Deadline passes for Children’s Health Insurance Program
The clock is ticking for local childrenwhoarecoveredthrough the Children’s Health Insurance Program, whichCongress missed the offifficial deadline to renew.
The 20-year-old federal program covers children fromfamilies that don’t qualify for Medicaid but still need assistance covering health insurance. The remaining money for the insurance program for children will run out in Ohio around the fifirst quarter of next year if Congress doesn’t pass new funding for it, and then the statewould be obligated to pay those health bills.
Ohio combines CHIP andMedicaid, thoughKaiser Family Foundation, which tracks health care data, says Ohio CHIP enrollment breaks out to 223,583 in fiscal year 2016.
Congress missed the Oct. 1 deadline to extend CHIP, though theHouseEnergy andCommerce Committee is now is working
have school-age children.
“We’re trying to engage voters — families and young professionals — to seewhat’s going on with the school board and howthey can get moreinvolvedandhelpmake achange,” Youngsaid.“Votes on the local level impact their day-to-day lives a lot more than people realize.”
Briana Snyder, chair of the YWCA’s advocacy committee, said education issues are important to theYWCA’s mission of eliminating racism and empowering women. She said schools are an intersection of race and gender issues, fromeducating disadvantaged children, to disparities in school discipline, to salaries for a largely female teaching staff.
The event is free and open to the public, with doors opening at 5:30 p.m., and the programbeginning at 6 p.m. People cansubmitquestions for the candidates now at http://updayton.socialqa. com. The deadline to register to vote in November is Oct. 10.
Candidates speak
The school board candidates have already participated in a handful of public forums. Last week, at an event hosted by the Dayton UnitNAACP, they gave opinionsonstudentachievement, athletic eligibility and creating better classroom learning environments.
Rhynard said DPS must rebuild trust by tracking whether its slewof new programs are effective. Jones called for DPS to be flexible enough to make annual changes rather than trying a 5- or 10-year plan.
Bradley said the board should set a more professional tone and be more student-focused in its decisions. Wick-Gagnet pushed for a layered response involving social services in schools and a focus on early-grade reading. Al-Hamdani said DPS needs to rebuild pride in the district, starting with leadership at the top.
Lacey, the lone incumbent in the race, focused on classroom teaching, saying he would support a tax levy if it helped pay to retain good teachers. Gallin talked about better teacher training and support, to change how teachers connect with students. Harris was not present at the event.
Most of the candidates were against DPS’ new policy allowing students to be eligible for sports with a GPA as low as 1.0. Gallin said shewas offended, Bradley called it “totally wrong” and Wick-Gagnet said district leaders “failed.”
The discussion was almost entirely about the“message” the policy sent, with little comment on the functional impact — whether the mandatory tutoring and study tables would help low-performing student-athletes or not.
Jones and Rhynard were more in the middle on the issue. Jones asked people to thinkof studentswithout parents at home to push them, who might be impacted by positive mentors. Rhynard called it a “safety net” for the few studentswho needed it.