Ohio’s bad habit of sidestepping accountability
Jessica PoinerWhen the General Assembly adopted the Third Grade Reading Guarantee back in 2012, it was in response to research showing that reading proficiently by the end of third grade is a “make-
Gadfly Bites 3/21/22—So hard
Jeff MurrayNot much to talk about today, but at least the clip we have features my colleague Aaron Churchill talking about a topic near and dear to all of
Gadfly Bites 3/18/22—Heads in the sand
Jeff MurrayData guru Aaron Churchill is quoted here and some of his Fordham-produced data is cited as well on the topic of enrollment declines in Miami V
Gadfly Bites 3/16/22—Let’s call it wordsmithing
Jeff MurrayLots of inaccurate and misleading information here, if you ask me, regarding the financial situation in Ross Local Schools.
Five ways Ohio lawmakers can strengthen the third grade reading guarantee
Aaron ChurchillAlmost ten years have passed since Ohio lawmakers enacted early literacy reforms that aim to ensure all children read fluently.
Gadfly Bites 3/14/22—Debunked but still in use
Jeff MurrayTrust me, none of these elected school board members in Berea are any better informed about school choice than they were before the
Gadfly Bites 3/11/22—Everybody needs a Yugo sometime, I guess
Jeff MurrayDon’t look now, but it seems that a number of Ohio school districts are tentatively starting to declare victory against the Covid slide in student progress and achievement.
Gadfly Bites 3/9/22—Schools of choice, people
Jeff MurrayA seeming hodgepodge of clips today, but the throughline is delish. Check it out. First up is an opinion piece from a long-time columnist at the Dayton Daily News with whom I am not familiar. Perhaps he has never written about education previously?
Gadfly Bites 3/7/22—Woe and whoa
Jeff MurrayWhile the days of multiple Columbus City Schools buildings “pivoting to remote learning” due to huge numbers of absent staff members seem to be over for now,
Gadfly Bites 3/4/22—I believe the proper term is “between gigs”
Jeff MurrayI am reasonably sure that some of you, my lovely readers, occasionally say to yourselves, “Gadfly Bites is being too hard on this or that media outlet; surely it is not skewing coverage of certain topics as much as our humble clips compiler thinks.” Perhaps you are correct from time to time, but piec
Gadfly Bites 3/2/22—Before the roadshow
Jeff MurrayUnnecessarily cranky headline here, if you ask me, but a generally even-keeled story on Ohio’s so-called “backpack funding”
Ohio should follow Maryland’s lead on spending federal Covid relief dollars
Jessica PoinerOver the course of the pandemic, the federal government has sent billions of dollars in emergency funding to states via three separate relief acts. A large portion of the appropriated funds within each act were earmarked for K–12 education, with the largest available funding stream being the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, or ESSER.
Gadfly Bites 2/28/22—The network broadens
Jeff MurrayFollowing up from our Youngstown bombshell on Friday, current CEO/future superintendent Justin Jennings says he is excited for the work ahead.
Gadfly Bites 2/25/22—Stable, structured, and accountable…to us
Jeff MurrayWe’ll start today’s clips with what might seem at first to be a bit of a shocker: Current CEO Justin Jennings has been chosen by the elected school board as the su
Gadfly Bites 2/23/22—Not crazy
Jeff MurrayWe’re back from vacation and snarkin’ about pieces from 2/17 – 2/23. Glad you’re still here reading it all!
Gadfly Bites 2/16/22—“It takes upscaling the workforce”
Jeff MurrayGadfly Bites is on vacation Friday and Monday. We’ll be back on Wednesday, February 23 with however much snark you can stand.
Gadfly Bites 2/14/22—You can just feel the love for students and families, can’t you?
Jeff MurrayAn opinion piece posted in the Dispatch late on Friday is ad
State Board of Education is on the right track with report card implementation
Aaron ChurchillLast June, Governor DeWine and the General Assembly enacted important reforms to Ohio’s school report cards in House Bill 82 (HB 82).
Gadfly Bites 2/9/22—Down to the penny
Jeff MurrayHere’s a long piece from the Columbus Dispatch—there are other localized versions in other outlets across the state also—
Federal school identification and accountability is back. Here’s what that means for Ohio.
Jessica PoinerAfter a two-year break—one when state assessments were cancelled entire
Gadfly Bites 2/7/22—Love/Hate
Jeff MurrayA subset of northeast Ohio teachers and other school staffers speak out in this piece, no one holding back about why they are all s
Gadfly Bites 2/4/22—From lake to shining lake
Jeff MurrayIn case you might have missed it since it’s not strictly an education story, Intel recently announced it was going to build an enormous silicon chip production facility in exurban central Ohio, promising thousands of good new jobs to the region.
Gadfly Bites 2/2/22—The kids WILL be all right…won’t they?
Jeff MurrayYesterday, the Dayton Daily News published an op-ed in support of the EdChoice voucher program<