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- Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few days, you have no doubt read that the Ohio Legislative Service Commission released their analysis of the education funding proposals in Governor DeWine’s new budget. Media outlets around the state have been very quick to assert that the next biennial budget contains more money for charters and private schools and less money for districts, as compared to the current biennium. (Statehouse News Bureau, 2/19/25) This is, strictly speaking, accurate, and is occurring for two reasons. First: Because charter and private school enrollment has increased while traditional district school enrollment has decreased and state money goes where the students are. Second: Districts with increasing property values are the ones whose state funding is decreased the most…just like the Fair School Funding Formula has always stated. And there are quite a few of these (a good thing, surely). Luckily for us all, this clear-eyed Dayton Daily News story covers both aspects of the explanation nicely and calmly. (Dayton Daily News, 2/19/25) Unfortunately, the same adjectives cannot be applied to this Cleveland.com coverage (“costs explode” indeed). (Cleveland.com, 2/19/25) No word yet from the crusaders at News 5 in Cleveland, but I am on the edge of my seat waiting for it!
- A bill under consideration in the state Senate would allow families whose children receive the Autism or Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarships to also receive the EdChoice or Cleveland Scholarships (whichever they would qualify for) at the same time. Current law limits eligibility to one or the other. This piece deems the plan a “voucher expansion”, which I suppose it is, but seriously? This is where you want to grind your “no more vouchers” axe? Come on! (Cleveland.com, 2/18/25)
- Staying in northeast Ohio for one more clip, here’s an interesting look at the transportation conundrum being faced by Cleveland Metropolitan School District this year. They are short on staff bus drivers and must shell out $3 million more dollars than originally planned to contract services to transport all the charter and private school students living in district boundaries but choosing other options…which the law says all districts must do or face fines from the state. The blame here is pretty soundly placed on those families utilizing school choice, but it feels to me like the real problem (paying just over half the going rate for bus drivers that the third party contractor pays) is staring them in the face. As indeed is the solution: Ditch your own service and contract all of it. It’s bound to be cheaper and simpler and (dare I say) better than what you have now. But I guess the easiest route of all is to just blame the school choice kids instead. (Signal Cleveland, 2/21/25) It has taken forever, but one of the pilot projects approved by the General Assembly some time ago—aimed at improving school transportation through flexible and decentralized options—is actually up and running in Montgomery County. Amazing! It’s small (three districts) and targeted (mainly long-haul transportation for students with special needs) right now, but it sounds extremely promising to me. Think of an education-only rideshare plan with the regional Education Services Commission serving to vet drivers and vehicles, connect families with routes, and to coordinate pick ups and drop offs. Add in the flexible use of smaller vehicles like cars and vans (noted as a key missing piece from the original legislative language) and you have a massive step in the right direction for sure. One to watch! (Dayton Daily News, 2/20/25)
- Following up on a piece from last Friday, the (land)lords of Upper Arlington City School District have revealed their plans for the quaint and cozy apartment building they just bought next door to one of their middle schools. And it ain’t new HVAC and a firepit for residents…although I guess you could say their rent will be drastically reduced. (Columbus Dispatch, 2/19/25)
- For years now, a minor educational miracle has been unfolding here in Ohio. A small school district in an economically hard-scrabble part of the state has been showing everyone how to teach young students to read proficiently while operating on drastically fewer resources than many others. And while literally every other public school and district in Ohio is now mandated to figure out how to do what Steubenville City Schools long ago mastered, it is beautiful to see Big Red lauded in the national spotlight via the latest episode of the podcast Sold a Story. (Sold a Story, 2/20/25) Kudos to those teachers, students, staff, and parents who do the work every day simply because it’s their job. You can listen to the podcast episode at the previous link, and if you’d like to read the transcript, you can do so here. More to come! (American Public Media, 2/20/25)
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