaders could establish similar models—perhaps with the help of the National Center for Teacher Residencies—in the Buckeye State.

They could also turn the keys over to local leaders by offering grant funding and technical support to districts and charter networks interested in creating their own teacher training models. A case study from the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation outlines how a few highly successful charter schools (High Tech High in San Diego; Uncommon Schools, KIPP, and Achievement First in New York; and Match Education in Boston) have created their own teacher certification and master’s degree programs.

But it’s not just charter schools that are getting in on the action. In Rhode Island, the Central Falls School District created the Central Falls Teaching Fellowship, thereby solving its substitute teacher shortage and creating a brand new pipeline of teachers. And in Ohio, Cincinnati Public Schools recently started a program to identify paraprofessionals who might want to pursue teaching degrees. Initiatives like the Miami Teach program and a partnership between Graham Local Schools, Urbana University, and the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center are also worth a look.

It goes without saying that none of these solutions will immediately fix Ohio’s teacher shortages. They’ll take significant investments of time, money, and talent. But if they’re implemented well, and if problems are addressed as they arise, they could help ensure that all classrooms are staffed with excellent teachers.

On the grow!

Utica Shale Academy in Salineville, Ohio, is just now completing a growth spurt which included a relocation and a new, larger space. But school leaders are already working on their next expansion, which will include not only their physical space but also their career-focused curricular tracks.

Keeping quarantined students moving forward

Arizona State University and Cleveland’s Breakthrough Schools this week announced a new effort to make sure that students who must quarantine at home due to possible Covid exposure can continue learning without interruption. The “Learning Under Quarantine” program includes grade-level specific tailoring along with daily synchronous instruction and additional asynchronous learning activities. The goal is to make sure that when students return to class, they can pick up again without needing lengthy catch up efforts.

New leader

A mayoral primary was held in Cleveland this week, with the top two vote-getters going head-to-head in November. As the only mayoral-control school district in Ohio, the ultimate winner will become the head of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

New charter school

Cardinal Academy, an Idaho charter school aimed at supporting pregnant and parenting teens to graduation, opened its doors in Boise recently for its inaugural year. Best wishes to students, staff, and families.

Shrinking

The co-founder and co-executive director of MESA Charter High School in Brooklyn published an op-ed in the New York Daily News last week in which he chronicles the steep enrollment declines in traditional district schools in the borough and opines that parents must have strong, reliable options like charter schools to choose from as alternatives.

NAGB information session

For anyone considering applying for a position on the National Assessment Governing Board (remember, nominations are due November 1), the board is holding a virtual information session on Wednesday, September 22 to explain more about the work and to have current board members describe their experiences while serving. More details and registration for the information session is here.

*****

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1. One unforeseen consequence of broadening free lunch for schools is, apparently, that there is not enough of certain foods to go around. “Everybody at the same time is asking the food producers for the exact same narrow range of items,” says ODE’s Assistant Director of the Office of Child Nutrition. “It's kind of like a bottleneck problem where everybody is trying to get a specific small thing through a very strained supply channel.” By which I am certain he means chicken nuggets. (WYSO-FM, Yellow Springs, 9/15/21) However, it seems that science should be moving on to the nugget problem soon enough, seeing as how they’ve at last cracked dessert. There is finally enough lab-grown ice cream for everyone! (Dairy Herd Management, 9/15/21)
    
2. In a piece we clipped on Monday talking to Ohio’s outgoing state supe, Paolo DeMaria was a bit cryptic about his next gig following retirement, saying, “Sometime in the next 3-4 months, you’ll learn, hey, Paolo’s doing this thing. And not only is he going to have joy doing it, he’s also going to work hard at it, because he’s going to love what he’s doing.” I’m calling it now: based on this piece, I’m certain he’ll be doing a cooking show. But you can’t call it “The Art of the Italian Cheeseball”, dude. That’s mine. (Cleveland.com, 9/15/21)
   
   

3. Turning serious now: My niece is a first-year teacher in Worthington City Schools this year and thus this national opinion piece from one of her colleagues, asking for district parents to be “more patient” regarding a host of hot-button issues and “if possible, to stop putting educators in the middle” of their efforts to make other people think, believe, and act as they do got my attention. So here’s the clip, which I probably wouldn’t have otherwise included. It seems a reasonable ask to me, regardless of the requester or of the reasons he puts forward, but then I don’t spend any time trying to make anyone else think, believe, or act as I do. So maybe I don’t really know anything about it. (Washington Post, 9/14/21)
    
