Tough economic times mean looking for creative ways to stay in the black. For schools short on options, this often means simply asking parents to pitch in a few coins, a practice widely seen on both sides of the Atlantic. Unfortunately, some British parents say these "voluntary" contributions are not voluntary at all--and they're feeling bullied by the schools' heavy-handed tactics.
The "Great Recession" has been painful for all Americans, but especially cruel for Ohio cities like Youngstown, Toledo, Canton, and Fordham's hometown of Dayton.
The media is awash with stories about Ohio's brain drain: in 2007, the Buckeye State saw 6,981 more residents between the ages of 25 and 34 leave the state than migrate into it. What's worse, the more education these young people have, the more likely they are to leave. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute seeks to shed light on this important problem--and explore solutions--with this study by the Farkas Duffet Research Group.
Ohio's best-and-brightest college students may love the Buckeye State, but too many can definitely jilt it for a future elsewhere, according to a new survey from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
Today's Ohio Gadfly is a must-read. In Capital Matters, Checker, Terry, and I offer Fordham's recommendations for the state's pending biennial budget.
There isn't much hope at the moment for meaningful, statewide education reform in the Buckeye State, but there are promising things happening at the local level.
The recent furor over the many flaws and unrealities in Gov. Ted Strickland's (and the Ohio House of Representatives') plan to alter Ohio's school-finance system has diverted attention from other grave mistakes in the education portion of the state's biennial budget bill (see here).
Center for American Progress, American Enterprise Institute, New Profit Inc., and Public ImpactMay 2009
President Obama has pledged to spend $10 billion more a year on "zero to five" education, and his 2010 budget makes a $2 billion "down payment" on that commitment. (Billions more are already in the "stimulus" package.) Any number of congressional leaders want more preschool, as do dozens of governors.
Arizona charter-school operators are moving to cleanse their ranks of weak schools by seeking tougher state charter-school standards based on value-added test scores. The proposal is similar to language proposed in Ohio's current biennial budget and could lead to the closing of weak schools that, as in Ohio, taint the entire charter-school movement.
In late April, the Coalition for Student Achievement released Smart Options: Investing the Recovery Funds for Student Success (see here).This document, developed following a convening of more than 30 K-12 national education leaders, including state and district superintendents, was sponsored by the Bill and Me
Late last week, the Coalition for Student Achievement released Smart Options: Investing the Recovery Funds for Student Success.
Ohio is seriously debating the future of its public education system-and much of that debate has grown more partisan than is probably healthy for the state and its children. Much of it also centers on money.
Remember how many analysts now say that improving teacher quality is loads more important than reducing class size? Well, famed Columbia sociologist Herbert J. Gans must not have gotten that memo. This week, he urges President Obama to think long term with his stimulus dollars, specifically, you guessed it, to shrink class sizes. Why?
Today the Senate Education Committee heard testimony about school funding reform from Dr. Paul Hill, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education and John and Marguerite Corbally professor at the University of Washington Bothell. Dr.
President Obama and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland are pushing their school reform agendas hard. Sitting in Ohio, one can't help but compare and contrast these efforts. There are similarities but also some interesting differences. Here's what we see from the Buckeye State.
Terry M. Moe and John E. ChubbJossey Bass PublishersApril 2009
Zeyu Xu, Jane Hannaway, and Colin TaylorThe Urban Institute and CALDERApril 2007 (Revised March 2009)
While I usually report on the national Education Gadfly, don't be confused: we have a sister publication called the
Online learning is the fastest-growing sector in education. In the fall of 2008, 44 states reported offering significant full-time or supplemental learning opportunities for students. Ohio has been a leader in moving toward this powerful educational innovation, but it risks sliding backwards when it comes to cyber charters.
Patrick Wolf, Babette Gutmann, Michael Puma, Brian Kisida, Lou Rizzo, Nada EissaInstitute of Education SciencesMarch 2009
Much has been much written about the challenges of understanding Ohio Gov. Strickland's school-funding plan. For example, the Akron Beacon Journal asked, why some "wealthy districts receive more state money than much poorer ones?
Ohio, birthplace of the Wright brothers, Thomas Edison, and Neil Armstrong has received a D-plus in the use of technology in education (see here), according to an Education Week survey.
Federal stimulus dollars will begin flowing into the state as early as this week, according to State Superintendent Deborah Delisle.
