The Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Lawmakers should narrow Ohio’s teacher licensure grade bands

Mon, 06/08/2026 - 09:40

Three years ago, warnings about potential teacher shortages dominated education headlines. Ohio policymakers, determined to alleviate concerns, included in the state budget a number of provisions aimed at bolstering the teacher workforce. Unfortunately, one of those well-intentioned provisions could soon have a negative impact on teacher preparedness and student achievement. Before the 2023 budget changes, the law required Ohio educators to obtain a teaching license in one of three grade… Read More

Gadfly Bites 6/8/26—Web surfing

Mon, 06/08/2026 - 09:39

News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. You have been warned. More discussion of student transportation to start the week. First up is the (strongly district-centric) view from public media in Cincinnati, where we learn that nearly 1,000 non-district charter and private school students were declared “impractical to transport” by the district and given payments between $607 and $1,214 as recompense. That does not seem like enough to get a kid… Read More

School districts run roughshod over Ohio’s unused facilities law

Fri, 06/05/2026 - 12:23

Amid plunging enrollment and budgetary woes, Ohio’s urban districts have moved to permanently close dozens of school buildings. Rightsizing their physical footprint is a necessary step, but in so doing, districts are skirting legal provisions requiring them to offer buildings to public charter schools. These violations of state law—the intent for sure, if not the plain lettering—demand legislative action that ensures compliance with state requirements. As a policy refresher, districts must… Read More

Ohio Charter News Weekly – 6.5.26

Fri, 06/05/2026 - 12:21

Stories featured in Ohio Charter News Weekly may require a paid subscription to read in full. Big changes needed in Ohio transportation While this story focuses on dozens of private school students being declared “impractical to transport” by an Ohio school district, charter school leaders and families everywhere will find its details all-too-familiar. What’s interesting is that the district’s difficulty in accommodating that private school’s bell schedule is put forward as proof positive… Read More

Gadfly Bites 6/5/26—Clips that ridicule themselves

Fri, 06/05/2026 - 10:53

News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. You have been warned. We start today by noting the arrival of every Ohio superintendent’s favorite time of year. No, silly; not that. Double-dip season is finally upon us! (Cleveland.com, 6/3/26) All I have to say in response to this story—discussing a pending bill to dissolve the neglected and rotting carcass of Academic Distress Commissions here in Ohio—is ahahahahahahahahahaha!! But really, that’s… Read More

What we’re reading: June 5, 2026

Fri, 06/05/2026 - 09:00

WHAT WE’RE READING Financial pressure from falling enrollment is layering on top of other costs beyond districts’ control, ranging from rising gas prices to GLP-1 prescriptions upping health care plan costs. “More than half of the country’s 50 largest school districts are poised to or already have made cuts, or are facing a reported deficit,” writes Lily Altavena in Chalkbeat. There’s more to this story, though, as state funding and local property taxes are up in many areas. As Marguerite… Read More

Cheers and Jeers: June 5, 2026

Fri, 06/05/2026 - 09:00

CHEERS Leadership Preparatory Charter School, a K–8 school in Memphis, partnered with Teach Like a Champion to create an adapted math program that better served students struggling post-pandemic. Valissia Allen, the school’s founder, calls the arrangement “teacher autonomy with guardrails,” with teachers following the state-approved curriculum but gaining flexibility in how to deliver materials in their classrooms. Bri Hatch reports on the school’s success, where “nearly 44 percent of students… Read More

A second wind for standards?

Thu, 06/04/2026 - 00:03

Let me acknowledge up front that I may be grasping at straws or (to shift analogies for the second time) forgetting the ancient maxim that sighting one or two swallows doesn’t necessarily mean summer has arrived. But recent weeks have brought a few encouraging signs that the decades-long effort to kill academic standards in the name of equity has wreaked enough havoc and that something of a counter-movement can be glimpsed. Most recently, hundreds of University of California faculty, mostly… Read More

How can states and systems help teacher preparation programs with the science of reading?

Thu, 06/04/2026 - 00:02

For the last several years, as more than 40 states have invested in evidence-based literacy instruction, national attention has understandably focused on the K–12 implementation efforts that have the most direct impacts on students, including widely discussed change efforts like that in Mississippi. Yet as these efforts have gained steam, a gap has become increasingly noticeable: Beginning teachers who are entering classrooms for the first time are often unprepared for the literacy practices… Read More

Mixed-achievement math classrooms are a net negative

Thu, 06/04/2026 - 00:01

It’s much disputed in England whether grouping students by achievement level or mixing them together is a more effective strategy for teaching in secondary schools. This practice resembles achievement grouping in the U.S., particularly when done in specific subjects like math. In a new study, researchers from several UK universities evaluated these two student grouping practices in mathematics. The sample included year 7 and year 8 (aged 11–13) students in non-selective state secondary schools… Read More

The bogus “state disinvestment in public schools” narrative

Wed, 06/03/2026 - 13:16

At the May school board meeting, Columbus City Schools’ treasurer Ryan Cook made an impassioned argument that the State of Ohio has “disinvested” in public education. After cataloguing all the evils inflicted by legislators onto public schools, including (heaven forbid) reducing state taxes and expanding educational choice, Cook showed a slide that he seemed to believe was the coup de grâce. “I think this is just a powerful chart... This chart here clearly shows that legislative disinvestment… Read More

Gadfly Bites 6/3/26—VAP(idity) on parade

Wed, 06/03/2026 - 10:46

News stories featured in Gadfly Bites may require a paid subscription to read in full. You have been warned. I don’t know how your summer concert plans are shaping up, but here’s something fun you might consider: Ohio’s EdChoice haters are going on tour! Honesty for Ohio Education’s got a new Voucher Accountability Project (VAP) underway which, as we learn from Laura Hancock, is going to host townhall meetings throughout the state starting soon. While the organization says the main point of… Read More

Broad support, barely funded: The paradox of advanced education in America

Wed, 06/03/2026 - 04:30

For every dollar states spend on K–12 education, less than half a penny is earmarked for advanced learning. This surprising finding comes from our recent study of K–12 education spending in the U.S., generously supported by the Carina Initiative. This low-level of support is ironic because, for the first time in recent memory, interest in advocating for advanced education feels on the rise. At both the state and federal levels, advocates are making the case that rigorous learning should be the… Read More

Wisconsin’s Teacher Union Strength Profile

Tue, 06/02/2026 - 08:34

This profile is one of 51 state profiles accompanying Fordham’s report, A Crowded Table: Teacher Union Strength in 2026, which updates Fordham’s 2012 rankings of state teacher union strength. Drawing on the latest publicly available data and a new survey of K–12 stakeholders in all fifty states and the District of Columbia, researchers Melissa Arnold Lyon, Sandy Frost Waldron, and Rebecca Jacobsen find that the education policy landscape has become increasingly crowded and contested over the… Read More

Virginia’s Teacher Union Strength Profile

Tue, 06/02/2026 - 08:32

Mississippi’s Teacher Union Strength Profile

Tue, 06/02/2026 - 08:30

North Carolina’s Teacher Union Strength Profile

Tue, 06/02/2026 - 08:27

Tennessee’s Teacher Union Strength Profile

Tue, 06/02/2026 - 08:25

Oklahoma’s Teacher Union Strength Profile

Tue, 06/02/2026 - 08:11

Arkansas's Teacher Union Strength Profile

Tue, 06/02/2026 - 08:09