Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts

Saturday, November 01, 2014

Vote Yes on Issue 8!

Cincinnati has a history that is rich and deep.  We have a culture that is vibrant and valuable.  We must take the steps to preserve that past so the future will remember and learn.  We therefore must support Issue 8 and save Union Terminal for any further decay and assure it will be here for generations to come to learn and experience Cincinnati's History and Culture.

This isn't a political issue, this is a Cincinnati issue.  No matter your political leanings, this deserves your support.

Go to www.myunionterminal.com for more.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Charter School Problems

Ethics questions plague VLT Academy. I am glad the state is doing some auditing of these schools, but why isn't anyone questioning how the Daughter of the school's Superintendent earns $85,000 in the School years, on top of the questionable $17,000 contract for the Summer. When I state 'anyone' I mean public officials.

Public schools get raked over the coals by Republicans, but I don't hear Charlie Winburn, Steve Chabot, or Brad Wenstrup asking for more audits of this Charter school.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Exurban Lunacy Alive in West Chester

As the result of the desire to destroy the community, Lakota School District officials were required to put out thier plan to deal with massive budget cuts forced on the school system by a majority of voters. There is no other way to describe the majority of voters in the Laktoa district other than lunatics. They have a wealthy school district with good schools and most voters there want lower quality schools. That defies logic. I also can't understand how they can cut a single teacher without cutting all extracurricular sports programs. They should sell all of land their football stadiums are built on, but no, they'll keep funding football above nearly everything else.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

More Praise For Cincinnati Public Schools

Joe Nathan of the Minnpost.com offers up a summary on how Cincinnati Public Schools increased their graduation rates by more than 25%. The article is full of praise for what Cincinnati Schools, particularly Taft High School and it's principal Anthony Smith, accomplished.

Monday, November 08, 2010

A True CPS Success Story: Taft High School

Please read up on the wonderful news about Taft High School. In less than ten years its graduation rates have gone from 21% to 95.2%. Attendance is up, math & reading scores are way up, and disciplinary actions are way down. That is an amazing job. Students, parents, teachers, staff, and school administrators should feel proud.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Great Day for OTR: Welcome SCPA Students and Teachers!

The waiting is over for students and parents alike, the new SCPA opens for the school year today. I hope this school provides a great education to every student that enters its doors. I also hope the school can bring OTR, teachers, and parents together to make the school and everything around it better. The arts are the cultural core of society, and institutions like SCPA are critical to enriching that culture and giving it value.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The Details On How Lakota Schools Will Worsen

The ramifications of the failure to pass a school tax levy in the West Chester area Lakota School District were outlined yesterday.

Gone are music, art, and physical education teachers in elementary schools.

Why would they not cut all high schools ports, instead of cutting the junior school programs? Why also would any parent pay any fee for their kid to play a sport, and not agree to a modest increase in their property taxes? This is an example of one of the problems with modern America. The heightened value placed on team sports and the devaluation of public schools is a sign that willful ignorance is manifesting itself as a lifestyle choice, not just a political philosophy.

I don't know if this levy will fail causing the beloved exurbanite paradise of West Chester will lose. We do know what will be cut if it does fail. Let's hope that West Chester voters will support public education again. If they want to cut the fat of their school, team sports would be the place to start.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

The Result of Anti-Tax Extremism

Little Miami Schools is being taken over by the State of Ohio because the citizens of that school district have repeatedly failed to pass a tax levy to fund the schools. The anti-tax/anti-government extremists got their way and the schools will now suffer massive cuts. Students will likely not have any extracurricular activities. They will miss out on advance education opportunities. Little Miami Students will not have good educations.

Anti-tax zealots are dancing for Joy over this. Their goals include destroying public institutions. They have no plans for replacing these institutions. At best you are going to get a shrug and some vague reference to "let the market decide."  This is insanity.  There is no logic, no plan, just irrational selfishness, that if allowed to continue will create township that has nothing but a handful of residents, struggling to maintain a sense of a society.

There are reasonable people who can disagree on the size and focus of government. Reasonable people understand that public education is a bedrock of an functional society. If you have a public institution, you have to fund it. Starving it to death is not going to reform it, it is going to end it.

