- Who’s a holiday curmudgeon, then? The Superintendent of Federal Hocking Schools, that’s who. Check out his pessimistic guest commentary on charter school law fixes today. It all comes down to money for him. Of course the irony is lost that money is just what district school folks argue makes all the difference for them: “their money” is “stolen” by charter schools, which equates to the low performance rates in districts where charter schools are located (not, I think, in tiny Federal Hocking though). The argument is that with more money, those public districts will flourish, ignoring the fact that charter schools operate with far less funds than most districts. So why wouldn’t more money solve charter schools’ performance problems too? All of these issues will clearly be front and center in 2015. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
- Generous souls will call this story “wonky”. Less-generous ones will call it snooze-worthy. For my part, I find it an interesting look at what happens after all the bright lights and hubbub of lawmaking are over. New rules were discussed this week regarding mandated changes to Ohio’s College Credit Plus program. The lawmaking efforts focused on expansion of the dual-enrollment program allowing students to take college classes for credit while still in high school. High-minded and virtuous, right? Especially the bit about allowing students to take the college courses remotely while sitting in their high school building. But the rule-making discussion focused on the nuts and bolts issues these changes engendered. Such as, “How do high schools physically manage the placement of students?” “What if schools don’t have the space to separate course-taking and non-course-taking students?” “Is it permissible for non-enrolled students to be in the same room when the college material is being covered?” It is highly unlikely such specifics were debated in the halls of Ohio’s General Assembly but they must be dealt with before the law can properly be enacted. See? Interesting. And this has implications for the rules discussions around the “5 of 8” changes ahead in early 2015. (Gongwer Ohio)
- Color me surprised. The proposed 4-district consolidated high school plan mooted in Geauga County took a tiny step forward this week when the Newbury school board approved participation in a feasibility study. A no vote from any one of the districts involved would have scuttled the whole thing, so this is good news. Maybe I’m the curmudgeon for thinking it might not go forward, but this article also notes the previous efforts at consolidation in the area – needed fairly desperately due to falling enrollment/budget issues – and their failure due to a concern for “district identity”. Supposedly, the possibility of outside money backing up the project has overcome the usual initial concerns, but there’s still a long way to go. (Willoughby News-Herald)
