- We’ll start this week with another one of those detailed looks at the school choices being made by parents to get the best education for their children in light of the pandemic-influenced shape of the 2020-2021 school year. This time, it’s for a group of very small school districts in far western Ohio. Interesting, as usual, but with numbers that low, seeing the data in a chart like that seems perhaps a little invasive to me. (The Daily Standard, 8/28/20) Any chance that school choice will lose its stigma with some folks (you know who I mean) after all this is over? Probably too early to say, but I could imagine that the whipsawing around from fully remote to hybrid at the drop of a hat might be irritating to some. (Cleveland.com, 8/31/20)
- Some Columbus area families are getting support for in-home tutoring for their students with special needs thanks to the Down Syndrome Association of Central Ohio. Nice. (Columbus Dispatch, 8/31/20)
- “Extending these provisions [cancellation of end-of-course exams, a ban on state report cards, and an effort to escape from national testing requirements] will allow schools to focus on what is most important: the safety and education of our children.” This quote is from a state legislator looking to pass legislation to give schools continued blanket safe harbor from….well, everything again this year in the name of SARS-CoV-2. I’ll give her fifty percent on her two “important things”. Fordham’s Chad Aldis gets one hundred percent for this quote in response: “Let's use it [a smartly-restarted state accountability system] as an informational tool so we can identify gaps, help students grow and figure out where we need to put more resources.” And I don’t just give him full marks because he’s the boss. (Gongwer Ohio, 8/28/20)
- If springtime taught us anything, fully remote learning is somewhat less labor intensive than the whole megillah. And extended remote learning is leading to temporary layoffs, furloughs, and even permanent reductions in force in Dayton City Schools. (Dayton Daily News, 8/28/20) In Berea City Schools, it’s just temporary furloughs for now. (Cleveland.com, 8/28/20)
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