Ohio News

130th Ohio General Assembly: The Ohio House and Senate will hold sessions and committee hearings this week.
The Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Lehner, will meet on January 22, 2014 at 4:00 PM in the South Hearing Room, and receive testimony on HB111 (Duffey/Stinziano) State Universities-Student Board Members; HB342 (Brenner/Driehaus) Straight A Program; and SB167 (Tavares) School Policies-Inappropriate School Policies-Inappropriate Behavior.

The House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Stebelton, will meet on January 22, 2014 at 5:00 PM in hearing room 313. The committee will receive testimony on HB304 (Hayes) Public School Facilities Access; HB58 (Gerberry) State Board of Education Membership; HB158 (Brenner/Patmon) Nonrefundable Tax Credits-Nonpublic Schools; and HB343 (Stebelton) Educational Programs-Non High School Graduates.

State of the State Address: Governor Kasich's office announced last week that the annual "State of the State Address" will be delivered at the Medina Performing Arts Center, Medina, OH on February 24, 2014. The Ohio House and Senate voted last week to approve the change of venue from the Ohio Statehouse. The governor is also expected to introduce the Mid Biennium Review budget in February.

More Ohio News

Legislative Update

• HB193 (Brenner) High School Graduation: The House Education Committee approved HB193 several weeks ago, but the bill has not come up for a floor vote in the Ohio House. The bill would change the testing requirements for high school graduates and the time line for implementing new graduation exams. The proposed changes differ from recommendations approved by the State Board of Education in November 2013. See the report for the State Board of Education's Legislative Budget Committee in #3 below for more details.
• The Ohio House passed last week HB171 (McClain/Patmon) which permits public schools to adopt policies that allow students to attend and receive credit for release-time courses in religious instruction conducted off school property during school hours.
• The Ohio House also passed HB342 (Brenner/Dreihaus), which permits an educational service center to partner or be a lead applicant for the Straight A Program. 

Ethics Complaint Filed: According to Doug Livingston, reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal, a complaint filed with the Inspector General's Office in December 2013 against State Board of Education member C. Todd Jones has been forwarded to the Ohio Ethics Commission. The complaint was filed by Sally Roberts, former president of the Ohio Association for Gifted Children. It asks for an investigation of Mr. Jones' work as a lobbyist and president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio, and his engagement on the State Board in the development of rules and policies regarding dual enrollment and post-secondary options programs. His involvement in these rules could be a "conflict of interest", because the colleges and universities, who he represents, are financially compensated when students enroll in these programs.

See "Ohio Ethics Commission Receives Complaint About State School Board Member", by Doug Livingston, Akron Beacon Journal, January 16, 2014. 

National News

Congress Approves Appropriations Bill: The U.S. House and Senate approved last week the Fiscal Year 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, H.R.3547, a $1.1 trillion appropriations package to fund federal programs through September 30, 2014. 

The bill was sent to President Obama to sign on January 17, 2014. It includes $70 billion for K-12 education, $8.6 billion for Head Start, and $2.4 billion for Childcare and Development Block Grants. Although the bill includes increases for some K-12 programs, overall federal funding for education is $739 million below FY13 levels. The new spending plan would go into effect for the 2014-15 school year. 

The bill also includes $146 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, $146 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities, $226.86 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services; and $445 million for Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The following is a summary of FY14 appropriations for some federal education programs. The increases noted are over FY2013 levels:

• Arts in Education: $25 million
• Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act: $5 million. This program has been defunded since 2011. 
• Head Start: $8.6 billion, an increase $1 billion. Head Start lost 57,000 slots during the sequestration.
• Early Head Start: $500 million 
• Child Care and Development Block Grants: $2.4 billion, an increase of $154 million
• Title 1 Grants to Districts: $14.4 billion, an increase of $624 million 
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act grants to states: $11.5 billion, an increase of $497 million
• National Center for Special Education Research: $54 million, an increase of $7 million
• Impact Aid: $1.3 billion, an increase of $64 million
• Career and Technical Education: $1.1 billion, an increase of $53 million
• Teacher Quality State Grants: $2.4 billion, an increase of $12 million
• Teacher Incentive Fund: $288 million, an increase of $5 million
• State Assessments: $378 million, an increase of $9.1 million
• Investing in Innovation: $141 million
• School Safety Programs: $140 million, an increase of $28 million
• School Improvement Grants: $505 million. No change in funding from last year, but the bill changes some requirements of the program, and provides schools and districts with more flexibility regarding strategies to improve low performing schools. Schools would also be able to receive grants for up to five years rather than three years in current law.
• Race to the Top Early Learning: $250 million
• Promise Neighborhoods: $56.7 million
• 21st Century Community Learning Centers: $1.2 billion, an increase of $57.8 million 
• First in the World (higher education): $75 million
• Charter School Grants: $248 million, an increase of $6.6 million

The work is not over. Congress now must begin work on FY 2015 appropriations, which will start after President Obama outlines priorities for education in the annual "State of the Union" address scheduled for January 28, 2014. The Obama administration will submit its budget request for FY15 in February 2014.

