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E-mail Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > March
March 2008
Grad rates: simple question, complicated answer
It sounds like a simple question — what is Dayton’s graduation rate?
But graduation rates are never simple.
This began Monday when my editor came across a wire story about a study on graduation rates. Could we insert Dayton’s graduation rate into the story for a local perspective?
Well, that depends.
You see, there are several methods for calcualting graduation rates. If the study’s method is different from the state’s method, it would be an apples-to-oranges comparison.
Ohio’s approach to calculating graduation rates is to create an estimate based on the number of students who enter and leave each grade level as they move through high school. The state does not track each individual student to determine how they exit the education system.
With the class of 2008, Ohio will move to a new system, which is expected to drive graduation rates down but is considered more accurate, as part of a national effort to try to standardize the rates across states.
And that’s where things start to get hairy.
In Sunday’s Columbus Dispatch, my education writing counterpart, Jennifer Smith Richards, did a good job explaining what is going on in Ohio on this issue.
The good news is Ohio wants to move toward a more accurate calculation method. The bad news is how it will complicate things.
You see, because the new method is tougher and graduation rates will go down, Richards reports, the state is likely to lower its target that school districts are required to hit. For years, the state report card has required a 90 percent graduation rate. That is expected to be lowered. How much lower is yet undetermined.
And just to make things a little harder to follow, graduation rate is the only data in the state report card that is two years behind. So this new calculation begins for the class of 2008 but it will be two years before it hits the report card.
Schools already are grumbling about the headaches this will create. Consider Dayton. It’s graduation rate is up significantly from about 50 percent five years ago to almost 80 percent today. But the new calculation method will almost certainly mean that rate will go down, which is hard to explain to residents and voters.
Dayton has been shooting hard to try to hit the 90 percent target, but now that target will change for this year’s class. And with just a couple months before those kids are schedule to graduate, we still don’t yet know what the new target will be.
I think this answer was a little more than my editor bargained for.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Dayton Public Schools, Schools and Politics, Teaching and Learning
TweetTurmoil at Cedarville, Antioch
Don’t miss my colleague Stephanie Gottschlich’s stories today about the unrest at Cedarville University over Bible theory. In fact, you can join in the discussion about this at her On Campus blog.
Meanwhile, it also was reported this weekend that Antioch College will go up for sale.
These are two pretty surprising developments. If you would have told me just two years ago that Antioch was soon to be closed and sold, to be followed by a crisis of faith at Cedarville, I’d probably have thought you were crazy.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Colleges and Universities
TweetOur problem with mathematics
There are a lot of back-and-fourth arguments about what we do right and wrong when it comes to teaching children in the United States. But on one topic there is considerable agreement — our kids, in general, have weaker mathematics skills then they should have.
In last week’s New York Times, a national advisory panel reported that math in the U.S. is only at a “mediocre level” with a big fall off beginning in middle school. And the panel says the problem is the way we teach math.
Specifcally, the report takes issue with certain methods of teaching fractions, geometry and measurement and recommends an overhaul of the K-8 approach to teaching math. This story is well worth reading if you have wondered about your own child’s math preparation.
I’ve observed that a common complaint about math is often true — early elementary school teachers are often primarily reading experts. It’s not that they can’t teach math. They can. But their focus, energy and excitement tends to be built around reading instruction for many.
What have you observed about math instruction? What do you think the problems are? Do you agree with the findings cited from this report?
(Image credit: East Baton Rouge Parish Library)
Permalink | Comments (17) | Post your comment | Categories: Teaching and Learning
TweetStrickland education list could spark controversy
Gov. Ted Strickland
Gov. Ted Strickland has assembled a list of potentially controversial ideas for overhauling primary and secondary education and distributed it to hundreds of stakeholders for their consideration.
The ideas include Democrat Strickland’s own proposal to create a director of education under his control as well as proposals from educators, business leaders and others who have been involved in meetings sponsored by the governor’s office.
“Summary of Education Reform Process” sketches out four phases designed to result in a plan to be implemented in March 2009 although it appears many of the ideas would require approval from the Republican-controlled legislature.
Strickland’s spokesman, Keith Dailey, cautioned that the document did not constitute a plan or proposal.
“The collection of ideas merged over the past year,” he said. “This isn’t the governor’s plan. This is a process that is geared toward ongoing discussion and through the conversation the governor believes consensus for reform will emerge.”
Among the ideas on the discussion list are:
—Junking the Ohio Graduation Test in favor of “portfolio” approach that would require students to complete a senior project, a community service project and both the ACT college entrance exam and end-of-course exams when the complete core high school subjects.
—Requiring the state’s education budget to be adopted before the rest of the state operating budget.
—Funding schools using an “evidence-based” model accounting for school size and demographics. A new state commission would review and update the model and a three-fourths vote of the General Assembly would be needed to overturn it.
—Require a 22-mill base property tax across all school districts, replacing uneven property tax burdens of different districts, and taking median income of the districts into account when determining the level of state aid for each.
—Establishing a statewide teacher career ladder with different pay for at five levels — emerging teacher, associate teacher, teacher, lead teacher and master teacher. A statewide teacher peer evaluation and training program also is an option.
—Making each school more independent with more control given to the principal and creating an administrative manager position for all elementary schools.
Permalink | Comments (34) | Post your comment | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetMaking business sense
(An artist rendering of a renovated Welcome Stadium)
With other area hospital networks giving big money to sponsor stadiums in suburbs like Centerville and Springboro as part of their marketing efforts, it was surprising to hear Kettering Health Networks President Fred Manchur say Tuesday that a $1 million contribution that earned the hospital system naming rights for the new turf at Welcome Stadium could not be justified as a business expense.
Manchur said after a press conference that no matter how they added it up, the hospital’s executives felt the contribution for Welcome did not make sense from a business standpoint. But Kettering, which has long viewed its relationship with the district for sports medicine services primarily as community service, decided to give the money anyway out of a sense of mission.
So to recap, when a hospital sponsors an athletic facility in the suburbs, it’s marketing. But when a hospital sponsors an athletic facility in the city, it can only be considered charity?
For more on Kettering’s gift, here is the story I wrote about this for Wednesday’s paper:
One way to look at Kettering Health Networks $1 million contribution toward the rebirth of Dayton schools-owned Welcome Stadium is as an investment in marketing. Kettering’s President Fred Manchur doesn’t look at it that way.
