Week in Review 04-22-2022

CORONAVIRUS

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Thursday reported 6,890 new COVID-19 cases for the week, up from 4,808 during April 8-14. Hospitalizations also rose from 317 to 428, while weekly ICU admissions dropped from 29 to 19 and deaths fell from 100 to 94. According to the Ohio Hospital Association (OHA), there are currently 311 total hospital patients with COVID-19 and 47 ICU patients, compared to 314 hospital patients and 38 ICU patients on April 14. 

EDUCATION

Kurt Russell, a history teacher at Oberlin High School, was named the 2022 National Teacher of the Year Tuesday by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). Russell was named the 2022 Ohio Teacher of the Year in September 2021 and it was announced that he was in the running for the national honor earlier this year. Born and raised in Oberlin, Russell is in his 25th year in the classroom at Oberlin High School, where he teaches a number of history courses, including African American history; U.S. history; International Baccalaureate History of the Americas; and Race, Gender and Oppression. Russell said he was inspired to become an educator in middle school when he had his first Black male teacher.

Gov. Mike DeWine joined with 17 of his GOP contemporaries from states across the U.S. this week in objecting to proposed criteria for sizable charter school grants distributed by the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE). The governors argue the proposed rules create “substantive barriers” to charter school openings and shift the focus away from creating “high quality” seats. They also said the proposals include major changes without adequate engagement with school leaders and parents. Ohio received a state entity grant in 2015, though early efforts to put it into action were hobbled by a scandal over state ratings of charter school sponsors. Meanwhile, ODE said it has received permission to spend that 2015 award beyond the original five-year grant period.

A Franklin County judge denied a request from Groveport Madison Schools to block the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) from enforcing a provision of the biennial budget that penalizes districts that regularly can’t meet their obligation to transport private and charter school students. Meanwhile, Columbus City Schools recently filed a similar lawsuit in Franklin County, assigned to a different judge, to challenge the provision of HB110 (Oelslager). Under the budget language, ODE can determine if a district has had a “consistent or prolonged period of noncompliance” with the obligation to provide transportation to students who live in the district but attend other schools. In such cases, ODE is to deduct the daily share of the district’s state transportation funding for each day of non-compliance.

GOVERNOR

Bills signed by the governor during the week include the following:

HB126 (Merrin) To require local governments that contest property values to formally pass an authorizing resolution for each contest and to notify property owners.