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- There is so much great information on school district funding in this piece—Howard Fleeter is one of the two most knowledgeable people on that topic in Ohio after all. Thus it is a shame that all that understanding is ultimately tossed into the rhetorical Disposall to produce…for lack of a more publishable term…so much “not understanding”. First and foremost is the ridiculous notion that all this information supports the contention that “a lot of money in Ohio is currently being redirected towards charter and private schools.” Wrong! All of this is about districts only and you obfuscate that point simply to misdirect and deceive. And second is the idea that “levy fatigue” is why folks vote down district tax issues on the ballot multiple times. That blinkered vision assumes that if voters “just understood” how the property tax system “disadvantages” districts, we’d vote Yes the first time any district levy came up and would thus save ourselves the “fatigue” that results from telling them No over and over again only to have them ask again and again and again. (WOSU-FM, Columbus, 5/13/24)
- Similar vibes in this opinion piece, in which the editorial board of the Toledo Blade argues that a lack of measurable improvement in fourth grade reading achievement is proof positive that the Third Grade Reading Guarantee needs to be repealed in its entirety. Supporters of repeal are “the public school establishment, including elementary and high school administrators, school board members, and school business officials.” The opponents? “Business-based”. A rigorous study showing that retention works to improve outcomes? Dismissed as “but one snapshot”. There you have it! (Toledo Blade, 5/13/24)
- Ditto for this one. In it we learn that some high-powered data gurus from the Ohio Education Research Center recently visited Eaton Community City Schools in far western Ohio to investigate the academic outcomes of two of their elementary school buildings. They were identified by DEW as “literacy positive outliers” in which students demonstrated significant growth in literacy between Kindergarten and third grade. Great recognition for a job well done, right? Their kids are bucking the disheartening trends statewide and showing academic growth. It’s a good idea to let the boffins figure out what went right and share it with the world. But school officials seem amazed to be under the microscope and the assistant superintendent doesn’t actually seem to have any clue as to what they did to make this happen. Something something missed kindergarten due to the pandemic, blah blah masks, something something technology didn’t work, yada yada teachers are resilient, something something “change their philosophy”. I sure hope the researchers can figure it all out. If not, it sounds to me like their secret sauce is destined to remain a secret forever…even from themselves! (The Register-Herald, 5/10/24)
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