- Fordham-provided stats are referenced in the piece on the status of a school funding revamp currently included in the state budget bill. But other than that one reference, the rest of the piece is discussing the school funding revamp plan NOT currently included in the state budget bill and is informed in its entirety by the blobby entity that we might generously term “not-Fordham”. You know what I mean. (Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune, 6/23/21)
- Speaking of revamps, Fordham’s Chad Aldis is quoted here on the topic of a school and district report card revamp, which as we noted on Wednesday is currently included in House Bill 82. Quoth the boss: “The most important thing is – if this bill becomes law – Ohio parents and communities will have a much improved report card.” (Gongwer Ohio, 6/23/21) HB 82 passed the Senate by a vote of 31-1 on Wednesday. Jeremy Kelley says it will likely pass the House today and, if signed by the governor, would go into effect for the upcoming 2021-22 school year. (Dayton Daily News, 6/25/21)
- Speaking of far-reaching legislation (were we?), did you know that it’s been six years since the passage of HB 70? You know—the one that created the tougher, CEO-style academic distress paradigm to help turn around persistently low-performing school districts. While HB 70 is still, nominally, the law of the land, it is clear from this Youngstown story that whatever changes it wrought at the start, the gravitational pull of a garbage-filled status quo cannot be overcome by mere words—however sternly written—that exist in the Ohio Revised Code. It seems that a former member of the elected Youngstown School Board is suing the board for violations of the open meetings law going back several years. (So…he’s actually suing his younger self?) This is actually an opinion piece so who even knows what’s really going on—something about meeting minutes and format and access—but there is a huge irony here instructive of this entire saga. We learn that at some point in 2019, the beefing board actually “demanded” that the district’s CEO ensure minutes were maintained. That’s right: the guy who was being actively sued by the elected school board so that that his position would be eliminated was “ordered” to keep minutes of meetings he didn’t attend! You can’t make this stuff up, people. (Vindy.com, 6/23/21)
- And finally this week, following up on my paean to summer school on Wednesday, we learn that some families in the Toledo area are seeking whatever academic boost they can get over the summer due to learning loss during Covid school disruptions. Wonder which families we might be talking about? (13ABC News, Toledo, 6/24/21)
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