On a side note, I am less surprised knowing that Chris Finey, COAST/TP anti-tax/anti-government anti-gay activst works worth with Chris Smitherman, president of the the local chapter of the NAACP. Both men take actions that indicate a base underlying philosophy: tear everything down and start over. The politics of destruction will not gain advances for society, as these men think, each from their own perspective. Starting over isn't going to put anyone ahead, it puts us all permanently behind.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

West Chester Tea Party, What Say Ye?

The Enquirer is reporting that Lakota Schools is asking for a new 10 year tax levy. With West Chester, the home of Lakota Schools, being voting one of the "best" places to live in America and being a hot bed for the local Tea Party, I am wonder something. Will this levy get voted down? Will local officials instead campaign on increasing the budget of the county sheriff to help him remove the mythical illegal immigrant problem in Butler County? The Tea Party wants to decimate every element government run services, except law enforcement, border security and the military, so I would predict this levy will lose.

What is more logical than allowing public schools to decay in order to fund racism as a way to get votes? Isn't that the American Dream?

Sunday, May 16, 2010

What Happened In Lockland?

It's hard to know what to make of the students involved in the "senior prank" at Lockland High School, since it's not entirely clear what they actually did that night.

Regular readers will recall that last January, I was critical of officials who decided to file criminal charges against students who unplugged engine block heaters for diesel school buses, causing the cancellation of school in Mason. The Lockland students are also being criminally charged (some as adults, as they are 18) and face suspension or expulsion.

Early reports indicated that the students were ransacking the school, throwing books into hallways. When I read that, my thought was, "That's not a prank. That's vandalism." But an article in yesterday's Enquirer suggests that the conduct was much tamer. I can't figure out what the kids intended to do with the rubber bands and cups of water, but the "prank" hardly seems destructive, if that story is accurate.

If this was a non-destructive prank, then we're once again witnessing the results of over-criminalization of bad conduct. A school suspension and school-related discipline is appropriate. It might even be appropriate to disallow the students from participating in graduation ceremonies (but not actually from receiving their diplomas). But a felony record? Really?

Some of the students are charged with resisting arrest and fleeing from police. That's a separate issue. (Separate, that is, if the charges are legitimate--which is not always the case with a resisting charge.) If students really ran from or physically struggled with police, their conduct might have been criminal. Once your prank is exposed and you're caught, you don't start a police pursuit. You have to accept the consequences, even if that means a night in jail before your mom can get you released.

Yesterday's article focuses on an 18 year-old college-bound senior, for whom a felony record would be crippling. If the grand jury indicts her and the other students, I hope the authorities offer them some sort of diversionary disposition--some sort of result that involves acceptance of responsibility and community service, but no criminal conviction. If they stand indicted and aren't offered a way out, we'll find out whether 12 people of Hamilton County are willing to brand an 18 year-old a felon for high school hijinks.

The case raises an interesting contrast to the treatment accorded MU's Pi Beta Phi sorority members who behaved badly in April. According to the Enquirer, police encountered them intoxicated and urinating on the side of the road. That's classic disorderly conduct. But no one was cited; instead, the buses were "escorted" to Lake Lyndsay. And none of the students was charged criminally for their destructive behavior, even though some it certainly constituted criminal damaging. Yes, I realize that different police departments from different counties were involved. But it's fascinating that some people get police escorts to parties after bad behavior, and others get police escorts to the Justice Center.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Sean Parker Appointed to CPS Board

From Ben Fischer of the Enquirer via Twitter: It's official, Sean Parker was just appointed to the Cincinanti school board.

Clark Montessori A Finalist in Commencement Challenge

I find it hard to believe that there's anyone who hasn't already heard this, but my email and FB have been filled with entreaties to go to the White House's Commencement Challenge and give Clark Montessori a high rating, so the school will make the next cut in its effort to have President Obama deliver the school's commencement address.

Regardless of your political views, you've got to admit it'd be pretty cool if the President gave the address at your high school graduation.

That said, I'm not sure that I approve of POTUS presiding over an American Idol-style competition to determine which high school he will visit.....

