- Ohio is gearing up for the spring field testing of the state’s new assessments, the PARCC exams, which align with the Common Core. Not everyone is happy with the change; Representative Andrew Brenner has introduced a bill to delay the implementation of the new tests (set to be administered for real in Spring 2015). In a pointed rejoinder to Brenner’s bill, the Columbus Dispatch argued that the state mustn’t scuttle or delay the implementation of PARCC. We agree: full steam ahead!
- From Lima, in Northwest Ohio, one reporter provides a profile of home-schooling life. Among the reasons the parents gave as to why they home school, they cite their faith, their frustration with the public schools, and the flexibility to choose their own curriculum. Some have suggested that home-schooled children are “denied the memories that come with the public-school experience.” To this, one mother replied, “[t]he only things she [my child] missed out on are the things you shouldn’t really be doing in high school.”
- “Objective number one is that parents understand they have the right to choose, and this is a simple and powerful message,” said Alan Rosskamm of the Breakthrough charter network. He is describing Cleveland’s new website, which is designed to give parents information on all of their public-education options. Unfortunately, most charter schools have thus far failed to provide information for the website’s “brag sheet.”