See "Boosts for Head Start, Title I, Special Education in Federal Spending Bill" by Alyson Klein, January 13, 2014 at Education Week Politics K-12 Blog.

See "FY 2014 Omnibus - Labor, Health, and Human Services and Education Appropriations" House Appropriations Committee.

NEA Posts Common Core Lessons: The National Education Association and BetterLessons announced on January 15, 2014 a new online website for lessons aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The website, CCBetterLessons, includes over 3,000 lessons developed by master teachers in math and English language arts. The lessons include videos, classroom activities, samples of student work, and step by step instructions. The developers of the site expect to add more lessons in the future. 

The lessons are available.

2013 Bunkum Awards Presented: The National Education Policy Center (NEPC) announced recently the 2013 Bunkum Awards, a "tongue in cheek" recognition of the "lowlights" in educational research over the past year. This is the 8th year that NEPC has given the awards to national think tanks, foundations, and researchers who publish reports and studies based on "weak data, shoddy analyses, and overblown recommendations." The term "bunkum" means "nonsense". It was coined around 1820 in Buncombe County, North Carolina. There Representative Felix Walker delivered such a meaningless and endless political speech "for Buncombe", that the term began to be used to describe something that is "nonsense." Since that time the spelling of the word has changed to bunkum.

NEPC is awarding the Bunkums this year to the following organizations and researchers:

The "Do You Believe in Miracles Award" goes to the Public Agenda Foundation for Failure is Not an Option: How Principals, Teachers, Students and Parents from Ohio's High-Achieving, High-Poverty Schools Explain Their Success. This Ohio-based report receives the Bunkum for claiming, without supporting research or data, that certain school-based practices, such as engaging teachers, leveraging a great reputation, being careful about burnout, and celebrating success, can overcome the impact of poverty on student performance. 

According to NEPC, "A particularly egregious disservice is done by reports designed to convince readers that investment in disadvantaged communities can be ignored. In this increasingly common mythology, students' substandard outcomes are blamed on teachers and schools that don't follow the miracle-laden path of exceptional schools."

The "We're Pretty Sure We Could Have Done More with $45 Million" Awardgoes to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their Measures of Effective Teaching Project (MET). The MET project, which cost $45 million, studied the effects of teacher observations, value-added test scores, and student surveys on teacher effectiveness. Unfortunately the researchers found "...correlations so weak that no common attribute or characteristic of teacher quality could be found. So in the end, they could not define an 'effective teacher." 

The "It's Just Not Fair to Expect PowerPoints to Be Based on Evidence Award" goes to superintendents Elliot Smalley of Tennessee's Achievement School District and Patrick Dobard of the Louisiana Recovery School District. They earned their Bunkums for making presentations in Milwaukee about the "successes" of their districts "....with only a veneer of evidence and little substance backing the claims made." 

The "Look Mom! I Gave Myself an "A" on My Report Card Award" goes to three organizations that created "...a grading system that reflects the unsubstantiated policy biases of the rater while getting as many people as possible to believe that it's legitimately based on social science."

Receiving awards in this category are (second-runner up) StudentsFirst for their State Policy Report Card; (first runner-up) the American Legislative Exchange Council for Report Card on American Education: Ranking State K-12 Performance, Progress, and Reform; and (grand-prize winner) the Brookings Institution for The Education Choice and Competition Index and for School Choice and School Performance in the New York City Public Schools.

The National Education Policy Center (NEPC) sponsors research, produces policy briefs, and publishes expert third-party reviews of think tank reports. Their goal is to provide high-quality information in support of democratic deliberation about education policy. NEPC is housed at the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Education.

See Bunkum Awards 2013.

Integrity in Education: Katie Ash reports for Education Week's Charter & Choice Blog that a new advocacy group for public schools, called Integrity in Education, will work to expose connections between K-12 public education and for-profit companies, and counter voices promoting free-market reforms for education, such as StudentsFirst and Chiefs for Change. Integrity in Education is headed by Sabrina Stevens, a former teacher and staffer for the American Federation of Teachers. The group has already filed a Freedom of Information Act to investigate ties between the U.S. Department of Education and for-profit education companies.

See "New Advocacy Group Seeks to Expose Corporate ties to Ed. Department", by Katie Ash, Education Week, January 14, 2014.

State Board of Education

The State Board of Education, Debe Terhar president, met on January 13-14, 2014 in Columbus. The board discussed the following topics:

District Consolidation: The State Board of Education received a presentation on January 13, 2014 regarding the proposed consolidation of the Berkshire and Newbury local school districts in Geauga County. The last time that school districts in Ohio consolidated was in 1988. 

