Gadfly Bites 8/20/25—Reportorial math

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We start today with an interesting piece that aims to compare Akron City Schools’ Early College High School with its credit recovery high school. The author really hopes to impress upon readers the similarities between them, telling us that both schools “do more with less, especially with regard to faculty… offer robust internal support and partner with outside organizations to set students up for future success.” That sentence is right at the top and amounts to about 2.5 percent of the total words in the detailed piece. And 100 percent of the remaining words are unsupportive of that claim—read it yourself; you’ll see—and zero percent of the words discuss, for just one example, how students end up in one or the other of these schools. Which seems an important part of the equation to me. (Signal Akron, 8/18/25)
Some more reportorial math for you: (Same district + same media outlet) ÷ different reporter = more of the same. In this piece we are introduced to several teachers in Akron City Schools who launch campaigns on the internet, film themselves for TikTok, and work second jobs at bars every year so they can afford to buy what are termed “school supplies” for their classrooms. The story sounds heroic, heartbreaking, inspiring, and…like manipulative hogwash to me. I read the whole thing twice and found nothing even remotely necessary for basic learning. Everything listed (cricut machines, pink shag carpet, mood lighting, that box of Jolly Ranchers on the bartender’s desk, and on and on) is “extra” and has nothing to do with the three Rs—nor any other letter of the alphabet. Like in the clip above, there’s a lot of information missing from the equation here. For instance, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce says Akron spent more than $15,000 per pupil last year. That doesn’t include the TikTok and tip jar dollars from all those teachers, of course, so the full amount is bound to be larger. But DEW also tells us that the district managed to earn a very poor 2.5 stars on their report card as a result of spending whatever the total dollar figure happens to be. Which, adding it all up, means that they either need to hustle tons more money (a lot more GoFundMe campaigns and/or loooong shifts at the pub), or perhaps they all need to ditch the fidget spinners and candy and refocus on what is actually important to spend money (and time and attention) on. (Akron Signal, 8/20/25)
Before you put two and two together to make five off that previous clip, Jeffy is definitely not saying that Akron City Schools needs more money. To prove my point, check out Archbishop Hoban Catholic High School in Akron. I can guarantee the education here is better than anything the district can offer (short of Akron Early College, which seems to be pretty good for the 375 kids who can earn their way in), the new student center has all the bells and whistles a kid could hope for—no extra charge, their full-freight tuition is less than Akron spends per pupil, and that’s even before the EdChoice Scholarship is deducted. To sum it all up for you: School choice math FTW. (Akron Beacon Journal, 8/20/25)
We end today with some good news in Cincinnati, but you have to look closely to find it because it’s buried in this piece. Student enrollment is on the grow again in Cincinnati City Schools—likely the only large urban district in the state to be in that position. But since the focus here (as it seems to always be) is about money money money, the in¢rea$e in $tudent ¢ount i$ ea$y to mi$$. (Cincinnati Enquirer, 8/19/25)