NOTE: Gadfly Bites is going on vacation from Wednesday, August 6 through Tuesday, August 12.
- Governor Kasich has appointed a former Montgomery County judge to fill the final open seat on the State Board of Education. (Dayton Daily News)
- Here’s a well-intentioned commentary opining that STEM/technology is good but shouldn’t be sent to the fore at the expense of basics like literacy. But there’s little evidence that the author is concerned about anything more than a few hashtags finding their way into book reports. OMG. (Amherst News Times)
- I think this should assuage our Amherst columnist: ODE awarded $45 million in 21st Century Community Learning Center grants to 247 schools and community organizations - 61 of which are new to the five-year-old grant program. These are federal funds to support programs aimed at literacy, career readiness and drop-out prevention. For the first time, applicants were required to propose programs that would focus on literacy skills for K-4 students or literacy in addition to college and career readiness for middle and high school students. Sounds like the right way to go. (Gongwer Ohio)
- I didn’t want to include this story – the first hearing for one of the Columbus City Schools principals fighting to keep her job in the wake of the datascrubbing investigations – but the testimony is a pretty fascinating inside look at how a large urban school district operates. Whether or not there’s misfeasance going on, the day-to-day working relationships among the top brass make for eye-opening reading. (Columbus Dispatch)
