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October 2008
Police respond to school threat
Hundreds of parents and guardians have gone to Springfield High School to get their children out of the building following panic over an Internet-based threat of school violence.
Police are working with Springfield High School officials to investigate an Internet-based threat and believed there was no reason to evacuate the school of 1800, district spokeswoman Kim Fish said.
Fish said that the message district officials heard about and reported to the police — which police say was removed by Thursday morning, if it existed — was posted to an Internet site, possibly MySpace, and indicated that anyone who wanted to be safe should leave before 1:30 p.m.
Parents were lined up throughout the lobby trying to get through the process to remove their children for the day.
Students have been text messaging parents about the rumors, prompting many of the parents to go to the school to get their children. It seemed that a “better safe than sorry” mentality had taken hold of most everyone there.
“Any time I hear about any shooting or bomb threat… I take it seriously,” said Debbie Springer, who said she spent more than an hour trying to get her daughter out of the school. “They need to take it very seriously. It’s a cry for help.”
Janita Aikens said she came to the school for her son after he sent her a text message about the rumored threat.
“It was the tone, his tone, that told me he was scared,” she said. “Tomorrow is another day, but today I’m taking my son home where he’s safe.”
Students are not supposed to have or use cell phones at the school, Fish said. Schools have been grappling with how to enforce cell phone policies for years as they have become more common and smaller in size.
Rumors spread rampantly throughout the school over text messages and in conversation, students said.
“I wasn’t scared but I got freaked out because everyone was leaving,” said Freshman David Antonio.
Some students questioned the threat’s credibility.
“I don’t think it’s true,” said Senior Jessica Payton. “There’s been threats before.”
“I don’t know (if the threat was credible) but we’re not going to play around with it,” said Josh Williams, a senior exiting the building.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
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How do children learn about the military?
Earlier today I posted a blog about Greenon High School’s upcoming Veteran’s Day observation. I’ve also heard about a couple other Veteran’s Day tributes planned in local schools.
I cannot recall any official Veteran’s Day observances while I was in school. It’s possible it happened and I’m just forgetting but I don’t think that is it; some of my co-workers around my age couldn’t remember tributes like the ones local schools are planning either, even from high school.
And now that I see so many schools planning events, particularly ones where they are asking the community for names and photos of veteran or active duty soldiers, it strikes me as odd that that didn’t happen in my district. I went to school in a district with strong military ties because of its proximity to Wright-Patt Air Force Base. Many of my friends had enlisted parents and we always had students moving in and out of the district because of transfers.
But I graduated in 2002 and Sept. 11 happened shortly into my senior year of high school. The Persian Gulf War ended about half way through first grade, so for much of my schooling, the country was in a time of peace, for the most part.
After more than five years in the Second Gulf War, children today probably are much more familiar with the concepts of war and deployment than my classmates and I were, even with the military connections in my hometown. The Iraq War in the news all the time and most kids probably know someone in their own family or a friend’s family who is deployed overseas.
In three years covering education, I’ve heard educators talk from time to time about how to teach about war and the military. It’s a much more sensitive and prevalent topic now when so many children have parents or cousins or siblings or aunts or uncles in active duty in war zones.
Veteran’s Day presents an opportunity for teachers and students to recognize the veteran’s in their community; it’s also a time for students to recognize the contribution their own loved ones are making right now. I’ve seen some very touching presentations, cards, posters and other tributes celebrating a loved one overseas.
Will your child’s school be celebrating Veteran’s Day this year? Military.com, the largest online membership organization for military personnel and their families, offers some ideas you can utilize at home — or suggest to a classroom teacher — to commemorate Veteran’s Day and teach your children about the military. The activities range from researching historic wars to making a card for a veteran so they can be adapted for most age groups.
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Do you know an Enon veteran or soldier?
Greenon students are looking for veterans and alumni currently in the armed forces to honor during a Veteran’s Day tribute.
Greenon High School will host a Veteran’s Day observation Tuesday, Nov. 11 for all alumni and district residents currently serving in the Armed Forces, according to a release from the district.
High school students will conduct the tribute which will include a video presentation of veterans and active military personnel. The tribute will began at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 11 in the high school gym with a reception immediately following and lunch will be served.
