Gadfly Bites 11/24/25—Eliminating outside agendas and distractions

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1. Earlier this month, we talked about Aaron Churchill’s op-ed published in the Dispatch. That piece can be found here, in case you want to refresh your memory of how he laid out the data describing how Ohio’s “impractical to transport” rules have been overwhelmingly used to deny busing to charter, private, open enrollment, and STEM school students—rather than to students attending a given district’s own schools—with Columbus City Schools as one of the worst offenders in this regard. And while his piece included solutions to end the problem for good, this editorial in response—from Columbus City Schools’ transportation guru—provides no solutions and instead minimizes the issue and points fingers hither and yon for the problem, including—of course—the state requirement for transporting charter and private school students in the first place. (Columbus Dispatch, 11/20/25) Here’s a news piece from Dayton—a region with a history of transportation troubles stretching back many years—and it provides some nice, on-the-ground detail on the issues Aaron documented in his data. Even more important, it sounds like the troubles districts families are experiencing today are very similar in both urban and suburban districts. Important stuff. (Dayton Daily News, 11/21/25) Part of the deal in the year of our lord Cynthia Erivo 2025 is that districts themselves are typically high-choice as well, especially Columbus City Schools, where all high school students are allowed to choose any district building—and many do. That’s why reporter Cole Behrens was recently criss-crossing the city on public transit, examining how functional it was to take a city bus from his apartment to a number of different high schools. (On account of the district proposing to give transit passes to students in lieu of yellow bus rides.) Guess what? It totally worked for him, confirming that there are some transpo solutions that DON’T require limiting choice…just like Aaron told you 10 days ago! (Columbus Dispatch, 11/23/25)
   
   

2. Transportation, along with special education services, are said to be prime concerns for parents of Cleveland Metropolitan School District students in this coverage of the district’s school closure/consolidation plan as it takes shape. Lots of different concerns for the unions representing teachers, support professionals, and other staffers. We’ll see if all the various concerns can be reconciled. (Signal Cleveland, 11/21/25)
   
   

3. Speaking of unions, here’s some interesting news out of northeast Ohio: Teachers at Springfield Local Schools have broken from the Ohio Education Association and formed their own independent union. Why? “Becoming an independent union has allowed us to significantly lower our teachers’ dues, while seeking our own representation to fit our beliefs and focus on the educational needs in Springfield,” says Springfield Federation President Tina Hartong. “Leaving the OEA has allowed our union to focus entirely on the needs of Springfield students and teachers, without outside agendas or distractions.” Interesting stuff. (Akron Beacon Journal, 11/20/25)

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