GOP presidential candidate Donaled Trump visits Canton

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump greets supporters after his speech at the Canton Memorial Civic Center, September 14, 2016.

(John Kuntz, cleveland.com)

Trump gets more good polling news. Cleveland schools get bad news. And John Boehner lands his dream job. Read more in today's Ohio Politics Roundup, brought to you today by cleveland.com's Andrew J. Tobias.

Suffolk poll finds Trump up in Ohio: It's been a good week for the Donald Trump campaign. A Bloomberg-sponsored poll released on Wednesday showed him with a five-point lead over Hillary Clinton in Ohio. And a CNN/ORC poll later in the day showed him up four.

Well, a new poll released Thursday by Suffolk University showed Trump up on Clinton, 42 percent to 39 percent.

The results are well within the poll's 4.4 percent margin of error, but Trump's repeated strong showing in other polls conducted during the same time period bolsters the Suffolk poll's credibility. An interesting finding: asked who they thought would win, 45 percent of voters said they thought Clinton would win, while 37 percent said Trump. That number was 20 percent in other battleground states the university had previously surveyed.

The perception of who will win and lose can have a powerful effect on voter behavior, which could explain some of Trump's increased standing in the polls.

Nate Silver flips Ohio for Trump: The polling guru's FiveThirtyEight.com had projected Clinton's chances of winning Ohio as high as 80 percent on Aug. 14. But on Thursday, the website flipped its prediction for the first time since late July. The website's polls-only model now gives Trump a 57 percent chance of winning Ohio, with its polls-plus model (which factors in the economy and historical data) pegs Trump's chances at 59 percent.

Why Democrats shouldn't freak out: Put most simply, plenty of things can change between now and Nov. 8. Trump's improvement in the polls isn't surprising, given the traditional tightening of the race that happens around Labor Day as voters begin to pay closer attention.

The most recent polls were also conducted during a damaging period for Clinton, when media attention focused on her "basket of deplorables" comment before skipping forward to coverage of her near-collapse at a Sept. 11 event. There's likely plenty of gas left in the tank of possible negative news cycles for Trump, and his electoral path to the White House is still tough. Finally, the race remains volatile as a large percentage of voters remain undecided.

On the other hand, Trump's recent performance shows that he is still in this thing, despite earlier indications. It remains to be seen whether Clinton is bottoming out. Moving on...

#Millennials, Pt. 1: Chelsea Clinton appeared in suburban Columbus on Thursday to tout her mom's college debt plan, cleveland.com's Jeremy Pelzer writes.

"Speaking to about 100 supporters at a newly opened Clinton presidential campaign office, Chelsea Clinton said that unlike ... Donald Trump, her mother "actually has plans" to address student debt," Pelzer writes. "Hillary Clinton has proposed a plan that would allow students from families making up to $85,000 per year to attend a four-year public college or university tuition-free. Trump hasn't released a plan on the issue, though one of his advisers said Trump wouldn't support debt-free college."

#Millennials, Pt. 2: The Clinton campaign will send a pair of high-profile surrogates to at least one Ohio university this weekend to try to mobilize young voters, according to cleveland.com's Mary Kilpatrick.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will campaign in Canton, Akron and Kent on Saturday, while Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren will campaign in Columbus on Saturday, and in Cleveland on Sunday.

Both will promote Clinton's college-debt plan, among other topics.

Kasich heads to White House, temporarily: Ohio Gov. John Kasich will join President Barack Obama and others Friday at the White House for a "bipartisan strategy session" to promote passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership - a trade deal that has become a key issue in this year's election, writes cleveland.com's Henry J. Gomez. Kasich is the most notable Republican on the guest list.

Dream job: Former U.S. Speaker John Boehner has a new gig, according to USA Today's Deidre Shesgreen.