“This really doesn’t make business sense,” Manchur said at a press conference Tuesday.
Sports stadiums in suburbs like Centerville and Springboro may be attracting big dollar corporate sponsorship from other area hospital systems seeking to promote their brands to consumers, but having Kettering’s name on the field at Welcome on the city’s showcase stadium really did not add up, Manchur said.
As a marketing or advertising vehicle, the $1 million contribution could not be cost justified, he said. But part of Kettering’s mission is to serve its community and for more than two decades, that has included supporting the city schools’ athletic programs with sport medicine services and even providing discounted or free medical treatment or even surgeries to needy city athletes.
In the context of the hospital’s greater mission, the gift made sense, Manchur said. “You have to take away the business aspect and look at what is the right thing to do,” he said.
Kettering’s gift will be combined with state grants for a $3.6 million total renovation of the stadium before the fall sports season.
Welcome Stadium first opened in 1949 after years of private fund-raising efforts in the community, which paid for much of the cost of building it. The district owns the stadium and most of the parking lot that surrounds it and the University of Dayton Arena.
Superintendent Percy Mack said the goal is to host more revenue-producing events at the stadium. Already, the Cincinnati-based Skyline Football Classic has agreed to expand with season-opening games in Dayton at Welcome. The Classic will be the first games on the new turf on Aug. 21, pairing Lakota’s east and west high schools against Centerville and Wayne high schools.
The city’s football schedule opens the following day with Thurgood Marshall High School’s home opener.
Mack said the field also will be lined for soccer, which he hopes will draw revenue-producing soccer events, such as state tournament matches. The stadium has not been a major source of outside funds in recent years. In fact it was losing significant money three years ago. Treasurer Stan Lucas said Welcome so far this year has turned a small profit on a cash basis, but when depreciation of the building and equipment is figured in those profits likely will be wiped out.
(Image courtesy of Lorenz & Williams)
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: Dayton Public Schools
TweetCurran: UD has no interest in buying Welcome Stadium
This has been one of the most enduring rumors I have heard in my time covering Dayton schools — that the University of Dayton has its heart set on buying the district-owned Welcome Stadium and was trying to find a way to pull off such a deal. A couple years ago we actually had to write a story saying the rumors were not true.
At today’s announcement of a major renovation for Welcome, I again asked UD President Dan Curran if the university ever has had interest in buying the stadium, if it has interest in it now or if it might have an interest in Welcome in the future.
Curran’s answers were no, no and no.
Curran actually turned to Dayton Superintendent Percy Mack and asked, “Percy, have you ever received any communicaiton from Dan Curran that he wants to purchase this stadium?”
“Not at all,” Mack replied.
So there you have it, conspiracy theorists. The univesity and the district are on the record saying a sale of Welcome will never happen.
Here’s the rest of what I’ve written so far on today’s Welcome Stadium announcement:
A $3.6 million sprucing up designed “restore Welcome Stadium to its full glory” will be completed over the summer with the help of a $1 million gift from Kettering Health Networks.
The school district-owned stadium, originally built in 1949 with money that was raised entirely from community giving, will keep its name but the playing surface — new Field Turf artificial grass installed for $500,000 — will carry Kettering’s name.
“We are restoring this facility as the area’s premiere outdoor sports venue,” school board President Yvonne Isaacs said.
The $1 million contribution will allow the district to do a full external rehab, rather than scaled-down options it was considering. Among the new elements will be a $400,000 two-tier press box, a distinctive brick gateway and new spaces for sponsored advertising.
About $1 million in renovations already was undertaken— to upgrade seats, repaint and remove asbestos and lead paint — with a state grant shepherded by Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted, a former UD football player.
A second state grant of $1.6 million will help with the next renovation phase, which will begin in June and be done in time for football games in late August.
“The city of Dayton schools were not in a financial position to secure funds to upgrade this facility,” Husted said. “I knew they would need some help. Taxpayer dollars from this community we are bringing back to invest in the community.”
The deal includes a maintenance fund and shared responsibilities for the district and the University of Dayton. The college will run parking operations for the stadium and its own next-door arena, banking some of the revenue for lot upgrades. The district will do the same with stadium revenue.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: Colleges and Universities, Dayton Public Schools, Sports and Athletics
TweetDeal will bring $3 million in Welcome Stadium upgrades
Dayton Public Schools will announce a partnership Friday with the University of Dayton and Kettering Medical Center that will lead to more than $3 million in renovations for Welcome Stadium.
The final deal completes more than two years of talks with the UD about sharing resources to upgrade and make better use of the district-owned stadium.
City schools Superintendent Percy Mack said Kettering Medical Center, the district’s longtime sports medicine partner, will contribute $500,000 to replace the artificial turf on the football field with a new Field Turf synthetic surface.
The rest of the money came from state grants, which were added to the state budget with help from Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted, a former UD football player. About $1 million in state funds already was spent on interior repairs — seat replacements, new paint and asbestos and lead paint removal.
Another $1.6 million from the state will remake the exterior with a sleek design, Mack said.
UD and the school district will not jointly run the venue, an option they explored. Instead, they will have a joint marketing effort, seeking to bring high profile events to the stadium. UD will continue to play home football games at the site, while the district gets a discount for playing high school basketball games at UD Arena.
More details will be released in an 11 a.m. press conference at the stadium.
Welcome Stadium first opened in 1949 after years of private fund-raising efforts in the community, which paid for much of the cost of building it. The district owns the stadium and most of the parking lot that surrounds it and the University of Dayton Arena.
Permalink | Comments (19) | Post your comment | Categories: Dayton Public Schools, Sports and Athletics
TweetZelman taking shots from all sides
Zelman and Overbeck
In today’s DDN, Xenia Superintendent Randy Overbeck piles on with some new criticism of state Superintendent Susan Zelman for her decision to make a deep cut in Ohio’s Reading Recovery program. Overbeck says in an Op-ed piece that the program has demonstrated results.
Meanwhile, the DDN’s editorial board says Gov. Ted Strickland is like other governors in his desire to take control of K-12 education, but adds that Zelman may have earned special scorn from Strickland by essentially telling him to buzz off.
This, of course, is on the heels of Strickland’s pointed comments about Zelman over the past few weeks. It hasn’t been an easy year so far for Zelman. What can she do to turn things around?