According to the Ohio Revised Code there are several ways for school districts to consolidate. The provision that the two school districts have selected to follow, Section 3311.37 ORC, requires the State Board to conduct a study of the proposed merger and adopt a resolution recommending the consolidation. The resolution needs to be adopted by June 2014, so that the two school districts can place the consolidation issue on the November 2014 ballot for local voters to decide. The General Assembly also has to adopt a concurrent resolution recommending the consolidation.

Berkshire Superintendent Doug DeLong and Newbury Superintendent Richard Wagner told the board that declining enrollment and finances have threatened educational opportunities for students, such as AP courses and all day Kindergarten. The combined enrollment of the districts is 1,500 students, which is projected to drop to 1,200 by 2018. Both boards of education have approved resolutions to consolidate. 

President Debe Terhar directed the Capacity Committee, chaired by Tom Gunlock, to add this issue to their agenda.

Straight A Fund Update: The State Board received a presentation about the first round of grants that will be funded through the Straight A Fund, a new grant program included in HB59 (Amstutz) Biennial Budget. Dr. Susan Tave Zelman, who oversees the program for the ODE, described the selection process for the 24 projects that will receive grants totaling $868 million. The common themes among the projects selected are expanding the use of technology in learning, expanding STEM opportunities, increasing access to postsecondary options, and increasing partnerships and collaborations. Presenting to the board were representatives of grant recipients from Kelley's Island, Dayton Early College Academy, Cincinnati Public Schools, Princeton City Schools, Marysville Exempted Village School District, Northern Local School District in Perry County, and James A. Garfield Local Schools in Portage County.

Value-Added Update: Jim Mahoney, Executive Director, and Jamie Meade, Managing Director, Strategic Measures, Battelle for Kids, presented to the board an overview of what teachers and administrators should know about the value added methodology used in Ohio to identify student academic growth. Battelle for Kids began working with the SAS EVAAS MRM Model in 2001 to develop a multivariate model to quantify student academic growth, inform professional development, and raise student achievement. The presentation included an explanation of the components of the model, known as the "mean gain model", which looks at the average growth of a group of students compared to 2010 base-line data. 

Achievement Committee: The Achievement Committee, chaired by C. Todd Jones, approved a resolution to adopt reading competencies for teachers, as required by Senate Bill 21; approved a resolution of intent to adopt proposed amendments to Rule 3301-51-01 to 11 and 3301-51-21, Operating Standards for Children with Disabilities; and discussed proposed amendments to Rule 3301-46-01, Innovative Education Pilot Program. 

Senate Bill 21, which became law in 2013, requires the State Board to adopt by January 31, 2014 reading competencies for teachers who want to earn a reading endorsement or become licensed in Ohio to teach reading. The law requires that the competencies include phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, appropriate use of assessments, differentiated instruction, and selection of appropriate instructional materials and application of research-based instructional practices.

Once the competencies are adopted, the law also requires the ODE to incorporate the competencies into ODE's approved list of credentials and training programs beginning July 2014; incorporate the competencies in licensing exams for teachers in grades K-3 and grades 4-9 beginning July 1, 2017; and incorporate the competencies in reading endorsement programs by July 1, 2016. The Board of Regents is required to incorporate the reading competencies into teacher preparation programs by July 1, 2016. 

Committee member Ann Jacobs also asked about the status of rules known as "Operating Standards for Identifying and Serving Gifted Students", which the Achievement Committee narrowly approved in November 2013. The standards were approved without a provision that requires schools to spend state allocated funds for gifted education on gifted education programs. Some board members want to amend the rules to include the spending provisions, but questions have been raised about the authority of the board to include the spending rules in the operating standards, after Governor Kasich vetoed certain budget language in HB59 (Amstutz) Biennial Budget that required school districts to spend state funds to identify and serve gifted students.

President Terhar announced in December 2013 that further board action on the operating standards for gifted would be delayed until a representative from the Attorney General's office has an opportunity to address the concerns of the board about the impact of the governor's veto on the funding components of the rules for gifted education. 

Ms. Jacobs told the committee that the State Board has the authority to adopt standards regarding the distribution of public monies that the legislature has appropriated for public schools, and should move forward with amending and adopting the gifted standards. 

