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- The headline here is that Akron City Schools’ I Promise School came off of the ESSA-required list of schools needing state support and intervention due to poor performance. IPS leaders cite the implementation of science of reading-based curricula and instruction as the reason, but I’m not sure their most recent state report card backs up that hypothesis. And the deeper story, especially for the district, is a bit of a wash: three previous schools off the list, three new schools on the list, three schools who could have gotten off the list failing to do so. (Akron Beacon Journal, 2/17/25)
- Also on that list of northeast Ohio schools needing state support and intervention: a raft of dropout recovery charter schools. Not surprising, really, given their nature and mission. But one of them is facing a lot more trouble than just poor performance: Steel Academy has lost tons of students in recent years, has nearly half a million dollars in unpaid bills, and recently flunked a state-mandated performance audit. Some ideas are being floated to save the school, focused mainly on the members of the governing board, but they all seem like a pretty big lift to me. I know it sounds like a crazy idea—especially given the foregoing story about district schools in trouble—but hear me out: maybe it would be better for everyone if this perennially low-performing and quickly-shrinking school with a giant budget hole and operational defects simply planned to wind down operations (in an orderly fashion and with maximum support provided to students needing a new school) at the end of the year. (Akron Beacon Journal, 2/17/25)
- Columbus City Schools could also fit the description of rapidly-shrinking, cash-strapped, and perennially low-performing. And its elected leadership is also not up to the job of turning the ship around, according to some high profile community members. It’s refreshing to hear important voices calling out the “chaos” and “lack of professionalism”, but is there any hope for change? On the upside, we’ve got a giant slate of candidates who say they want to join the board to replace all those incumbents who aren’t running
to perpetuate the mayhemfor re-election this fall. On the downside, I’m not sure we have any idea whether these wannabes hitting the campaign trail soon represent any sort of deviation from the status quo or indeed have the ability to rein in the dysfunction that is now so utterly obvious as to be beyond question. (Columbus Dispatch, 2/16/25) - You want change? Has state Senator Andrew Brenner got a proposal for you! Senate Bill 93, introduced in placeholder form last week, is aimed at eliminating school districts’ ability to levy local taxes and to instead fund schools with a statewide property tax and increased state sales tax. “If we want to be the No. 1 school system in the United States and world, we’ve got to do some radical changes to the way that we’re handling things right now,” Brenner told Gongwer. And such a change would also allow the legislature to address long-term property tax relief at the same time. More to come on this little bombshell, I’m sure. (Gongwer Ohio, 2/14/25)
- To end the day, I’ll just drop this and run: The YMCA of Central Stark County is taking applications now for its annual Spring Break Tour of HBCU college campuses. The seats are limited in number, but not to any particular type of school. So apply now, charter/private/STEM school kids. Whadya say? How about we grab a majority of those seats for school choice! (Canton Repository, 2/16/25)
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