Gadfly Bites 12/8/25—The things we tell ourselves to feel better

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1. Philip Derrow, a former elected school board member from here in central Ohio, opines on the negative downstream effects of “K-12 schools’ failure to effectively teach” both reading and math skills at a foundational level. And he’s got plenty of data and examples to back himself up. Very scary. I’m convinced. Thing is, this has been the case for many years—long before the pandemic accelerated the deleterious trends already underway—and so the knowledge-poor future he lays out for current students is actually already here for millions of former K-12 students in Ohio and elsewhere; especially those who couldn’t access any better educational options at the time. (Columbus Dispatch, 12/8/25) But what do current elected school board members say is their top concern? “The expanded universal private school voucher program that is devastating the long-range viability of public education.” So says Denis Smith, a former state education department staffer, who got an earful from those elected board members after doing a couple of shifts minding the voucher groucher booth at the Ohio School Boards Association’s annual gathering last month. (Ohio Capital Journal, 12/7/25) I’m sure that all seven of you dedicated Gadfly Bites subscribers know that these two pieces are directly related, but I would not expect either Mr. Derrow or Mr. Smith to have figured that out—even with the perfect juxtaposition of them appearing in news outlets at the same time—let alone all those elected school board members who are directly responsible for both the low-quality instruction AND families’ exodus therefrom.
   
   

2. Relatedly, we learned late on Friday that Toledo City Schools is next on the list of districts that have to face the music for not right-sizing their footprint and staffing levels before now, based on steadily-shrinking enrollment over many years. There are several items on the list of possible responses to the impending fiscal cliff—including instituting a four-day school week—none of which actually address the continued decline in the number of students they are (or will be) required to serve. (WTOL-TV, Toledo, 12/5/25) Just like those elected school board members at the voucher groucher convention in the clip above, local state Rep. Paula Hicks-Hudson was quick to blame the district’s problem on everyone else. “I do think that they’ve been trying to manage their revenue and things like that,” Hicks-Hudson said of the district, with no evidence that the “trying” has led to any actual realistic “managing” of shrinking revenue due to fewer students enrolling. “But this is, unfortunately, I think, the result of the continuing assault by the legislature on public education.” But which she means vouchers, in case you for some reason weren’t sure. (WTOL-TV, Toledo, 12/5/25)

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