News Media Continues to Fail Cincinnati
1 week ago
... For a woman, time with her parents often resembles work, whether it’s helping them pay bills or plan a family gathering. “For men, it tends to be sitting on the sofa and watching football with their dad,”
.... Since the 1960s, men have gradually cut back on activities they find unpleasant. They now work less and relax more.
... women have replaced housework with paid work — and, as a result, are spending almost as much time doing things they don’t enjoy as in the past.
... women now have a much longer to-do list than they once did ...They can’t possibly get it all done, and many end up feeling as if they are somehow falling short.
... the average time devoted to dusting has fallen significantly in recent decades. ... I imagine that the new American dustiness affects women’s happiness more than men’s.
...Her mother’s goals in life, ... were to have a beautiful garden, a well-kept house and well-adjusted children who did well in school. “I sort of want all those things, too,” the student said, as Ms. Stevenson recalled, “but I also want to have a great career and have an impact on the broader world.”
...American society hasn’t fully come to grips with the change. The United States still doesn’t have universal preschool, and, in contrast to other industrialized countries, there is no guaranteed paid leave for new parents.
..men still haven’t figured out how to shoulder their fair share of the household burden...
When: Tuesday, October 2, 8:00PM, Phone: 513-919-3498
Pam Ross and Ed Moss invite you to our "Tis Autumn/Tis Jazz" show at the Jackson Street Underground (lower level of Know Theater) in downtown Cincy on Tuesday, October 2nd. We will be joined by one of Cincy's hottest bass players, Mike Sharfe.
Some of our favourite tunes are those inspired by the Fall season, so we will be covering tunes such as "Autumn in NY", "Autumn Leaves", "September in the Rain", "Early Autumn" and, well, "Tis Autumn to name a few.
Please note that the Underground has a bar (with a liquor license), and drinks are extremely reasonably priced -- some of the lowest prices I've seen in town. There will be a $10 cover charge (to help pay band).
...The district spends thousands less per student at some of its schools, the suit says, and that violates the Ohio Constitution's guarantee of "thorough and efficient" funding for public education.
... School board members... called the lawsuit a political stunt.
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Boyd said per-student spending takes teacher salaries into account, so building-to-building numbers are skewed by transfers of higher-paid, more-experienced teachers to better-performing schools. Board members have discussed an incentive program to keep those teachers in poorer schools, he said.
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Todd offered an example yesterday. At Winterset Elementary School on the Northwest Side, the district spent $12,507 per student last year, he said. At Liberty Elementary School on the Far East Side, the district spent $7,779 per student.
Winterset was rated "effective" on the latest state report card; Liberty is on academic watch.
"We have to change what's happening in Columbus Public Schools today," said Todd, who also has called for a mayoral takeover of the district in his campaign against incumbent Democrat Michael B. Coleman.
MANSFIELD -- Newman Elementary School secretary Janice Henson said about 20 parents have withdrawn their children from the Central Avenue school since opening day Aug. 28.
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"On the first day of school, my son came home and said, 'Mom, we don't get any recess here,' " Osborne said. "When I asked why, Ryan said, 'The principal said we are too far behind.' "
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Osborne said the lack of recess was the only reason she withdrew her son. The News Journal talked to the parents of three other children who were withdrawn because of the recess issue.
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"In the rudest voice, Mrs. Hinson said, 'I got an e-mail this afternoon that said you wanted a response on recess. We are academically behind. Now what would you rather do -- be academically behind or have recess?' " Osborne said. "I asked her if she realized the kind of poor behaviors she was going to cause and she said, 'Well, we'll deal with that when it arises because I have zero tolerance for behavior issues.' "
Osborne said Hinson told her children at recess also must be allotted time for a drink and a bathroom break, taking away even more classroom time. According to Osborne, Hinson said time is better spent on instruction for a school in academic watch.
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"The principal came over the loudspeaker and said there will be no more recess forever," said James, 7.
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"She said until test scores improve, there would be no recess at Newman school."
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DAYTON - Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann filed suit Wednesday seeking to force the two city charter schools to close, arguing that they have failed to live up to their obligations to educate children.
The schools are Colin Powell Leadership Academy, 834 Randolph St., and New Choices Community School, 601 S. Keowee St.
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The move was hailed by teachers unions as an overdue step toward accountability. They have long been critics of charter schools but assailed by supporters of the charter movement as a declaration of war on charters.
Dann's lawsuits target the schools' status as "charitable trusts" under state law. He argues that by operating schools that produce consistently poor academic results, the trusts are not living up to the law's requirements.
