Gadfly Bites 4/10/26—Same kids, same neighborhood

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1. I will never cease to be amused by the dichotomous responses to Ohio’s fiscal distress protocols versus Ohio’s academic distress protocols (honestly, do those things even actually exist anymore?). On the financial side, there may be some initial grumbling about “the state swooping in and telling districts” how to budget and spend to get out of debt, but that usually fades pretty quickly when the reality sets in: Unlimited expert financial advice on both the revenue and the spending side; financial stabilization a$$istance that, while not bottomless, is fully commensurate with the reality of the district’s debt; and years of grace in which to fix things/repay those loans. Gongwer/State Affairs discusses several fiscal success stories in a recent subscriber-only story. Not that the districts in question have fully emerged from fiscal distress yet, but things are looking up for Mt. Healthy, Trimble, and others. On the academic side, well… we all remember the instantaneous wailing and gnashing of teeth about “state government interference and overreach” the second an academic emergency is even mooted. (Gongwer Ohio/State Affairs, 4/9/26). FYI: The Gongwer story was prompted by the recent release of the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce’s annual report on districts in fiscal distress, which you can read—subscription-free—here.
   
   

2. Very dubious framing on this story if you ask me (which no one did…or ever will). It is pitched as charter school “staff” weighing in on Ohio’s “public-private schooling debate”. What it turns out to be is a single individual who works for a charter management organization explaining why families need and deserve educational choices for their children and why she thinks her schools and others like them are particularly attractive: “When you take away all of the other adult stuff, when you take away the focus on the ‘me’ piece and focus it all on the students, that’s when you see the academic success… The bottom line is people go where there is success.” I’m no professional journalist, but that sounds like a headline to me. (Spectrum News Ohio, 4/8/26)
   
   

3. Meanwhile, here is the private school sector’s contribution to that putative “debate”. Frank O’Linn, superintendent of diocesan schools in Cleveland, spoke at a recent gathering in Akron, reminding folks of all the educational options available for parents in Ohio—public and private. He emphasized that most of them (including state-funded scholarships for private schools) have been around for decades and that all are available to the majority of Ohio families. Despite specific cheerleading for Catholic schools (I mean, why would he not do that?), he knows that the ultimate decision is up to parents. “Our clear message on policy,” he said, “is that Ohio should fund students, not systems” and that education funding should follow the students to wherever parents decide is the best educational option for their own children. No lies detected here, but I can see how it would be tough for a professional journalist to make clickbait out of it. (Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, 4/9/26)

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