"Former House Speaker and unrepentant smoker John Boehner has joined the board of tobacco giant Reynolds American Inc," Shesgreen wrote. "The former West Chester GOP congressman is widely known for his cigarette habit -- he generally smokes Camel Ultra Lights, which are made by Reynolds -- as well as his close ties to the tobacco industry."

State report card slams Cleveland schools: The Cleveland Metropolitan School District, in the throes of a levy renewal campaign, got some not unexpected bad news on Thursday, The Plain Dealer's Patrick O'Donnell writes.

"The Cleveland school district was slammed with straight Fs on new state report cards released this morning, even crashing in the one report card measure that would offer some hope of improvement," O'Donnell wrote.

"The poor grades come as the district seeks a renewal of a giant tax increase that voters passed in 2012. In the campaign for that tax, Mayor Frank Jackson and district CEO Eric Gordon promised improvements and told voters to reject a renewal if the district did not show progress," O'Donnell wrote.

Cleveland was one of seven schools to receive an F.

School spin: In a statement to O'Donnell, CMSD CEO Eric Gordon said: ""The results, while disappointing, are not unexpected. Scores have dropped statewide after the state changed its tests for the third time in three years and again raised the thresholds for proficiency."

Cleveland wasn't alone: Schools across Ohio saw their grades drop after the state, due to a combination of state testing changes and increased expectations, according to O'Donnell.

"For the 2013-14 school year, the state awarded 37 A grades for Performance index," O'Donnwell writes. "This year? Just two."

Click away: Cleveland.com's Rich Exner compiled the state report cards into a searchable database for the 608 schools districts that received a grade.

Poverty down, wages up in Ohio: New numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau show Ohio's median income rose by 3.5 percent while its poverty rate fell by 1 percent last year, according to the Columbus Dispatch's Alan Johnson.

The changes mirror a national trend.

Feds deem Ohio 'high risk': The U.S. Department of Education is releasing a $71 million charter-school grant to Ohio, but not without some strings attached, the Columbus Dispatch's Jim Siegel writes.

"Federal officials are requiring the Ohio Department of Education to hire an approved, independent monitor to oversee the state's use of the funds and implementation of special conditions placed on the grant. Specific federal approval will be required each time money is spent," Siegel wrote.

The extra scrutiny comes after questions were raised over the application of the state's grant application. School-choice official David Hansen, who drafted the application, resigned last year after it emerged that he had omitted failing grades from state charter school sponsor evaluations.

Buzzkill: Cleveland City Council this week imposed a one-year moratorium on granting licenses to medical marijuana businesses here, cleveland.com's Leila Atassi reports.

"The city ordinance was introduced at Monday night's council meeting and says that council needs more time to figure out how to handle licensing and how such operations would affect the city's overall land use plans and public safety," Atassi writes. "The piece has been referred to council committees, the finance department and the City Planning Commission for review."

In other weed news: Medical marijuana advocates are warning Ohioans to look out for scams plaguing the nascent industry, according to cleveland.com's Jackie Borchardt.

Wake me up in December: Cleveland.com's Jeremy Pelzer in a Thursday piece explored why Ohio's congressional races will be a "snooze fest" this year.

Here's a sneak peek: Pezler's number one reason is gerrymandering by Republican legislators who drew the congressional district lines. Click here to read more.

Mrs. Taylor goes to Washington: Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor was among the state insurance officials who criticized Obamacare in testimony before a U. S. Senate committee on Thursday, cleveland.com's Steven Koff writes.

Trump's dilemma: Trump may find himself in a political pickle when he goes to Norman, Oklahoma this Saturday for a fundraiser before the Ohio State / Oklahoma football game, the Associated Press reports.

"Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin will serve as honorary chair for the reception, which is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday," according to the AP. "The location of the event has not been disclosed, but a fundraising email indicates it is within walking distance from the game that kicks off at 6 p.m. at the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium."

Media reports indicate it's not known whether or not Trump will attend the game.

Whom will Trump root for? If he goes, hopefully he'll make the right choice. Go Bucks!

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