Gadfly Bites 9/17/25—All this and report cards too?

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1. Before we get to the big news of the week, let’s start with Aaron Churchill’s guest spot on the All Sides radio show Monday. He was talking about the state of school funding in Ohio but the reporters get to talk first, so Aaron’s segment begins around 21:00. It’s great stuff, but I am sad that he didn’t ever really answer that “if you had a magic wand…” question. Too bad. (WOSU-FM, Columbus, 9/15/25)
   
   

2. Aaron was also on TV earlier this week, talking about the potential benefits of a year-round school schedule. He starts talking at 1:47 in the clip. Aaron seems to be a fan, especially in terms of avoiding the worst impacts of the “summer slide”, but then again everybody interviewed for this piece is in that camp. Interesting. (Spectrum News 1, 9/14/25)
   
   

3. After all that, Aaron still had energy to comment on new school and district report card data, which dropped on Monday. A typical example is this coverage from the Dayton Daily News, which focuses on local districts and goes with a quick “some rise; some fall; some stay the same” high-level analysis. (For now, I’ll let you read for yourself which districts fall into which categories, but I bet you can guess.) Obviously, DDN will dig in deeper soon, as is their usual MO. Can’t wait! (Dayton Daily News, 9/16/25)
   
   

4. Here also are some big-picture statewide takes on report cards. First up is from Ohio Public Media, which focuses on the fact that math scores ticked up almost 2 percentage points across the state for last year, while reading scores were down half a percentage point. (WOUB-FM, Athens, 9/16/25) Second is a nice overview from the OCJ. The big picture from them is that 13 districts earned 2 stars (the lowest achieved) and 47 earned 5 stars (the highest possible). They also decide to highlight how many students residing in three urban districts (Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati) are reported as using EdChoice vouchers. Can’t imagine why. (Ohio Capital Journal, 9/17/25)
   
   

5. There will obviously be lots more analysis of the new data coming soon, but let’s check out a couple of the more-predictable hot takes on report cards generally: Some definite shade thrown on the science of reading push across the state due to the fact that reading scores were slightly lower overall last year compared to the previous year. (Cleveland.com, 9/15/25) This news roundup suggests that SoR is blunting the achievement of previously high-flying districts… (Cleveland.com, 9/16/25) …while this one complains report cards are just generally unfair to bottom dwellers as well, calling year-to-year changes in their components “artificial” and difficult to compare over time. Department of Education and Workforce spokespeople quoted in these pieces seem confident, however, that the direction of reading scores particularly will reverse in the next year. (Cleveland.com, 9/16/25)
   
   

6. Here’s what I feel is a nice, balanced look at Akron City Schools’ new report card data. It includes open-eyed discussion of the good (overall rating rose from 2.5 to 3.5 stars, largely due to the positive influence of one of those newfangled components—postsecondary readiness) and the bad (less than half of the district’s third graders reached proficient on reading scores). District leaders seem to accept both results without equivocation and tell Akron Signal what they are doing right now get better outcomes across the board. Seems fair to me. (Akron Signal, 9/16/25) This also is a fair report card analysis—from the other end of the scale. Olentangy Local Schools here in central Ohio is largest district in the state to earn a 5-star overall rating, and their component scores are all pretty good too. “Top ratings don’t happen by accident,” superintendent Todd Meyer tells the Dispatch, “but through the strategic, intentional alignment of our staff’s work and commitment to our mission to facilitate maximum learning for every student.” No lies detected. (Columbus Dispatch, 9/17/25)

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