Gadfly Bites 5/9/22—Now, about those charter, STEM, and private school grads…

We’re back, y’all. Still drying out from a rainy vacation and covering clips from 5/4 – 5/9.

1. Fordham’s senior policy analyst Jessica Poiner had an op-ed published by Cleveland.com over the weekend, talking about the timely subject of summer school programs, and their ability—if rigorous and accountable to families—to help mitigate the oh-so-real effects of pandemic learning loss. (Cleveland.com, 5/8/22)
   
   
2. The state board of education is meeting this week to, one assumes, choose a new state superintendent. (Among other items of business, I reckon.) Cleveland.com, whose reportorial and editorial staffs have had a lot to say on the matter (oftentimes interchangeably), offered us this look behind the closed door process. To wit: a potted summary of the written answers given by the three finalists to questions asked by board members. (Cleveland.com, 5/5/22)
   
   
3. It’s almost graduation time around here, too. Columbus City Schools’ Class of 2022 is the first to be able to take advantage of the Columbus Promise—tuition-free attendance at Columbus State Community College. The Dispatch reports that more than 700 students have completed the full application process to access the scholarship. Kudos! (Columbus Dispatch, 5/5/22)
   
   
4. There are so many nice things being said about a charter school in this piece—covering this weekend’s groundbreaking for Toledo School for the Arts’ big upgrade/expansion project—it can only mean one thing: It’s National Charter Schools Week! (Toledo Blade, 5/6/22)
   
   
5. Speaking of which, huge congratulations to all of NAPCS’s 2022 Changemakers honorees, announced this morning. That illustrious list includes Ohio’s own Tonya Kelly, founder of the Empower Our Youth Foundation and a teacher at Horizon Science Academy’s Columbus elementary school. Awesome! (National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, 5/9/22)
   
   
6. This piece also feels like a Charter Schools Week homage—discussing how much online school enrollment has increased in Ohio this school year, including an interview with the state’s largest virtual charter school and some very positive comments from a happy parent. All of this without any doomsaying or fearmongering. Awesome, right? (Springfield News-Sun, 5/9/22)

Did you know you can have every edition of Gadfly Bites sent directly to your Inbox? Subscribe by clicking here.