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Ron Adler, president of the Ohio Coalition for a Quality Education, said the move was an attempt to circumvent state law.
Ohio has just implemented new rules that will close charter schools rated in the lowest state category for three straight years.
"I'm not opposed to closing schools, but you have to do it orderly and you have to follow the law," he said. "It seems like they're trying to expand the powers of their office."
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Only three states - Georgia, Florida and Oklahoma - offer all-day, pre-kindergarten programs for 4-year-olds.
Will Ohio's neighbor to the south be the fourth?
That's the long-term goal of a coalition of Kentucky education and social service groups, who will attempt to advance their cause in the coming months.
The groups don't expect to win full funding all at once. Instead, they'll work to expand state support for more families, and build toward the longer-term goal of voluntary pre-kindergarten for all 3- and 4-year-olds in Kentucky, with parents paying a portion of the cost.
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Under existing law, Kentucky public school districts are required to provide pre-K services for every 4-year-old in a family with an income 150 percent of the poverty level, which in Kentucky is $20,650 for a family of four...
...Covington School Superintendent Jack Moreland said the success of his district's five-year-old program for all-day kindergarten showed that more pre-K programs could work, too. In January 2006, the district moved to all-day pre-K. At the end of their kindergarten year, the 132 students who had attended at least four months of all-day pre-K were tested for first-grade reading readiness.
The standard test is called Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. In one subtest, 89 percent of the students scored at grade level. In a second subtest, 90 percent were at grade level.
"The data shows youngsters coming out of those two programs are at or above reading levels, and that was our goal," Moreland said.
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The report was unveiled at the annual conference of Pre-K Now, a public education and advocacy group in Washington, D.C.
Pre-K Now evaluates states' status in offering preschool. Kentucky, for example, has pre-K services for 29 percent of its 4-year-olds, while Ohio has services for only 4 percent. However, in rating the political climate for advancing the pre-K cause, Ohio outscores Kentucky with six of ten criteria met versus four of 10.
Enrollment in Ohio’s largest school districts appears to have declined again, continuing a trend of diminishing numbers in urban systems that started more than a decade ago.
School leaders blamed charter schools, vouchers, low birth rates, and suburban migration for the declines.
The number of charter schools in the state, for example, increased slightly over last year and the number of private-school vouchers that were awarded more than doubled.
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Across the state, the largest school systems have reported declines in each of the last five years.
Although thousands of students have made the switch to charter schools since 1998 and now some parents are using taxpayer money for private school tuition for the second year statewide, the decline in urban districts started well before either program existed in Ohio.
Imagine a city with authentic public school choice—a place where the location of your home doesn’t determine your child’s school. The first place that comes to mind probably is not San Francisco. But that city boasts one of the most robust school choice systems in the nation.
... it was conventional wisdom in San Francisco that there were only five decent public schools in the city; if you couldn’t get your child into one of them, it was time to move to the suburbs or to find a private academy. But a lot has changed since 1996. Today Grannan could send her child to any school within the city...
San Francisco is one of a handful of public school districts across the nation that mimic an education market. In these districts, the money follows the children, parents have the right to choose their children’s public schools and leave underperforming schools, and school principals and communities have the right to spend their school budgets in ways that make their schools more desirable to parents. As a result, the number of schools parents view as “acceptable” has increased greatly in the last several years...
...public schools in San Francisco now have an incentive to differentiate themselves from one another. Every parent can look through an online catalog of niche schools that include Chinese, Spanish, and Tagalog language immersion schools, college preparatory schools, performing arts schools that collaborate with an urban ballet and symphony, schools specializing in math and technology, traditional neighborhood schools, and a year-round school based on multiple-intelligence theory. Each San Francisco public school is unique. The number of students, the school hours, the teaching style, and the program choices vary from site to site.
...Parents can select up to seven schools on their enrollment application. In the 2005–06 school year 84 percent of parents received one of the schools they listed, with 63 percent receiving their first-choice school. More than 40 percent of the city’s children now attend schools outside their neighborhoods.
Decentralized school management is a growing trend in the United States. To date the weighted student formula has been implemented in Cincinnati, Houston, St. Paul, San Francisco, Seattle, and Oakland...
.. Cincinnati’s high school open enrollment system allows students to apply directly to 26 different high school programs on a first come, first served basis. Such systems stand in stark contrast to the form of choice embedded in the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Under federal law students in failing schools are guaranteed the right to transfer to a school that isn’t failing. But districts have not made a good-faith effort to implement public school choice...
... The only true local control occurs when the principal controls the school budget.