Capacity Committee: The Capacity Committee, chaired by Tom Gunlock, discussed three items:  

• The Educational Testing Service's Praxis Teaching Reading: Elementary Education Exam. The exam is being used to qualify teachers to teach reading under the Third Grade Reading Guarantee. Four states are currently using the exam. So far 290 Ohio teachers have taken the exam, and 96.6 percent have passed.
• The Resident Educator Summative Assessment (RESA) is a performanced-based assessment that is part of the Ohio Resident Educator Program. Nearly 3300 resident educators have completed the first of the five tasks that are required by the exam. 
• The ODE will begin a review of the Ohio Assessment for Educators (OEA) Licensure Exams. The new teacher licensure exams were implemented in September 2013. The pass rates set by the State Board for the exams will be reviewed by the Capacity Committee starting in February 2014.

Chairman Gunlock also announced that the committee discussed the process that will be used to consolidate the Berkshire and Newbury local schools. Members of the Capacity Committee plan to visit the districts and meet with residents to discuss the consolidation as part of the requirement that the board conduct a "study" of the merger. 

Urban and Rural Committee: The Urban and Rural Renewal Committee, chaired by Dr. Mark Smith, discussed three items: 

• Cornell Lewis, director of the Columbus-based Expanding Visions Foundation, told the committee that his mentorship program has worked with 65 students, and all of them have graduated. He is currently working with an additional 71 families. The committee would like to expand the program statewide, and set-up a clearinghouse for other districts to use to address barriers to learning.
• Pam Vanhorn, director of the ODE Office of Improvement and Innovation, shared an analysis of school improvement data for the 2012-2013 school year. An analysis of the performance index found that priority schools made the most gains. These are schools in the lowest five percent of student achievement. Focus schools also made gains on the performance index.

Operating Standards Committee: The Operating Standards Committee, chaired by Ron Rudduck, met on January 14, 2014 and continued to discuss the format of "operating standards", which are Ohio Administrative Code Rules 3301-35-01 through 15. 

John Richard, Senior Executive Director for ODE's Center for Accountability and Continuous Improvement, explained that the ODE staff has produced a document that shows what a web-based operating standards could look like if the standards only reflected administrative code and references to the Ohio Revised Code were eliminated. He said that what is being proposed will "drastically" reduce the content of the standards in print, but what will happen is the standards will be reorganized not deleted, and some of the standards might be combined. The ODE staff will also start discussions with IT about what the web site design will look like.

The committee reviewed a power point prepared by Chairman Rudduck that explained how the new operating standards would include three parts: administrative code rules (operating standards); a guidebook for best practices, recommendations, etc. for how to run a school; and an interactive clearinghouse, which would link operating standards to the Revised Code and other relevant links to the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Administrative Code. This format would allow the operating standards to be revised more frequently, rather than just every five years. The revised rules would also include additional topics, such as blended learning and safety.

The committee also reviewed proposed changes for Rule 3301-35-04 Student and Other Stakeholder Focus. The revisions reflect the direction that ODE staff is taking to remove all references to Ohio Revised Code and reorganize the content. 

The revisions of the operating standards are now expected to be completed sometime in the summer, but probably won't be approved by the Board until the end of 2014 and implemented in 2015.

Legislative Budget Committee: The Legislative and Budget Committee, chaired by Kathleen McGervey, received an update about legislation passed during the first half of the 130th General Assembly and an update from Kelly Weir, Executive Director of the Office of Legislative Services and Budgetary Planning, about HB193 (Brenner).

HB193 was approved by the House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Stebelton, in December 2013, and is pending in the House. It makes a variety of changes related to the number and type of assessments that Ohio students will be required to pass in order to graduate. The provisions in HB193 differ from the State Board's recommendations for new graduation tests in the following ways: 

• Delays implementation of the new assessments to replace the Ohio Graduation Test for two years from 2017 to 2019.
• Extends some deadlines, but the Ohio Department of Education still cannot meet some of the new deadlines in the bill, such as the requirement that the ODE compile a list of alternative end of course exams, and meet a deadline that requires the State Board to adopt rules to develop a corresponding score of equivalence for all of the end of course exams. The ODE has expressed their concerns about the deadlines with lawmakers.
• Proposes five end of course exams rather than the ten exams recommended by the State Board. The five exams include one in English language arts; one in mathematics; one in American history; one in American government; one in science; and two optional exams in English language arts and math, if districts choose to offer them.
• Permits schools and districts to form consortia to purchase and administer "equivalent end of course exams", and requires that the schools/districts be reimbursed for the cost of administering the equivalent exams in lieu of the state assessments. The ODE is concerned about the cost of developing and implementing state end of course exams when students in some districts might not take them. And, reimbursing school districts for the cost of the alternative exams would mean that the state will be paying twice for the exams. 
• Allows schools to pick multiple exams for the same subject area. The ODE has told the House and Senate that this action could create validity issues regarding the value added measure on the local report card.
• Proposes other pathways for students to receive a high school diploma, which could be less rigorous. 
• Allows students to earn course credits by passing an end of course exam at a certain grade level, even if they did not take the course. The State Board considered a similar idea, but recommended that a study be conducted to examine how this concept would be implemented fairly, and determine some rules.
• Requires the ODE to create by June 30th a model process for selecting text books, electronic text books, and other educational materials.
• Requires the ODE to conduct a survey to assess the capacity and readiness of schools and districts to implement online assessments. The ODE has made available a tool that school districts can use to determine their readiness to administer the new exams online. Information populated on the tool is then sent to the ODE, which has technical experts to work with districts on IT issues. However, some school districts have not used the tool, and so the ODE doesn't know how many districts cannot implement online exams.
• Requires the ODE to conduct a comparison study of assessments for grades 3-8. The study would compare results for the consortia assessment and a non-consortia assessment based on certain criteria. The State Board would be required by December 31, 2014 to select an assessment. The ODE has a concern that it would not be able to meet the deadline for this requirement. -Permits schools and districts to administer online or paper pencil assessment. 

