- Editors in Youngstown seem to have reached their limit with ongoing by-the-book efforts to fix the academic ills of the district. They opined this weekend that “the word dysfunction has become synonymous” with the district, said the state “can no longer sit back and let the status quo prevail”, and urged the state to “not wait for community consensus” and act now to restructure the district to benefit children who are “suffering”. Wow. (Youngstown Vindicator)
- Speaking of weekend editorials, editors in Toledo decried the “circus” of Common Core repeal hearings and urged Governor Kasich to stop the wheel spinning by declaring that he would veto any such repeal bill should it reach his desk. (Toledo Blade)
- Speaking of last week’s hearings, public radio reporter Andy Chow wanted to get clarification of a potentially incendiary comment made by the sponsor of the repeal bill about the number of “intelligent people” who have or have not testified on certain aspects of the Common Core. To wit: how about hearing testimony on a standard-by-standard basis with pros and cons from “intelligent people” on each side? I’m sure it would be an endless and unwieldy process – and Chad’s fingers would likely fall off in the live-tweet attempt – but I wonder if we’d manage to actually get to the bottom of actual concerns about the actual standards that way? (WKSU-FM, Kent)
- It’s back to the bargaining table for teachers and administrators in Reynoldsburg – hopefully with some experienced mediator working alongside – after the teachers union voted overwhelmingly to reject the latest offer. (Columbus Dispatch)
- In happier teacher news, the PD is running their “5 Questions” series again this year. Check out some words of wisdom from a principal in South Euclid, a middle school teacher in Orange City Schools, and a principal from Shaker Heights. Spoilers: all are good with Common Core, most are OK with Ohio’s new teacher evaluation protocols, none of them were ever in trouble with their own principals while in school, and all are dedicated to their students’ success however that needs to be achieved. Nice. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
- There’s no discussion of charter school students here, but my guess is that the busing woes being encountered by several districts in the Dayton area also affect charters as well. (Dayton Daily News)
- Cleveland has a new early college high school on the West Side – Bard College HS, just finishing its first month of classes. Patrick O’Donnell, who has covered the impending arrival of Bard for almost a year now, takes a look inside. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
- You gotta love Gongwer during election season. They are far more amped about the candidates for all the various state board of ed races than anyone else. Worth a look for the non-pols too. (Gongwer Ohio)
