TOLEDO – On this episode of TFP Weekend, Toledo Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Romules Durant sits down for a wide-ranging conversation on issues from the district level to education at large.
On its latest state report card, TPS received two out of five stars from the state, with challenges including early literacy and graduation, among others. With regard to early literacy, Dr. Durant says “We are one of the only urban districts to not have universal pre-K,” adding, “the United States is one of the only industrialized countries to not support early childhood education in the way they do in other places.” He says there are nearly 10,000 kids in this area who are eligible for pre-K — but only around 3,000 are being served.
Among the other challenges facing the district is chronic absenteeism. TPS’ current rate is 38.9 percent, though Dr. Durant says it was higher in the years that directly followed the pandemic. As a result of COVID-19 concerns, he says, “people started to look at school as not necessarily being mandatory and treated it that way.”
Asked about the relationship between TPS and the state, and if the district is receiving the support it needs, Dr. Durant pointed to funding. He said legislators in Columbus, by not following 2020’s Fair School Funding Plan in the last budget cycle, left “Toledo Public Schools with a 24 million-dollar deficit that we have to balance.”
An ongoing debate about education, not only in Ohio but nationwide, has been school vouchers: if students should be able to take the dollars supporting their education at a public school to a private one. On the question of if private school vouchers can coexist with traditional public school funding, the superintendent said, “If you’re going to allow it, to have it coexist, then it should coexist on the same playing field.”
He said, “I’m all for school choice,” but added that private schools should be subject to the same scrutiny as public districts, including assessments and transparency requirements.
Outside of the challenges that face TPS, Dr. Durant says the district’s ‘magnet’ schools — schools that have a specific career focus — are yielding positive results. He also has optimism about the future of the years-long partnership between TPS and the University of Toledo. The district is transforming the university’s former Scott Park campus into educational and recreational facilities.
Another issue covered in this ‘TFP Weekend’ episode was socioeconomic factors, and how they affect the lived experiences — and in turn, performance — of students. To hear more on that, and other matters, listen or watch the full interview at our YouTube and Spotify channels.
*Edited by Stephen Zenner; special thanks to the Toledo Tech Loft for use of their space to produce this podcast episode.