4. And since we’re talking about pandemic-related stuff now, here’s an announcement of the new “Learning Under Quarantine” program. It’s a partnership between Arizona State University and Cleveland’s Breakthrough Schools to make sure that students who must quarantine at home due to possible Covid exposure can continue learning without interruption. Nice! (E-School News, 9/16/21)
   
   

5. OK. I will try to rise above it all for the moment. Worthington City Schools is one of the districts participating in this very cool-sounding aviation program run by Ohio State University. Taxi to Takeoff is a college-level program offered by the Ohio State University designed to introduce students to “the inner workings of careers in aviation”. It was opened to high school students via College Credit Plus for the first time this year. Nice! And although only students from bougie suburban districts are taking part in this inaugural offering (boo), the OSU rep makes sure to note it is open to any high schooler in the state utilizing CCP, which would include charter, STEM, and most private school students (yay). Nope, don’t think I rose above successfully. Must be an aileron issue. (Columbus Dispatch, 9/15/21)
    
6. Finally this week: One thing that has certainly improved for former charter school Escuela SMART since being “absorbed” by Toledo City Schools is its media profile. Wonder why? (Definitivamente un problema con los alierons.) Anywho, here’s a nice look at the Spanish-language immersion school kicking off its Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations earlier this week. (WTOL-TV, Toledo, 9/16/21)

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Recently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its disappointing monthly jobs report, which showed that the economy had added only 250,000 jobs in August, far fewer than the 750,000 expected. While the overall unemployment rate dropped to 5.2 percent from the previous 5.4 percent, the unemployment rate for Black Americans was also a lowlight, rising from 8.2 percent to 8.8 percent while the unemployment rate for Whites dropped from 4.8 percent to 4.5 percent.

The latter disparity led AFL-CIO chief economist William Spriggs to argue that the primary cause of rising Black unemployment is discrimination. Spriggs noted that the unemployment rate among Black workers who had attained associate degrees (6.9 percent) exceeded the 5.8 percent unemployment rate among White high-school dropouts. Moreover, the unemployment rate for those of all races with less than a high-school diploma was 7 percent, while the unemployment rate for Blacks with a high-school diploma and no college degree was 10 percent. This led Spriggs to argue that employers are clearly “passing over Black workers.”

I would respectfully disagree with Spriggs. While there is certainly some racial discrimination in the jobs market, the primary factor inhibiting higher economic attainment within the Black population is the failure of urban public-school districts to adequately prepare Black students for a four-year college or, alternatively, other post-secondary education such as technical or vocational training. Historically, Whites of all economic classes have received better educations than Blacks, so until we achieve parity in educational opportunities for all students, we shouldn’t expect to see a statistical trend toward equal levels of employment.

Prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, nearly 60 years ago, attributing economic disparities between Blacks and Whites primarily to racism would have been warranted. But in 2021, such a knee-jerk response is intellectually lazy at best and dishonest at worst. At this late date, too many other factors are in play that have little to do with racial bigotry: the ravages of poverty most often associated with out-of-wedlock births, the value placed on education at home, the degree of parental involvement in terms of homework and other learning, and, of course, the quality of the schools students attend.

This last factor plays a particularly important role in creating the economic disparity between Black and White Americans. Take, for instance, the current state of K–12 education for Black students in California, based on recent statistics from an article by Ricardo Cano at Cal Matters:

• In 2019, 21 percent of Black students were proficient in math, compared to 54 percent of White students and 74 percent of Asian students. Thirty-three percent of Black students were proficient in English, compared to 65 percent of White students and 77 percent of Asian students.


• Also in 2019, just 24 percent of graduating Black high-school seniors were prepared for postsecondary education, compared to 54 percent of their White peers and 74 percent of their Asian peers.


• A recent study by Stanford researchers found that school poverty, not a school’s racial composition, is the primary driver of student-achievement gaps. In short, minority students are concentrated in high-poverty schools, which are on average less effective than lower-poverty schools.

Given these realities, comparing Black workers with associate degrees to White high-school dropouts is comparing apples and oranges. A person who has dropped out from an excellent high school could very well have more marketable skills than a person who graduated from a low-performing high school and went on to two years of college before dropping out. While a person who has earned an associate degree will generally possess more marketable skills than a high-school dropout, there is no guarantee, as it depends on what each of them studied and how they performed in their post-secondary pursuits...

