- Today’s headline says it all for me, but a) I can’t make this gig all about myself or all 9 of you dedicated Gadfly Bites subscribers will no doubt abandon ship, and b) this “other” story is interesting also. It’s a look at the Columbus Promise scholarship program, set up to give a free ride to and through Columbus State Community College for Columbus City Schools graduates. We learn that the first class of enrollees totaled 629 this fall and that that is slightly more than double the number of Columbus City Schools students who directly enrolled at Columbus State the previous fall. We also meet one of those new enrollees, Luka Bastin Howes, whose trajectory seems typical of the type of student the plan is meant to attract: He’s got his eyes set on a four-year degree and the AA he will earn for free is, for him and his family, a necessary first step. Seems like good stuff so far, and we also learn that it is being professionally evaluated as it is implemented. (Columbus Dispatch, 11/13/22)
- TMZ, a news outlet better known for leaping out of the bushes or lurking in LAX to ambush celebrities with awkward questions, inexplicably covers MacKenzie Scott’s donation to Metro Early College High School this morning. I am gobsmacked for lots of reasons. And lest you think I am only losing my mind over the existence of this piece because of my personal connection to Metro and thus can tenuously claim celebrity-adjacency myself now, I will note that we do learn something new and important here. To wit: Some of the money will go to provide free transportation for students to go from school to their internships and back, something that school leader Meka Pace tells TMZ (I can’t believe I just typed that sentence!) has been a big obstacle in the past. (TMZ, 11/14/22)
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