Permalink | Comments (12) | Post your comment | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetNovember ballot looks busy for schools
Trotwood’s school board last night announced it would seek a 9.06-mill levy in November. A quick survey shows at least 10 school levies are likely in the four-county area (Montgomery, Greene, Miami and Warren) for the fall. There will probably be more as we get closer to the August filing deadline.
Many of the levies are for school construction. That’s partly because now is the time for districts to grab cash from Ohio’s tobacco settlement, as Chris Magan and I wrote last year.
But for those going for new operating taxes, many of them are making the argument that the moves are at least in part driven by the state’s phase-out of the tangible personal property tax. That’s one of the reasons Trotwood is giving for its anticipated $3.4 million deficit looming for 2009 and Piqua made a similar argument while seeking an income tax that passed on March 6.
The tangible personal property tax is a tax on items like inventory and equipment that big business fought hard to eliminate. House Bill 66 began a five-year phase out in 2006. The state is reimbursing part of the lost revenue, but that reimbursement also will whittle down over time.
Districts, as they work on required five-year projections, are now starting to say the decline in revenue is forcing them to go to voters.
Here is the list, so far, of who is likely to be on the ballot this fall:
Dayton: The district’s 15.17-mill levy failed last May and school officials have said a new levy is likely this fall.
Huber Heights: The district is expected to decide in May if it will seek a bond issue for school construction this fall.
Beavercreek: A $90 million bond issue for renovation and new school construction was defeated March 4 and could return.
Valley View: The district may retry a bond issue for a new K-12 school. The issue was defeated March 4.
Xenia: School officials have announced that in November they will seek a tax levy to fund the district’s $66 million share for a state and locally funded project to build and renovate schools across the district.
Greeneview: The district sought a half-percent income tax to raise $10.5 million over 28 years to pay for the local portion of a $33 million project for a new school, but the issue lost on March 4.
Springboro: A 5.99-mill continuing levy for operating expenses was defeated March 4. The district is considering a range of options, but could go for a levy in November, if it doesn’t call for a special election in August.
Waynesville: The district’s 10-mill, three-year levy renewal failed on March 4. Another try in November is possible.
(Image credit: Santa Barbara Independent)
Permalink | Comments (11) | Post your comment | Categories: School Funding, Schools and Politics
TweetThe mystery of graduation rates
In today’s New York Times, Sam Dillon takes a run at an age-old problem: Graduation rates. States have never been consistent about how they calculate graduation rates, which creates confusion and sometimes leads to false comparisons or inaccurate impressions.
For some states, that’s just fine with them.
The federal government requires one method of reporting. States dutifully send up the data, while keeping their own, in many cases nicer looking, numbers to share with the public in their states.
There is an honest debate over graduation rate calculation methods. And in many states the data systems just aren’t up to keeping track of every student in a way that would give truly useful numbers.
Should it really be this hard to figure out how many kids graduate?
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Teaching and Learning
TweetDayton teachers = M.A.S.H. unit?
Compared to this point last school year, there has been a 35 percent increase in teacher absences in the city schools, a hike the teachers’ union president attributes to jam-packed schedules and tougher working conditions.
But school officials said it is unclear what has caused the spike.
Pat Lynch, teachers’ union president, said she requested the data on absences because she suspected teachers were breaking down under the pressure of changes caused by $30 million in budget cuts this school year. Those cuts were necessitated by the defeat of a 15.17-mill tax levy last May.
Lynch said the district instituted changes that are hard on teachers, such as shortening the school day while at the same time cutting back on music, art and gym and moving planning periods to the beginning and end of the day. Those moves eliminated natural break times when teachers had a chance to catch their breath between classes, Lynch said.
“Teachers are operating this year under very stressful conditions,” she said. “It lowers immunity. Illnesses are more serious and lasting longer due to the stress.”
But Ed Sweetnich, who heads human resources for the district, said there could be many factors raising the teacher absence rate. For instance, teachers who miss months of work due to serious illnesses are counted as absent and the number of teachers out for those reasons fluctuates from year to year. If last year there were very few long term illnesses and this year an unusually large number of such cases that could account for much of the change, he said.
Sweetnich said without further analysis, it is impossible to know what is driving the numbers.
Permalink | Comments (25) | Categories: Dayton Public Schools
TweetKids Count is first sanctioned charter sponsor
Mary Taylor
A Dayton-based charter school sponsor is the first in Ohio to face sanctions under a new law that penalizes charters and their overseers for financial record keeping failures. Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor on Monday gave the Columbus-based Montessori Renaissance Experience charter school 90 days to submit proper financial documents that can be audited or the state will cease all funding, she said in a statement.
The ability to cut off funds is a new option for the state that came as part of a law that was passed by lawmakers last year. The new law also brings consequences for charter school sponsors.
Kids Count of Dayton, Inc., which sponsors nine schools around the state, was given 45 days by Taylor to submit a written plan to assist the school to prepare its documents for an audit. Kids Count also is prevented from opening any new charter schools as long as Montessori Renaissance Experience’s books remain unauditable.
Efforts to reach representatives of Kids Count for comment were unsuccessful. Kids Count also is the sponsor for the Richard Allen charter schools, including two of Dayton’s highest scoring elementary schools.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Categories: Charter Schools and School Choice
TweetStrickland rips Zelman; Wick responds
Gov. Ted Strickland and Susan Zelman
Wow. In a meeting with the Cincinnati Enquirer’s editorial board last week, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland made plain what he hinted at in his state of the state speech in February — he is not a big fan of state school Superintendent Susan Zelman.
The Enquirer reported that Strickland absolutely ripped Zelman, saying she was not a good manager, had no vision for education and describing her as “an academician, a psychometrician, a statistician.” Ouch.
Strickland said he wants a visionary leader in the mold of Eric Fingerhut over the education department. Fingerhut is a former Democratic legislator that Strickland appointed to lead the state’s system of colleges after the legislature gave him control over Ohio’s universities.
Carl Wick, a state school board member from Centerville, E-mailed me to say he felt Strickland’s comments were very inappropriate and he shared with me a letter he mailed to the governor on Friday. Here is Wick’s response to Strickland’s comments:
March 14, 2008
Governor Ted Strickland
Riffe Center, 30th Floor
77 South High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215-6108
Dear Governor Strickland,
This letter is an expression of my opinion and not necessarily the opinion of other State Board of Education members.
