School funding debates are as predictable as the seasons, and right on cue, the release of Governor John Kasich’s biennial budget has precipitated hand-wringing from various corners of Ohio. Why? Like many other states, Ohio’s budget is tightening and his plan would reduce the amount of state aid for dozens of districts that have been consistently losing student enrollment.
By Josh Dwyer and Carolyn E. Welch, J.D.
The Middletown newspaper today caught up with local-boy-made-good: J.D. Vance. (Middletown Journal-News, 3/8/17)
Interesting coverage of a convening in Dayton last week in which education stakeholders got together to discuss ways to close the racial achievement gap and to end implicit racial and cultural bias in area schools. (Dayton Daily News, 3/3/17)
By Adeyela Bennett and Bradley Bennett
Sad news from Cincinnati this week: due to a “declining pool of applicants” two Catholic girls schools will merge at the end of the 2017-18 school year, eliminating activity at the century-old Mother of Mercy school building.
The reach of Fordham’s Aaron Churchill is wide. Case in point: his guest commentary on the influence of union interests in the current LAUSD school board race. (LA School Report/The 74, 2/28/17)
It was announced last week that Dayton City Schools will be initiating a new online school starting in the 2017-18 school year.
Under federal and state law, Ohio policy makers are responsible for gauging and reporting on the performance of its 3,000 public schools and 600 districts. To do this, Ohio has a report card system that assigns A-F grades based on a variety of performance indicators.
At its sunset, the Lorain City Schools’ Academic Distress Commission was lionized by the school board at a special meeting this week. Nope. I don’t get it either. (Northern Ohio Morning Journal, 2/22/17)
By Saiying Steenbergen-Hu, Matthew Makel, and Paula Olszewski-Kubilius
It’s budget season in Ohio, and that means plenty of debates about school funding and other education policy issues.
There is a new voucher bill on the horizon here in Ohio, looking to make some radical changes – some might say improvements – to the existing programs. First up with coverage was Patrick O’Donnell.
By Michael J. Petrilli
Mike Petrilli and Fordham are namechecked in this guest commentary about the role of the local chapter of The Exchange Club in boosting civics education in Dayton. Fascinating. (Dayton Daily News, 2/15/17)
The genesis of vouchers in Ohio stretches back to 1995 and the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring program. In 2006, vouchers expanded statewide via the Educational Choice Scholarship (or EdChoice), which aims to assist students assigned to a low-rated public school.
The state board of education met this week and members heard testimony from a number of organized groups of superintendents on the state’s draft ESSA plan. Coverage was sparse.
The recent unveiling of Governor Kasich’s budget plan for the 2018-19 fiscal years has kicked off Ohio’s biennial ritual of debating school funding. Caps and guarantees have long been a central part of that discussion, and it’ll be no different this spring.
Fordham Ohio staffers were quoted in some out-of-the-way places over the weekend.
On February 2, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) released the first draft of its state plan to comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act.
With less than a month to go until a new CEO-style Academic Distress Commission comes to Lorain City Schools, one elected school board member has decided to reach out to the ACLU to see if a possible civil rights case may be an option to halt ADC implementation
This guidebook offers simple and easy-to-use vital statistics about Ohio’s schools and the students they serve. The facts and figures contained within this report offer an overview of who Ohio’s students are; where they go to school; how they perform on national and state exams; and how many pursue post-secondary education.
Citizens Leadership Academy (CLA) is preparing its middle schoolers for success in high school, college, and life. CLA is second among all public schools in the city on student growth.
Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger published an op ed this week in which he opines on the necessity and early efficacy of charter law reform in Ohio. For the latter, he cites our recent report looking at the early implementation of HB 2. Nice!
Do incentives nudge students to exert more effort in their schoolwork? A recent study by University of Chicago analysts suggests they do, though the structure of the incentive is also important.
A bit more coverage of the Ohio charter school facilities report, with whose release we helped out last week, courtesy of statewide public radio. (Statehouse News Bureau, 2/6/17)
In case you missed, it Fordham assisted in the release of a new report documenting the opportunities and challenges facing charter schools in Ohio in terms of obtaining and maintaining proper facilities for their work.
