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- As all of my long-time Gadfly Bites subscribers know (howdy there, you hardy half dozen!), I am not the most astute participant in the pulpy political palaver that goes on around here. So I will freely admit that I don’t understand the rhetorical rigamarole that has gone on over school funding in the last week. Here’s how it looks to me…even though I’m probably wrong: As we noted Wednesday, a whole lot of folks were up in arms about the new House Speaker’s comments regarding a possible third round of spending for the current school funding plan. The aggressive pushback (to what, exactly?) continues in this piece, mainly from folks who seem to feel that they are “owed” a big old chunk of money. Fordham’s Aaron Churchill, however, suggests that changes in school enrollment should guide discussion of per-pupil funding allocations, rather than “but you promised!” rhetoric. Specifically, districts and schools that have seen declines in the number of students they are serving “should have less need for funding”, and that the cost of any funding plan, whatever its final shape, is “something that the legislature is just going to have to grapple with over the longterm.” (Ohio Capital Journal, 1/9/25) All that seems logical to your humble (and apparently very dim) clips compiler, but the pushback against that thought continues loudly. Chief among the palaverers was News 5 in Cleveland, who we also noted on Wednesday had woven a handful of early comments from the speaker and response to them from others into a web of disaster they deemed a “threatened cut” in education funding. (Right there in the headline, clear as day.) Yesterday, the News 5 folks published this piece claiming not only a victory over those “cuts” (which my addled brain insists were not happening in the first place) but also appearing to claim that it was their reporting (and somewhat more than just impartial journalistic work, if you ask this plain-thinking simpleton) that actually but the brakes on the impending “disaster” that was screamingly headlined with the thinnest evidence my unsophisticated brain could imagine. That’s how I see it, but seriously: what do I know, since I am neither journalist nor politician? (News 5 Cleveland, 1/9/25)
- Speaking of student enrollment, Aaron is also quoted in this piece trying to help answer the question “where have all the schoolkids gone?” in the Montgomery County area. The answer is twofold: a long-gestating baby bust (see what I did there?) and a wide expansion of options for families who do have school age kids and chose to stick around. I like that Aaron is consistent in saying that fewer kids in a school or district should mean lowered expenses and less need for funding. Same as he expressed in the funding discussion, above. Sadly, the superintendent of the Montgomery County ESC is also consistent when she says that building new fancy buildings (i.e., more spending even though you have fewer students) is how many traditional districts choose to try and boost enrollment when it is down. Consistent, yes. But not a logical response to the issue, IMO. (Dayton Daily News, 1/9/25) One result of the overall drop in student enrollment: Lots of empty school buildings, of all types. While Ohio has not generally figured out how to deal with these surplus facilities, for Ashtabula City Schools, that fact has turned out to be a godsend. We talked at Christmastime about the roof collapse at Ashtabula’s Lakeside High School following a big snowstorm. The district had lost more than 800 kids over the last few years, even though they built the big fancy new high school building (whose roof has been janky since Day One, apparently; so maybe they don’t build ‘em like they used to). After some *ickk nasty* virtual learning *gross yukky* and a long holiday break, those students are back to class this week in two buildings. One is a former district elementary school that was closed due to the aforementioned enrollment loss; and the other is a rented-out former Catholic school building that was closed due to, you guessed it, enrollment loss. Feels like snow-covered karma to me. (WKYC-TV, Cleveland, 1/8/25)
- Finally this week, the Buckeye Institute dropped its wish list for the General Assembly in regard to school choice policymaking in 2025. It’s not very surprising, I reckon, but some of it will resonate with all of the foregoing clips. Institute research fellow Greg Lawson says that “students should come first, whether they learn at their local district school, a charter school, or one of Ohio’s many alternative education providers,” and that lawmakers should “take commonsense steps to secure universal school choice and resist any efforts to undermine its success.” These included easing access to unused buildings and reforming transportation services to get all students to and from school on time, regardless of which school they choose. Works for me. (The Center Square, 1/8/25)
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