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Michael Flannery Resigns From CPS Board

The Enquirer is reporting that Cincinnati Public School Board member Michael Flannery is resigning from the school board effective April 13th. At Monday night's meeting Flannery stated he is resigning from the board do to health reasons. Flannery indicate he was undergoing tests, including an MRI of his brain. We all hope for a speedy recovery to Mr. Flannery.

The article also describes the process to fill the vacant seat, where the remaining six members vote to appoint a member to fill the rest of Flannery's term. If no candidate can get a majority, then a county judge will select a replacement.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Respect Is Earned, Disdain is Free

I was wondering what happened to all of the crazy people who would disrupt City Council meetings. It appears they have shifted to the school board.

Why would any parent think that exhibiting this type of behavior is acceptable? When you act boorishly, you are going to be ignored. When you continue to act like jerks, you are going to be disdained. Quite a few parents deserve detention.

Monday, February 01, 2010

More on SCPA and 'Taking the Stage'

Classicgrrl from Cincyvoices goes into detail on problems with the auditioning of the new cast members for entrance into SCPA.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

"So You Want To Be A Rock 'N Roll Star"

'Taking the Stage' the MTV reality show about students at Cincinnati's SCPA is totally manufactured, if you hadn't already guessed. Producers for the show brought in 5 kids to the school from different areas around town and 1 kid from out of state.

I hope people understand that this is nothing but exploitation of a school for benefit of no one but MTV. It will not make the careers of the students. This is really looking like a mistake for CPS.

The School gets attention, nationally. That is a win, but is it enough? Is it worth it? Does the SCPA really want to attract new students here with the false hope that they can have their break and be rich quick? This is not the way I would want to begin the next school year in a new building. We need our schools to be about all of the students and not about outside production schedules.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Guest Post on CPS Superintendent Mary Ronan

Editor's Note: Here's a guest post to the Cincinnati Blog from regular reader Miles.

Give Back Cincinnati had a YP sounding session with Mary Ronan, the CPS Superintendent.

She did her rote presentation, with no changes for the YP crowd. That was disappointing, because it seems like the people CPS needs to attract are those who will otherwise move to the suburbs when they have kids. Instead, it was more of a justification for taxing Cincinnatians to pay for school.

She pointed out the great strides the district has taken since 2000, and the federal and state accolades it's received. She also made it seem like a completely reactionary district that hopes to assuage the Enquirer and its archconservative base.

She said that CPS was trying to rebrand and shed its negative image. When asked about LEED certification, she was defensive and apologetic about the financial investment. CPS is the greenest school district in America, in terms of the number of LEED buildings. Boy, that's an albatross!

She said she no longer saw a need for teachers' unions. I guess, after 30 years in one, Mary got hers, huh? She complained that they prevent her from moving teachers from school to school, without realizing that teachers' unions exists to keep the superintendent from treating them like commoditized capital.

She said she didn't believe in mandatory comprehensive sex ed while bemoaning the fact that there are so many children of poor young mothers in Cincinnati. Guess what? That 17-year old who's dropping out of Mt. Airy because she got pregnant? You're going to have to teach her kid in 5 years! If you want the 5-year olds to be better prepared, prepare your 17-year olds to not get pregnant!

I think she thought we were Republicans. I think she thinks Cincinnati is a Republican city, rather than one that votes 80% Democratic. She can be the superintendent at Colerain if she wants to pander to conservative Catholics.

I understand that I'm about as liberal as they get, but guess what? Liberals have kids too, and there are a lot more of us in your district. Hamilton County shouldn't concern her.

It's kind of sad, because I left the meeting thinking that if I want my hypothetical kid to have a liberal education, with diversity and tolerance instilled in those around her, I'll have to move to another district. After all, I'm not concerned with my kid being liberal; he'll be a DFH. I want to limit her exposure to bigotry and religious conservatism at school, and Mary Ronan doesn't seem prepared to attack those things as vociferously as other school districts do, even those with far more conservative constituents.

Monday, April 20, 2009

UC Law Holds Steady In New Rankings

Several websites are reporting that the 2010 US News & World Report law school rankings have been leaked. Assuming the authenticity of the reported rankings, the University of Cincinnati College of Law will be ranked the 52nd program in the nation (it received the same ranking for 2009). While normally a ranking outside the top 50 would be (and for the past several years has been) a disappointment for UC, holding serve is likely a relief, given the school's horrific 2008 bar results.

