Commentary
Relight the torch
Interest in classical humanism, the "traditional" liberal arts, has fallen sharply in recent decades, and nowhere more so than in American K-12 education.
Topics
Commentary
Hopes, Fears, & Reality: A Balanced Look at American Charter Schools in 2006
Edited by Robin J. Lake and Paul T. HillCenter on Reinventing Public Education's National Charter Research ProjectDecember 2006
Commentary
Education for Ohio's Future
Educational philanthropists spend about $300 million each year on education initiatives--yet too little of this investment is aimed at reshaping education policy. The Ohio Grantmakers Forum (OGF), at least, is trying to change that with Education for Ohio's Future.
Commentary
Ohio's Electorate Has Spoken: So Now What?
The cheers (and some jeers) have faded and the votes from November's elections have finally been tallied (in most places). Yet still uncertain are what the election results mean for Ohio's education program. While Gadfly makes no claims of prescience, several results may bear a weighty impact on education in the Buckeye State.
Commentary
Primary school colors
Chelsea Clinton showed up at a polling station on West 20th Street in Manhattan to find that her name wasn't on the voter rolls. Republican Representative Steve Chabot of Ohio could not vote because the addresses on his ID and registration didn't match (Chabot went on to win his race, but it was close).
Report
Accountability & Testing, School Finance, Charter Schools
Turning the Corner to Quality
At the request of Ohio's top government and education leaders, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, National Association of Charter School Authorizers, and National Alliance for Public Charter Schools have issued a report seeking to strengthen the state's charter school program. Among its 17 recommendations are calls for closing low-performing charter schools while also helping more high-performance schools to open and succeed in Ohio.
Commentary
Bemoaning zoning
Last week's News and Analysis (Adrian Fenty: A mayor for everybody?) was on the money. Many charter opponents use D.C.
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Early Learning in Ohio
With elementary and secondary students back at school, attention is turning to the state's youngest pupils. The School Readiness Solutions Group, formed at the behest of the State Board of Education, recently released its recommendations for improving early learning services for Ohio's children aged birth to five.
Commentary
The Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools Needs Your Help
The Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a statewide charter school association now in the planning stages, is conducting a survey of Ohioans active in education to develop its service offerings for the coming years. The Ohio Alliance is an effort supported by three national foundations, Ohio donors, and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
Commentary
Ohio Students Make the Grade
Each day in Ohio's classrooms, great things happen that can't be tested. Caring teachers help reserved children build self-confidence, school administrators challenge at-risk students to continue their education, and students learn the value of cooperation and respect for others.
Commentary
Please come to Boston
The editorial page writers at the Los Angeles Times see trouble in Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's plans to take over L.A.'s fractured school system. But rather than blasting his ideas, they take readers on a journalistic tour of Boston, where mayoral control has improved the city's schools (although they're still far from perfect). Consider Richard J.
Commentary
Keeping score in Ohio
Residents of the Buckeye State are celebrating more than Ohio State's pre-season ranking as the #1 football team in the land. On Tuesday, the state released its 2005-2006 student achievement data and school rankings--and at first blush the news is good. All of Ohio's major urban districts have moved out of Academic Emergency, the lowest category. Charter schools did well, too.
Commentary
Gates in Ohio
While the philanthropy world was still reeling from Investor Warren Buffett's announcement to give the bulk of his fortune-$37 billion-to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the foundation's staff and a group of education leaders met in Seattle on July 17 and 18 for the foundation's EDU Summer Conference. On the agenda was the future of the Gates' Foundation's education program.
Commentary
The next generation
Gadfly still favors radically deregulating entry into teaching, but if states are determined to stick with teacher "credentialing" there is every reason to hope that the new American College of Education is getting it right.
Commentary
Echo Chamber: The National Education Association's Campaign Against NCLB
Joe WilliamsEducation SectorJuly 2006
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(Saving) face time
Aphorist Dorothy Parker once observed, "Los Angeles is 72 suburbs in search of a city." Similarly diffuse and divided is Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's latest plan to take over L.A. Unified.
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Teach for America: How About Ohio?
This fall lawmakers will begin debate on the Ohio Core Curriculum, an initiative requiring high school students to take more math and science courses to graduate.
Commentary
Superintendent of Columbus Public Schools Testifies on the Ohio Core
Editor’s note: Eight states have implemented statewide rigorous core curriculum for their students. Gov. Taft believes it’s time that Ohio does the same. The Ohio General Assembly is considering legislation that would do just that. Gene T.
Commentary
Value added
In response to Martin Davis's article ("Ed reform, born again?" May 11), I want to know if he's read the think-piece, "Testing the Boundaries of Parental Authority Over Education," by Robert Reich. He quotes Justice White in Wisconsin v.
Commentary
The Talent Challenge: What Ohio Must Do to Thrive, Not Merely Survive, in a Flat World
In 1970, half of the engineers in the world were American. Many were in Ohio, where much of the early technology that sent Neil Armstrong to the moon was developed. Flash forward to 2006. This year China will graduate over 600,000 new engineers. India, 300,000. The U.S. will graduate just over 70,000 new engineers, nearly half of these will be foreigners.
Commentary
Anticipating School Vouchers in Ohio - with Great Doubt
On the eve of implementing the Ohio Educational Choice Scholarship Program, unanswered questions remain. Can Ohio promise eligible families that their children who are now enrolled in schools rated in “Academic Emergency” or “Academic Watch” will be better served in private, religious, or alternative public schools?
Commentary
Ohio's High School Challenge
Ohio’s high school students are ill-prepared for college level work. Evidence of this abounds. In December, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) reported, “41 percent of Ohio’s high school graduates took at least one college remedial class in math, reading or writing in the fall of 2003….
Commentary
D.C.'s Federal Scholarship Program Offers Lessons for Ohio
The new Ohio Educational Choice Scholarship Program faces challenging days ahead—educating parents and students who would receive the vouchers is one of the most obvious problems. As the new executive director of School Choice Ohio, I attended a recent conference in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Alliance for School Choice and the Friedman Foundation.
Commentary
Creating Education Options for Ohio Parents
Jon Husted (R-Kettering) has long fought for school choice. He played pivotal roles both in developing the state’s charter school program and in creating the Ohio Education Choice Scholarship Program.
Commentary
Civics lesson
Last month, the Washington Post's David Broder wrote a column trumpeting the value of teaching civics to American students.
Commentary
Can Ohio Handle Union-Sponsored Charter Schools?
Both the Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT) and the Ohio Education Association (OEA) have hinted in recent weeks that they are going to work to unionize charter school teachers. The move is not unique to Ohio. The American Federation of Teachers, for example, now represents teachers in 30 charter schools scattered across ten states.
Commentary
Hope for America's Schools: Lessons for Ohio
This essay is authored by Kati Haycock, director of Education Trust, and presents an overview of the themes she will discuss on May 10 at her an address in Columbus. The event, which is open to the public, is sponsored by KidsOhio.org. To register, click here.
Commentary
Road trip
Students at Bonham elementary school in Abilene, Texas, faced a serious problem last week when the school's toilets stopped working. Principal Diane Rose acted quickly and smartly. Instead of preparing mops and buckets, she called in the buses.
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Ohio Speaker of the House on the School Trail
Ohio Speaker of the House Jon Husted (R-Kettering) took over four hours out of his very busy schedule Monday and visited two charter schools in Dayton, and plans more school visits across the state in the near future.
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Can Ohio's Districts Embrace Choice through Portfolios of Schools?
What’s the new vocabulary word for the week in school districts? “Portfolio diversification.”