It is the season for salamanders!

Nicholas Gaye, a naturalist with Lake Metroparks, said Northeast Ohio is home to about 15 species of salamander, each with their own habitat. But one of these species, the mole salamander, has a habitat unlike the others.

“Most of their time they’re spending is actually underneath the ground,” Gaye said.

Mole salamanders emerge once a year during the transition from winter to spring. This yearly migration was the delight of Lake County nature enthusiasts Saturday at the Penitentiary Glen Reservation, where nationalists shared facts about these elusive amphibians, pointing them out and guiding families along the trail.

During these migrations, the salamanders trek to the surface in search of vernal pools, bodies of water that fill with rain and melted snow but dry in the summer and lack fish, the predators of salamander eggs.

Then, after four to eight weeks of development, the baby salamanders will emerge and spend a year or three in that vernal pool until they can survive on land.

If you missed it, don’t worry, because Gaye said the migration typically lasts for a week or two at the beginning of the season, and he expects further opportunities for viewing depending on the temperature. Mole salamanders require moist conditions to travel, so look for rainy and warm nights.

Additionally, he expects that another species, the marble salamander, will undergo its annual migration in the fall.

If you plan to join the hunt, however, Gaye asks for caution.

“As humans, we are stewards to our environment,” he said. “And it’s really important that, when we get out there to enjoy these amazing opportunities, that we’re being respectful and caring towards the critters that we’re coming across.”

Nicole Chaps Wyman

Salamanders are slow-moving, so Gaye said observers should bring a flashlight to avoid stepping on them. Then, if you intend to touch them, he said to avoid anything on your hands that contains heavy metals, such as scented lotions, sunscreen, bug spray, or other products.

“Salamander skin is semi-permeable, meaning things can get through it easily and, if those heavy metals get through, they can really hurt the salamanders,” Gaye said.

Wet hands are also encouraged, as is limited exposure to what, at the end of the day, is considered a wild animal.

Lake Metroparks also has a salamander migration email list, which you can sign up for on their website.

Is the Christian thing to do to turn a blind eye to this tragedy? Would it be to advocate for more money towards a system that is already flush with cash?

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Aaron Baer is president of the Center for Christian Virtue.

Parents deserve options, competition and constitutional clarity — not fearmongering.

A February Dispatch guest column by teachers’ union gadfly William Phillis criticizing the Center for Christian Virtue is a case study in how teachers’ unions attempt to distract and divert the public’s attention away from the education crisis facing Ohio.

Tracking Phillis’ rants can be difficult. But in his piece, he manages to attack the Center for Christian Virtue for advocating for parental choice, goes on a rambling pseudo-legal argument about the First Amendment, and ends with a complete butchering of Jesus’ words. 

What his column never does is address the plight of Ohio’s kids in a failing education system created by the teachers’ unions. Because for Phillis and his friends, this discussion is not about the kids — it’s about protecting their monopoly and the billions of dollars that flow through their system. 

William Phillis: Center for Christian Virtue’s hands are in our purse. It’s not what Christ would do

The numbers don’t add up

This system needs reform from the ground up. And that’s what Center for Christian Virtues’ work is all about. 

At its core, CCV’s education agenda is about expanding opportunity, strengthening parental authority and ensuring more families can access schools that meet their children’s needs.

Through our advocacy for EdChoice and other scholarship pathways, CCV has helped broaden access to nonpublic education for families who previously had few realistic options. 

Critics like Phillis describe this as “diverting” public funds. The numbers tell a different story.

The combined cash reserves of Ohio’s school districts now exceed $10.5 billion, nearly triple what they were just 12 years ago. Yet three out of five Ohio fourth graders are not proficient in math and two out of three struggle with reading, according to the National Center for Education Statistics’ latest report.

Columbus City Schools tells the same story.

In fiscal year 2019, the district enrolled 48,927 students, spent $21,336 per pupil, and ended the year with a $229 million cash balance. By 2025, enrollment had dropped nearly 10% to 43,998. Yet per-pupil revenue rose 8% to $23,166, and cash reserves grew 62% to $372 million.

Despite higher funding and larger reserves, academic outcomes remain troubling: Just 25% of Columbus City Schools eighth graders are proficient in reading, and only 23% are proficient in math.

Simply pouring more money into underperforming public schools and into the political priorities of teachers’ unions has not produced the academic gains families were promised.

We must stop blindly throwing money away

That’s why the Center for Christian Virtues advocates for expanding educational options and fostering healthy competition among schools. This isn’t abolishing the public schools, this is challenging the public schools to meet the needs of families today, instead of just blindly throwing money after the problem. 

Phillis also falsely raises alarms about the separation of church and state. But the constitutional framework governing school choice is well established.

The U.S. Supreme Court made clear in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris that Ohio’s school voucher program is constitutional and that scholarship programs driven by private parental choice do not violate the First Amendment.

More broadly, Center for Christian Virtues’ education advocacy extends beyond vouchers. Through the Ohio Christian Education Network, we help communities launch new schools where demand is strong and equip educators with operational support to serve families seeking alternatives.

We also protect the religious liberty of Christian schools while expanding access to Gospel-centered education for Ohio families who choose it.

Yet what Phillis gets most wrong is his use of scripture to try to silence Center for Christian Virtues and our Ohio Christian Education Network. 

We cannot stay silent

Jesus commands his followers to “love our neighbors as ourselves,” and to care for the “least of these.”

So, as Christians, when we see a generation of American children suffering at the hands of an education establishment that is getting more money than ever and producing worse results, we cannot stay silent. 

Research from neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath revealed that Generation Z is the first generation in American history to perform worse academically than the previous generation.

Is the Christian thing to do to turn a blind eye to this tragedy? Would it be to advocate for more money towards a system that is already flush with cash? 

No. As Christians, we serve a God who cares for the “orphan, the widow, the stranger.” He loves those forgotten about by society. And there are few more overlooked today than the kids in our schools who are being starved of the educational opportunity our state has promised to provide them. 

Phillis seems upset that Center for Christian Virtues is growing and having success helping families find better schools. While he continues to call us names and criticize our work, we’ll stay focused on helping kids.

It’s what Jesus would have us do. 

Aaron Baer is president of the Center for Christian Virtue.