Valet parking and assistance for those who are handicapped will begin at 9 a.m. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Greenon High School at (937) 325-7343 on or before Nov. 7, 2008.
Any veteran or person currently serving in the military can be included in the video presentation. Please submit a picture (preferably in uniform, but any is okay), the name of the solder, their branch, years served, and current station (if applicable). The information should be sent to the main office of Greenon High School. It can be emailed to: jholland@greenon.k12.oh.us. The mailing address is 3950 South Tecumseh Road, Springfield, Ohio 45502.
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Snowhill Elementary mourns teacher
Long-time Snowhill Elementary teacher Nicia Esterline died Monday afternoon after a long illness.
Esterline, 50, taught first grade at Snowhill for 15 years. A Springfield native, she held a bachelor’s degree in education from Urbana University and a master’s degree from Marygrove College.
An avid animal lover described as “devoted” to her students, Esterline was a member of St. Bernard Catholic Church and is survived by her mother, Gertrude “Trudy” Esterline; sister. Deanne Taylor; niece Kylie; nephew Brendan; grandmother Wilma Taylor; aunt and uncle Betty and Bob Cawley and many cousins, friends and four dogs.
Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. tonight, Oct. 29 at Conroy Funeral Home. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday in St. Bernard Catholic Church. Esterline will be laid to rest in the St. Bernard Cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to the Animal Welfare League or your favorite charity.
You can share memories and condolences here on the blog or legacy.
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State education associations endorse in local races
The Ohio Education Association and the Ohio Federation of Teachers have endorsed candidates in some local races.
The OEA and the OFT are the state branches of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. Local teacher unions are members of one or the other of these groups. Most in the area are with the OEA.
Like the national groups, both organizations endorsed Barack Obama. The state and local endorsements tend to be for Democrats but there are a few Republicans as well in Ohio House of Representatives races. There are several races where the groups took no position.
I’d like to hear from any of the educators reading. How big a role does the union endorsements play in your voting decisions? How abut education issues in general?
Find out whom each group endorsed in districts that cover Clark and Champaign counties races after the jump.
One note: It’s unclear why the groups took no position on some races. It could be that they had no opinion or the candidates did not respond to the questionnaire.
State school board:
District 1: Tracey Smith vs. Ann E. Jacobs OEA: Smith OFT: Jacobs
District 10: Jeffrey Hardin vs. John McHenry vs. Jane Sonenshein OEA: Sonenshein OFT: Sonenshein
U.S. Congress
District 7: Steve Austria (R) vs. Sharon Swartz Neuhardt (D) OEA: Neuhardt OFT: No position
Ohio House
District 72: Ross McGregor (R) vs. Richard Spangler (D) OEA: No position OFT: Spangler
District 84: Roger Hackett (R) vs. Connie Crockett (D) OEA: Crockett OFT: Crockett
Ohio Senate
District 10: Chris Widener (R) vs. Roger Tackett (D) OEA: No position OFT: No position
District 12: Keith Faber (R) vs. Thomas Matthew (D) OEA: No position OFT: No position
For more school news, see our education blog.
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SHS band to continue “Tag Day” tradition
The Springfield High School marching Wildcats will continue the “Tag Day” fundraising tradition that was once a joint venture of the North and South bands.
Nov. 7 and 8 will be “Tag Day” this fall for the band, said director Russ Hoagland. Students will be at local businesses from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, collecting donations in exchange for a “tag” that boasts their support of the band program.
At one time both schools participated in “Tag Day,” but North had stopped, said Hoagland. Last year both bands came together for the fundraiser, which is used to offset costs like uniform, buses, instruments, sheet music, and this year will be the first SHS band Tag Day, he said.
The band does a second “Tag Day” in the spring. The list of participating businesses is pending so I don’t have that yet but students will be at most of the area Kroger stores and the Tuttle Road Walmart.
Read more school news at our education blog.
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CTC nabs second at robotics competition
The Springfield-Clark Career Tech Center’s precision machining seniors took second place at their second-ever competition this week, Instructor Mike Whitmer said Friday morning.
In Thursday’s paper, I wrote about the school’s “bot” which they were taking to competition this week at the Dayton Tooling and Manufacturing Association’s Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Show.
