Gadfly Bites 3/25/26—IYDKYDK

News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’.

1. As someone in the know, I’m pretty confident I couldn’t provide a proper understanding of Ohio’s voucher programs in less than 1,000 words. Thus when this piece promising to do just that clocked in at less than 700 words—and gave a bunch of those words over to voucher grouchers along the way—I was totally confident that it couldn’t fulfill its headline promise. And it did not. (Spectrum News Ohio, 3/23/26)
   
   

2. By contrast, this piece is full of important information provided by folks who definitely know what they’re talking about. We can add Ashland City Schools to the growing number of districts that are closing their borders to unlimited interdistrict open enrollment next year due to cost considerations. Superintendent Steve Paramore explained it this way at a school board meeting earlier this week: Their cost for educating one student is calculated at $8,110 for fiscal year 2026; but the state’s funding formula only provides $3,192 per open enrolled student. Even I can do that math. Mercifully, Ashland’s not going to kick out current OE students and they do provide some important exceptions (siblings, previous resident student who move, etc.) to the ban. But, no other new students will be allowed in next year, and district leaders left themselves the option to close the border for good in the future. (Ashland Source, 3/24/26)

Did you know you can have every edition of Gadfly Bites sent directly to your Inbox? Subscribe by clicking here.