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The end of a long and bumpy road in Dayton
Dayton City Schools officials announced this week that they would not provide busing for high school students for the upcoming school year—which begins in less than three weeks—except those with special needs and other accommodations. This is a chaotic situation for families and can be added to the long list of transportation failures in the city over the last ten years or more that have impacted district, charter, private, and STEM school students alike. As usual, blame for the failure is laid at the feel of school-choice-using families, with elected school board member Jocelyn Rhynard writing in an op-ed yesterday that Dayton would be able to efficiently and effectively transport students if they were not required to bus those other kids. “DPS should not be mandated to transport students that do not attend Dayton Public Schools,” she writes, and calls for the state to permanently end this decades old requirement.
A somewhat better view
Kudos to Trotwood Preparatory and Fitness Academy for opening its doors to a summer tutoring program run by a local nonprofit education support organization and open to kids from Dayton, Trotwood, Middletown, Springfield, and beyond. It looks great: positive, focused, and productive. Hope everyone has a fun and educational camp session to get ready for the new school year!
What the money will buy
Charter schools in Manatee County, Florida, will soon begin receiving a share of county sales tax revenue for the first time, and after a long legal battle to affirm their right to the money. The first-year funds are just a trickle—$4.5 million distributed across 17 schools and allocated based on enrollment—of what will come when the full percentage is phased in by fall of 2028 (!). The leader of Lakewood Ranch Preparatory Academy is ready to start digging just as soon as the funding arrives. She’s going to build outdoor classrooms. “We want to expand the opportunities for our kids to experience nature in a different way and we want to expand some of our health and wellness opportunities outside.” This is great, with much more awesomeness to come!
California dreaming – pt. 1
In the San Francisco Standard this week, an op-ed written by the co-founder of and a summer intern with the Briones Society questions why city leaders consistently treat charter schools like an enemy to their work. The society is focused on boosting and adding to all that is great about San Francisco, and the authors insist that charter schools are part of that greatness. They lay out data in favor and bust persistent myths against charter schools, concluding that “openness to charter schools — and a determination to hold them accountable — will allow San Francisco to benefit from the creativity and determination of education entrepreneurs, just as our economy benefits from innovation provided by tech entrepreneurs.” Nice.
California dreaming – pt. 2
California state senator Steven Choi does much the same in his recent op-ed for the Orange County Register. In it, he explains his opposition to Assembly Bill 84 (it “imposes unnecessary new layers of bureaucracy on charter school operators without any evidence that it enhances student outcomes”) and his support for Senate Bill 414 (which “outlines reasonable oversight that will reduce opportunities for bad actors to take advantage of the flexibility that so many students rely on” without “punishing” current high performers). He says that “charter schools have been a beacon of opportunity for families” across the Golden State, with many of them “low-income, immigrants, and others needing flexible educational options.” He opines that California’s education system is stronger because of charters and state laws must support high-performing schools and preserve alternative educational models that work.
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