- Budget season is silly season in Ohio, so the saying goes, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the realm of education. In lieu of large scale changes, we’ve got a lot of noodling around the edges of policy and finance this time around. That often means that single sentences in a bill of thousands of pages can have significant impact. Our own Chad Aldis is quoted on just such a sentence, included in an amendment to the House version of the budget, which passed by a good margin yesterday. Chad calls the sentence a loophole of “staggering breadth”, carving out a very specific (and seemingly eternal) exemption from consequences of the state’s new charter sponsor evaluation. Repeat after me: “I’m just a bill. Yes I’m only a bill…” (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 5/3/17)
- Meanwhile, another PD reporter has zeroed in on the complaints of suburban Columbus teachers and parents, who have a raft of them and take a scattershot approach to airing their grievances. Chad, who just so happens to also be a suburban Columbus parent, is quoted in his professional capacity in response to the structure, quality, and accountability of charter schools as they relate to suburban district schools. This piece reads like a game of Whack-A-Mole, Chad’s comments excepted. Just sayin’. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 5/3/17)
- There was a Statehouse rally in support of school choice yesterday, attended by more than 1,000 students, teachers, administrators, and parents. Perhaps you saw the livestream on Twitter or Periscope? Anywho, it got some decent media coverage, including some really good pictures. The Rep actually interviewed a group of Stark County folks getting ready for the event the day before. (Canton Repository, 5/1/17) The Dispatch coverage includes photos, video, and interviews with participants. (Columbus Dispatch, 5/2/17) Gongwer’s coverage focused on the legislators who spoke at the rally, connecting the entire event with support for SB 85, a proposal to expand the state’s voucher programs. (Gongwer Ohio, 5/2/17)
- There are a number of important questions left unanswered in this piece detailing an increase in transportation requests to Columbus City Schools for students experiencing homelessness. The district has managed to cover the requests financially, thanks to access to federal funds, but there is no indication at all whether the students received adequate, timely, and helpful service. I don’t have any reason to believe that they didn’t – except for the widespread, yearslong, and ongoing difficulties most urban districts in Ohio have had transporting their garden-variety students with permanent homes – but I might suggest that a story about students having trouble getting to school through no fault of their own might decide that the quality and efficacy of the service would be a more important outcome to investigate than would the question of whether the tab is covered or not. But perhaps that’s just me. (Columbus Dispatch, 5/2/17)
- All for one and one for all. The brothers from Lakota East High School – quadruplets famously accepted by all Ivy League schools – have all opted for Yale. Congratulations, guys! (Akron Beacon Journal, 5/1/17)
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