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Update
Back in November, we learned that Dohn Community School in Cincinnati experienced operational and fiscal troubles that delayed the start of this school year by many weeks. Fast-forward to last week, when leaders announced that Dohn will close at the end of this school year, having been plagued by more of the same problems along with declining enrollment all year. Kudos to the adults who made this difficult, but clearly-inevitable decision. But the important thing here is that the remaining students take the time to either complete their work and graduate or to make an orderly transition to a new school next fall. Both of these are essential for a positive, thoughtful, and student-centric closure process. But it will take dedication and selflessness from the grown-ups in charge in the school’s final months to get it done right and to minimize negative impacts on students.
Bad reaction
In another sad story, Dayton City Schools’ Dunbar High School had to forfeit a tournament basketball game they had won last Friday, ending their postseason run abruptly. The issue, it seems, is that a charter school student on the team had been suspended from his school without the district being aware. In response, the school board voted to ban all charter school students from district sports for the spring semester while they supposedly work out a better communications arrangement. Seems like an overreaction, but even worse, one board member actually chose to castigate school choice and its supporters: “I think this [the law that allows school choice students to participate in their home district’s extracurriculars] is an example of how the legislature is quick to respond to the requests of the school choice movement,” he said, “at the expense of schools like Dayton Public Schools, without considering the effects on our students.” Such vitriolic, knee-jerk reactions from adults in charge demonstrate poor leadership and are not helpful to young people dealing with the situation.
The view from D.C.
The national edition of The Center Square published an interesting look at changes to federal charter school policies and practices already put into place under the new Trump Administration. These include rescinding Biden-era rules on authorizers to promote greater state autonomy, simplification of the Charter School Program grant application, and direction to the numerous departments to uncover ways federal funding can be used to support educational alternatives to public schools.
Important opinion piece
Kudos to the editorial board of the Toledo Blade, who opine in favor of the final phase in of the Fair School Funding Plan as proposed in Gov. DeWine’s budget. They reject the idea that decried “cuts” to districts are unfair or malicious—stating that they are features of the plan as implemented. “Nor is it fair,” they write, “to cast blame on the state’s two other large school education funds — charter schools and private school vouchers. In both cases, the allocations achieve the state’s goal of funding quality education, and in both cases, the money spent goes farther than it does in the traditional public schools.” That being said, however, they do propose that DeWine drain the state’s rainy day fund to top up those traditional districts destined to receive less than they did in previous years due to that fair formula.
Legislation on the horizon
State Rep. Adam Bird this week previewed upcoming legislation he will introduce proposing to add 53 instructional hours to the mandated length of Ohio’s school year. We’ll need to see the details in the bill, but the idea, he says, is to increase academic achievement and other life outcomes for students with more time on task. “The more time students spend in meaningful learning,” he said, “the better they’re going to perform academically, the better that they’re going to perform socially, the better that they’re going to bring the soft skills to their employment later on in life.”
ICYMI
In case you may have missed it, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy threw his hat into the ring for Ohio governor this week, as had been anticipated. He decried what he called the “crisis of educational achievement in America” and said that “neither major political party is talking or doing enough” to solve it. His K-12 education proposals came up many times during the ensuing media blitz, including support for school choice and a plan for merit pay for high-performing teachers, principals, and other school administrators. Much more to come on these topics from all candidates.
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