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- Governor DeWine is first up in our Quartet of Confidence today, expressing full trust in his newly-appointed DEW Director. “Steve Dackin is someone who started as a teacher, someone who’s been a principal… He’s been a superintendent. He’s seen it also from a community college point of view, which I think is also very important.” The biggest plus for the Gov: “For the first time, when I sit down with my cabinet, an official member of the cabinet will be the superintendent of public instruction.” (Cleveland.com, 11/13/23)
- Also sounding confident: the superintendent of tiny Bellevue City Schools in northern Ohio. Seems to me he has three reasons to be convinced of his district’s ability to post a fantastic report card next year. First, this year’s report card was very good, with 4- and 5-star ratings almost across the board. Second, the one clear area of underperformance—early literacy—was ranked at 3 stars, a level many other districts fell far short of. Third, he has laid out a solid plan to get the higher literacy achievement he seeks. SPOILER ALERT: A major part of his plan is setting high standards, conducting assessments to determine achievement, and enforcing accountability for results. (The Advertiser-Tribune, 11/13/23)
- The superintendent of Salem Christian Academy in Clayton, Ohio, expresses rock solid belief in this op-ed that families have the right to choose how their tax dollars are spent in educating their children, that private schools are demonstrably better options than traditional districts for many of those families, and that school choice competition improves outcomes for traditional districts. All in less than 600 words. (Dayton Daily News, 11/15/23)
- Finally today, the superintendent of Cincinnati City Schools told the audience for her recent State of the Schools speech that nearly 90 percent of all bus routes in the district were running on time now. She also seemed to declare that chronic absenteeism and all the negatives associated with it was a thing of the past as a result: “Kids are getting to school on time, which means that they are there to get the services that they need from our teachers.” She was clearly so confident that no data was required to back her up nor were any follow up questions needed to accept her statement as stone cold fact. Lucky her. (Cincinnati Enquirer, 11/13/23)
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