Either all of Ohio’s education journalists are on spring break this week or they’re glued to the Education Gladfly. Whatever the reason, education news and opinion is hard to come by across the Buckeye State today. Here’s is the paltry result of that dearth:
- Voters in tony New Albany-Plain Local Schools rejected two levy requests back in November and their rainy-day surplus is exhausted. The budget cuts required by this state of affairs continue to be phased in. Pay-to-play fees have already increased and the promised reduction in busing begins on April 7. Workforce reductions come at the end of the school year. All of these items were on the minds of residents during a recent school board meeting. The reactions to them are varied and interesting, especially the issue of transportation. Worth a look. (ThisWeek News/New Albany News, 4/1/15)
- Our other story today also comes from central Ohio. It is a look at home-schooled students who live within the boundaries of Delaware City Schools. It all sounds pretty nice at first; even the headline is sunny and Kumbaya-ish. Homeschoolers can, and do, participate in Delaware’s extracurricular activities including sports and band. And everyone is happy…until we start talking about online charter school students. The distinction between e-school students and “traditional” homeschooled students is important to make for a number of reasons, but not in terms of extracurricular activities. It may be murky journalism or a flawed interpretation of state law, but the assertion printed here that e-school students are “not permitted to participate in any of our extracurricular activities” is not correct. Districts statewide are free to allow e-school students to participate (or not). Whether a given district does (or does not) allow participation is an entirely different discussion either not had or not printed in this piece. (ThisWeek News/Delaware News, 4/1/15)
