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- Big news dropped late on Friday: Governor DeWine announced that Ohio won a grant of $60 million from the U.S. Department of Education to further boost the implementation of science of reading across the state. This is the second-highest amount awarded to any state. “By establishing more of our schools as comprehensive literacy implementation sites and providing another layer of support directly to our teachers,” said Ohio Department of Education and Workforce director Steve Dackin during the announcement, teachers and other staff members will be better positioned “to successfully guide students in developing crucial literacy skills.” Nice! Governor DeWine said, “This funding will further advance our efforts to make Ohio a model state, both in terms of how we support teachers with the training and tools they need to raise literacy achievement, and how we provide our students with the skills they need to be successful throughout life.” Sounds like a win to me! (Cleveland.com, 10/18/24)
- The mood for staff and families at the L. Hollingworth School for the Talented and Gifted in Toledo is decidedly downbeat this year. That’s because, as we followed in these clips, their request for special use permit to expand the charter school’s pre-K program was denied by Toledo City Council under some hinky—but entirely precedented and predictable—circumstances. Now we learn that their court challenge to the denial was also rebuffed, leaving the school to soldier on against a decidedly hostile environment. While no official reason has ever been given for the denial (or indeed the deterioration of initial support from certain council members), superintendent Terrence Franklin reports that some neighbors in the east side community were jubilant after the final permit denial: “They found it funny that we now own property that we’re not able to expand our property on. That was the big joke in the neighborhood.” Disgusting, but not at all surprising. (13 ABC News, Toledo, 10/18/24)
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