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- I said on Wednesday that I was going to wait for smarter minds than my own to comment on NAEP score data. Well, here’s the first coverage, featuring no lesser lights than Ohio Department of Education and Workforce Director Steve Dackin and Fordham’s own data guru Aaron Churchill. In a nutshell, neither math nor reading performance for Ohio students have returned to pre-pandemic levels, despite some small bumps upward from 2022 to 2024 in a couple of categories. Says Aaron: “Overall, these results indicate that far too many Ohio students are struggling to master core math and reading skills… That’s simply not good enough. To give students a boost, state leaders need to put math and reading back at the center of our education debates.” And Director Dackin said, “We must intensify our efforts to implement the science of reading in every classroom, and continue providing the best possible supports to educators, parents, and others in using high-quality instructional materials and training in the science of reading… I implore Ohio's school leaders and educators to maintain their focus on literacy achievement, mathematics, and foundational knowledge and skills.” Sounds about right. Thanks for the wisdom, guys. (Gongwer Ohio, 1/29/25)
- Aaron is also quoted in this story—briefly—about what a recent executive order on school choice signed by President Trump might mean for Ohio. Aaron only gets a tiny look in because the bulk of the piece is dedicated to outrage (to paraphrase for you: “what the heck is this abomination?!?!”, “don’t we already have enough choice here?!?!”, “grrrrr!!!!”, etc.) and Aaron’s non-outrageous contribution is (to paraphrase) “Yeah, this is probably meant more for other states.” You see? Didn’t fit the vibe. (Cleveland.com, 1/30/25)
- Cleveland Metropolitan School District is facing a giant budget hole, largely a result of steadily-declining enrollment over many years, and everybody knows it. The problem is now so obvious that district leaders are becoming comfortable saying the formerly-quiet part out loud: “It’s very clear that we have some buildings in our city, in our footprint at CMSD, that are way too big with not enough students,” Cleveland mayor Justin Bibb said recently. In fact nearly all of their buildings fit that definition, but the first step to solving a problem is admitting it exists. So: baby steps. And speaking of first steps, the mayorally-appointed school board actually approved a resolution this week to start a long-term facilities planning effort that might, eventually, lead to the closure of some of those underutilized buildings. But I reckon CMSD still has a fair few steps left to go before they arrive at what they truly have to do, since CEO Warren Morgan pointed out that closing a single building would only save $1-$2 million, and that is only a drop in the ocean of the nearly $100 million deficit. Thus, “we can’t cut our way out”. That may be true, but there is another step you need to take after that, bossman: You got to sell the real estate. The sooner you realize this, the sooner your long, nightmarish journey will end. (Signal Cleveland, 1/29/25)
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