Click here to read the rest of this article at the National Review, where it was first published.

The growth in popularity of social and emotional learning (SEL) is bringing with it increased attention to and scrutiny of what exactly SEL means and questions about whether it is something more than just another educational fad or ideological movement. These reactions are important in that the history of education is replete with examples of good ideas and promising practices that were rejected due to lack of clarity about definition and purpose, over-promising of results, less than rigorous implementation, and fears of ideological motivation. Push back regarding the common core standards, outcome-based education, and the self-esteem movement are just a few examples of how misperceptions, missteps, and mistrust derailed promising ideas and initiatives.

The good news is that there is a significant reservoir of support for the purpose and practices featured in most SEL programs. The pandemic has brought into focus the importance of skills such as coping, decision making, goal setting, and relationship building. Most adults see the need for young people do develop civic, moral, and character aspects of themselves.

However, failure to address areas of potential confusion and concern could seriously undermine and even imperil efforts related to SEL. In fact, without attention and effort now, SEL could become the next flash point in partisan political conflict. Let’s explore five aspects of SEL that deserve attention now if we hope to avoid having it become the next battle in the culture wars.

First, consider whether social and emotional learning is what you should call this effort. A recent survey by YouGov, commissioned by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute found that parents strongly support most of the components of social and emotional learning, but are resistant to the name. In fact, more that 75 percent of parents in both major political parties supported addressing the social and emotional needs of students. However, they rated the name at the bottom of a list of potential terms to describe the concept. The name most popular among parents was life skills. It seems the term social and emotional learning sounds too much like jargon and is open to a wide variety of interpretations and misperceptions.

Second, consider how social and emotional skill development can be a partnering effort with families. Many parents consider the skills associated with social and emotional development to also be part of their role and responsibilities as parents and families. There is little benefit in attempting to compete with this perception and significant opportunity in partnering to develop these skills in children and young people. In addition, when families see social and emotional learning as a shared effort, they are less likely to be suspicious or to join efforts to undermine the work.

Third, be clear and consistent in describing what SEL is and is not. Already, there are varied definitions of the skills, behaviors, and dispositions addressed under the umbrella of SEL. Lack of clarity is an invitation to skeptics and detractors to attack the movement and derail efforts to develop SEL competencies in students. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework includes five dimensions: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationships skills, and responsible decision-making. While these elements define broad areas for attention, they remain open to considerable interpretation and potential misinterpretation.

Fourth, be careful not to oversell the academic impact of SEL. While SEL can provide support for academic learning efforts and processes, it is largely a complement to academic learning. Promising increased academic scores because of SEL efforts would likely be difficult to document. Certainly, SEL efforts can prepare students to become more engaged, confident learners and more successful adults, but promising specific academic outcomes tied to SEL is risky.

Fifth, communicate the connection between SEL and character development and civic education. There is broad consensus across political boundaries that we need more civic engagement and character development. Characteristics such as integrity, honesty, and empathy enjoy near universal support. Adults across the political spectrum also tend to agree that civil behavior, civic engagement, and social consciousness are important aspects of youth development.

Of course, there probably is not a path that will be free of questions and doubt, but by knitting together a strong case for addressing the social and emotional needs and skills of today’s young people we can preempt much of the strongest resistance. Meanwhile, our efforts can make a dramatic difference in the success and happiness of the generation now in our schools.

Editor’s note: This was first published by The Master Teacher.

Every student ought to have safe, reliable transportation to a school that meets their needs. Recognizing this, Ohio law has long required districts to offer transportation to all resident students in grades K–8 who live more than two miles from their school—whether that’s a district, charter, private, or STEM school. Though not mandatory, many districts also provide transportation to high school students. Happily, for many parents, the yellow bus does indeed arrive at their home (or thereabouts) twice a day, and they don’t have much reason to worry.

Yet for others, transportation can be a serious headache. And schools, despite their obligations, regularly lament the logistical challenges of providing transportation. Consider just a few of the predicaments highlighted in recent news stories.

