MiddletownJournal.com

Pat Lynch wins do-over election

By selliott | Wednesday, August 27, 2008, 05:07 PM

Dayton’ teachers union held a re-vote of its May election Tuesday after complaints of procedural problems and President Pat Lynch was again elected to a two-year term when she won more votes than Juanita Collein.

A group of teachers complained after the May election to the Ohio Education Association, a statewide parent union, that errors were made, such as allowing votes after deadlines and problems in vote box handling.

Lynch said OEA sent an independent lawyer to review the case who recommended additional training for election workers. After his report, the OEA asked Dayton to hold a new vote. Elections are run by a committee that Lynch is not a part of.

This will be Lynch’s second two-year term as president.

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment More: Dayton Public Schools

Find all the results for every local district here

By selliott | Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 03:56 PM

Make sure you check out the interactive map on our Web site that allows you to search report card results for any district in the 13 counties that surround Dayton. It is really cool and great work by our graphics department.

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Report cards out, Dayton last in Ohio again

By selliott | Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 06:59 AM

The good news is Dayton schools somehow managed to escape “academic emergency” on its state report card this year, but still raked last in Ohio for test performance. Meanwhile three northern valley schools were among the fastest gainers in test performance.

The state added a new wrinkle to the report cards this year, pushing districts up a level if test scores grew enough. For top rated districts who also made their growth targets, there is a new top category of “excellent with distinction.” There are 73 Ohio districts in that category but none in academic emergency and only nine in the whole state in academic watch.

I am not sure why Ohio keeps the emergency rating it the worst rated district in the state does not end up there. And academic watch only has nine districts? The scores don’t suggest we’re doing that well.

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Teaching evolution to hostile students

By selliott | Sunday, August 24, 2008, 11:59 PM

The New York Times has a pretty interesting Sunday magazine story about science teachers tackling the challenge of teaching the widely accepted scientific theory of evolution to students from religious backgrounds who find evolution in conflict with their literal interpretation of the bible. Check it out here.

This is a sticky issue that has been hotly debated here in Ohio. The big example in the story is from Florida, but all the same issues are faced by science teachers here. In the end, it is the teacher in the classroom and the students who are doing the learning that determine the effectiveness of government directives on evolution.

About three years ago, I had a Michigan-based science teacher who personally did not believe in evolution tell me the best he could do was teach it half-heartedly. Which had me wondering how many other classrooms faced that challenge?

Teachers out there, how do you or your colleagues handle this tricky territory?

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Jefferson hanging on by a thread

By selliott | Thursday, August 21, 2008, 10:25 PM

A last minute change of heart by the state oversight commission now in charge of Jefferson Twp. schools may have saved the district from oblivion Thursday.

The committee backed off its original plan to strip two levies from the Nov. 4 ballot — one for school construction and one for operating money. Commission members said they hadn’t had enough time to decide on a strategy for addressing the district’s financial woes and wanted to put off a decision to seek any levy until they were sure the levies were for the right amount. Thursday was the deadline to place a levy on the November ballot.

But after discussion, they decided to keep the 5-mill operating levy on the ballot and drop just the school construction levy.

With the state auditor suggesting Jefferson consolidate with a nearby school district, pulling both issues off the ballot might have been fatal. Jefferson has a $1.8 million deficit and had to take a $1.5 million loan to meet its payroll. The 5-mill levy will raise $420,000, which will help but not cure the deficit. Big cuts are coming next.

If the operating levy passes, Jefferson can begin collecting Jan. 1. Removing it from the November ballot would have meant the earliest Jefferson could have gotten new money was 2010. Unless the levy passes in November, the momentum for consolidation may be unstoppable.

Whether or not Jefferson should survive as an independent district is going to be a big question. If the decision is to keep the district as is, it will need a new, single-campus K-12 building for efficiency. This fall is probably the best time to seek any school levy in Jefferson Twp., as the hot presidential race should bring a big voter turnout. Bigger turnout usually helps school levies.

Here’s the story on today’s first meeting of the oversight commission:

Continue reading "Jefferson hanging on by a thread"...

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment More: Schools and Politics

This time the big guns are on board early

By selliott | Wednesday, August 20, 2008, 01:50 PM

Mayor Rhine McLin

At last night’s board meeting the mayor, city commissioners and a host of community leaders rallied around the school board as it placed a 4.9-mill levy on the November ballot.

This was a noticeable change from 2007, when it took weeks for the city commission to formally endorse the 15.17-mill levy try and the chamber of commerce only grudgingly signed on after demanding data and meetings with school officials over more than a month of discussions.

Continue reading "This time the big guns are on board early"...

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Prom cop wins at the state fair

By selliott | Wednesday, August 20, 2008, 11:24 AM

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a fascinating prom innovation — the dress enforcement officer. First Alter and now Chaminade Julienne Catholic high schools arranged for Sunny Hickey, an accomplished seamstress, to guard the door at their proms armed with a sewing kit to enforce modesty on young ladies who arrive show just a bit too much skin.

Hickey is a great character. She is a tiny little lady with curly hair and a big smile who is impossible not to like. Imagine the kindliest grandmother you know. That’s her. She has a great rapport with the girls, some of whom seem to genuinely not realize their dresses are inappropriate. She does an excellent job of using her sewing skills to tastefully improve dresses without ruining them.

And once the word got around that Hickey would be standing by with her thread and two-sided tape, there was a noticeable improvement in dress modesty.

Frankly, I am surprised other schools haven’t tried this. Hickey made a point to say that she was not looking for work. A St. Henry parishioner and parent of Alter alumni, she does her prom work for the Catholic schools out of a sense of religious mission. But there have to be other sewing experts out there who could probably be had for a small fee to police other proms. I would expect principals and superintendents would love to have their services.

As for Hickey, her story has a happy addendum. She has competed at the state fair for more than 40 years in sewing competition. While I interviewed her and Lisa Powell photographed her in June she was working on a reversible coat for this year’s fair. I got a nice letter from her yesterday in which she mentioned that the coat won “best of show” at the state fair.

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