Gadfly Bites 8/19/26—What passes for math

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1. In case you missed it, Fordham’s Aaron Churchill authored a new report released yesterday, looking at the implementation of the science of reading in Ohio so far. We’ve come a long way, as State Affairs/Gongwer summarizes it, but there’s a lot more still to do. Thanks for that coverage, gang. We appreciate it! (State Affairs/Gongwer, 8/18/26) You can read the full report here.
   
   

2. The new school year is getting underway across Ohio, and the Dayton Daily News is here to remind everyone that the state is taking additional steps to identify and address chronic student absenteeism, phasing in some final changes required by a law enacted in 2025. “It’s important for parents to know that we track minutes and hours, not just days. And those add up,” explains a spokesperson for Northmont City Schools. “So if your child is chronically late, that turns into chronically absent.” Math! (Dayton Daily News, 8/17/26)
   
   

3. This piece is trying to make Columbus City Schools’ shaky budget picture look a tiny bit better for the near future. I’m not sure it rings true for me. Why not? Because most of their newly-projected “revenue increase” comes from a smaller amount being budgeted for “transportation penalties” in the future. That is, they think they will fail less often at transporting charter/private/STEM school students in the future and thus will incur $49 million less in fines from the state. Leaving aside the fact that less spending does not equal more revenue and the fact that the state has not actually retained any such fines levied on districts so far, I do not think the level of real-life busing improvement represented by these hand-waved fine amounts is achievable. Thus the whole thing sounds like a shell game to me. (Columbus Dispatch, 8/18/26)
   
   

4. Speaking of three card monte school district budget processes, Orange City Schools in northeast Ohio is looking to pass a levy this fall and this piece provides the justification. Officials are projecting not a deficit if the levy fails, but a full expending of cash reserves by 2030. They explain that increases in expenditures are outpacing increases in revenue; thus, they’ll increasingly have to dip into their savings without new money. They’re not losing student enrollment, so it is simply higher costs that are driving the model. To wit: Their per student expenditure on 2025 ($30,716) was the fifth-highest among Ohio districts, their average classroom teacher salary ($103,987) was the very highest, and these (and every other budget category) are all projected to increase further. But, hey, Orange is one of the best-performing districts in the state, so who cares if it’s too much, or indeed if all the numbers are made up? It’s just what passes for math in the school district budgeting game. (Cleveland.com, 8/18/26)

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