Is Upper Arlington Really That Stupid?
August 12, 2008
The title of this post sounds harsh, but it is a valid question in my mind. According to the Columbus Dispatch, the superintendent has rejected a request from a Hurricane Katrina victim to remain in her school for her senior year. According to the article, a family came to central Ohio looking to restart their lives after the disaster that was Katrina. This family settled in the Upper Arlington school system area and the children began attending it’s schools.
Unfortunately for the children, two more tragedies struck. Both parents tragically died and they now reside with their aunt. The problem is that they now reside within the Columbus City School systems and the Superintendent of Upper Arlington Schools basically told them tough luck.
“Normally, the only exceptions that are made for out-of-district residents to attend UA schools are when students change residences during their senior year of high school,” Weaver wrote.
Cook-Haught, along with Meagan’s grandmother, Marlene Haught, and Rick Scarberry, the father of Meagan’s best friend, asked the board last night to overturn Weaver’s decision.
“Meagan has gone through so many things in her short life,” Cook-Haught said yesterday afternoon. “Her three years at Hastings are the longest she’s been anywhere. UA has it in their power to keep her from having to go through that again.”
Weaver said he must weigh the needs of the district’s 5,700 students and the residents who pay taxes in his decision.
He said he gets, “conservatively,” 10 to 20 requests from nondistrict students to attend Upper Arlington schools each year. No students from outside the district are enrolled, he said.
It would cost between $13,000 and $14,000 if the Haughts were to pay to send Meagan to Upper Arlington schools, said Paul Craft, executive director of business services. That is about the same as the cost to educate a student in the district
In my opinion, this is simply unacceptable. This child has faced far too many challenges in her life thus far and really does not need to face yet another one by being forced to enroll in a public school system that by many measures is failing. $13,000 is a small price to pay the help a victim of so many disasters.
Gov. Strickland Defends His Keno Stance to United Methodists
July 1, 2008
According to this story on NBC 4 in Columbus, Governor Ted Strickland may have violated a pledge he made to the United Methodist Church during his campaign. During the campaign, Strickland purportedly told the Rev. John Edgar, with his bishop present, that he would not expand gambling if elected governor.
Strickland apparently sees this as a game of semantics. According to his spokesman:
The governor is saddened if he (Edgar) has that impression, but the governor does not consider this new lottery game to be an expansion of gambling in Ohio.
I guess it depends whether or not keno is considered gambling. According to Wikipedia, “Keno is a lottery-like or bingo-like gambling game played at modern casinos.” I don’t know much about it but it seems somewhat similar to the lottery to me.
What rubs some the wrong way is that Strickland is an ordained Methodist preacher and people expect to be able to take him at his word.
The money generated from Keno is to be used to help fund public schools in Ohio. I think the more important question is this…Should we be using revenue from the lottery or lottery-like games to fund public schools?
Ohio Science Teacher Teaches More Than Science
June 19, 2008
I remember hearing about the story of the Mount Vernon science teacher that refused to remove a bible from his desk in his classroom. After being told that he must remove the bible, I also remember there was a lot of public support for the teacher and many thought that his rights were being violated. I was in the camp.
As a teacher and a Christian, I understand the feeling that it was his right to keep the sacred book in his classroom and even on his desk. I do not do that, but I would not fault someone that would.
But then I just read this article from the Columbus Dispatch and was shocked. It claims that in a report completed by a consultant hired by the Mount Vernon Board of Education that this teacher burned crosses into the arms of some of his students using an electrostatic device.
Freshwater told investigators the marks were Xs — not crosses. But all of the students interviewed in the investigation reported being branded with crosses. The investigation report includes a photo of one student’s arm with a long vertical line and a short horizontal line running through it.
Again, I am still shocked. If this is true, what would you do as a parent if you were in that situation?
Ohio Colleges Will Now Be Rated Like Public Schools
June 12, 2008
In the politically-charged era of post-No Child Left Behind in Ohio, our colleges and universities will now fall in line and start giving standardized tests to have their own version of a state report card. The Dispatch states:
And the universities will start publishing more data than before, making satisfaction surveys and some previously difficult-to-find crime statistics available to the public in a single place online.
