- Mike Feinberg, co-founder of KIPP, was in Cleveland this week for an event. The folks at public radio’s Sound of Ideas had Feinberg and Breakthrough Schools’ president John Zitzner as guests that morning, talking about the state of Ohio charter schools. Also along to provide context and history (which he had to do several times) was the Plain Dealer’s education reporter Patrick O’Donnell. Lots of great info, details, and nuance throughout the show. Callers too! An excellent listen, and not just because Fordham is namechecked as a “good sponsor” at around the 25:00 minute mark. (IdeaStream Public Media, Cleveland, 8/24/16)
- Wednesday was the first day of school for Columbus City Schools. Sounds like it went pretty well. This piece follows Superintendent Dan Good on his whirlwind morning of opening day school visits. At one, he was joined by State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria. At another, he was joined by City Councilwoman Elizabeth Brown. At yet another (unscheduled) stop, he dealt with the issue of a very young child dropped off without paperwork or contact with staff. That story had a happy ending. (Columbus Dispatch, 8/24/16) It is encouraging to note in that Columbus story that the district employed “sweeper buses” for the first day – unrouted and empty vehicles that could be dispatched to pick up any kids missed on regular routes. That effort likely saved Columbus a number of the problems that have plagued Dayton, Youngstown, and other districts so far this week. Akron City Schools appears to be ahead of the school transportation curve, launching the Here Comes The Bus app for tracking school buses in real time. "I think it's pretty intuitive," said the district’s transportation director. "If you can go around chasing Pokémon you can figure out this app." Nice. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 8/25/16) Luckily for the many many school districts and families still having troubles, the state will soon be researching school transportation issues. It was the number one priority of the Join Education Oversight Commission (JEOC, pronounced like “jayhawk”) as determined in yesterday’s meeting of same. There are other issues on tap for the ‘OC, but it definitely seemed like transportation was of the highest priority. That is good news indeed. (Ohio Gongwer, 8/25/16)
- Speaking of state agencies with weird acronyms, here are two updates on the kerfuffle involving JCARR, ODE, and the retroactivity (or not) of charter sponsor evaluation rules. One from Gongwer. (Gongwer, 8/24/16) And one from the Dispatch. (Columbus Dispatch, 8/25/16) Nope. I don’t understand it either. There are references to hoops and jumping, balls and courts, hurdles, emergencies, and the like.
- Editors in Youngstown opined on school CEO Krish Mohip’s ambitious 98% first day attendance goal, spinning it out into a much more comprehensive bar-setting. Op-ed on ADC/CEO/etc. from Vindy. (Youngstown Vindicator, 8/24/16) Speaking of commentaries, here’s another one on the state of affairs in Cincinnati City Schools. Is it just me or is this really just a 520-word way of explaining why Fairview-Clifton German Language School shouldn’t expand? (Cincinnati Enquirer, 8/24/16)
- Finally, in this first week of actual school for most of Ohio’s students, let us not forget that school choice in the Buckeye State allows parents to opt out of organized education in favor of homeschooling and unschooling as well. Sounds like torture to me, but it’s their choice. (WBNS-TV, Columbus, 8/24/16)