... in 2005 Cincinnati public schools, where 70 percent of students are African-American, improved their state rating from “Academic Watch” to “Continuous Improvement,” and test scores were up for most students in most grade levels....
As a result of these changes, parents are returning to public schools. In Seattle, the public school district has won back 8 percent of all students from the private schools since implementing the new system. In Edmonton, where it all began, the public schools are so popular that there are no private schools left....
... they still must comply with the No Child Left Behind Act and abide by silly state laws, such as the ... statute that forbids parents from bringing home-baked cupcakes to school to celebrate their children’s birthdays with classmates.
... schools need not be linked to real estate. ...
A Family Arts Celebration
Findlay Market and the Arts Education Directors of Greater Cincinnati present A Family Arts Celebration at Findlay Market on Saturday, September 8, 2007. The event runs from 10:00am to 2:00pm and features hands-on activities and performances.
This event is free and open to the public.
Hands-On Activities: 10:00am – 2:00pm
offered by the Cincinnati Arts Association, Cincinnati Art Museum and the Contemporary Arts Center, take place in the roll-up door spaces on north Elder Street, close to the Elm Street esplanade.
Performances:
10:00am – 10:30 am Madcap Puppet Theatre
10:45am – 11:15am Bi-Okoto Drum & Dance Theatre
11:30am – noon Garrett Sprague - Juggler
12:30pm – 1:00pm Matthew Brian Taylor – Magician
1:15pm – 1:45pm Brian Malone, Bacchanal Steel Drum Band
There will be a table providing information about educational and family arts programs offered through Cincinnati arts organizations.
Mark your calendars to bring your family to the market, win prizes and enjoy a day of art at Findlay Market.
Arts Education Directors of Greater Cincinnati fosters and communicates the importance of the arts in the lives of all people through collaborative educational opportunities, advocacy and programs that present high-quality, diverse arts experiences.
Book Signing with Leslie Isaiah Gaines
On Saturday September 8th, Judge Gaines will be at the Market to sell and sign his popular book, Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine: A Positive Look. This positive and uplifting book calls for unity and love to S.T.O.P the Violence - to Stop Taking Out People! Judge Gaines is a long-time Market shopper and looks forward to meeting and greeting everyone.
WARREN — At the 10th anniversary of charter schools, statewide criticism is echoed here at home as report card data shows that local community classrooms failed to make the grade.
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In a news release issued by the Coalition for Public Education, the organization claims that a decade after the inception of charter schools, traditional public schools in Ohio continue to provide the best opportunity for children to learn and succeed.
‘‘If your child attends a traditional public school, he or she has an 80 percent chance of receiving an effective or excellent education. Those are pretty good odds,’’ states CPE chair Barbara Shaner.
The numbers used by the CPE come from state report card results released in August by the Ohio Department of Education for the 2006-07 school year. CPE claims that, according to that data, public schools have outperformed charter schools 10 years in a row.
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In Mahoning County, ODE shows that there are 12 charter schools in operation in Youngstown, with more than 2,700 students enrolled. Nine of of those schools are in academic watch or academic emergency. Three have been rated to be in continuous improvement.
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If some charter schools go as many as three to four years in academic emergency, the state pulls the plug and they’re closed. To date, more than 25 community schools are in jeopardy
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‘‘Unfortunately, charter school students are more likely to be worse off this year than they were last year, according to an analysis of ODE data. Of the 213 charter schools that received report cards in each of the last two years, more moved down in the ratings than up — 68 received a lower rating this year,’’ the CPE’s release states.
Analysis by OEA and CPE states that, ‘‘Among economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities, those attending traditional schools performed better than those enrolled in charter schools on all 28 of the state tests.’’
1. Demolition has been ordered by the Director of Buildings and Inspections for public safety because of an unsafe or dangerous condition which constitutes an emergency. See Section 741-21(c)..
2. The owner can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Historic Conservation Board that the structure cannot be reused for any use or a reasonable economic return from the use of all or part of the building or from the sale of the property proposed for demolition cannot be realized. See Section 741-13(h)(2).
3. The owner is a non-profit corporation or organization and can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Historic Conservation Board that the denial of the application to demolish would also deny the owner the use of the property in a manner compatible with its organizational purposes and would amount to a taking of the owner’s property without just compensation. See Section 741-13(h)(3).
4. The demolition request is for an inappropriate addition or a non-significant portion of a building and the demolition will not adversely affect those parts of the building which are significant as determined by the Historic Conservation Board
Families and Urbanism in Cincinnati