Some information — numbers that already have been released — will be published within 90 days. Additional data, including a college-cost calculator to allow prospective students to pinpoint the actual price of an education at each university, will be available within six months, said Bruce Johnson, president of the Inter-University Council of Ohio.
The report card will include, among other things: degree offerings, housing options, student demographics, counseling and legal resources, graduation rates, transfer rates, student retention and success rates, post-graduation plans and data about community engagement.
As an educator at both the seconday and post-secondary level, I find this very interesting. I do believe it is important to have transparency and accountability, but I have often thought that the tests that are given and the actions that are taken to score highly on these tests, do not always have the best interests of our students at the forefront.
What do you think about our colleges jumping on the testing bandwagon?
Free College Credit For Some Local High School Students
June 11, 2008
As part of Gov. Ted Strickland’s educational reform plans, 25 Columbus students have been chosen to participate in a program that allows them to take college courses and begin their first year of college as sophomores.
According to a Dispatch article, the criteria for the program is not all that rigorous.
Students must have passed all sections of the Ohio Graduation Test and received a “C” or better in Algebra II and three years of English courses.
I completely understand the benefits of such a program to students, but I wonder if taking kids that are earning average grades and throwing them onto a college campus is the best idea. Are they mature enough to handle the responsibility? Many of us knew people in college who weren’t and had to leave after the first quarter.
Tags: OhioHigh Schools, Gov. Ted Strickland
Ohio State University Making An Effort To Help Abandoned Pets
May 31, 2008
It really makes me angry to think of people that are cruel enough to abandon animals to the streets to fend for themselves, or to be killed by cars or other animals. For disclosure purposes I must tell you that my wife and I are huge animal lovers and have recently rescued a kitten that was abandoned that we found on a busy street in the middle of the night and was very underfed.
Even though I spent 6 years at Ohio University, I never knew that college kids leaving for the summer was a major source of animal abondonment and abuse. I’m not sure if I simply hadn’t given it much thought or because I didn’t know anyone that had done this horrible act.
I congratulate the Ohio State University for being proactive to deal with this problem. According to the Dispatch, the university created a new program to provide temporary shelter for these animals until permanent homes can be found.
College students looking to leave their pets behind as they leave Columbus for summer break will have an alternative this year.
A group of Ohio State University students has teamed with the Capital Area Humane Society to provide homes for unwanted pets.
Too often, students leave pets behind in empty houses or apartments, or they release them into the streets, said Jodi Buckman, executive director of the humane society. She said the shelter receives more calls about abandoned animals in campus-area neighborhoods at the start of summer break each year.
Yesterday was the last day of classes for the spring quarter.
“We really want to help students do the right thing for their pets,” said Ohio State sophomore Pamela Bollinger, one of the team leaders for the Safe Summer program. “We want them to realize that there are options.”
Veterinary students in the OSU Shelter Medicine Club are promoting the program through a mass e-mail to all students, as well as on fliers and a Web site.
The humane society will house and care for animals at its shelter until a family can be found to adopt them.
“We are essentially the destination shelter,” Buckman said.
The humane society’s shelter has no limit on the number of animals it can take at one time, Buckman said.
When students contact program members, they will discuss options for their pets, Bollinger said.
She said her group is willing to help students with any type of pet: “We are not going to be judgmental.”
The students will work with the College of Veterinary Medicine to transport the pets to the animal shelter, Bollinger said.
Any students interested in working with the Safe Summer program to find a home for their pets can e-mail the group at safesummer@ osu.edu.
Congratulations to Ohio State for this wonderful act of kindness.
Another Charter School in Trouble
May 30, 2008
The Dispatch has a great article about another charter school facing problems with finances. This time it is George Washington Carver Preparatory Academy, located on Sunbury Road in Columbus, Ohio. According to the article, the charter school witheld taxes from the paychecks of employees but neglected to send the money onto the government.
The school owes more than $343,000 in taxes to the state and federal government, the audit found.
“Failure to submit payroll taxes timely forces the academy to spend precious tax resources on penalties and interest rather than educating children,” Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor said.
