- Senate Bill 3 had another hearing yesterday. That’s the “education deregulation” bill that would, among other things, allow a raft of exemptions to districts which meet certain criteria as “high performers.” Yesterday’s testimony focused on the proposed definition of a high quality district, some witnesses asking for a broader and some a narrower definition. As it stands now, the Senate Bill’s provisions would allow 125 districts to be considered high performing and therefore be eligible for regulatory relief in areas such as testing and teacher licensure. The state budget has a different definition of a high-performing district, under which just 20 districts would qualify. Hearings will continue. (Gongwer Ohio)
- I am reasonably certain that suburban Pickerington City Schools would be considered “high quality” by both of the proposed measures. (Full disclosure, I have nieces and nephews who have graduated from and are currently in high school in P’town.) But in practice, Pickerington’s superintendent isn’t satisfied. Her “state of the district” report highlighted what’s going right and what’s not, especially as enumerated on the district’s most recent state report card. She spoke of plans in place and in development to address areas of poor grades – including a D in gifted programming and missed indicators in math and science in certain grades. That’s right folks – test data driving changes in the way a school district does business. Shocking, eh? (ThisWeek News/Pickerington Times-Sun)
- The principal of Hebron Elementary School in rural central Ohio brought with her a dads-in-schools program when she came to Hebron from Reynoldsburg this year. Dozens of father figures (dads, granddads, uncles, etc.) are in a nearly-daily rotation of school and classroom activities including one-on-one reading support, playground duty, greeting and support, and other duties. Sounds pretty cool to this dad. (Newark Advocate)
- A Toledo charter school student’s artwork will soon be hanging in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington after winning a contest in the state’s Ninth Congressional District. This is the second year in a row a student from Toledo School for the Arts has won the contest. Congratulations! (Toledo Blade)
- Finally, the Reach Opportunity Center in Akron looks to be a very promising model for the merger of education and community. The services available there include preschool and Kindergarten, after-school programing for older children, home visitation for new parents, job training, financial literacy, computer courses, and GED classes for adults. The list of partners involved in this venture is too long to list here, but they include Akron Public Schools, Akron Public Housing Authority, the Boys & Girls Club, Akron-Summit County Public Library, Job and Family Services, and many other non-profit service groups. The center has recently received national recognition for their extensive network of collaborators and a group of high-profile project partners are in Washington, D.C. this week to tout their program and drum up more support. Best of luck to them all! (Akron Beacon Journal)