The team went undefeated for five rounds and was preparing for the championship when a electrical part broke, said Whitmer.
For more on education, see our education blog.
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Board to hear committee recommendations tonight
The Springfield Board of Education will hear final recommendations from a committee examining potential alternative education programs at their board meeting tonight.
The Alternative Education Committee is one of two board-commissioned groups working simultaneously right now. The AEC is tasked with looking at programming the district might offer to try to retain and attract students to the district. A second committee, the facilities committee, is looking at the district’s building usage, particularly where to move the central offices and transportation department, now in South High School.
In September the AEC held a community forum to gather input on two of its proposals which both concerned restructuring the district’s grade level organization. The proposals were to change the district’s kindergarten through fifth grade elementary schools into teams of two buildings, one for kindergarten through second grade and the other for third through fifth grade. The other proposal would turn one of the district’s middle schools into an eighth grade building and the remaining middle schools into 6th and 7th grade only buildings.
Residents who attended the forum asked for research and evidence to back up the proposals.
The committee met one more time to finalize its recommendation for the board, which also include better support for families in the district who homeschool their kids, increasing the usage of credit recovery programs for high school students who are credit deficient, raising awareness of unique programs like the International Baccalaureate program at the high school and expanding online opportunities.Those suggestions weren’t topics at the forum because they aren’t really “new” ideas, said Don Reed, the board member chairing the committee.
They’ll present those recommendations at the 6 p.m. meeting tonight in the city forum.
But this committee’s getting a little competition. Some of the parents who attended the forum have started their own movement.
One of the driving points behind the alternative education committee is retaining students, particularly the high-ability, high-achieving students who are leaving the district. This is a problem every urban district in the state is facing.
The answer many Ohio urban districts have embraced is magnet schools or a “school of choice.”
A magnet school is a specialized school that parents make an active choice to send their children to as opposed to neighborhood schools where the child automatically attends based on residency. There are many different types: Montessori, single-sex schools, schools for the arts, etc. It’s a school choice option like private schools or charter schools but typically remains under the school’s umbrella, so funds remain in the district.
A Springfield parent committee called SPACE has started looking into magnet schools following the September forum. According to an email I received from the group, in November they will host a forum with a presenter from an Ohio public magnet school that they would like to see in Springfield City Schools for anyone interested in learning more.
The presenter is Dianne Suiter, principal of Middletown’s Central Academy. Central Academy was one of the schools I covered for over a year while at the Middletown Journal so I’m very familiar with it. When we get a bit closer I’ll do a post on Central’s philosophy, how it works, things like that but the link I provided gives you an overview.
Look for more on this soon. Would you support a “school of choice” in Springfield?
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CTC students prepare for bot battle
Seniors in the county’s precision machining program at the career tech center will compete again more than 40 other teams in a “bot” competition tomorrow.
“Bots” are mechanical warriors pitted against one another and popularized by the “Battle Bots” television show. The Springfield-Clark Career Tech Center’s machining program created their first ever “bot” for a competition last spring and will compete with that same machine tomorrow at the Dayton Tooling and Manufacturing Association’s Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Show,
At their first competition the team’s “bot” won three of four matches. As you can see from the picture above (courtesy of staff photographer Marshall Gorby) the team’s bot is pretty simple.
“As ugly as it is, that’s it,” instructor Mike Whitmer joked.
It works by wedging underneath it’s opponent so the other “bot” can’t move, the students who worked on the project said.
Look for more in tomorrow’s paper.
Read more at our education blog.
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North, Wittenberg, Urbana University: Haunted?
With Oct. 31 fast approaching, I went looking last night for haunted locales in Clark and Champaign County. In the tales I found, I wasn’t surprised to see that there were a few schools: North High School, Myers Hall at Wittenberg University and Brown Hall at Urbana University.
I don’t know why but it seems like schools always get the haunted reputation. The middle school I attended was purported by many an adolescent to be haunted by a former gym teacher.
