Dropping a cool billion dollars into Ohio’s school funding formula sounds like a no-brainer, especially if it’s done with no performance expectations on schools. But if we’re going to spend the money, how about using it specifically to drive higher achievement, narrow achievement gaps, and increase students’ post-secondary readiness?
Over the last decade, Ohio leaders have been working toward establishing the key components of a purposeful pathway to help graduates successfully transition from high school to careers. Senate Bill 328 would help push that work forward.
Researchers have long been interested in quantifying how inputs like school quality and years of education translate into personal earnings over time and individual contributions to the larger economy. The common consensus is that more school leads to more human capital, as demonstrated by higher wages for those with more formal education than their peers.
The Commission on Purposeful Pathways is a national initiative aiming to help young people successfully transition from high school to careers. Launched in 2025 and facilitated by Education First, the commission consists of national experts—leaders, practitioners, and researchers from K–12, higher education, and workforce—as well as young adults.
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Stories featured in Ohio Charter News Weekly may require a paid subscription to read in full. Primer on Ohio’s school report cards
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’.
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’.
Governor DeWine, in his final State of the State address, called on the Department of Education and Workforce to redouble efforts to robustly implement the Science of Reading.
For over a half century, Ohio has sought to ensure that every student who needs a ride to and from school gets one—no matter their school of choice. Under longstanding state law, districts must offer transportation to all resident K–8 students, with only a few exceptions such as students who live within two miles of their school or more than thirty minutes away.
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Stories featured in Ohio Charter News Weekly may require a paid subscription to read in full. An end to the matter
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’.
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’.
Ohio has grown the number and quality of its work-based learning pathways in recent years, but there’s more that could be done. Indiana provides a great example that could be adapted here if policymakers are willing.
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This is the fourth and last piece in a series that examines elements of Ohio’s school report card that could use refinement (previous articles covered chronic absenteeism
Stories featured in Ohio Charter News Weekly may require a paid subscription to read in full. Past and future
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’.
A newly-updated report on College Credit Plus has been released, covering 2015–16 through 2024–25. Is Ohio’s dual enrollment program living up to the promise of boosting students to and through college with less debt? We take a look at the findings.
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Note: Today, the Ohio House Education Committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 19.
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’.
Stories featured in Ohio Charter News Weekly may require a paid subscription to read in full. School choice burgeoning in Ohio
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’.
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’.
Ohio’s current report card measure of students’ post-secondary readiness is an improvement over the previous iteration, but its focus on low-quality industry credentialing must be changed to ensure that workforce preparation efforts are accurately reported.
Researchers, policymakers, educators, and journalists have focused copious amounts of attention on student absenteeism data in the years since a pandemic-era surge that is only now beginning to moderate.
News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. Just sayin’.
Most parents assume that if their children are earning A’s and B’s, they must be meeting grade-level standards. After all, A is the highest grade possible. Getting a B is the next best thing. If students weren’t meeting the school’s expectations—if they were academically behind and at risk of falling further—they wouldn’t bring home such good grades.