You made brutally critical comments about Dr. Susan Zelman yesterday to the Cincinnati Enquirer. This greatly disturbs me. This approach is not dignified, virtuous or professional.
Having said this, the State Board of Education, made up of an assortment of Ohio citizens, many of which voted for you including some Rs serving on the board, supports Dr. Zelman. Her last appraisal had 100% board support. There are good reasons for this support. Can we all be wrong?
We know Dr. Zelman has shortcomings, which we all have, but she has been the single catalyst in improving and moving Ohio public education forward. Ohio was in the middle of the states but is now ranked 7th. May I ask, “How do you think we got there?”
I’m certain you’ve carefully calculated and decided to make the comments to the newspaper. Your goal is certainly not to establish collaboration with Dr. Zelman or to establish a relationship with the State Board. This is sad because, in my opinion, it could have been favorably productive for you.
Sincerely,
Carl Wick
Member, Ohio Board of Education
Permalink | Comments (32) | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetOakwood: Getting on the bus?
There was an interesting little story written by my colleague Kelli Wynn in the paper last week. Oakwood, it seems, may be buying its first ever school bus.
And they are none to happy about it.
Oakwood, as many GOTB readers know, is a small wealthy suburban district just over Dayton’s southern city limit. It is so small, in fact, that it has never had need for a bus. Most of the community’s homes are within a short walk from an elementary school and a slightly longer walk to the high school.
In fact, the lack of buses and easy walking is one reason why Oakwood schools rarely close for bad weather. You know its a real snowstorm if Oakwood is closed.
As with most districts, though, Oakwood does occassionally need to move students around. Until now it has gotten by using smaller vehicles, such as vans and sport utility vehicles.
But now the Ohio Department of Education has told Oakwood it must use a school bus for transporting students to neighboring communities for vocational classes not offered at Oakwood. If it doesn’t, the state will stop reimbursing the district with transportation dollars for those students. And the department says Oakwood will take on more liability risk by doing so.
Oakwood is a very fiscally careful school district. The use of more affordable and versatile SUVs in place of expensive school buses is an example of the districts frugality and creativity. But Ohio says in this case they have been a bit too creative.
What do you think of this debate? Should Oakwood be forced to buy its first ever school bus?
(Image credit: FreeFoto.com)
Permalink | Comments (11) | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetThe difference between moms and dads
My third grade daughter is big into science. She’s also, for some reason, really interested in France. So last month she wanted to do a science fair project that was somehow also relevant to France.
I had a great idea — we could make wine! It’s actually pretty easy to do. On the Internet we found directions for how to turn ordinary grape juice into wine in just a few simple steps! I suggested she could make a photo slide show of herself making the wine, bottle some of the final product to bring in to show off and she could write up a short report on the history of winemaking in France!
About this time my wife came home and my daughter started telling her about this brillant plan we had and how she is going to make wine for her science project.
Needless to say, my smarter half pulled me aside and quietly asked — “ARE YOU COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR FREAKIN’ MIND?!?! The kid is going to bring some sort of home-concocted moonshine to her elementary school science fair and show the other kids how to make alcoholic beverages in buckets in their kitchens?!?!?”
I guess I didn’t really think of it that way at all. Needless to say, we decided to do something different for the science fair.
She made cheese from scratch instead.
(Image credit: Avon and Somerset Police)
Permalink | Comments (11) | Categories: Teaching and Learning
TweetIt’s $15 million for Wilbur Wright and Julienne
(Buses lined up at Wilbur Wright Middle School in a DDN file photo.)
The extra cost to renovation two schools that neighborhood groups are trying to save are high enough that they could force the school district to build one fewer school, district officials said.
The combined cost for renovating Wilbur Wright Middle School and the former Julienne High School buildings is about $15 million, according to a new estimate based on renovation plans drawn up by the district.
“It would amount to another school,” school board President Yvonne Isaacs said. “It would cost us taking a school from somewhere else. That would not be fair or equitable.”
The extra cost to renovation two schools that neighborhood groups are trying to save are high enough that they could force the school district to build one fewer school, school officials said.
The combined cost for renovating Wilbur Wright Middle School and the former Julienne High School buildings is about $15 million, according to a new estimate based on renovation plans drawn up by the district.
“It would amount to another school,” school board President Yvonne Isaacs said. “It would cost us taking a school from somewhere else. That would not be fair or equitable.”
The estimate for rehabilitating Wilbur Wright is $18.3 million with the district’s additional costs at $8.8 million. But district construction chief John Carr said that number may be low. He asked the district’s construction manager to do an estimate also that came in at $21.9 million for the rehab project.
“The Ohio School Facilities Commission doesn’t give us enough money,” Carr said. “What the project actually costs per square foot for renovation — we can’t do it for that.”
For Julienne, a detailed estimate shows the district’s additional costs at $6.3 million, even high than the $4 million difference between the projected $17.3 million project cost and the price for a typical elementary school because the state will match fewer dollars. The district is currently constructing elementary schools for about $13.5 million.
The board is willing to entertain offers or ideas for funding the difference, Isaacs said. Dan Andriacco, spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati, said the possibility of the church offering financial help to save Julienne was “unlikely.”
Some supporters of saving Julienne have argued that the school is historic because the martyred Sister Dorothy Stang attended the school and may have received her calling to the church there. She is being considered for sainthood.
“Nobody has made a formal proposal to the archdiocese,” Andriacco said. “We have our own financial needs to look at. Anytime we are approached to support anything it has to be looked at in that broader context.”
Bonnie Baker, spokeswoman for the Mathile Family Foundation, which has awarded grants to Catholic schools in the past, said the foundation would consider making grants to groups proposing projects that fit its mission to create opportunities for children or families and need.
Supporters of renovation said they want to learn more about the district’s estimates.
“I really question the figures at this point,” said Marc Suda, who is president of a Five Oaks neighborhood group that has fought to save Julienne. “I don’t know if they are comparing apples to apples with the renovation.”
Permalink | Comments (13) | Categories: School Construction
TweetFor $4 million you can save Julienne HS
A Dayton Public Schools renovation plan for the former Julienne High School estimates such a project would cost the district about an extra $4 million over the typical price for a new elementary school.
The unsettled question is where the additional money needed to save the school might come from and if it can be raised in time.
Julienne, built in 1926, was slated for demolition and replacement with a new elementary school at its Homewood Avenue site before neighbors and preservationists asked the district to reconsider renovating it for re-use.
