- I sometimes feel like I’m the only person who has no further need to be convinced that kids dropping out of school without graduating is a bad thing. Why? Because it seems any discussion of “what to do about dropouts” still requires an obligatory introduction about WHY we need to do something about the problem. Anywho, Ohio’s got a newly-appointed panel on the topic of dropouts. They held their first meeting earlier this week and guess what they talked about? They have until August 1 to make recommendations to the state. (Gongwer Ohio, 6/22/16)
- Journalist Patrick O’Donnell continued his look at Cuyahoga County school district expenditures. This time, he ranked per-pupil spending on students with special needs, students who are English language learners, students with families in poverty, etc. No charter schools were included in this list. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 6/23/16)
- I can’t imagine this will be the last word on the subject, but folks from SkillsUSA finally offered an explanation as to how the girl who came in first in the Ohio masonry competition by a long chalk ended up not going to the national competition in favor of the boy who had originally placed third. They blame a scoring error. It’s not that girls aren’t good at bricklaying; it’s that bricklayers aren’t so good at computers. Ouch. Stereotype much? (Columbus Dispatch, 6/23/16)