I spent the first day of spring, last Friday, weeding my back yard flower beds. Let that sink in, because this is North Dakota. We have April showers in May, and May flowers in June. We sometimes have snow in June, too. Weeding my tulips in March is a first.

The tulips have been up for a couple of weeks in my south-facing gardens. The six inches of snow last weekend did not deter their enthusiasm. According to the South Dakota State University Extension Service, tulips close to our shared border usually begin to appear in late March and early April. Mine are early risers this year. I blame the switch to Daylight Saving Time.

My yarrow and hollyhocks have been green and growing for four weeks. The yarrow was a little miffed at the one subzero night a week or so ago, but the hollyhocks merely flattened out and took it in stride. Our friends at the South Dakota Extension Service assure me both of those plant varieties normally sprout in mid-May. Maybe the frequent solar storms and northern lights displays have affected them.

Shortly after that subzero stretch in February, which Katie the Wonder Puppy and I called The Degrees of Despair, the pussywillow began to bud. I cut my first bouquet this past Friday the 13th. And did you know the blossoms are called catkins?

That shrub is only a couple weeks early in blooming. Obviously, like all cats, my pussywillow is indifferent to solar storms, the northern lights, and Daylight Saving Time. When its feet get warm enough, it stretches out and basks in the sun. Wild catnip has, however, sprouted near the pussywillow’s trunk. I suspect some deep-rooted drug dependency at work there.

But, weeds? There is wild horseradish marching across my tastefully scattered scoria chips. There is quackgrass strangling daylilies and yarrow. There are weeds of unknown name towering over my tulips. Actually, I have a name for those weeds, but that name is best kept to myself.

I pulled out one quackgrass clump, and I am pretty sure its far end stretched all the way to Gladstone. It was like pulling one of those string strips from the top of a fifty-pound sack of sunflower seeds. Not that I regularly buy fifty-pound bags of sunflower seeds for the neighborhood birds, or anything.

I was feeling pretty smug last Saturday after I finished all my weeding. I figured I would need to start mowing in a few more days. I began looking at seed catalogs and dreaming of Big Boy tomato plants.

Late Saturday evening Katie and I went outside to take in the fresh air. It was snowing. Gotta love North Dakota.

Jackie Hope is the longest running Dickinson Press contributor and columnist. Hope’s Corner is a weekly humorous column with a message of hope.

Which central Ohio school districts get the most bang for their buck?

On average, school districts in Ohio spend $16,069 per-pupil for education, according to the education think tank Fordham Institute.

However, different district types spend different amounts of money. For example, large urban districts with very high poverty spend around $21,000 per-pupil, but small towns with low poverty spend around $14,900. The district type closest to the state average are those considered rural and high poverty and suburban districts with low poverty.

Aaron Churchill, lead Ohio researcher for the Fordham Institute, said that urban districts – like Columbus City Schools, the state’s largest district – often have higher spending because they can pull more in tax revenue and the state supports them at a higher rate because they are serving a higher proportion of disadvantaged students. Small, high-poverty towns on the other hand, generate less tax revenue from property values and district employee wages, the highest expense for schools, may be lowered by less market competition.

Churchill said schools should be focused on directing their funding toward initiatives that improve student outcomes and achievement.

“It’s making sure we’re focused on quality, we’re focused on performance, and that we’re rewarding performance,” Churchill said. “And we don’t do enough of that in the education system now.”

More: How do central Ohio school districts score on state metrics? See the report cards

Churchill said there is a long-running debate among education researchers about whether increasing spending translates to meaningful results for students. Overall, school funding has increased on average over $2,000 per-pupil since 2015 and reached a record-high in 2025, according to the Fordham Institute.

“You can see in the numbers that we’re spending more than we ever have,” Churchill said. “The real million-dollar question is ‘Can our schools spend the money well?’”

Which central Ohio districts have the best results compared to funding?

The Dispatch compared overall spending per-pupil for central Ohio school districts to the ODEW’s performance index, using 2025 state data.