The estimated cost of the renovation plan is $17.3 million with a new gym and food service area added. But because its funding partner — the Ohio School Facilities Commission — would fund fewer elements of the renovation project, the district’s share would be higher at about $10 million.
District construction chief John Carr said the current cost for a typical new elementary school is about $13.5 million and the district’s share is about $6 million.
The costs to rebuild Julienne would be mostly borne by the district — about 58 percent of the total amount. By comparison, the district’s cost — with local extras such as a larger gym and more special education space factored in — for the typical elementary school is about 45 percent.
The Julienne renovation plan raises other issues. The facilities commission would ask the district to raze Julienne’s convent — considered one of the more historic elements of the school by preservationists — unless there is a plan for its use before the construction project begins.
The district also evaluated Wilbur Wright Middle School, which was to be torn down and replaced with new elementary school. Neighbors have objected to tearing down the school. School board President Yvonne Isaacs said the cost for renovation of that school also is significantly higher but exact figures were not available Tuesday.
Isaacs said she plans to hold with neighborhood groups for both schools.
“We’re going to lay it out there and ask them to help us explore options,” she said.
Isaacs said the district is not likely to commit extra money to the projects, but is willing to consider renovation if supporters can identify outside funds to fill the gap. A decision on how to proceed, she said, is needed by the end of the summer at the latest.
“Right now it is costing us money not to make a decision,” she said.
School board member Joe Lacey, a strong supporter of renovation, said he plans to share the renovation plans for the two schools with an outside architect to get a second opinion on the costs. He also was hopeful the facilities commission would ultimately commit more money to the projects.
“In the past, I’m not sure they really got everything they could out of the OSFC,” he said.
Permalink | Comments (14) | Categories: School Construction
TweetHere’s $10,000 to go away
(Huber Heights teachers and school officials meet with mediators in 2006.)
Get this. An anti-union group called the Center for Union Facts wants to highlight what it sees as extraordinary efforts that teacher unions put forward to protect bad teachers. So the center has committed $1 million to a national campaign to showcase its complaints about teacher unions.
The group is taking nominations from across the nation to compile a list of the 10 worst teachers in the country and it will then offer each of them $10,000 to leave the profession.
This is obviously a politically-motivated publicity stunt. But it does highlight a real problem.
Too many bad teachers spend long careers in education. Is it because of unions? They certainly play a role. It is a union’s job to protect its members and enforce contract rules. When districts seek to discipline a teacher, the union has a responsibilty to see that the rules and procedures are followed. In fact, a teacher could actually sue a union that refused to defend him or her if there was grounds to contest the discipline.
But are unions the whole problem? Unions are quick to point out that discipline fails to stick when managers don’t do their jobs. Many times unions win because managment does follow the even most basic procedures to demonstrate the need for discipline, such as providing evidence of the teacher’s failings or engaging in progressive discipline that bring greater penalties when the teacher fails to improve performance.
In Ohio, teachers are also protected by laws that make it very difficult to fire them.
What’s your reaction to the center’s campaign?
(Image credit: Bill Garlow, DDN)
Permalink | Comments (13) | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetAntioch faculty to announce … something
We got a press release this morning that Antioch faculty were going to hold a press conference this afternoon for a major announcement.
Then a short while ago, another annoucement came — the press conference has been postponed due to “technological issues beyond our control.”
The probably belongs over at Stepahnie Gottschilich’s On Campus blog, but I am filling in for her on the Anticoh issue today.
I just spoke with Susan J. Eklund-Leen, who sent out the announcements on behalf of the faculty. She said the press conference will be rescheduled, probably for Tuesday or Wednesday.
She declined to discuss what the faculty would be announcing, but I did ask her if the announcement was going to be JUST the faculty or if included other proponents of saving Antioch, such as the alumni or the Antioch College Continuation Corporation, a group which wanted to take control of the school and keep it running.
She said it was ONLY the faculty that will be making an announcement.
For background on this story, here is an excerpt from one of Stephanie’s stories from last month:
After two days of meetings in Los Angeles, Antioch University trustees said on Friday that they reconfirmed their original June 2007 decision to close Antioch college, this time for one year instead of four years as initially planned. The board said negotiations could not be completed in time with the Antioch College Continuation Corporation, or ACCC, which wanted to take over the school and create its own board of trustees. The closing will affect about 200 students, 41 tenured faculty and 85 staff members. After voting in June to suspend college operations, trustees reversed the decision in November after the college’s alumni board raised $18 million to keep the college open. The group had to meet a series of deadlines on transferring some of the raised money to the school. It gave $2 million to Antioch University immediately. But when some major alumni donors balked and the alumni were unable to meet a second deadline in December, the board took the arrangement off the table and gave the $2 million back, Bloch explained Saturday. Trustees then decided to explore the deal with ACCC, which formed out of the group of hesitant donors and also includes alumni, former trustees and Yellow Springs residents Lee Morgan, owner of Antioch Publishing, and Steve Schwerner, former Antioch dean of students.
UPDATE: Stephanie’s got more recent Antioch news on her blog from late February.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Colleges and Universities
TweetCan you fix education with $2 billion?
Eli Broad and Bill Gates
It appears the short answer is no. But you can make a difference if you invest your money carefully.
The New York Times has been on a run of good education related stories lately. This Sunday, they took a novel approach. As part of a Sunday magazine package on philanthropy, reporter Paul Tough gathered five diverse education experts and presented them with an enviable scenario:
Advise a hypothetical billionaire how to spend $2 billion he wants to contribute toward improving education in the U.S.
The conversation revealed a huge shift in the way education philanthropists give to the cause, and what they expect to see in terms of results. Billionaires like Eli Broad and Bill Gates have changed the game, both by making education a major focus of a huge amount of giving and by taking an entrepreneurial approach the way they spend their foundation money.
The consensus? Well, there were a lot of ideas about how to use the money. But the one everyone seemed to buy into was to identify good leaders, be they with school districts or or charter schools or wherever, and bet on them with real cash.
So let’s take that back here to Dayton. Who are the education leaders we would bet on? Superintendent Percy Mack? What could he do with a meaningful influx of real cash? How about Ann Higdon, the innovative founder of the ISUS charter schools for dropouts? She’s already demonstrated the ability to succeed with money from philanthropic sources. Or maybe Mike McCormick, superintendent of the generally well-respected Richard Allen charter schools?