Accountability Committee: The Accountability Committee, chaired by Tom Gunlock, discussed two items: the gifted indicator/dashboard and K-3 literacy data. 

Chris Woolard, Director of Office and Policy and Research, presented information about the development of the gifted dashboard, which will provide parents with more details about student achievement on the local report card. The ODE is currently putting together a "mock" draft of the gifted dashboard.

Matt Cohen, Chief Research Officer, reviewed the ODE's proposal for the composite gifted indicator. According to the presentation, the ODE proposes that the composite gifted indicator include three measures: the gifted opportunity index, the gifted performance index, and gifted progress (value added). The ODE is recommending a revision to the gifted performance index, which would use the same Performance Index data for gifted students, but compare the progress of gifted students to the progress of non-gifted students in the school or district. The proposal would also require that schools/districts meet the benchmark on all three measures to meet the composite indicator. 

Chairman Gunlock shared a second proposal that would include an array of measures (dashboard) that would be benchmarked and published annually. The dashboard measures could be incorporated into both the performance indicator and ranking system. He suggested that the committee review both proposals, and perhaps create a hybrid that incorporates elements of both.

Chris Woolard also presented preliminary information about K-3 literacy data. Some of the data will be used as K-3 literacy measures on the 2014 local report card. The State Board agreed to use diagnostic assessment results in reading for Kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and the results of the Third Grade Ohio Achievement Assessment to measure K-3 reading improvement.

According to the data, over 100,000 students were reported as having received at least one reading intervention in 2012-13. Out of 25 different types of interventions used to increase student achievement in reading, the top three interventions used are guided reading, phonemic awareness and phonemic decoding, and increased reading time. 

The ODE is also preparing for the implementation of the Prepared for Success Indicator, which will be presented to the board in February 2014, and finalized in March. 

State Board of Education Business Meeting 

Board member C. Todd Jones announced during the full board meeting on January 14, 2014 that there could be further delays in addressing the operating standards for gifted. He has requested an advisory opinion from the Ohio Ethics Commission to determine whether or not there is a conflict of interest if he votes on rules that address dual enrollment and post-secondary enrollment options programs, which are referenced in the operating standards for gifted students. The Akron Beacon Journal reported on January 16, 2014 that a complaint filed by Sally Roberts with the Inspector General's Office in December 2013 against State Board of Education member C. Todd Jones has been forwarded to the Ohio Ethics Commission. The complaint alleges that Mr. Jones has a conflict of interest, because the colleges and universities he represents as a lobbyist and president of the Association of Independent Colleges and University of Ohio, might benefit financially from his position on the State Board.

The "conflict of interest" issue was raised at the December 2013 State Board meeting by board member Mike Collins, who questioned whether or not certain board members, who are employed by colleges and universities, should vote on rules regarding dual enrollment and post secondary options program. Other members of the State Board are also employed by colleges and universities and might have a conflict of interest when voting on certain rules that affect funding for colleges and universities. These include Dr. Mark Smith, who is the President of Ohio Christian University, Darryl Mehaffie, who is a Trustee of Edison State Community College, and Ron Ruddock, who is an adjunct instructor at Xavier University. Rebecca Vasquez-Skillings, recently appointed to the board by Governor Kasich, is Vice President of Business Affairs at Otterbein University.

Questions about "conflicts of interest" regarding certain members of the board, including former member Bryan Williams, C. Todd Jones, and Dr. Mark Smith, were raised in series of articles about the State Board written by Doug Livingston at The Beacon Journal and students at the NewsOutlet at Youngstown State University and published in November 2013. 

As a result of those articles, Bryan Williams, representing the 5th State Board District, resigned from the State Board in December 2013, citing possible violations of state ethics laws, because during his term on the State Board he acted as a registered lobbyist for the Associated Builders and Contractors of Ohio, which conducts business with school districts.

