Emmy Award-winning Feagler & Friends is a lively, weekly half-hour television discussion of local and national issues impacting lives in Northeast Ohio. Hosted by award-winning journalist and former Plain Dealer columnist, Dick Feagler, Feagler & Friends explores the various issues behind today's news. With a changing ensemble of "friends" ranging from journalists to community and political leaders, Feagler & Friends takes on issues from many different perspectives. Always entertaining and never boring, Feagler & Friends is the program for people "in the know" in Northeast Ohio.

Friday, August 28, 2009

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ideastream®'s Rick Jackson sits in this week for Mr. Feagler

Newsmakers—Joe Regano, superintendent, Solon City Schools; Steve Farnsworth, superintendent Hudson City Schools. Public school systems got their report cards for the 2008-09 school year, and among the districts in northeast Ohio, no one rated higher than Solon and Hudson. Both met all 30 state standards for student performance and both improved their scores from last year. They were rated “excellent—with distinction,” along with a number of other northeast Ohio districts. But their scores on a relatively new ‘performance index’ set them apart from others. We’ll talk with them about how they did it.

Roundtable—Mark Naymik, politics reporter, The Plain Dealer; Scott Stephens, senior reporter, Catalyst Ohio.

School Report Cards—Cleveland schools were among the more poorly-performing urban districts. Cleveland and Dayton were in ‘academic watch’ while other urban systems rated ‘continuous improvement’, a notch above. Officials in Cleveland say their plan for improving the district is producing signs of progress not obvious in the school report card ratings.

Mayor’s Race—Mayor Frank Jackson faces four challengers in the September 8th Cleveland mayoral primary. Former city councilman Bill Patmon is on the ballot along with Kimberly Brown, Laverne Jones Gore and Robert Kilo. Patmon and Jones Gore, along with Jackson, have political experience. Kilo is the only white candidate in the race. Jackson, who’s seeking a second term, has a clear edge in fund-raising and name recognition. The top two vote-getters in the primary will face off in the November election.

Senator Edward Kennedy—Tributes are pouring in for Senator Edward Kennedy, who died this week at the age of 77. He was the last surviving member of the overachieving issue of Joseph and Rose Kennedy. He served 46 years in the Senate and might have followed his brother John to the White House if not for the Chappaquiddick Island incident in 1969 in which Kennedy drove his car off a bridge, causing the death of a passenger.

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