Let’s extend this scenario to Dayton. You are advising the big money giver. Where do you advise him to place his big bets?
UPDATE: This Week in Education’s Alexander Russo was pretty unimpressed by the discussion in the Times Magazine. His comments are worth checking out.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Urban School Issues
TweetIs home schooling illegal?
Apparently, in California home schooling is illegal. Or so a judge ruled late last month. In a child abuse case, an appeals court judge found that a 1950s era Califonia law requires students under age 18 to be taught by a certified teacher and ruled that home schools taught by uncertified parents were illegal.
In theory, this could force most of the 200,000 home schooled kids across the state into public and private schools.
An appeal appears certain to send the case to the state supreme court and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger already is calling for legislation to correct the problem.
The case raises old issues about home schooling. Few doubt that a qualified parent could do a perfectly good job of teaching a child academics at home. But in many states, Ohio and California included, home schooling is very loosely regulated. The potential for abuse of the system is real.
I’ve written a bit about home schooling and interviewed a fair amount of parents and kids who have gone that route. Most of the folks I’ve met seemed quite competent as teachers and the students came across as well taught. But we also see cases of home schooling gone wrong, where parents pull their kids out of school in a huff but then fail to keep up the schoolwork at home.
In today’s world, I just can’t see a law against home schooling holding up in too many states. But I also don’t see many states rushing to tighten home school monitoring.
How do you think this balance can best be struck?
(Image credit: Chris Hondros, Getty Images)
Permalink | Comments (23) | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetOur divided city
Take a look at the map at the top of this page. It’s a precinct-by-precinct representation of the Clinton-Obama primary results from Tuesday for all of Montgomery County.
Focus on the center-right portion of the map, where there is a big blotch of dark red across from a wide spread of light and dark blue. That’s the city of Dayton, and that pattern should look familiar.
It is the same pattern we saw on the precinct map the DDN ran last year on the results of Dayton’s school levy. And that underscores, once again, the racial divide in this city.
Four precinct maps from recent elections follow this same pattern — the Rhine McLin-Mike Turner mayoral race of 2001, the McLin-David Bohardt mayoral race of 2005, the Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton primary election earlier this week and the 2007 Dayton school levy.
In all these races, heavily black west Dayton voted strongly one way while heavily white east Dayton voted the other way.
In the case of three of those races — McLin-Turner, McLin-Bohardt and now Clinton-Obama — you had black voters primarily voting for a black candidate and white voters primarily voting for a white candidate.
That’s what makes the school levy results so curious. In that race, mostly black west Dayton voters favored the levy while mostly white voters in east Dayton were opposed.
That’s not something you expect to see in a school levy race. You would not expect voters to identify racially when choosing whether to vote yes or no on school levies. It is a rare electoral pattern.
That was the basis of a controversial story we wrote last year about the influence of race on the levy vote.
The Obama-Clinton results only reiterate the questions we raised.
Permalink | Comments (15) | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetFive charters cited for fiscal missteps
Now-closed Colin Powell Leadership Academy
Five Dayton charter schools were cited by Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor’s office for financial problems in their annual audits.
The audits, released Thursday, show two schools — Academy of Dayton and New City School — with budget deficits.
Three schools cited by Taylor were begun by William Peterson, a former charter school superintendent over five schools who resigned under pressure last year. The schools formerly run by Peterson that were cited are Colin Powell Leadership Academy, Peterson Entrepreneurial Training Enterprise and Arise Sports Management Academy.
All of the audits were for the 2006-07 school year except Colin Powell’s, which is for the prior year. Colin Powell closed in January after Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann filed suit saying the school had failed to live up to its requirements as a non-profit because of its long-running poor academic performance.
Taylor issued a statement calling New City’s deficit a concern — it reached $202,319 at the end of last school year and had outstanding loans totaling $113,800.
“Operating with a deficit could lead to further financial distress if steps are not taken to control spending and eliminate the deficit,” Taylor said.
Academy of Dayton’s deficit was even higher, reaching $722,600 for the same period. New City was cited for 12 findings on issues that needed to be corrected, including failing to reconcile cash accounts monthly, excessive overdrafts costing $1,038, missing documentation for expenses and repeated errors in cash reconciliation.
Academy of Dayton was cited for five findings, including having an unlicensed chief fiscal officer and filing an inaccurate financial forecast with the state.
Peterson Entrepreneurial had 13 findings, including missing documentation of expenses, failure to have an operational budget, failure to reconcile cash accounts monthly or record revenue properly and failure to make payments to medicare.
Among Colin Powell’s eight findings were missing receipts, cancelled checks and signed invoices and failing to provide evidence of worker’s compensation coverage.
Permalink | Comments (20) | Categories: Charter Schools and School Choice
TweetBoys vs. Girls: A scientific divide?
Give my seven-year-old daughter a box of crayons with a sheet of paper and here’s what you’ll get — a drawing of a girl with a multicolored dress and brown hair standing on green grass with a friend and a dog and a cat beneath a blue sky with a yellow sun and a rainbow over a field of colorful flowers.
She draws that picture all the time.
My friend has a son about the same age. Give him the same crayons and paper and you will get a very different picture — perhaps a scene filled with gray soldiers carrying swords, chopping and swatting at each other across a battlefield and lots of red blood everywhere.
Apprently, many other parents have seen the same drawings — colorful, detailed pictures of people and animals from girls and less colorful fast action drawings from boys. The question is why?
One expert says its biology and argues schools should be single gender to account for the differences in learning styles in boys and girls. But Sunday’s New York Times raised questions about whether the science behind the exploding movement in favor of more separate schools for boys and girls is legit.
The first time I saw Leonard Sax speak about gender differences, he flashed up on a Powerpoint screen of a drawing nearly identical to the one described above that I had seen my daughter draw so often. There was the girl, the dress, the friend, the pets, the sun, the flowers, the rainbow and all those colors. Then he flashed the same picture up several times. The interesting thing was these drawings, he said, were not from the same girl but from girls all over the world.
Then he went through a series of boys’ drawings — bloody red battle scenes, gray rocket ships and black speeding vehicles. Same story — similar drawings from boys all around the world.
