Gadfly Bites 3/16/26—Nearly miraculous

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1. “There are a lot of motivated parents in Akron who want to stand up and fight for their schools. They love their public schools and want to see them exist and thrive.” So says one of the seven community members who showed up for a district-sponsored listening session last week. Among the things they want to fight for are more money, more hiring of the types of non-teaching staff that got the district in financial trouble in the first place, and of course—even more money. It was also interesting to note that this small group of community members appears to be an offshoot of an offshoot of an original group organized to do…something to help the district get more money better. (Signal Akron, 3/13/26)
   
   

2. While the full text of both of these pieces are subscriber-only content, I’ll still cover the key points here. First up, we learn that a new charter school—Portage Leadership Academy—will be opening in a former Ravenna City Schools building this fall. (Ravenna Record-Courier, 3/14/26) Meanwhile, four-year-old Sheffield Academy in Lorain County is on the grow and planning to add four modular classrooms to accommodate more students starting next school year. Key points: I am sending kudos to all while simultaneously wondering how many community/parent organizing efforts were required to achieve such growth and expansion? (Morning Journal, 3/14/26)
   
   

3. Meanwhile, in the bougie burbs, Parma City Schools parents appear to be enjoying their even-better-than-before bus tracking app this year, based upon the even-better-than-before bus routing software also rolled out this year. I urge you to take a look at the details of this nearly-miraculous-sounding technology and, after you ooh and aah along with the fortunate Parmesans (for surely that is what they are called), take a moment to imagine the not-as-fortunate parents in every other non-bougie jurisdiction who would benefit mightily from such a direct, real-time link to monitor and communicate with their kids’ transpo services. Now that would be a full-blown miracle. (Cleveland.com, 3/16/26)
   
   

4. Finally today, here’s an op-ed from the two co-chairs of the America 250-Ohio K-12 Education Committee: State Rep. Joe Miller and State Board of Education President Paul LaRue. They give some details on the committee’s offerings to schools for this semiquincentennial celebration year and say that even though they come from different backgrounds, they are “united in our passion for civic education. Our experiences as social studies educators have reinforced our belief that civic learning is essential for a thriving democracy.” Nice. (Columbus Dispatch, 3/14/26)

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