- Anyone who’s been following Gadfly Bites for a while knows that we’ve been keeping an eye on Geauga County district merger discussions. Legislation was passed last year that would forgive the debt of tiny Ledgemont Schools if they successfully conclude moves to merge with neighboring Berkshire Schools before June 30 of this year. Oddly, Gongwer is reporting additional merger legislation in the works that would include two other county districts and a new STEM high school that seemed like it was already on track to happen without additional legislation. Not sure what’s up here, but we’ll continue to keep an eye on it. (Gongwer Ohio, 4/3/15)
- Our own Jessica Poiner told you about the Bright New Leaders for Ohio Schools effort a week or two ago in the Ohio Gadfly Daily. Now the Dispatch is on to the story. $3.5 million in state funding, the effort includes collaborators from the Ohio Business Roundtable, the Ohio State University Fisher College of Business and Ohio Department of Education aimed at developing “a new kind of school principal.” Worth a look. (Columbus Dispatch)
- There must be vinegar in the water in Youngstown these days. A weekend editorial on HB 2 – the charter law reform effort which passed the House last week – calls this first-of-its-kind bill “too little, too late.” I know they don’t want the “wild west” of charter school operation to continue here in Ohio. What could be the other option? Hmmm…. (Youngstown Vindicator, 4/4/15)
- What else are the folks at the Vindy sour about? Open enrollment. Specifically, why kids would leave high-flying Canfield Schools to go to a lower-performing district. This is a somewhat-belated look at the Mahoning County open enrollment report we told you about more than a month ago. The bottom line at that time was that the report found more winners than losers among parents and districts, both in terms of academic performance and fiscal effects. Additionally, many of those effects in either direction were small to negligible. You can see that fairly clearly in the comments from district officials, but the reporter doesn’t seem to have heard them quite clearly. It is also worth noting that high-flying Canfield Schools doesn’t allow students to open enroll into their district. (Youngstown Vindicator, 4/6/15)
