Facilities struggles
A recent article in the Columbus Dispatch describes a long-simmering issue over school facilities between Columbus City Schools and the United Schools Network. USN has offered to purchase a long-unused school building from the district, only to be told that CCS had “plans” for it and would not sell. The situation came to the media’s attention after Columbus prepared to sell another set of buildings—unused for less time—but still refused to address USN’s offer.
School choice fair
The Northwest Ohio Scholarship Fund will be hosting its second annual K-8 school choice fair next week, coinciding with National School Choice Week. Families in Allen and Van Wert counties can visit with representatives and compare area district, charter, and private school options.
Transportation struggles
In Ohio, there is often a gulf between parents having a choice and accessing that choice in a reasonable manner. Hope Academy, a small charter school for students on the autism spectrum and with learning disabilities, provides a timely example via busing. Hope Academy is located in Youngstown, but many of its students live in various surrounding cities. Families in Warren have been trying to get the district to provide busing for their students for some time (all the other districts of residence provide transportation), to no avail as yet.
The media spotlight
The Ohio Department of Higher Education released its annual report on math and English remediation rates for the state’s high school graduates going on to college. The news is, on the whole, good: remediation rates continue on a steady downward trajectory. But does this really mean that graduates are better prepared for credit-bearing college work? The report is frustratingly silent on that point. The Dispatch should get thumbs up for including charter schools in their analysis, and for talking to a representative of one of those charter schools in depth. But they deserve thumbs down for only namechecking the poorest performing charter schools while failing to mention any high performers.
Parent voices growing louder
If you haven’t heard about it yet, here is a nice introduction to the newly-formed National Parents Union, a grassroots group dedicated to challenging educational injustices. They are already making their support for charters, vouchers, and high-quality educational choices heard loudly and clearly in the national discourse.
