DaytonDailyNews.com

Ten thousand parents not registered to vote!

By selliott | Thursday, April 5, 2007, 03:38 AM

There’s good news and bad news for Dayton schools in today’s paper.

The bad news: The Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce has yet to endorse the 15.17 mill levy. Chamber leaders meet with school officials again today.

The good news: Thousands of parents of DPS kids have registered to vote. Get this statistic — 10,000 DPS parents were not registered voters. Even if you assume that all of the district’s 16,400 kids have two parents living with them, that means almost a third of those parents were not registered to vote! The actual percentage could be closer to half!

How I know that statistic, and how these parents have come to register lately, may raise eyebrows with some of the district’s critics. But school officials insist they have followed the law to the letter.

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What kids can learn from, um, sport?

By selliott | Wednesday, April 4, 2007, 10:23 PM

I know there are a lot of critics out there who feel college sports are out of control, an industry in itself that bleeds money from academics and a distraction for kids who should spend their time studying.

OK. I can’t argue with any of that. But I can still argue that there is some good that can come from kids watching college sports. There are lessons about teamwork, effort and competition. I even think kids can learn from watching college sports about creativity, innovation, problem solving and strategic thinking.

But this post isn’t about what we saw Monday when Florida defeated Ohio State in the NCAA championship game. This post is about something else that drew 80,000 fans this week and the attention of millions of kids.

They call it Wrestlemania.

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Seeking a liberal arts education … in China?

By selliott | Tuesday, April 3, 2007, 09:55 AM

Snapshot USA: Our kids are too leisurely. Their instruction is too unfocused. They lack basic skills. They come out of school without the ability to perform basic functions and disappoint employers who have to send them for retraining in order to compete on the world economic stage. To rectify this problem, we create standards and connect them to tests kids are required to pass and judge schools on the results the way effective national education systems do in places like China. Critics say this crowds out important creative thinking instruction that has been a hallmark of our education system.

Snapshot China: Chinese kids are too rigidly focused on monotonous drilling of basic skills. They aren’t trained to consider the application of the skills. Everything is about passing the next test. They come out of school without the ability to think creatively and disappoint employers seeking an innovative edge in the world economy. To rectify this problem they create new schools which give kids more choices and freedoms they way effective national education systems do in places like the United States. Critics fear their children will lose the basic skill proficiency that has been a hallmark of the Chinese education system.

Here in the U.S., critics of our education system often speak admiringly of our international competitors and how they teach their kids. In Sunday’s New York Times, some Chinese reformers talk of the need to emulate the U.S. system.

This was one of three big education-related stories in the Times recently.

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The Education Edition of the DDN

By selliott | Monday, April 2, 2007, 10:40 AM

(Pam Stenzel speaks at Springboro High School)

Was it just me or was there a ton of educaiton-related stories in the Sunday Dayton Daily News? The front page alone had sex education, pension double-dipping and the tragic death of Sarah Merritt.

in case you missed them, check out these stories:

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Bradford’s bold move: Making it tougher for others?

By selliott | Saturday, March 31, 2007, 01:25 PM

You don’t often see a school district pull a tax levy off the ballot, but that’s exactly what Bradford’s Board of Education did this week.

Here’s Bradford’s rationale. The district was seeking a 0.75 percent income tax which would have raised its school income tax burden to the highest in the state. The levy, which has already failed twice, was on for May and Bradford could not collect any money even if it passes until January.

Under Gov. Ted Strickland’s proposed budget, low-wealth Bradford would get a 22.5 percent increase in state aid, bringing in even more money than the proposed tax. By coming off the ballot now, the board figured, it can wait to see how the budget turns out. The whole proposed amount could delay a levy entirely for at least a couple years. But even if just some of the new aid materializes, the board could seek a smaller levy in August or November and still collect in January.

As much as this might make sense for Bradford, put yourself in the shoes of other school boards who are on the ballot in May. Doesn’t this put the question in their voters minds — why doesn’t my school district wait?

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Lucas: Gov’s budget good for Dayton

By selliott | Thursday, March 29, 2007, 04:05 PM

In Wednesday’s paper, Dayton treasurer Stan Lucas discussed his analysis of new Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland’s proposed budget and the potential good new for the district if Strickland can get everything he wants.

Of course, Strickland is all but certain NOT to get everything he wants.

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Racism: Texas teen gets 7 years in jail

By selliott | Wednesday, March 28, 2007, 10:01 AM

(Shaquanda Cotton is visited by her mother in jail)

There is a ton of Internet buzz about this Chicago Tribune story looking at a Texas school district where 14-year-old black freshman Shaquanda Cotton shoved a hall monitor and ended up getting sentenced in juvenile court for “assault on on a public servant” to juvenile jail until age 21. Meanwhile, a 14-year-old white girl from the same school got probation for burning down a house.

Shaquanda’s defenders say she was targeted by Paris Independent School District officials after her mother became active in protests against the schools for what she believed were racist practices.

This is a pretty amazing story that is worth reading. It’s hard to believe these sorts of things still happen.

(Image credit: Chicago Tribune)

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