- I am reasonably sure that some of you, my lovely readers, occasionally say to yourselves, “Gadfly Bites is being too hard on this or that media outlet; surely it is not skewing coverage of certain topics as much as our humble clips compiler thinks.” Perhaps you are correct from time to time, but pieces like this are the reason I sometimes feel this way. Check it out: This is, at its core, a list of the 27 candidates who have thrown their hat into the ring for state superintendent. While all of these good folks are presented in an alphabetical list at the bottom with some brief identifying information, two are also given additional attention in a clickbait headline (if I do say so myself) and at the top of the piece. Ostensibly, they were singled out because they do not come from “traditional education backgrounds”, but that is not an accurate assessment. A quick internet search shows that the first individual, Kimberly Richey, has a teaching degree and is or was a licensed teacher in Texas at some point in her career. Ditto for the second individual, Steve Dackin, who was the superintendent of Reynoldsburg City Schools for many years. But there was no space for those details amid all the “controversial” stuff that was apparently felt to be more relevant to readers. Meanwhile, there’s a dude on the “traditional education background” list who works at the state budget office and is a property manager on the side AS WELL AS a dude who is coming from the charter school sector. Personally, I don’t have a problem with any of these folks slipping their resumes through the heavily fortified mail slot at ODE, so I have to wonder why the impartial guardians (see what I did there?) of truth at Cleveland.com chose to present the story in this way. Spoiler alert: there are likely no good answers to that question. (Cleveland.com, 3/3/22) So, by clipping the more dispassionate Gongwer version of this story (which does single out Mr. Dackin’s CV from the list but also remembers to include his superintendency at Reynoldsburg), we can point out that the only actual news to be extracted beyond the list itself is that Mr. Dackin resigned from his seat on the state board of education in order to be able to apply for the job as state supe. See? Was that so hard? (Gongwer Ohio, 3/3/22)
- Back in the real world, St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School in Parma was heavily damaged by arson more than two weeks ago. After the community rallied around them, students will at last be returning to classes soon, setting up shop in a nearby Diocesan building which closed to students last year. They will finish out the year in their alternative digs while repairs are made to St. Anthony. (WKYC-TV, Cleveland, 3/4/22)
- I’m not sure if we are ending in the real world or not—there’s a lot of things to unpack in this story. The unabashed good news is that the first full beneficiary of HOPE Toledo’s free college scholarship awards has graduated with her certification. It’s not a Scott High School student, but a former student’s mother. One of the more interesting innovations of HOPE’s effort was the inclusion of parents and her success is huge news. I am HOPEful (see what I did there too?) that folks will not begrudge the fact that she earned her certification from a for-profit institution, but the irony of her field of study—addiction counseling—cannot be ignored given the source of the funding from which HOPE’s program was initially earned. Additionally, it seems that Pete “Weed Guy” Kaden’s green empire continues to blossom because he is also starting up similar scholarship programs in some Chicago high schools too. (Toledo Blade, 3/3/22)
Did you know you can have every edition of Gadfly Bites sent directly to your Inbox? Subscribe by clicking here.
Policy Priority:
Topics:
