Gadfly Bites 11/14/25—Roasting those old chestnuts

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1. First up for Friday, Fordham’s Aaron Churchill fires rhetorical shots against Ohio’s “impractical to transport” rules that give districts every possible opportunity to deny busing to charter, private, open enrollment, and STEM school students. He’s done the research—the data are clear, as are the solutions to end this problem forever more. (Columbus Dispatch, 11/13/25)
   
   

2. Next is Aaron’s op-ed decrying Ohio’s habit of backtracking on stringent academic standards across the board. Heaven knows there are plenty of examples, but he focuses here on third grade retention and high school graduation requirements. “Enforceable state standards challenge Ohio schools to help all students reach their full potential,” he concludes. “But today’s lower expectations allow for mediocrity and shortchange students of the education they need and deserve. Ohio must set high standards — and ensure they are taken seriously.” (Cleveland.com, 11/14/25)
   
   

3. Our final piece today is a news item, and an interesting one. The elected board members of Columbus City Schools—including a number of lame ducks at the top whose terms will end in December—this week proposed a framework for some hefty staff and service cuts that, if completed, would fully eliminate the district’s projected budget deficit with no other changes made. Even the highly-necessary closures of a dozen school buildings as previously proposed would only save a fraction of that amount (without factoring in the sales of those closed buildings, which is a whole other chestnut remaining to be roasted). Sadly, everyone knows we’ve been here before. “I feel like every four years I’m cutting $50 million and I’m having the same discussion about closing buildings,” said Ramona Reyes, the longest-serving member on the current board (and, also, one of those lame ducks). Ironically, the district would be in great shape if she and her colleagues ever actually did that right-sizing. But everyone already knows that “seeing the hurt of cutting staff or closing somebody’s building”, as Reyes puts it, has always been enough to stop all but the meagerest of such efforts cold. And I don’t see anything to indicate that the new board will be any different. (Columbus Dispatch, 11/13/25)

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