The Performance Index uses the performance level results for students in third grade through high school on Ohio’s state testing. The Performance Index (PI) score accounts for the level of achievement of every student, not just whether they are “proficient.” Higher performance levels receive larger weights in the calculation, but all achievement levels are included. Overall, the state average of performance scores was 91.8, according to 2025 state data.

The central Ohio school district with the highest spending was Columbus City Schools, which spent $24,505 per pupil and received a PI score of 60.7. The district with the highest PI was Grandview Heights Schools, which received a 106 PI score and spent $21,567 per pupil. New Albany-Plain Local Schools was a close second in PI at 105.1 while spending more than $4,000 less than Grandview Heights at $16,923 per-pupil.

Here’s how central Ohio schools stack up by spending versus achievements on tests, according to the Ohio Department of Education (sorted by highest spending per-pupil):

• Columbus City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $24,505; PI score: 60.7
• Grandview Heights Schools – Spending per-pupil: $21,567; PI score: 106
• Bexley City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $21,025; PI score: 102.7
• Dublin City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $18,702; PI score: 97.6
• Worthington City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $18.573 ; PI score: 94.3
• Madison-Plains Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $17,646; PI score: 88
• New Albany-Plain Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $16,923; PI score: 105.1
• Westerville City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $16,815; PI score: 89.7
• Olentangy Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $16,780; PI score: 103.9
• Groveport Madison Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $16,236; PI score: 72.6
• Upper Arlington City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $16,282; PI score: 103.6
• Canal Winchester Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $16.154; PI score: 89.1
• Average Ohio school district – Spending per-pupil: $16,069; PI score: 91.8
• Reynoldsburg City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $15,956; PI score: 72.2
• Gahanna-Jefferson City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $15,742; PI score: 89.7
• Hilliard City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $15,694; PI score: 90
• South Western City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $15,600; PI score: 78.5
• Whitehall City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $15,593; PI score: 66.95
• Johnstown-Monroe Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $15,163; PI score: 94.5
• Jonathan Alder Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $14,803; PI score: 95.9
• Pickerington Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $14,470 ; PI score: 90.9
• Big Walnut Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $14,239; PI score: 95.1
• London City – Spending per-pupil: $13,750; PI score: 81.3
• Marysville Exempted Village Schools – Spending per-pupil: $13,608; PI score: 95.5
• Licking Heights Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $13,585; PI score: 85.4
• Hamilton Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $12,971; PI score: 82.2
• Bloom-Carrol Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $12,720; PI score: 90.89
• Licking Valley Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $12,587; PI score: 85

By:Meghan O’Brien

PIERRE, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) — There’s a new name in the South Dakota Hall of Honor at the state Capitol building.

One-hundred-year-old South Dakota native and retired U.S. Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams was celebrated at a Wednesday ceremony where a plaque honoring him was unveiled, although Williams did not attend.

“In spite of being outnumbered and facing incredible danger, Captain Williams engaged the enemy with courage and skill,” said Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden. “Our state has always had a strong tradition of service, and Captain Williams is the very best of that tradition.”

President Donald Trump awarded Williams the Medal of Honor, the country’s highest military honor, at the State of the Union address earlier this year. The medal honors actions by Williams that had been classified for decades.

“His story was secret for over 50 years, he didn’t even want to tell his wife, but the legend grew and grew,” Trump said during the speech in February. “But tonight, at 100 years old, this brave Navy captain is finally getting the recognition he deserves.”

On Nov. 18, 1952, over Korean coastal waters during the Korean War, then-Lt. Williams, from Wilmot, South Dakota, led three F9F Panthers against seven Soviet MiG-15s. He disabled three enemy jets and damaged a fourth.

The Soviet jets, according to the U.S. Naval Institute, were “superior to the F9F in almost every fashion.” The mission was the only direct overwater combat between U.S. Navy fighters and Soviet fighters during the Cold War.

Williams, one of 11 Medal of Honor recipients from South Dakota, now lives in California. The Hall of Honor at the South Dakota Capitol is located in the hallway that visitors enter immediately after going through security.