And I am an Ohio University grad, which is well-known for its ghosts (and, yes, it’s Halloween party). An episode of Scariest Places on Earth was filmed at OU shortly before I attended and there was even a course called “Haunted Athens,” though I’m told the instructor heavily disputed many of the show’s claims. I lived on the reportedly haunted fourth floor of Wilson Hall (perhaps the most famous of OU’s several dorms reported to be haunted) my sophomore year and I have been to The Ridges, formerly the Athens Mental Health Hospital. I have no ghostly tales to tell from any of those experiences, however.
Though North High School is gone, it’s still haunted by the rumor that it was built on the site of a children’s graveyard. The story goes that the cemetery was moved when the school was built but a couple graves were “lost” and those children haunted the school’s auditorium.
The Rockway School on Route 40 is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of a young boy who died in a fire there.
Wittenberg’s Myers Hall is supposed to be haunted by a horse who died in the building when it was a Civil War hospital.
And a female ghost with a flowery perfume is said to call Urbana’s Brown Hall home.
Any alumni have tales to share about these schools? What’s your favorite spooky Clark or Champaign county locale?
Read more at our education blog.
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Local program seeking scholarship donations
Springfield High School Scholarships Program is accepting contributions to fund scholarships for 2009 Springfield High School graduates. No donation is too small and all contributions are tax deductible, according to a press release from the program.
Send donations directly to: SHS Scholarships, c/o The Springfield Foundation, 4 W. Main St., Suite 825, Springfield, OH 45502.
For more information visit www.SHSscholarships.com or contact Jack Hutslar, SHS Class of 1957, at (800) 767-4916.http://springfieldnewssun.com/education
Read more school news at our education blog.
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New state superintendent named
The state board of education last week selected Deborah Delisle to serve as the next superintendent of Ohio.
Delisle is currently the superintendent of Cleveland Heights-University Heights, an urban system. She will replace Superintendent Susan Tave Zelman, who departs — after very public criticism from Gov. Ted Strickland — to take a position with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Zelman ends her nine year tenure in Ohio in December.
Two things about Delisle that I’m going to mention here briefly. The first is that she is from Ohio, so she would already be familiar with education regulations and policies as well as the history here. Zelman was an out of state candidate who had been working in state education departments and academia for several years before her appointment here. The other finalist for the position currently works for the state education department.
The second is that Delisle has been at the helm of an urban district since 2003; prior to that she was with Cleveland Heights as an associate superintendent. So she’s familiar with urban education and it’s intricacies. As an urban district, Cleveland Heights is one of the smaller of Ohio’s 21 urban systems, but has a larger percentage of economically disadvantaged kids and a very diverse student body. Before Cleveland Heights, Delisle worked in several suburban districts of varying wealth and diversity.
Cleveland Heights has been a fairly innovative urban district and is also one of just a handful that have reached Ohio’s “Effective” designation on the state report card. It’s part of a partnership that started one of the biggest pushes I’m aware of in Ohio for a Mandarin Chinese-English language program. The district also has a program to provide every teacher and student in grades 6-12 with a laptop by 2012.
And — this will sound familiar — Cleveland Heights has one large high school will five small schools, the same type of small schools concept Springfield recently adopted.
What do you think?
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Students tour downtown Springfield
I joined Lagonda Elementary third graders today for a walking tour of downtown Springfield.
Covenant Presbyterian Church each year provides a walking tour for the district’s third graders, even going so far as to pay for busing. In small groups of 7 or so, the kids join tour guides - church members- to walk down Limestone learning about the city’s history, architecture and functions of downtown buildings.
As a newcomer to Springfield, I found the tour interesting. It’s a bit chilly out today but the kids seemed very excited.
And the teacher I spoke to, Thor Bisher, raved about the tour. And there’s a good reason.
The volunteers who lead this tour have gone so far as to align the trip with Ohio’s third grade standards for local government and history content.
A lot of the big field trip destinations - museums, for example - do this now; align their field trip programs to the content.
But for a local operation, this extra step is a nice addition. The kids will meet Mayor Warren Copeland later this afternoon and local attorney Jim Lagos lets them go up in his office to look over the city square from his balcony view, learned about A.B. Graham and 4-H and other county and local government operations lining Limestone - including the News-Sun.
Look for more on this trip in tomorrow’s paper. Read more on education at our education blog.
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Every 15 Minutes comes to Northwestern
Every 15 minutes tomorrow and Friday Northwestern students will be reminded of the importance of making good decisions related to drinking, driving and personal safety.