• Last year, the Dayton school district threatened to yank yellow bus transportation for the city’s public charter and private school students, a move that would have forced children as young as five years old to use public transit. Thankfully, the district didn’t follow through with the proposal, and the governor shepherded statutory revisions through the budget bill that now forbid such action.
• Taking advantage of a loophole in state law, some districts have denied transportation to students attending non-district schools by declaring it “impractical” without much reason or explanation. In such cases, the district must offer parents a payment in lieu of transportation (PILOTs) to help cover the costs of transporting their child.
• Interdistrict open enrollment students are not entitled to transportation or PILOTs. As radio host Ann Fisher rightly noted in a recent conversation on this topic, that can be a huge barrier for students seeking to attend districts that are more than shouting distance from their home.  
• This fall, districts across Ohio (and the nation) are facing serious bus driver shortages, leading to uncertainties about transportation services. In Youngstown, the district had enough drivers but was short on inspected busses, leaving some kids stranded on their first week of school.

Akin to so many educational challenges, there’s no silver bullet that can solve every transportation problem. But there are ideas that could alleviate the pains for parents and schools alike. In fact, a few commonsense solutions were part of this year’s state budget legislation (House Bill 110). Those include a requirement that districts, charters, and private schools work more closely in planning bus routes along with provisions that better ensure the Ohio Department of Education is monitoring and enforcing compliance with transportation laws. Furthermore, the budget substantially increases spending for pupil transportation ($680 million in FY 2023 versus $519 million in FY 2021).

Another important step forward is the increased PILOT amounts that parents receive when their district deems transportation impractical. Previously, parents were entitled to a measly $250—not much more than a dollar per school day. Under the new law, the payment is one-half of the statewide average cost of transportation, which in FY 2021 was $1,077 per pupil. Thus, starting this year, the PILOT will rise to approximately $500 per student. This sum more adequately covers parents’ transportation costs, and it may also discourage districts from declaring transportation impractical in the first place.

Those are all positive moves, but policymakers should continue to explore ways to strengthen transportation policies to better serve all Ohio students. Here are three potential areas for improvement (for more ideas, see this in-depth report from Bellwether Education Partners).

1. Allow non-district schools to seek state grants for bus or van purchases. Starting in FY 2021, the state rebooted its school bus purchasing program by appropriating $20 million for this specific purpose (such grants had not been given since 2009). This provided 486 districts an average of roughly $40,000—a modest allotment but a start in helping districts upgrade their fleets. In the recently passed budget, the program got a boost with $50 million allocated over the next two years. Unfortunately, the program is only open to traditional districts, leaving public charter and STEM schools, along with private schools, out in the cold even if they provide their own transportation or are exploring that option. That should change. Non-district schools should be allowed to tap state funds that enable them to purchase buses or vans. This would not only allow these schools to better serve families, but would also relieve districts of their obligations when students receive transportation from their school of choice.
2. Explore ways to cut the red tape and fees that bus drivers face. The bus driver shortage raises questions about whether occupational barriers are hampering schools’ efforts to fill vacancies. Are there any regulations or fees that are keeping people away from the job? Indeed, Ohio has a laundry list of bus driver requirements, though some are fairly basic, such as background checks. But the most significant is the need to obtain a commercial driver’s license (CDL) with P and S endorsements. While requiring this credential is prudent and likely necessary, the state should consider waiving the fees associated with CDL licensure. Removing this expense would acknowledge that driving school busses isn’t lucrative—for many, it may be a part-time job—and it could also encourage more people to apply. Moreover, given the CDL requirement, policymakers could examine whether the state’s additional preservice requirements are absolutely necessary. Last, Ohio subjects bus drivers to an annual physical exam, a seemingly overbearing mandate that isn’t required of other school employees. In sum, while bus drivers need a special skill set, policymakers shouldn’t impose unnecessary regulations and costs, lest they discourage people from seeking the job.
3. Ensure interdistrict open enrollment students are eligible for PILOTs. Without an entitlement to transportation, the parents of open enrollees bear the responsibility of getting their children to schools or bus stops within their districts of attendance. Though the state could mandate transportation for open enrollees, it’s a tall order for a district to bus students to and from various points across the region. A more manageable solution would allow parents of open enrollees to seek PILOTs from their home district in the same way as families denied bussing under the impracticability exemption. This change would recognize the sacrifice that these families make to transport their children. And though the PILOT wouldn’t enable every parent to exercise this option—the amount, for instance, isn’t enough to cover a car purchase—it would remove a barrier for those who are worried about the daily costs of driving their kids to school.

Making transportation work for all is a tough nut to crack. To its credit, Ohio continues to make progress in this thorny area of policy. With further improvements, policymakers can make transportation more efficient for Ohio schools while enabling more parents to access a school that meets their kids’ needs.