Sax, a doctor and psychologist and the biggest star of the recent movement toward single sex education, argues that there is a biological reason for the similarities of those drawings within gender and the differences across it. It’s all about the way they process information in their brains. Boys and girls, Sax argues, develop at different paces when they are very young. By the time they are teenagers, those difference virtually disappear. But in elementary school, he says, they are pronounced enough that educators should be accounting for them.
Sax has been hugely influential in Dayton. The city school district now has an all-boys and an all-girls school and it has experimented with single gender classrooms at one other school. He has been here to visit, including a training session for teachers that I wrote about in 2005.
But on Sunday, in a long story in the New York Times Magazine, reporter Liz Weil examines the Sax-led explosion in single sex education in public schools in the U.S.
Weil really dismantles the science behind some of Sax’s most interesting claims — such as the argument that a young boy’s eye is more adept at seeing motion while a girl is better able to see color and texture — showing much of the evidence is flimsy. And Weil exposes a rift in the single-gender movement between those who believe in seperate schools because of the science Sax cites and those who think Sax’s ideas are bunk but support boys and girls schools for other reasons.
Sax’s presentations are very persuasive, in part because much of it rings true to parents and teachers. Who doesn’t notice that girls and boys will draw different sorts of pictures and come up with different ideas for how to play with each another? It is credible to many that there could be scientific explanations for the differences.
But not everyone is ready to go to single gender schools for all, even if they see some advantages to it. My older daughter is in third grade and her best friend for three years has been a boy. As hormones have begun to emerge, she has been confused by the insistence of other kids that they are “a couple” and she complains often about kids who tease them or other boys who act out because of jealous crushes.
These issues certainly are distracting and sometimes truly upsetting to her. Even so, I haven’t thought about looking for an all-girls altentative for elementary school. The fact remains that the world has men and women in it. I guess I’ve always been of the mind for my own children that they might as well start now to learn how to navigate the always choppy waters of gender interaction.
What do you think about the idea that boys and girls should be taught differently based on biological differences or perhaps even seperated completely?
UPDATE: This week in Education’s Alexander Russo interviews Liz Weil about the story.
(Image credit: Blueyonder Blog)
Permalink | Comments (9) | Categories: Teaching and Learning
TweetMiamisburg appears to pull out a squeaker
Dallas Jackson
It looks like Miamisburg’s levy is going to barely pass. If the final, unofficial results hold up, that is a big win for the district, which has been pushing hard for a major construction project to combat overcrowding. Superintendent Dallas Jackson should be a happy man this morning.
Overall, seven of the 10 school levies we were tracking in Greene, Montgomery and Miami Counties won. The big winners were Miamisburg, where they overcame opposition to get their building project approved; Piqua, where they managed to convince voters to approved its first income tax after a tough campaign; and Jefferson Twp., where they are always cutting it close financially.
The big losers were Beavercreek, where they again saw their construction proposal defeated in another close vote, and Valley View, where their levy was trounced with nearly three-fourths of voters saying no.
Here are the final, unofficial results for all these races:
Montgomery County (final results)
Jefferson Twp.: 56 percent yes; 44 percent no
Northmont: 62 percent yes; 38 percent no
Valley View: 27 percent yes; 73 percent no
Miamisburg: 50.75 percent yes; 49.25 percent no
Miami County (final results)
Piqua: 56 percent yes, 44 percent no
Milton Union: 55 percent yes; 45 percent no
Greene County (final results)
Beavercreek: 48 percent yes; 52 percent no
Greenview: 47 percent yes; 53 percent no
Sugarcreek: 58 percent yes; 41 percent no
Yellow Springs: 65 percent yes; 35 percent no
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetMontgomery County still not all in
Northmont finally has all precincts reporting. Looks like we’ll have to wait until morning for Miamisburg:
Montgomery County (see below)
Jefferson Twp.: 56 percent yes; 44 percent no (100 percent reporting)
Northmont: 62 percent yes; 38 percent no (100 percent reporting)
Valley View: 27 percent yes; 73 percent no (100 percent reporting)
Miamisburg: 50 percent yes; 49 percent no (97 percent reporting)
Miami County (final results)
Piqua: 56 percent yes, 44 percent no
Milton Union: 55 percent yes; 45 percent no
Greene County (final results)
Beavercreek: 48 percent yes; 52 percent no
Greenview: 47 percent yes; 53 percent no
Sugarcreek: 58 percent yes; 41 percent no
Yellow Springs: 65 percent yes; 35 percent no
Permalink | | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetMiamisburg too close to call
With 97 percent of precincts reporting, Miamisburg’s levy has a narrow lead with 50 percent voting yes to 49 voting no. Here’s where we are:
Montgomery County (see below)
Jefferson Twp.: 56 percent yes; 44 percent no (100 percent reporting)
Northmont: 62 percent yes; 38 percent no (97 percent reporting)
Valley View: 27 percent yes; 73 percent no (100 percent reporting)
Miamisburg: 50 percent yes; 49 percent no (97 percent reporting)
Miami County (100 percent reporting)
Piqua: 56 percent yes, 44 percent no
Milton Union: 55 percent yes; 45 percent no
Greene County (final results)
Beavercreek: 48 percent yes; 52 percent no
Greenview: 47 percent yes; 53 percent no
Sugarcreek: 58 percent yes; 41 percent no
Yellow Springs: 65 percent yes; 35 percent no
Permalink | | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetMiamisburg is a nail-biter
Montgomery County is getting close to final results and the Miamisburg race is tight as can be. The levy is now barely leading with 51 percent voting yes. Jefferson’s a winner and Northmont has all but wrapped up a victory. Meanwhile Valley View looks like it is going down.
For those who are intersted, Sinclair’s levy is winning with 54 percent voting yes and 81 percent of precincts reporting.
Here’s the latest:
Montgomery County (see below)
Jefferson Twp.: 56 percent yes; 44 percent no (100 percent reporting)
Northmont: 61 percent yes; 39 percent no (82 percent reporting)
Valley View: 28 percent yes; 72 percent no (57 percent reporting)
Miamisburg: 51 percent yes; 49 percent no (87 percent reporting)
Miami County (100 percent reporting)
Piqua: 56 percent yes, 44 percent no
Milton Union: 55 percent yes; 45 percent no
Greene County (final results)
Beavercreek: 48 percent yes; 52 percent no
Greenview: 47 percent yes; 53 percent no
Sugarcreek: 58 percent yes; 41 percent no
Yellow Springs: 65 percent yes; 35 percent no
Permalink | | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetPiqua a big winner
Piqua schools fought hard to convince their voters they truly needed a 0.75 percent income tax, even bringing in a pro football player and Olympic hockey gold medalists who are graduates to campaign for the levy. It has worked. The numbers are final in Miami County. Piqua and Milton-Union are winners.