Her office referred the matter to the Internal Revenue Service for review.
The audit, which covered the school’s financial activity for 2007, also revealed that a $789,000 deficit has grown to $851,000.
Ok, so that is bad enough, right? Wrong! What is even more disturbing is the fact that on the State of Ohio’s Report Card, this charter school is in “academic emergency” which means it is a failing school. Its rating slipped from a D to an F in the last year.
When are we going to stop playing politics with the education of our young children?
More Economic Woes
May 27, 2008
I don’t know if I am just in one of those moods, but the two posts that I have written thus far today both deal with the lousy shape of our economy. The Columbus Dispatch tells us of Ohio colleges and universities that are also feeling the same angst as the rest of the county lately.
Senator Hillary Clinton has advocated for plans to make college more affordable for all students during this election cycle. We can only hope that something will happen to help, and that it will happen sooner rather than later.
None of the colleges knows what its final figure will be because of “summer melt” — a trickling-off of committed students who decide not to go to the school after all. Some receive late offers from their top-choice college and go there instead. Others put school off for a year or decide not to go at all because of family emergencies, financial concerns or other reasons.
Everyone is waiting to see how the sluggish economy — including increasing home foreclosures, layoffs, record gasoline prices, soaring food costs and fears of a student-loan squeeze — will affect families’ ability to pay for college.
All the colleges have received more student appeals for financial aid, including pleas from families asking for consideration because of a drop in income.
The biggest test will come this summer when parents, particularly those with less-than-stellar credit, go out in search of private loans. Although few if any students are being denied access to loans, college leaders are increasingly nervous about how those looking to borrow will fare as fall classes near.
“Who knows what will happen once the bill arrives at their homes in July and they have to decide how they will finance it?” said Margaret Drugovich, vice president for university enrollment at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware.
How many of you or your parents are feeling the squeeze?
When Will High-Speed Internet Be Available For Everyone?
April 25, 2008
Is high-speed internet access a right that all Ohioans should expect to receive simply for living in this state? The Columbus Dispatch informs us today that the problem is pretty wide spread throughout Ohio. It seems as though living close to one of the major population centers does not necessarily guarantee access to high-speed internet.
“If they can’t wire all of Franklin County, how are they going to get it in Appalachia?” asked Hubbard, 78, a retired associate professor of journalism at Ohio State University.
Connect Ohio is a three year project that has already been allocated $2.9 million in state funds. After that, the program will have a $2.3 million annual budget.
I think we have better things to spend our tax payer money on. In my opinion it is far more important that all Ohioans have heath care than having access to broadband internet. After all, there are some advantages to living in the major urban centers of any state, aren’t there?
Ohio Superintendent of Education On Her Way Out
April 17, 2008
According to the Columbus Dispatch, our state superintendent of public schools, Susan Zelman, is on her way out the door. She has come under attack from the Strickland Administration for her unwillingness to work with the administration (i.e. give them what they want).
Gov. Ted Strickland has proposed a change to public education in the form of an Education Czar of Ohio, much like his right hand man, Eric Fingerhut. His ultimate goal is to have more influence over Ohio’s public education system and to make the ceremonial figure head a member of his cabinet. Thus, he would in effect have virtual total control. He could dismiss the new czar at will.
According to the Dispatch:
Board President Jennifer Sheets told The Dispatch today that a small group of board members has met privately with the governor, and then with members of his staff, to discuss both his plan and his desire to have more input into the selection of a superintendent.
Several board members said that the panel remains opposed to Strickland’s plan for an education czar but is open to giving the governor input in selecting a new superintendent.
I know that as a blogger, I am supposed to have a clear cut position on this issue if I choose to write about it. On top of that, I am an educator so I should know what I think. But I am torn on this issue. I do think that the governor and legislature should have more influence on public education to a certain degree. However, I also like the idea of an autonomous entity looking out for the needs of the children of Ohio. After all, doesn’t the government play a key role in education already through its powers of funding and creating new laws and mandates on our public schools?
Does Strickland really need even more power?
So I ask you, what do you think?
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