Monday, April 20th, 2026

Welcome to Monday’s edition of The Pennant. To listen to this newsletter, click the “Listen Online” link in the top right corner of this email.

A report has come out on how many ICE deportations have been made in Ohio. Find out the number in the Top of the Fold.

Also, find out the deeper cause of high absentee numbers within school districts in our Education section.

Many towns in Ohio are trying to slow or stop the construction of large data centers, while supporters say the facilities bring in tax revenue and jobs.

Communities are using temporary bans, zoning changes, and public meetings to have a say in whether data centers get built in their neighborhoods.

More on this story here.

The Pennant examines Data Centers in Ohio in tomorrow’s editorial.

From October 2025 through March 2026, ICE deported more than 1,300 people living in Ohio, according to government data analyzed by WVXU, Cincinnati's NPR news station.

Nationally, ICE is on track to carry out more than 460,000 removals this fiscal year, nearly 45% more than last year, according to researcher Austin Kocher's Substack analysis of federal data. 

For more on this story, click here.

A coalition called Ohioans to Protect Public Services is warning that eliminating property taxes would gut funding for schools and public safety, while supporters of the amendment say the current system is already crushing homeowners who have seen bills jump as much as 34% in recent years.

The Committee to Abolish Ohio Property Taxes is gathering signatures to get the measure on the November ballot, with both sides agreeing that change is needed but sharply divided on how far to go.

For more information: WOIO Cleveland | Ohio Society of CPAs | 13ABC

As early literacy rates continue to fall and math proficiency edges only slightly upward, Ohio's academic struggles are compounding a more fundamental problem: students aren't showing up.

Chronic absenteeism — missing at least 10% of instructional time for any reason — affects 1 in 4 Ohio students, according to the 2024-2025 state report card. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce warns that the issue stunts both academic and social-emotional development. Chronically absent students are three times less likely to read proficiently, nearly four times less likely to be math proficient, and almost 12 times less likely to graduate on time.

The problem isn't new, but it got dramatically worse after COVID-19. In 2018-2019, 16.7% of Ohio students were chronically absent. By 2021-2022, that figure peaked at 30.2%. The state has since recovered to 25.1%, but experts say pandemic-era norms around skipping school for minor illness, travel, or scheduling conflicts have never fully reversed.

Ohio is now fighting back with better data. On April 15, Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce Director Stephen Dackin unveiled the Statewide Attendance Dashboard at Attendance.Ohio.gov, making Ohio only the second state in the country to offer weekly attendance updates. The tool lets schools, families, and community members track absenteeism by district, building, and grade level, with the aim of catching problems early.

Data alone won't fix it. In some high-need schools, educators are already taking a hands-on approach — calling families, sending cards from classmates, and even arranging transportation for students who cannot get to school on their own.

For more on this story, go here and here.

Congratulations, parents. Your freshly minted graduate has just announced they need time "to find themselves" before college. Translation: they want to spend the next year discovering their inner poet while you discover your inner doomsday prepper.

Here's the math nobody posts on Instagram. 

One year at an Ohio four-year university runs around $30,000 — before textbooks, student fees, and the psychoanalysis required to understand your tuition bill. That buys 365 days of late-night pizza, a seminar on Post-Colonial Narrative Identity, and a double minor in Futon Orientation and Advanced Journaling. Framed diploma not included.

Or — wild idea — your kid could join a pre-apprenticeship program through a reputable trade association, learning what it takes to become an electrician, plumber, or HVAC technician. Plot twist: they get paid while doing it.

Starting pay runs $23–$30 an hour. That's $1,200 a week — learning a skill that AI can't replace, which, to be clear, is the opposite of what college is increasingly offering.

Nothing screams self-discovery quite like hauling conduit in 90-degree heat — shirt soaked by 8 a.m., forearms all tan lines and callouses, a radio playing a song you'd never admit to knowing all the words to — while a fat direct deposit hits every Friday.

By year's end: money in pocket, zero student debt, and a clearer sense of identity than any Jungian theory seminar could provide. Turns out you find yourself faster when a foreman is watching.

So, when little Aiden announces he needs "space to figure it all out," hand him a hard hat and directions to the nearest trade association. Real growth happens when the alarm rings at 5 a.m., and the only safe space is the break trailer with the good vending machine.

Trade programs don't offer a climbing wall or a mixology elective. But they come with dignity, direction, and dollars — three things a liberal arts degree delivers in about fourteen years, if the job market cooperates.

Sometimes finding yourself means discovering you're perfectly capable of paying your own way. One sweaty, unglamorous conduit run at a time.

Do you believe in aliens?
- Yes, and they've visited Earth - 20%
- Yes, but they've never visited Earth - 20%
- No - 60%

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