The Clark County Combined Health District will present the “Every 15 Minutes” program at Northwestern High School tomorrow. The program, based on the concept that every 15 minutes someone dies from an alcohol-related traffic collision, starts with a mock crash tomorrow at 9 a.m. For the remainder of the day, a student will be “taken” from class — by a Grim Reaper — every 15 minutes.
At 6 p.m., there will be a lock-in at Wittenberg University and the program will end with a mock funeral Friday morning. The program focuses on high school juniors and seniors.
I’ll be there tomorrow to tell you more about this effort.
For more education news, visit our education blog.
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Students eye Halloween as charitable opportunity
If a Kenton Ridge High School students knocks on your door this Halloween, put away the tootsie rolls and candy corn.
Members of the school’s Leo Club will be looking for used eyeglasses to be refurbished and distributed to Springfield residents, according to the school’s newsletter.
As part of their charitable work this fall, the Leo Club will go door-to-door from 6 to 8 p.m. on Beggar’s Night in Moorefield Twp.
Or you can drop your old glasses off at Security National Bank on Moorefield Road, Kroger’s on Derr Road, Howard’s IGA in Northridge or Kenton Ridge High School.
The Leo Club’s other projects this year include collecting gifts for children in developing countries through Operation Christmas Child and the Adopt-a- Family Christmas project with the Salvation Army.
Items for Operation Christmas Child must be shipped by Nov. 1 to make it overseas for the holidays. Anyone who wants to participate can contact Mrs. Bennett at the high school. The number there is (937) 390-1274.
For more school news, visit our education blog.
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House, but not school, evacuated for gas leak
About 20 Columbia Gas customers, including Urbana High School, will be without gas service while workers repair and then test the safety of a broken gas line.
Workers are repairing the line, which was broken by construction crews working on Washington Avenue, and have shut down the gas service to those areas while doing so, said Ken Stammon, Columbia Gas spokesman.
The company will do door-to-door checks to make sure each customer can safely restore gas service before service will be fully fixed, said Stammon.
Urbana High School did not evacuate this morning for the potential gas leak, according to school officials.
Superintendent Susan McCarty said Tuesday morning that students were out of the building while officials looked into a gas leak near the school. A representative from McCarty’s office clarified later Tuesday that houses were evacuated but the school - which was not threatened by the potential leak - did not.
A construction crew working on Washington Avenue hit a gas line, said Stammon.
One home was evacuated. There are four in the vicinity of the leak but two are unoccupied right now and one is vacant, said Stammon.
For more school news, visit our education blog.
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Two vie for Ohio schools chief post
Two people remain in the state board of education’s search for a new schools chief.
I haven’t touched on this for a while — no one local was in the running — but now that they are down to two I thought I’d mention it again.
The two candidates are: Deborah S. Delisle, superintendent of Cleveland Heights-University Heights schools, and Catherine Cross Maple, deputy secretary of education in New Mexico.
The board meets next week for its monthly meeting and hopes to make a decision then. The Columbus Dispatch and Cleveland Plain-Dealer have been following this story pretty closely, if you’re looking for more background.
I’ll post the final decision here when it comes out. Stay tuned.
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Springfield to examine detailed data
Springfield board members will hear this week a detailed report on local achievement data from Interim Superintendent Don Thompson.
This will be a very in-depth look at Springfield’s achievement data from the state report card. The district moved to “Continuous Improvement” status for the first time, largely due to a new standard called “value added,” which rewards districts for making a year’s improvement with students, regardless of the proficiency level the students ends the year at.
Thompson will present to the board at the 6 p.m. board meeting Thursday, Oct. 9 at the city forum.
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Do candidates pass the truth test on education?
I’d like to introduce you all to one of my favorite new Web sites: politifact.com.
The St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly developed this fun fact-checker site that checks the accuracy of each presidential and running mate candidate’s claims. They were fact checking live last week during the vice presidential debate and also vet candidate’s statements in interviews, speeches and campaign ads.
Here’s the section on education statements. And it very well illustrates my point last week that education isn’t a hot topic in this election: On the list of most recent checks, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul claims are pretty close to the top.