The State Board considered the following resolutions during their business meeting on Tuesday, January 14, 2014:

#2 Approved an Agreement to transfer territory from the Sycamore Community City School District, Hamilton County, to the Indian Hill Exempted Village School District, Hamilton County.

#10 Approved a Resolution to Amend Rule 3301-8-01 of the Administrative Code entitled Payment of Debt Charges Under the State Credit Enhancement Program.

#11 Approved a Resolution to Amend Rule 3301-24-04 of the Administrative Code entitled Teacher Residency.

#12 Approved a Resolution to Amend Rule 3301-26-01 of the Administrative Code entitled Examinations for Educator Licensure.

#13 Approved a Resolution to Rescind Rule 3301-71-01 of the Administrative Code entitled Poverty Based Assistance.

#14 Approved a Resolution to Adopt Reading Competencies for Teachers.

#15 Approved as an emergency a Resolution to Appeal the Darke County Court of Common Pleas decision to reverse and to vacate the State Board of Education's order to permanently deny the three year pupil activity permit of Santiago Anguiano. 

The State Board also received a request to update the Career-Technical Education report card and the criteria for industry credentials, which will be reported as part of Prepared for Success component of the report card. The board approved two motions to move forward with the implementation of these two items.

Under Old Business, board member Tess Elshoff said that she would be bringing to the board for consideration next month a resolution in support of cursive writing.

Under New Business Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Richard Ross, explained to the board that the Columbus City Schools is requesting a waiver regarding student admissions to its magnet schools. The district would like to implement a "limited selective entry" program, which would set aside a certain number of seats for selected student admissions in magnet schools. The State Board must approve this type of waiver. Superintendent Ross said that he will be presenting a resolution to the board next month regarding this issue.

Under Miscellaneous Business Mary Rose Oakar requested information about how new charter schools are approved. Superintendent Ross said that he will prepare some information for the board about this issue.

Bills Introduced

SB266 (Skindell/Lehner) Public Schools-Behavior Intervention: With respect to the use of seclusion and physical restraint on students and positive behavior intervention supports in public schools.

SB264 (Schaffer) Schools-Occupational-Physical Therapists Workloads: Requires the Department of Education to solicit from school districts and educational service centers regular studies of the time spent by occupational and physical therapists on certain activities and to use the studies to determine appropriate workloads.

FYI Arts

A Great Loss: Dr. Elliot W. Eisner, professor emeritus of Art and Education at Stanford University, passed away on January 10, 2014. As a leading researcher and scholar he lectured throughout the world and received numerous honorary degrees and awards. His research focused on advancing the role of the arts in education and developing qualitative research methods. He advocated for a rich school curriculum that includes the arts, because he believed that it is through the study of the arts that children learn critical thinking skills.

He was also a prolific author and published many articles in scholarly journals and several books, including The Educational Imagination (1979), Cognition and Curriculum (1982), The Enlightened Eye (1991), The Kind of Schools We Need (1998), The Arts and the Creation of Minds (2002), and Arts Based Research (2011 with Tom Barone). 

His article, "Ten Lessons the Arts Teach" has probably been presented to more boards of education in support of arts education than any other advocacy message.

See "Stanford Professor Elliot Eisner, Champion of Arts Education, Dead at 80" Stanford Report, January 17, 2014.

Nominations for 2014 Youth Program Awards: The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, invites applications for the 2014 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program. 

The National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award honors out-of-school arts and humanities programs, and celebrates the creativity of America's young people, particularly those from underserved communities. This award recognizes and supports excellence in programs that open new pathways to learning, self-discovery, and achievement. Each year, the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards recognizes 12 outstanding programs in the United States, from a wide range of urban and rural settings.

Recipients receive a $10,000 grant and the opportunity to visit the White House and accept the award from First Lady Michelle Obama. Awardees also receive a full year of capacity-building and communications support, designed to make their organizations stronger. In addition, 38 exceptional youth-focused arts and humanities programs across the United States receive a Finalist Certificate of Excellence. One country each year also receives our International Spotlight Award for a remarkable youth-oriented cultural program.

Applications are due February 10, 2014 and are available.

Democracyworks Essay Competition Now Open: The Educational Theatre Association is accepting student essays for its annual Democracyworks competition. The winning essayist and a chaperone will be awarded a trip to Arts Advocacy Day in Washington D.C. on March 23-25, 2014. 

This year's prompt is "Tell us your SAW (Student Advocacy Works) Story". What advocacy have you done or do you plan to do on behalf of arts education in your school, district, or state and how did it or will it make a difference? 

Competition deadline is February 4, 2014. Information is available.

