Most of Ohio’s 608 school districts got Cs, putting them right in the middle in the state’s latest report cards.This year’s report cards from the Ohio Department of Education are the first to feature an overall letter grade - there were 28 As, nearly all in wealthy districts, and 14 Fs, nearly all in urban areas. The average was a C, with slightly more Bs than Ds. When charter schools are added in, the chart changes, with the most common grade a B. But 280 more schools got As, and 295 more schools got Fs.
The candidates for governor released more details about their plans if they’re elected – Democrat Rich Cordray unveiled his education plan, a week after Republican Mike DeWine unveiled his. And the campaigns also have confirmed that DeWine and Cordray will debate three times – the first set for next week at the University of Dayton. They’ll also meet in Marietta on October 1 and finally at Cleveland State University October 8.
These next few weeks are not just busy for the candidates, but they’re crunch time for Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections. Not only are they prepping for a statewide election where on average, a little over half of Ohio’s 7.9 million registered voters will turn out. But they’re also working on cybersecurity assessments for the Secretary of State, who has set aside about $5 million of $12 million dollar in federal money the office has received to complete those by October 15. Karla Herron from the Delaware County Board of Elections and Ed Leonard from the Franklin County Board of Elections talk about that.
A dozen high-tech ideas for fighting the opioid crisis have each been awarded $200,000 from Ohio’s Third Frontier fund. The winners were picked in a contest announced last year - the winning 12 include apps and web-based services to link people to support services and to prevent relapse, ways to screen and monitor for opioid abuse, and equipment to help with opioid withdrawal. Among those winners are Brian Carrico with Innovation Health Solutions, Abraham Joy with University of Akron, Philip Payne with Apportis and Dr. Eric Beck with University Hospitals in Cleveland. The awards came out of a contest to award $20 million that Gov. John Kasich announced in his State of the State speech last year. And if the next governor continues the contest, the final winners of a million dollars each will be announced in July.