Other top-100 law schools people around here might care about: Kentucky will be 55, up 4 spots from last year; Ohio State will be 35, down 3 spots; Indiana will be 23, up 13 spots; Pitt will be 72, up 2; Case Western will be 55, up 8, and Louisville will be 98, down 2.

Ohio's six other law schools (Toledo, Akron, Dayton, Capital, Ohio Northern, and Cleveland-Marshall) all sit outside the top 100, as does Chase (NKU).

(Hat tip: TaxProf Blog.)

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Zero Tolerance Makes Zero Sense

It turns out that in my post on Mason's school closings, I was right about two things: first, that the culprits were Mason students, and second, that law enforcement officials would over-react when they found someone they thought was responsible.

I was wrong, though, about the charges that could be brought: three Mason juveniles have been charged with disrupting public services, a fourth-degree felony. (The charge fits; this link will take you to the relevant statute.)

There was a time, not so long ago, when something like this would have been handled entirely by school officials. But not anymore. Zero tolerance means that we have to criminalize every act that bothers us, all the time. We also see this phenomenon in adult court all the time: sit in a municipal courtroom on any day and you're likely to see at least one person charged with "telephone harassment" because he or she said something (or texted something) to a significant other that the significant other didn't like. Is that really how we want to use the criminal courts' time?

So for a prank that caused a snow day but no permanent damage, three teenagers might be labeled convicted felons. (And for those who think juvenile crimes don't matter after you turn 18, you're sadly mistaken.)

And just to preempt any crazy commenters: I don't care that these kids are (probably) white and (obviously) suburban. If these were three kids from Hughes High School, I'd be advocating the same thing: let the school system handle it.

If I were in charge of the universe, I'd order these kids to serve a long school suspension--one day shy of whatever would cause them to fail every class for attendance reasons. I'd make them do a massive amount of community service, and then write some heinously long essay afterward on what they'd done and what they'd learned. And I'd probably ban them from any non-academic extracurricular activity for the rest of this year and all of next.

School discipline will impact the kids' ability to get into college. But a felony record? That will hamper them for years to come. It's unfortunate that our society has decided to handle so many situations by resorting to the criminal justice system. And I hope that at some point prior to the resolution of these cases, cooler heads will prevail.

Saturday, November 01, 2008

One Thousand New Lawyers

Actually, 1,016, to be exact. Yesterday, the Ohio Supreme Court announced the names of individuals who passed the July 2008 bar exam. Congratulations to them all. Swearing-in ceremonies are scheduled for November 17 in Columbus.

Of local note, 65 of the newly-minted attorneys boast the UC College of Law as their alma mater. We should extend particular good wishes to local bloggers Christopher St. Pierre, formerly (?) of Cogitation, and Brad Thomas of the UrbanCincy Blog.

Over the next several months, there will no doubt be much hand-wringing, consternation, and several administrative and faculty meetings at UC. Its overall bar passage rate was 81% (82% for first-time test-takers), which placed it last among all Ohio law schools. This is a significant decline from five years ago: its graduates' passage rate on the July 2003 exam was 86% (87% for first-time test-takers), which placed it second among Ohio's nine law schools.

Over the last five years, the College of Law has restructured part of the first-year student curriculum, as well as the way it teaches commercial law (one of the topics covered by the bar exam). Also, UC has dramatically increased clinical opportunities for its students. While clinics offer students an exciting way to learn the law (often through the actual representation of clients under the supervision of a licensed attorney), one wonders if the higher percentage of students involved in clinics means that students are taking fewer bar courses in their second and third years of law school. No doubt, these will all be topics of conversation at the corner of Calhoun and Clifton for quite some time. A school's bar passage rate is one factor many prospective students consider in choosing a law school, as well as part of the criteria used by U.S. News & World Report, which compiles what many believe is the definitive ranking of law schools.

Congratulations again to all those who passed, and welcome to the practice of law!

Post updated to extend kudos to an additional local blogger. If there are other local bloggers in the "now we're lawyers" club, please let us know in the comments.