Now we’re just waiting for Montgomery County to catch up. They do have some new numbers and Jefferson Twp. is a final. The levy passes. Sorry for creating confusion with Jefferson tonight. I had some problems mixing up the school and township levies.
Montgomery County (see below)
Jefferson Twp.: 56 percent yes; 44 percent no (100 percent reporting)
Northmont: 62 percent yes; 38 percent no (51 percent reporting)
Valley View: 31 percent yes; 69 percent no (28 percent reporting)
Miamisburg: 48 percent yes; 52 percent no (42 percent reporting)
Miami County (100 percent reporting)
Piqua: 56 percent yes, 44 percent no
Milton Union: 55 percent yes; 45 percent no
Greene County (final results)
Beavercreek: 48 percent yes; 52 percent no
Greenview: 47 percent yes; 53 percent no
Sugarcreek: 58 percent yes; 41 percent no
Yellow Springs: 65 percent yes; 35 percent no
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetMiamisburg race tight
CORRECTION: Sorry. I mixed up Jefferson schools and Jefferson Twp. The school levy is losing big. See updated numbers below.
With some real numbers finally coming in for Montgomery County, Miamisburg’s levy has narrowed to a virtual tie.
Final results are in for Greene County. Beavercreek’s levy goes down. So does Greenview’s levy. No changes in Miami County yet. See results below:
Montgomery County (see below)
Jefferson Twp.: 60 percent yes; 40 percent no (72 percent reporting)
Northmont: 64 percent yes; 34 percent no (absentee only)
Valley View: 27 percent yes; 72 percent no (7 percent reporting)
Miamisburg: 49 percent yes; 50 percent no (30 percent reporting)
Miami County (85 percent reporting)
Piqua: 57 percent yes, 44 percent no
Milton Union: 55 percent yes; 44 percent no
Greene County (final results)
Beavercreek: 48 percent yes; 52 percent no
Greenview: 47 percent yes; 53 percent no
Sugarcreek: 58 percent yes; 41 percent no
Yellow Springs: 65 percent yes; 35 percent no
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetTwo wins, two losses in Greene County
It’s not quite over, but it’s close in Greene County with 96 percent of precincts reporting. The word is they have a lot of paper provisional ballots still to count. But It doesn’t look like the results will change.
Beavercreek seems headed for a narrow defeat. Greenview, also, looks like it will lose in a close vote. Meanwhile, Sugarcreek and Yellow Springs are headed to big wins.
Still waiting for new results in Miami and Montgomery counties. Here’s what we’ve got right now:
Montgomery County (absentee only)
Jefferson Twp.: 45 percent yes; 54 percent no
Northmont: 64 percent yes; 34 percent no
Valley View: 23 percent yes; 77 percent no
Miamisburg: 41 percent yes; 58 percent no
Miami County (85 percent reporting)
Piqua: 57 percent yes, 44 percent no
Milton Union: 55 percent yes; 44 percent no
Greene County 96 percent reporting
Beavercreek: 48 percent yes; 52 percent no
Greenview: 46 percent yes; 53 percent no
Sugarcreek: 57 percent yes; 42 percent no
Yellow Springs: 65 percent yes; 35 percent no
Permalink | | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetPiqua, Milton heading toward wins
Miami County is the only one so far with siginficant results reported. It looks like Piqua is headed to a big win for its income tax. Milton-Union looks like it’s going to win in its bid for a renewal levy.
For Montgomery and Greene, we only have absenteee ballot data, so don’t put too much stock in those results. Here they are:
Montgomery County (absentee only)
Jefferson Twp.: 45 percent yes; 54 percent no
Northmont: 64 percent yes; 34 percent no
Valley View: 23 percent yes; 77 percent no
Miamisburg: 41 percent yes; 58 percent no
Miami County (85 percent reporting)
Piqua: 57 percent yes, 44 percent no
Milton Union: 55 percent yes; 44 percent no
Greene County (absentee only)
Beavercreek: 43 percent yes; 57 percent no
Greenview: 39 percent yes; 60 percent no
Sugarcreek: 52 percent yes; 48 percent no
Yellow Springs: 60 percent yes; 40 percent no
Permalink | | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetEarly results for Greene County only
We’ve got some major problems out there. Apparently, the secretary of state has told local boards of elections not to report results until 9 p.m. A judge has ordered polling places to remain open until 9 p.m. in Cleveland because of a ballot shortage.
So far, only Greene County has reported any results locally and those are only for a small number of absentee and early voting ballots. But if you want to check out the school results for those ballots, follow the “continued” link:
Jefferson Twp.: NA
Northmont: NA
Valley View: NA
Miamisburg: NA
Piqua: NA
Milton Union: NA
Beavercreek: 43 percent yes; 57 percent no
Greenview: 39 percent yes; 60 percent no
Sugarcreek: 52 percent yes; 48 percent no
Yellow Springs: 50 percent yes; 40 percent no
Permalink | | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetElection Night: Track school levies here
Polls just closed in Ohio and I will be tracking the following school levies tonight:
Jefferson Twp.
Northmont
Valley View
Miamisburg
Piqua
Milton Union
I’ll also try to keep you posted on Beavercreek and the Greene County school results if I can. So check back throughout the night!
Permalink | | Categories: Schools and Politics
TweetPrescription drugs a hit with teens
Last week I followed up on the story of six Troy High School students who were hospitalized for taking prescription drugs to try to get high. An editor asked me to find out what I could about teen use of prescriptions.
It’s not as if I hadn’t heard that prescription drug abuse was a growing problem. Still, I was a bit surprised to learn prescription drugs were No. 2 behind marijuana for the most popular recreational drugs used by teens.
Apparently, prescriptions drugs are popular partly because teens believe they are safe since they come from a doctor. They fail to appreciate the danger of not following a doctor’s orders when using them. Deaths from prescription drug abuse have also seen a huge spike in recent years.
In fact, federal agencies are rushing to build Web sites and and launch ad campaigns to raise awareness about the problem.
Does this surprise you to learn how popular these drugs are with teens?
(Image credit: Ironman Life)
Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: Student Health and Safety
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