Gadfly Bites 1/26/26—Nobody moves downtown for the schools

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1. Merry National School Choice Week to all of you out there who celebrate! And Joyeux Catholic Schools Week as well! (It’s odd how those two things just happen to coincide each year, isn’t it?) Dan Meixner, president of Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School in Dayton mentions just one of those celebrations in this op-ed discussing the 175-year history of his institution, but I think we all know he’s got this year’s NSCW dance moves down pat also. (Dayton Daily News, 1/26/26)
    
2. As I predicted when the change first became law in the state budget bill, no elected or appointed members of the state board of education decided to resign their lame duck seats right away to pave the way for the new paradigm. They’re all still in place, with the first scheduled departures in December when several folks’ terms end. However, a different domino has fallen first: State Superintendent Paul Craft last week announced his intention to leave the post no later than July 31 (unless he finds a new gig before that). I won’t go so far as to predict that this step alone will hasten board members’ departure plans, but I could see some folks wondering if any replacement for Craft would have to be interim/temporary so that the new board can get their own supe when the time eventually comes, rather than inheriting one. And while we’re on the topic, take note of one of Superintendent Craft’s successes in the role: A reduction in the backlog of teacher misconduct investigations that he says he found when he got there. This is great news, and I can only surmise that the boost occurred—despite what Craft characterizes as a continuing dearth of needed manpower—because the entire agency had previously been diverted from that part of their mission due to other “distractions” that seemed to obsess board members to a large degree before they were relieved of them. Just surmisin’. (Cleveland.com, 1/23/26)
   
   

3. I didn’t learn the School Choice Week dance this year, but I did come up with a celebratory riddle: When is a neighborhood district school not a neighborhood district school? When its attendance zone is an urban downtown. I didn’t say it was a good riddle; it’s only funny because it’s true. Allow me to explain: Folks outside Columbus City Schools are learning a lot about the definition of “choice schools” in the district these days, because the elected board voted to eliminate busing of students to buildings that aren’t “100 percent choice”, regardless of whether those students are attending by choice rather than by residential assignment. This piece covers the most extreme example: Stewart Elementary on the edge of downtown, which is technically a neighborhood school but allows families from all over the district to opt in if they wish. The result is that only 8 of the nearly 300 students in the school live in the assignment zone for Stewart. And busing will no longer be offered for the 292 other kids starting next fall. Stewart teacher Hannah Elhard is convinced that most of those students will opt to go elsewhere if this plan is enacted—maybe to one of those “100 percent choice” district buildings, or maybe to a charter or private school—and her building will eventually shut down. But her district, facing a deficit of more than $50 million because it hasn’t right-sized its footprint or services to account for ongoing student enrollment losses before now, can wait no longer to do what it must. (Columbus Dispatch, 1/26/26)

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