Arts Education Partnership Symposium March 22, 2014: The Arts Education Partnership (AEP) and the Council of Chief State School Officers will host an Arts in Education State Policy Symposium on March 22, 2014 at the headquarters of National Public Radio in Washington, D.C. The symposium is entitled, "Great Expectations for Learning: The Role of the Arts in Preparing America's Students for College, Careers, and Citizenship." Registration details will be available soon. Contact Laura Johnson at aepforums@ccsso.org for further information.

Study Examines Access and Participation in the Arts: Researchers M. Kathleen Thomas, Priyanka Singh, Kristin Klopfenstein, and Thomas C. Henry, have published a study that examines the variations in arts course offering and rates of student participation based on student-level data from 870 high schools in Texas.

The researchers developed several distinct indices that measure different dimensions of access to education in the arts to identify high schools rich in the arts based on individual-level administrative data from The University of Texas at Dallas Education Research Center (UTD-ERC). 

The researchers first found that there was "no standard definition of what it means to be an arts-rich school", including number and range of arts courses, based on school size, or rates of student participation. 

They also found that high schools offering an extensive number of courses in the arts do not necessarily enjoy high rates of student participation, and high schools fostering high levels of student participation did not necessarily have the resources to offer a wide variety of courses.

The researchers conclude that "Evaluating arts programs along a single dimension, as is common in federal reports and other studies, fails to provide an accurate representation of access to arts education. Any examination of access to arts education should jointly consider course availability and student engagement in the arts. Policymakers can follow our approach and develop similar indices to assess the current state of arts education in their states."

They also urge educators, practitioners, parents, and policymakers to "begin a dialogue about what defines an arts-rich school based on the data elements commonly found in state education databases." The researchers recommend that, "The field needs to determine acceptable thresholds for both course offerings in the arts and rates of student participation".

See "What Constitutes An Arts-Rich School?" by M. Kathleen Thomas (Mississippi State University), Policy Analysis for California Education, January 7, 2014.

See the full report "Access to High School Arts Education: Why Student Participation Matters as Much as Course Availability." Education Policy Analysis Archives, 21 (83) by Thomas, M. K., Singh, P., Klopfenstein, K., Henry, T. (2013).

Vans Kicks-Off Fifth Annual Custom Culture Art Competition for High Schools Nationwide

Vans Custom Culture Inspires Students to Showcase their Creative Talents and Raises Awareness of Diminishing Arts Education; Awards Top Schools with Donations to Support Their Art Programs

In partnership with Americans for the Arts, Journeys and truth®, invites high school art students across the country to take part in the fifth annual Vans Custom Culture, an art and design competition to celebrate student creativity and support arts education. Beginning today, high school art teachers can register for their students to vie against schools across the country to create the most artistic designs using blank Vans shoes as a canvas. The winning school will receive a $50,000 donation for their school art program, and one of the shoe designs will be put into production for sale in select Vans retail stores. 

Vans Custom Culture was created to inspire and empower high school students to embrace their creativity through art and design, and call attention to the fact that school art programs are suffering due to diminishing education budgets. Vans Custom Culture has grown exponentially since its inception in 2010 with 326 schools, growing to almost 2,000 schools expected to participate this year. To date, Vans Custom Culture has reached hundreds of thousands of students and put more than $290,000 back into high school art programs.

Through Feb. 14 at 12:00 noon PST, high school art teachers can register their students for the 2014 competition on the Vans Custom Culture website (vans.com/customculture). Students will be tasked with designing four pairs of blank Vans shoes each to depict one of four themes representing the Vans "Off the Wall" lifestyle: action sports, art, music, and local flavor. 

Vans employees will help select the top 50 schools to be semi-finalists. The public will then have the opportunity to vote for their favorites through the Vans Custom Culture website between April 25 and May 12. The top five schools will move on as finalists traveling to New York City to showcase their designs for celebrity judges and the chance to win $50,000 for their school art program. Vans will also donate $4,000 to each of the four runner-up schools, and another $50,000 to nonprofit partner Americans for the Arts, in support of their work as the nation's leading organization for advancing the arts and art education. 

National retailer Journeys and truth®, the nation's largest youth smoking prevention campaign, are partnering with Vans again for this year's competition and will offer additional award opportunities. Journeys will donate a $10,000 'Local Attitude' award to the school that creates the most compelling 'local flavor' design, and truth® will offer the top 50 semi-finalists a chance to compete for yet another $10,000 award for their arts programs by customizing a skateboard deck illustrating the dangers of smoking.

For information and registration guidelines visit the Custom Culture website atvans.com/customculture. 

Support Music in the House Through Power2Give: Music in the House is a fun afterschool neighborhood choir program for young kids in urban neighborhoods of Columbus who want to sing, and do it with power! Music in the House kids will get to perform publicly, showing their families, friends, teachers, and lots of other people in their community what they've learned to do. Music in the House honors, respects, and celebrates all kids and their abilities, while focusing on families in higher-needs areas of Columbus that too often fall under the public radar. Donor funds will go directly to help pay for artists' fees, apprentice teaching artists/musicians' stipends, materials, sheet music, and other project costs.

