Gadfly Bites 7/13/26—“So many wonderful opportunities”

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1. Are there too many non-teaching staff members in Ohio’s public schools, especially in light of student enrollment declines? That’s the question up for debate in this Toledo Blade article. Our own Aaron Churchill says—very simply—yes: “If you do have an enrollment decline, it does mean you should reduce your budget.” And administrative staffing is a huge budget item today, still riding high from Covid-era inflation. Howard Fleeter, Aaron’s perennial foil in the marketplace of education funding ideas, says not so fast: “Does it [non-teaching staffing cost] deserve to be looked at? Yeah, sure, absolutely. But some of the conclusions people are drawing are a little simplistic.” That clears it all up, right? (Toledo Blade, 7/13/26)
   
   

2. The public comment period has ended for the proposed amendment to Ohio's Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan. This Cleveland.com coverage focuses only on the comments in opposition to various aspects of the request, whose content (all 50 of them) can be summed up by this pearl: “This proposal departs from…longstanding practice by creating substantial new policy mechanisms affecting local school governance, instructional autonomy, and state authority without legislative debate or approval.” He and his like-minded commenters hate them all. I’ve been looking for the compilation of supportive comments but haven’t found them yet. As soon as Cleveland.com publishes them, I’ll be sure to let you know. (Cleveland.com, 7/13/26)
   
   

3. Lehman Catholic High School in Sidney, Ohio, announced that it will be moving to a four-day school week this fall. The concrete benefits cited to be gained in the move, as usual, are for teachers only—work-life balance, anti-burnout, etc.—while students only get “wonderful opportunities” out of it. Do check out the school’s YouTube explainer to see some gauzy footage of the possible uses of kids’ additional day off (volunteering, drivers ed, working a job), as well as what I think is a clever move—unique to a religious school—to deflect any negative responses that might come their way. Hint: The off-day is Monday. (Spectrum News Ohio, 7/12/26)

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