Mayor Michael Coleman’s Columbus Education Commission, which was formed with the stated mission to “examine the challenges and opportunities facing all children living within the Columbus City Schools district“, now faces its own challenge from the Ohio AFL-CIO on behalf of Columbus’s classified union members.  The Commission, whose actions have been unfavorably compared to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson’s “Cleveland Plan” process from last year, has been working in relative quiet up until this point.

In response to discussions about privatizing services during the Commission’s meetings, the AFL-CIO adopted a resolution supporting the local oversight of public [...]

Last summer, Ohio Auditor of State Dave Yost launched a statewide investigation into alleged questionable attendance practices by schools and districts across Ohio.  Auditor Yost confidently announced that the investigation would be completed rapidly, initially believing his full report would be ready in early Autumn so as to not disrupt the 2012-2013 school year unnecessarily.  Yost’s hubris about his knowledge of the situation and his personal ability to understand such a complex system ultimately left him grasping at straws and struggling to bring any structure to the investigation, leaving any conclusive findings blowing in the wind for months.

Today, Yost’s [...]

The notion of putting guns in the hands of teachers and other school personnel as a means to fight gun violence is quickly gaining traction across the country.  The idea of fighting the danger of guns in schools by putting even more guns in schools by arming the staff members provides a blueprint that we can use to work to solve all of the problems plaguing American schools today.

Teen Sex/Pregnancy

Many different methods have been tried in schools to try to battle the dilemma of teenagers engaging in sex and and young girls getting pregnant as a result.  Increasing [...]

At the request of Governor Kasich, Michelle Rhee’s pro-charter school organization, Students First, will be presenting to members of Ohio’s House and Senate today during their respective Finance Committee meetings (9:00 & 3:00, respectively).  While we might initially expect Rhee’s group to be talking to the education committee, the fact that they are discussing “Public Education Reform” clearly identifies the reason for their invitation to present — the next state budget and a school funding model (two years overdue…).

Rhee is best known as starting out in Teach for America before her meteoric rise as the [...]

Those were the final words of a key education reformer last week, yet they received no press when they occurred as part of a speech here in Ohio.  Consider for a moment the ramification of such a statement and the speaker:

To those of you who are parents, how would you respond if you were told this by your child’s teacher during a parent conference in response to concern’s about you son or daughter’s academic future?

If President Obama uttered such a phrase that spoke of imposing limits on the capability of our children, how would media and the public [...]

The House Education Committee meets tonight for the first of numerous lame-duck gatherings with the key piece of legislation being the creation of a new (old-school)  grading system for schools across the state that was mandated by the General Assembly last spring.  Parents and educators across the state have some reason to be optimistic that this legislation might end up less horrible now that a former teacher has been appointed as the Ranking Minority Member on the Education Committee, representing progressive educational interests.

Representative Nickie Antonio (D), already a voice of reason on the committee, will [...]