Gadfly Bites 1/29/21 – Juxtapositions, and other stuff

1. Juxtaposition 1: A celebration of school choice, with the other side’s position included for balance. (The Center Square, 1/28/21) Repudiation of school choice, with no alternative presented, in Canton City Schools. Union boss sez: “We really are going to separate ourselves from parochial (schools) and charters [via a district reconfiguration plan. We’re just going to be able to offer things that they certainly can’t.” Elected school board member sez: “I think if this plan works the way we think it will, it will give parents a lot of reasons to not choose an alternative for their kids when it comes to choosing their education.” (Canton Rep, 1/27/21)
   
   

2. It is said in this story that Columbus City Schools is revamping their school buses to emphasize student safety as a hybrid in-person learning model starts Monday. I am hopeful that this is just hype for nervous families and does not mean that the district did less than this for the private and charter school students they’ve been transporting on those same buses since August. (ABC6 News, Columbus, 1/28/21)
    
3. Going the other direction is Gahanna-Jefferson Local Schools. Too many families have opted for fully-remote distance learning for the allocated staff and so 11 middle schoolers are now learning using a third party provider and not district teachers and curriculum. Wonder how they decide who goes where? (ThisWeek News, 1/28/21)
    
4. The state of Ohio is offering educational support for parents of students with special needs who are learning in fully-remote or hybrid models across the state. The program is called Learning Aid Ohio and can “help…parents get teachers and/or tutors to [their] front door, and get [their] child more consistency in their daily learning schedule at home.” It is also noted that awareness and utilization of the program is below the state’s hopes and that officials really really really want to provide that support as widely as possible. Nice. (Fox8 News, Cleveland, 1/27/21)
    
5. Juxtaposition 2: The road to becoming a teacher is much harder in the pandemic. (WTOL-TV, Toledo, 1/27/21) Teacher evaluations in Toledo City Schools were cancelled this year due to the pandemic. (Toledo Blade, 1/27/21)

Did you know you can have every edition of Gadfly Bites sent directly to your Inbox? Subscribe by clicking here.