- In case you missed it, Fordham Ohio’s latest report – Quality in Adversity: Lessons from Ohio’s best charter schools – was released today. Some preliminary media coverage has already taken place (huge thanks to all the outlets for that) and we expect more to follow in the next day or two. Check out the Dispatch (Columbus Dispatch, 1/27/16), the Enquirer (Cincinnati Enquirer, 1/27/16), and the Associated Press (Salem News, via AP, 1/27/16) You can also read the full report here….after you’ve finished your Bites.
- I’ve been avoiding clipping the various iterations of this next story because it’s really just a lame PR exercise. But when public media calls, you have to answer. Various small school districts around the state have been incited to send “invoices” to the Ohio Department of Education requesting payment for all of the dubloons “deducted” from their vaulted treasure caves over the years to pay for students who were educated outside their crenellated walls in charter schools. Our own Chad Aldis discusses the “theatrical” nature of this stunt with public radio’s Andy Chow. Now, who do district parents see about getting a refund for those college remediation classes they needed? Who do I see about a refund on my property taxes since my kids never went to the district schools ever? (Statehouse News Bureau, 1/26/16)
- Here’s a look at recent report card data comparing Dayton-area charter schools to district schools in terms of the K-3 literacy grade and graduation rates. If it were any more slanted, it might fall off the page, but the numbers are kind of interesting. (Dayton Daily News, 1/25/16)
- Columbus State Community College won a federal grant of $11.5 million to help up to 10,000 central Ohio middle- and high-school students to earn college credit before high-school graduation. I may be a little biased here (loyal Gadfly Bites subscribers know that your humble compiler thinks The Metro School is bae) but this sounds like really great news. (Columbus Dispatch, 1/25/16)
- Speaking of money, Brunswick City Schools in Northeast Ohio is facing a deficit within the next five years if some changes are not effected in district finances. The State Auditor (haven’t heard from that guy in ages, have we?) released this week the results of a performance audit for Brunswick. He found them $2 million per year in savings. If implemented, the projected deficit in 2019-2020 would only be $4.6 million. Only. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 1/26/16)
- A total of 14 new Straight-A Innovation Fund grant requests were chosen this week to go forward for funding. Two of those were on contingency because they requested more than the suggested cap of $1 million per project. There is an interesting discussion by panelists of what to do with these scofflaw projects. The winning projects are still anonymous at this point and will be identified when funding for them is approved, likely in February. (Gongwer Ohio, 1/25/16)
