In case you missed it, we did a whole big compilation of news clips about the introduction of SB148/HB156 yesterday. Another huge step toward meaningful, and long-overdue, charter school reform in Ohio. Check it out if you haven’t seen it yet.
- Don’t believe us when we say that this charter reform effort is the real deal? How about the editors in Akron, then? These long-standing critics of charters in their town and across the state are well acquainted with the flaws in Ohio’s charter sector. They opined yesterday in favor of the latest charter reform bills, calling them “a foundation for much improvement”. THAT’s the real deal. (Akron Beacon Journal, 4/17/15)
- In other legislative news, we noted on Wednesday the changes made to the Governor’s budget in the House, suggesting that school funding would get the lion’s share of the attention. Digging deeper, there was this gem: A provision to forbid the Ohio Department of Education from paying another nickel to PARCC for testing. Yes, that’s right, a funding mechanism block. You can see the usual calm and clinical report on this from Gongwer. (Gongwer, 4/15/15)
- But I know you, my loyal Gadfly Bites readers, want more than just the calm and clinical. So, here’s a bit more juice on this PARCC-block thing. The House Finance Chair said of the new language, “We have to have an assessment.” But in the coverage from the Big D, it seems that only the Chair and the federal government concur with that statement. The Chair went on to say, “What we're trying to do is send a message here and it's pretty clear. We need to look at different testing mechanisms for the state." If you look at the handy insta-poll that accompanies the Dispatch article (and the comments below the online story), it’s pretty clear that the supporters of this PARCC-block effort have a different, but equally-clear, message: NO TESTS. AT ALL. Reconciliation is hard. (Columbus Dispatch, 4/16/15)
- Since we’re talking about testing, note that the Ohio Senate’s Testing Advisory Panel is still meeting and gathering information on what, if anything, to do about assessments in Ohio going forward. Big doings earlier this week when representatives of PARCC, AIR, and Pearson sat down in person to answer questions from the panel members. You can check out a nice summary from Patrick O’Donnell. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 4/16/15)
- Back in the real world, what’s a school district to do when faced with six Fs on their state report card? Staff up. Groveport-Madison Schools unveiled a $7.1 million plan this week to combat some woeful grades related to student learning gains. It actually sounds pretty good for students if done right, and it may also help reverse that “no-confidence” vote from the local teachers union from earlier this year. Maybe. (Columbus Dispatch, 4/17/15)
- Remember those academic monitors we mentioned are coming to Lorain City Schools at the behest of the Academic Distress Commission there? The local teachers union has weighed in, and not in the way I expected. But the end result is the same. It goes like this: We would prefer the monitors to be in buildings every day (because otherwise it just looks like “gotcha”); but if the monitors are here every day, they will cost $81,000 a year; $81,000 would cover the hiring of 2.5 new teachers; so we would prefer if you’d just hire those new teachers instead. NOTE: the school board to whom the union rep was preaching has no say over said monitors. *Sigh* (Northern Ohio Morning Journal, 4/15/15)
- Stay in school, kids, or forget about prom. (Middletown Journal News, 4/16/15)
