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Ohio schools have new way to tackle chronic absenteeism

“Every minute counts,” Heather Dodd, director of pupil services for Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools, told WKYC-TV at the start of the school year. “If your child’s late to school, those minutes count. If they have a doctor’s appointment, those minutes count. They all count towards chronic absenteeism.” Surprised? Ohio law changed this year, and parents will have to be aware that not only are schools keeping a much closer eye on chronic absenteeism (and doing a better job communicating with parents on the matter), but they are also tracking it in hours — not just days. ...

College admission tests make much-needed return

Did you know that the SAT is racist? During Woke I, as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez now calls it, “antiracists” said the SAT’s creators “were avowed eugenicists.” No wonder black people get lower scores. Even if the test isn’t racist today, it still gives unfair advantages to white kids because their parents are more likely to afford SAT tutoring. My new video shows anti-SAT ads from activist groups like FairTest that said, “Real learning is not standardized, so why judge children just by test scores?” During Woke I, FairTest won. Most colleges stopped ...

Thirst for fame can prove deadly

The tragic deaths of Hayden Panettiere and Jason Arday can be tied to the same phenomenon. It’s not new but has accelerated in today’s influencer culture: youth’s hunger for fame. Panettiere was an accomplished actress who, buried in depression and addiction, died from an apparent drug overdose at 36. Arday was a serial fabulist who talked his way into becoming the youngest black professor at Cambridge University. When his fabrications came crashing down around him, he took his own life. “Fame is the thirst of youth,” the poet Byron wrote over two centuries ago. He asked ...

Orchids & onions

ORCHID: To the Board of Mahoning County Commissioners for recently allocating $60,000 of federal opioid settlement funds toward hiring a mental health professional for the county’s jail. That “navigator” will serve as a liaison among jail staff, inmates and the county court system. He or she will ensure that court officials are informed of mental-health challenges prisoners face and to determine what resources they need, particularly to avoid reincarceration. Given that local and county jails have effectively become de facto mental health hospitals for many inmates, the potential ...

For the love of God, don’t allow children access to your guns

No parent in his or her right mind would allow a child to play with a chainsaw or a blowtorch. Even the thought of allowing children access to dangerous tools like those or others is ridiculous. But some parents and guardians of young children continue to leave guns within easy access of those they are supposed to protect. We read about the bloody results of that carelessness or indifference or watch it on TV all too often. On Aug. 15, 2025 — almost exactly one year ago — a 3-year-old boy in Struthers died when he got his hands on an unsecured handgun and accidentally shot ...

Why can’t we fix the oil problem?

“We are the United States of America and there is nothing we can’t do if we do it together.”- President Joe Biden I am not in the habit of favorably quoting the former president, but he was right when he said this. Why, then, are we still beholden to Iran and Saudi Arabia for so much of our oil needs? A Wall Street Journal headline says: “Gulf States are Resigned To Iran Control of Strait (of Hormuz).” Must we also be resigned to an unending dependence on Middle East oil? Presidents since Jimmy Carter have said we must overcome that dependence and loosen their grip on our ...