You can look by candidate, by subject, by political party and by a whole-lot-of-other-things, too.
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Schools take count this week
This week is Count Week, the annual set of five days used to determine things like enrollment and funding for local school districts.
Each day this week, officials will count the number of students in school. Any missing students must have an excused absence in order to count in enrollment. Students with unexcused absences can’t be included in the day’s tally.
At the end of the week, the attendance over the last five days will be averaged and that’s the Average Daily Membership of the district. This number is used for all sorts of fun calculations like the district’s funding for the year.
After this week we’ll also know how many students are attending charter schools, choosing to open enroll or using vouchers to attend private schools. And we’ll have the official count for Springfield High School’s enrollment.
See? All sorts of fun.
So be on the lookout for those numbers in the next few weeks.
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Springfield ramps up truancy efforts
For each day a student misses school, it takes two days to catch up, according to research.
That’s why several Springfield entities — the juvenile court, juvenile probation system, Springfield police and the city schools — are teaming up to crack down on truancy this year.
A couple weeks ago on the first sweep, 25 students were brought in by these groups’ efforts, said Wynette Carter, chief probation officer for juveniles in Clark County.
Authorities are making another sweep today. When they find students who are skipping classes, they take them to a central location where they call the parents and try to determine why the student isn’t attending school.
From there, officials have a few options to try to get the kids back in school and choose the option that will work best to encourage the student to attend each day, said Carter.
Look for more on the sweeps tomorrow.
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McCain, Obama and Education
If you are reading this blog, chances are you are already pretty interested in education issues.
I mean, I’m under no delusions here: this blog is no Celebrity Worship, or High School Sports Blog or Book Nook and not just an entertaining way to spend your coffee break.
And I spend the majority of every day thinking about education as an education reporter. And something I’ve noticed lately? Education seems to be on the back burner in this year’s presidential race between Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama. Issues like the economy, the Iraq war, foreign policy and lipstick are the spotlight of ‘08.
But for those of us who care enough about education to write and/or read this blog. the policies of both candidates are out there.
First there’s the obvious and what actually prompted me to write this blog: endorsements. Several education groups have made theirs.
One of the most comprehensive of these is Education Votes by the National Education Association. I received the monthly Ohio Education Association magazine recently where Ohio’s largest teacher’s union followed suit with the NEA to endorse Obama.
Keep in mind that endorsements are opinions and therefore will be slanted toward the selected campaign. A better way to examine each candidate’s education policies would be to go straight to the source.
Obama and Sen. Joe Biden present their education plans here. There’s a lot of focus on early childhood education, increasing federal funding for education, teacher training and retention and reforming No Child Left Behind, among other things. Obama raised a few eyebrows at Stebbins High School when he presented his education plan which included a couple of points - performance pay for teachers and charter schools - typically espoused by Republican candidates.
McCain and Gov.Sarah Palin delve into their economic policies here School choice is a big theme here. He’s relatively supportive of No Child Left Behind, particularly its goals, as well as teacher recruitment through alternative certification and bonuses for teachers in the most challenging schools and expanding online and digital learning programs.
And finally the pundits and the media. The Education Writers Association launched last year a blog that would track candidate’s education policies as they stumped for the presidency. Some of the best education reporters in the state (including the Dayton Daily News’ Scott Elliott) were chosen to follow the campaign through primaries to the election and report on the education aspects.
Here’s the blog: To the right you can click on a candidates name and see all the posts on that candidate. The participating reporters have also linked to articles in mainstream media that they feel did a good job of presenting education policies in the 2008 election.
Who do you think has the best education policy?
NOTE: If two local people were interested in writing an opinion blog about the education policy (one for McCain and one for Obama), I’d like to post them to the blog. If anyone’s interested, let me know.
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Coalition, board to meet Saturday
The Coalition for Justice and Equality and Springfield City Schools board will meet Saturday to discuss the concerns of the coalition, according to a meeting notice from the district.
The CJE — a group of pastors and their congregations — addressed the board at a Sept. 25 meeting, saying that there was a “displacement” of African-American leadership and raising concerns about a lack of diversity on the staff.
The two groups will sit down together at a public meeting at 4 p.m. Saturday at the district’s central offices.
Look for an update later.
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