MARIETTA On National Teacher Appreciation day, a bid to reach competitive revenue and pay for Marietta City Schools’ staff failed at the ballot box. Tu
jpatterson@mariettatimes.com Argyle Clarke leans in to hear Jack Hansis check her in to vote at the First Church of the Nazarene in Marietta on Tuesday. Photo by Janelle Patterson
Whipple residents check in at the First Church of the Nazarene to vote in Marietta Tuesday. Photos by Janelle Patterson
Miles Mallett, right, leans in to take a bite out of aunt Jana Millerâs vote on the Marietta City Schools earned income tax levy Tuesday at the Marietta Township Recreation Center.
Photos by Janelle Patterson
Miles Mallett, right, leans in to take a bite out of aunt Jana Millerâs vote on the Marietta City Schools earned income tax levy Tuesday at the Marietta Township Recreation Center.
jpatterson@mariettatimes.com
Screen capture courtesy of The Ohio Channel
Fort Frye Local Schools Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Starcher testifies before members of the Ohio House of Representatives this week.
By Janelle Patterson
Staff Reporter
“We wouldn’t do this in medicine, we wouldn’t do this in business, so why are we doing this in education?” asked Dr. Stephanie Starcher, Fort Frye Local Schools superintendent, as she explained deficiencies in the state’s present public school report card and school accountability system used for public school districts in Ohio.
She was testifying in favor of House Bill 200, a 151-page piece of legislation she helped to write, alongside State Rep. Don Jones, R, of Freeport, as she spoke before the Ohio House of Representatives Primary and Secondary Education Committee this week.
jpatterson@mariettatimes.com
After eight months without a new contract, Marietta City Schools teachers are expected to vote upon a tentative agreement Friday.
But eight months’ delay may not have been negative for either the district or its teachers.
“It’s a two-edged sword,” said Marietta Middle School Choir Director J.D. Benson, who since 2013 has also served as president of the Marietta Education Association, the teacher union for the school system. “I’m kind of glad that we waited this long, that we took this process all the way out until now because had we just accepted a deal … in October, well, the financial outlook was very bad.”