- The NAPCS/50CAN/NACSA report on the quality of virtual schools across the country made a splashy debut yesterday. It was big news in Ohio for sure, although folks took its messages somewhat differently. Was it an attack? A “call for action”? You decide. Our own Chad Aldis was quoted in all of the following pieces. The PD was first out of the gate with coverage. They were also the only ones (so far) to get a statement in response to the report from Ohio’s largest online school, ECOT. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/16/16). No such luck for The Dispatch, although the quote from the PD made it in here too. What? You think reporters don’t talk to each other? (Columbus Dispatch, 6/16/16). True to its nature, Gongwer went to a state legislator to get its second quote. (Gongwer Ohio, 6/16/16)
- Dayton City Schools has a new supe. She is Rhonda Corr, a veteran administrator who has worked in Cleveland, Chicago, and Indianapolis. The board also named a new treasurer from within district ranks. She is Hiwot Abraha, who has been interim treasurer and assistant treasurer in the district. Interestingly, both appointments were for only one year, although Jeremy makes sure to note that the district is facing a two-year countdown to a possible Academic Distress Commission. No word on an athletic director for the district as yet. (Dayton Daily News, 6/16/16)
- I am late in covering the fact that the Cincinnati City School board voted this week in favor of partnering with an Indianapolis-based charter school network with an eye to bringing its education model to the Queen City. Why did I miss it? Because the Enquirer didn’t cover it. At all. A far cry from the preview piece last week that threw around words like “irresponsible” and “siphon” and “selling” and ended with a call for folks to attend Monday’s board meeting. I did see a short report on the board vote on something called The Enquirer’s Greater Cincy Schools Facebook page. But of course that post was not written by anyone who works for the Enquirer and contains all the journalistic integrity that Facebook posts regularly feature. So weird. Thanks to the journalists at WVXU in Cincy for actually covering the meeting and the outcome of the vote, however briefly. Seems like an important story. Still. (WVXU-FM, Cincinnati, 6/13/16) Speaking of Cincinnati, here is an update on the Enquirer’s ongoing story of a group of young women from the Lower Price Hill neighborhood, near the Blessed Shrine of Our Lady of Oyler. The update is celebrating the fact that one of the young women originally profiled graduated from OLO this week. Now I’m going to sound churlish on what everyone interviewed says is a joyous occasion, and there is no question that Kelsey has overcome a lot of obstacles to get here, but one quote leaps out at me with a screaming intensity: “It wasn't about grades, it was about a diploma.” Kelsey graduated with a 2.3 GPA. I consider that another obstacle in her path after high school, but it seems I may be alone in that belief. (Cincinnati Enquirer, 6/15/16)
- Some residual drama from this week’s state board of education meeting. The folks running OAK Leadership Academy, a (dun dun DUN) charter school, appealed directly to the state board during public comment time, trying to avoid shutting down due to lack of a sponsor. I’m pretty sure this is an unprecedented move on the part of a (dun dun DUN) charter school. It did not lead to the desired outcome. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/15/16) The implication of the OAK story is that HB 2, the law which reformed and strengthened charter school accountability in Ohio, is already starting to exert influence. To wit: a number of sponsors appear to be choosing to non-renew contracts with low-performing schools and a number of schools appear to be voluntarily closing their doors rather than face non-renewal. The indefatigable Patrick O’Donnell has a list of both. Interesting. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/17/16)
- If you thought it was all handholding and unity in Youngstown now that a CEO has been named and Academic Distress Commission can really get down to business, the leader of the local NAACP would beg to differ. Somewhat confusingly, I feel. I’m sure all will be revealed at the June 30th civil rights meeting the NAACP is hosting. (Youngstown Vindicator, 6/17/16)
- It seems like only a few months ago that we were parsing 2014-15 test data here in Ohio. So it feels odd that we are now starting to get 2015-16 data, but this is the more traditional timeframe for such things. Case in point: The D takes a look at third grade reading test results for this year in Central Ohio districts. Now keep in mind that this is preliminary data, but the story seems to be that quite a few third graders did not pass the state tests (AIR tests), even in the higher-rent school districts. However, when alternative assessments were given, the pass rate went up, especially in the aforementioned high-rent districts. Just sayin’. (Columbus Dispatch, 6/17/16)
- The Joint Education Oversight Committee (no, it’s pronounced JAY-ock) got an executive director this week. She is Lauren Monowar-Jones, a longtime staffer from the Ohio Department of Education with PhD in astronomy among many other important credentials and attributes. But that’s the one that everyone focuses on because it’s really interesting. She starts July 5. (Gongwer Ohio, 6/15/16)
- It was moving day this week for Toledo City Schools’ district offices; a process lovingly-described in this Blade piece. The movers even have their names in the paper. I would point out that the math cited in the piece does not seem to add up (putative savings vs. actual expenditures for the district), but perhaps that’s just more churl from me. Instead, I will harken you back to the shady process which resulted in the district shacking up with the YMCA, and then the depths of my churlishness will be obvious. Longtime Gadfly Bites subscribers will no doubt remember this story already: how the Toledo Y was strapped for cash and longing to move to a smaller and less-expensive-to-maintain building. How a decently-performing and bursting-at-the-seams charter school made a generous bid to the Y for the building, agreeing to share space with them as long as they needed in order for the Y to find the right new location at a reasonable price. How a group of community activists raised heck in order to stop the sale and cited spurious concerns about history, safety, and purpose in order to get support. How the city council and various review committees were forced to get involved and hold numerous votes, all of which went in favor of the charter school but dragged the process out interminably. How said activists attempted to get the charter school's landlord to evict them while negotations dragged on. How the school district was strong-armed into making an offer on the building, which they didn’t actually need, using money from a grant which they had not yet been awarded, just to say there was “other interest” in the property. How the district’s offer included so much in-kind “money” it was hundreds of thousands of dollars lower in much-needed cash than the charter school’s offer. And how the charter school closed up shop mere weeks after the Y took the lesser deal for the good of the community. Now, look again at that math in this piece from the district’s perspective. I think there may have been more than one loser in this deal. (Toledo Blade, 6/16/16)
