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Ohio Gadfly Daily

Gadfly Bites 11/22/19 – When families don’t buy what you’re selling

Jeff Murray
11.22.2019
Gadfly Bites
  1. As expected, Plain Local Schools is going to court—federal court—to stop a new state law which makes it easier for property owners in the district to win a rezoning request to join another neighboring district. They give lots of reasons for trying to stop the inevitable (pardon my insufferable certainty on this; just content yourself that I’m always wrong when I say these things), none of which have anything to do with why these families might want to leave. (Canton Repository, 11/20/19)
     
  2. What on Earth is going on in Marion City Schools that has led to an impending budget bust alarming exodus of students via open enrollment and to charter schools? Hang on a sec, Imma check on their most recent district report card to see if I can get any… Oh. I get it. But seriously, guys, I’m glad you express skepticism here about the proposed new state funding plan being of any help to you. Because I don’t think it compensates for the consequences of poor performance. Perhaps you could get to grips with that yourself while you wait to find out. (Marion Star, 11/22/19)

  3. Speaking of legislation with questionable outcomes, color me…extremely suspicious about this effort to award academic credit for work done in afterschool programs. For a start, aren’t these things largely run by non-teachers? Who’s monitoring/vetting them—and aren’t some of them private providers? What about access—won’t rich districts just load their kids up with these things if they become credit-bearing? And if what these programs are doing is so effective, why aren’t actual teachers doing that stuff within the actual school day? (Patch.com, 11/21/19)

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Policy Priority:
School Funding
Topics:
Governance
Tags: Marion City School District

Jeff Murray is a lifelong resident of central Ohio. He previously worked at School Choice Ohio and the Greater Columbus Arts Council. He has two degrees from the Ohio State University and lives in the Clintonville neighborhood with his wife.

He is proud every day to support the Fordham mission to help make excellent education options more…

View Full Bio

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