Cleveland Plain Dealer

Call it a merger. Collaboration. Hyper-regionalism. Whatever the label is, it's becoming clear that change is in store for Northeast Ohio's public universities.

Xinming Tong, a native of Changchun, China , sits in her classroom where she teaches Mandarin Chinese at St. Joseph Academy. The private girls high school hired Xingming Tong,

A Montessori high school is on track to open in University Circle next fall, though it won't have a permanent home for at least three years.

Public school districts cannot make parents pay for all-day kindergarten, according to an opinion issued by Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann.

Fliers announcing this month's Evanston Township High School homecoming dance carry the warning: "salacious or inappropriate dancing"

While schoolchildren have been on summer break, the State Highway Patrol has been doing its homework.

The performance of Ohio's charter schools has more peaks and valleys than a Cedar Point roller coaster.

The highly touted single-gender academies opening later this month in Cleveland haven't made much of a splash yet with parents.

Engineering student Trista Bailey, 22, of Purdue University hooks an air accumulator on a hydraulic bike during the Chainless Challenge sponsored by Parker Hannifin Corp

8,000 applied across the state
The state won't mail out acceptance letters for another couple of weeks, but it appears at least twice as many students as last year will start getting Ohio EdChoice vouchers for private-school tuition this fall.

Tougher actions, drop in students fail to cut crimes
Serious crimes rose a bit in Cleveland schools the past year despite beefed-up security and tough talk from school officials. The number of crimes reported at schools increased from 2,388 to 2,408, according to the district.

Parents in Geauga County's Cardinal School District dole out $400 so their children can play on the high school football or wrestling teams. Golfers have to pay $350 to tee up. Even cheerleaders pay a price - $310 to shake those pompoms all year long.

Ohio's college campuses are home to one of the largest divides in academia. And it's all over the paycheck. Few workplaces provide as clear a picture of the difference that separates pay in the public and private sectors as the one that plays out across the state in labs and lecture halls.

The much-heralded tuition freeze for Ohio's public university students, included in the state budget approved by the House and Senate this week, has a small caveat. It's for undergraduates only.

Despite what officials call a historic drop in property tax collections, the Cleveland School District could be on solid financial footing for at least the next two years, said James Fortlage, the district's chief financial officer.