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- A blog by Fordham’s Aaron Churchill is quoted as part of this story working to link chronic absenteeism to poor student performance on recent state tests. I personally don’t think the piece sticks the landing myself, even with that rhetorical horsepower. Showing up to the worst-performing school in Ohio seems to me, logically, to have about the same value as not showing up to that school, and I reckon the putative students know that fairly well. Your mileage may vary, of course, and I hope to be proven wrong someday via data and analysis. (The 74, 10/23/23)
- Relatedly, there’s only one new wrinkle to this Cleveland.com piece, and that is the subhead statement that “faith-based schools see enrollment spike”. (The concurrent scary talk of a humungous increase in state spending on vouchers via EdChoice expansion, which comprises the bulk of the piece, is nothing new.) I say “no duh” to the enrollment news, however, because a) religious schools comprise the overwhelming majority of private schools in Ohio, and b) look at the alternatives. (Cleveland.com, 10/23/23) I see the same dynamics at play in this national story on the topic of rising parental interest in private schools, which includes Arizona and Ohio among its subjects. The headline (“Parents like private school vouchers so much that demand is exceeding budgets in some state”) is misleading, but it made you look, didn’t it? Luckily, the text is, I think, faithful to the real story: It’s the schools that are popular with parents, as they have always been, and vouchers have made them more accessible and, thus, more in demand. The Arizona parent interviewed concurs pretty much with my previous take, above. Maybe he didn’t want a Catholic school for his children specifically, but he sure didn’t want the traditional district school he had already experienced and he took the best option available—newly available to him due to expansion of voucher eligibility in The Grand Canyon State. As to the scary money talk? Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman address this bluntly: “There’s plenty of money [in the budget] to pay for these.” See? Simple. (Associated Press, 10/25/23)
- We end with two quick hits closer to home. The folks who fought state oversight of Lorain City Schools via Academic Distress Commission were given a “key to the city” earlier this week in appreciation of their success. As if they didn’t already possess the entire lock long before now. (Chronicle-Telegram, 10/24/23) Meanwhile, no one running for school board in Lorain this year (most of whom already serve upon it) seems to want to talk about student learning. I mean, why would they? (Chronicle-Telegram, 10/24/23)
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