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Safety for all students
Late last Friday, Gov. Mike DeWine announced the creation of the Ohio School Bus Safety Grant Program, a $10 million initiative to improve the safety of school transportation across the state. Grants are available for district, charter, and private schools and are intended to cover repair, replacement, or addition of authorized school bus safety features on buses currently in service, or for safety enhancements when purchasing new buses. Fantastic news! Says Ohio Department of Education and Workforce director Steve Dackin: “These funds are an important reflection of Ohio’s priorities of student safety and well-being.” All students. Attending all types of schools.
Arts for all students
Kudos to the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA) for including all types of schools in this year’s Marquee Awards. The program is designed to “celebrate, support, and advocate for high school musical theatre education throughout central Ohio”. This year’s 31 schools include urban, suburban, and rural district schools; private schools; and a charter school. Congratulations to Arts and College Preparatory Academy (ACPA) for being selected to take part for the first time and to all participants this year: break a leg!
Not all the news can be good
Cleveland.com highlighted the high chronic student absenteeism rate for charter schools across Ohio as revealed by state report cards: One in every three charter students. This is bad news indeed and is part and parcel of a general trend seen across public schools. The Fordham Institute’s Chad Aldis is quoted among those voices looking for new and permanent solutions for all students.
Steps forward in Indy
As Indianapolis’ new Local Education Alliance finds its footing in a transformed environment where all school sectors are expected to work together for the benefit of every student and family, here’s a look at seven recommendations for the group from the district’s elected school board. They include a call for adequate funding for public schools, a call for transportation equity for students, and limiting charter authorizing in the city to the Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation, among other things. Definitely a story to watch from this side of the border.
Following the data
Speaking of elected school boards, the Fordham Institute this week released an interesting report analyzing survey results from more than 5,000 board members from 3,000 districts across the country. Among the findings relevant to our readership is the revelation that elected school board members are more negative toward charters than the public at large. “59 percent of board members oppose charter-school formation, while only 29 percent support it. Among the general public, the pattern is reversed: 45 percent support charters while just 36 percent oppose. The divide is even more pronounced when racial differences are taken into account. Black adults, for example, are 25 percentage points more supportive of charter schools than the average local board member.” Fascinating stuff. FYI: Fordham is hosting a webinar discussing this report on Tuesday, October 14, at 3:00 pm ET. More information and registration can be found here.
Pleading
As the future of charter school formation rests in the hands of the Kentucky Supreme Court, one teacher involved in the case took to the opinion pages to plead for a positive resolution. Gus LaFontaine currently runs a private school in Richmond, has a proposal to open what would be the very first charter school in the state, and is a plaintiff in the current case arguing the constitutionality of charter funding. “I believe more families – especially those with limited financial means – deserve real options for their children’s education,” he writes. “Kentucky’s teachers deserve environments where they are trusted, supported and given the freedom to innovate. Public charter schools can deliver these opportunities.” And while he understands the opposition’s preference for the status quo, he contends that “the current system – while serving many – certainly isn’t meeting every student’s needs. It’s a one-size-fits-all approach that fails too many students.”
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