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Ohio Gadfly Daily

Gadfly Bites 7/16/21—It will be different

Jeff Murray
7.16.2021
Gadfly Bites
  1. Officials with Akron City Schools tell the ABJ that they “learned a lot about online learning since March 2020”. And they say that their experiences, along with parental input, have influenced the online learning program that the district will offer next fall. Here is a description of that program which begins with the following sentences: “The district is moving back to its former online learning platform, APS Online, which existed for years before the pandemic. …[T]he program will now include live instruction, which did not exist online before the pandemic, but it will not be from Akron teachers.” Okey doke. (Akron Beacon Journal, 7/13/21) Toledo City Schools isn’t bothering with any descriptors of next year’s virtual offering here. All that families get is “The Virtual Academy will operate differently than last year” and about sixteen different versions of “you must register, re-register, re-enroll, sign-up, opt-in, etc.” if you want in. (WTOL-TV, Toledo, 7/15/21) Similar interesting happenings at Wooster Christian School. They have never had a high school program before—something their families have asked for for years—and this fall for the first time they will. Curriculum and teaching will be provided via a third-party virtual program, but students will attend their online classes from the Wooster Christian building every day. Pretty fascinating idea. They are limiting the first year to 20 students and 15 have already enrolled. (The Daily Record, 7/14/21)
     
  2. Here are a few more cool, wait-and-see, responses to passage of the Fair(ly unclear) School Funding Plan. An amazing turnaround from just a few weeks ago. (Marion Star, 7/15/21)

  3. Not only did Akron’s I Promise School make a brief appearance in the film, 8,500 I Promise kids and families got an early look at LeBron James’ “Space Jam: A New Legacy” this week. Awesome! (Cleveland.com, 7/16/21)

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Policy Priority:
School Funding
Topics:
Governance
Tags: Akron Akron Public Schools I Promise School Toledo Toledo City School District

Jeff Murray is a lifelong resident of central Ohio. He previously worked at School Choice Ohio and the Greater Columbus Arts Council. He has two degrees from the Ohio State University and lives in the Clintonville neighborhood with his wife.

He is proud every day to support the Fordham mission to help make excellent education options more…

View Full Bio

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