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- Only one real news story to cover today, but it’s a good one. U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon visited Ohio this week. And although her trip did include the usual school visits and photo-ops, that was not the point. The point was to announce a $500 million influx of federal funding to boost charter schools across the country. (WSYX-TV, Columbus, 9/25/25) Madam Secretary made her big announcement at an event here in Columbus, and touted $105 million specifically for Ohio charter schools. That kinda sorta important news is buried in the Dispatch coverage because there appeared to be other things they preferred to focus on like
where it was held and who was there“funding consistency”. (Columbus Dispatch, 9/24/25) In case you’d like to just get the deets on the charter funding without anyone else’s “preoccupations” getting in the way (including mine), the USDOE press release is here, and the Ohio DEW press release is here. - And not to leave private school choice out of the discussion, the executive director of the Ohio Christian Education Network opined in the Dispatch this week about the failings of public school accountability, especially in the areas of curriculum, academic outcomes, and student safety. “Our kids are not OK, and their learning has reached a crisis of catastrophic proportions,” he writes. “Yet, the response from Ohio’s educational establishment is to sue the state to take away parents’ freedom to choose the best education for their children [aka vouchers], arguing for an accountability system that doesn’t work.” (Columbus Dispatch, 9/25/25)
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