State support for higher education slowly increasing but still lags, report says: Higher Education Roundup (Cleveland.com) – Ohio was among 30 states that saw an increase in higher education spending for 2013. However, spending levels in Ohio are still short of the 2008 pre-recession benchmark, and for now only 3 states have passed their ’08 spending figures. It will still be a few years for higher education to fully recover from the impacts of the recession.
Ohio jobless rate lowest since April 2008 (Dayton Daily News) – Ohio’s unemployment rate for March of 6.1% is the lowest rate Ohio has seen in the past six years. Job growth for 2014 has been slow but steady across all industries except the public sector.
Spring-break tutoring in reading draws few 3rd-graders (The Columbus Dispatch) – Last week six community rec centers hosted 2 hour long tutoring sessions to help 3rd graders prepare for a retake of the reading portion of the Ohio Achievement Assessment on May 7. Attendance was surprisingly low considering over 2,000 students will be held back if they do not pass the test either this time or over the summer.
Students fiercely compete at annual SkillsUSA Ohio Championships (The Columbus Dispatch) – Last week 2,500 high school students met to compete across 85 technical specialties ranging from hairdressing and brake alignments to firefighting and web design. The competition gives students a chance to show off their skills in front of potential employers (the judges) and encourages students to pursue technical training courses during high school.