There is currently a 1:1 cash match in place through the generous offer of PNC Bank, so every dollar you donate will be doubled! Please click on the power2give link below, and donate what you can to this project now, so kids who want to sing and learn music will have the chance to do it well! Thank you!  

Music in the House! Kids' Choir's Link

Music in the House is a partnership of the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education (OAAE), Columbus Children's Choir, and TRANSIT ARTS, a program of Central Community House. Students receive professional choir instruction after school, in settlement houses located right in the neighborhoods where they and their families live."

WHAT IS POWER2GIVE.ORG? 

•  power2give.org is an online cultural marketplace designed to connect donors and projects. Hosted by the Greater Columbus Arts Council, serving Franklin County
• power2give.org allows non-profit organizations to post and promote arts and culture projects in need of funding and invites donors to contribute directly to projects that are intriguing to them.  
• Power2give.org is devoted to supporting non-profit organizations and encouraging people to help the organizations they love turn their needs into a reality.

Click here to learn more about Music in the House and to Donate online.

June 24, 2013 Arts On Line
Education Update

Ohio News

HB59 Conference Committee Meets: The Conference Committee for Am. Sub. HB59 (Amstutz) Biennial Budget, chaired by Representative Amstutz, met last week to work-out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.

The committee, which includes Representatives Amstutz, Sykes, and McClain, and Senators Oelslager, Sawyer, and Coley, received updates on state revenue forecasts from the Office of Budget and Management and the Legislative Services Commission. State revenue in FY13 could be over previous estimates by $361 to $706 million, but FY14 and 15 revenue estimates are only slightly above previous estimates. The OBM is projecting that after accounting for obligations and refurbishing certain accounts there will be $394 million in uncommitted funds at the end of FY13.

Medicaid expansion is not expected to be included in the budget bill, but tax changes are. (See #4 below) The committee is expected to complete its work by June 24 or 25, 2013. The House and Senate could vote on the bill by June 27, 2013, well before the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2013.

World History Requirement Proposed: The Senate Education Committee reported SB96 (LaRose) High School Curriculum on June 19, 2013. The bill would require students to earn one unit of world history to graduate beginning with students who enter ninth grade for the first time after the law becomes effective.

Currently students are required to complete three units of social studies in order to graduate, including one unit of history and government, which includes one half unit of American history and one-half unit of American government, and two units of social studies. The bill specifies that one of the two units of social studies shall include instruction in the study of world history and cultures from around the world other than that of the United States.

Ohio Senate Approves Bill with Columbus Plan: The Ohio Senate approved on June 20, 2013 HB167 (Grossman-Heard) Columbus Plan. The plan would allow voters in the Columbus City Schools to decide whether or not to create the position of independent auditor and levy additional millage for the district which could be shared with community schools, as determined by the Columbus Board of Education. The bill also includes additional accountability measures for the school district to meet, and allows the mayor of Columbus to sponsor charter schools that would partner with the district.

This Week at the Statehouse
The Ohio House and Senate will hold sessions and committee hearings this week. Lawmakers will be completing work on the state's proposed budget for FY14-15, Am. Sub. HB59 (Amstutz) and finishing-up other legislation in anticipation of the summer recess.

MONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

The Senate Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Senator Schaffer, will meet at 1:00 PM in the Senate Finance Hearing Room and hold an informal hearing on a proposed tax plan introduced last week by House and Senate Republicans. The plan is expected to be included in HB59 (Amstutz) Biennial Budget.

The Conference Committee on HB59 (Amstutz) Biennial Budget, chaired by Representative Amstutz, will meet at 6:00 PM in Hearing Room 313. Amendments are expected.

TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2013

The Conference Committee on HB59 (Amstutz) Biennial Budget, chaired by Representative Amstutz, will meet at 3:00 PM in Hearing Room 313. A vote is possible.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013

The Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Lehner, will meet at 10:15 AM in the South Hearing Room. The committee will consider the appointment by Governor Kasich of Hurt A. Kaufman to the Ohio Board of Regents, and the following bills:
• HB97 (Brenner/Letson) Dyslexia Awareness Month, which would designate October as "Dyslexia Awareness Month."
• HB14 (Pelanda) School Records, Abused, Neglected Child, which would require boards of education, if ordered by a juvenile court judge, to release grades, credits, official transcripts, and other school documents about students who have been, or are alleged to be, adjudicated as abused, neglected, or dependent. These students are usually in foster care, and might have had to move to a different school. School districts currently can withhold school documents for these students, such as transcripts, due to unpaid fees. A vote is possible.
The House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Stebelton, will meet at 4:30 PM, Hearing Room 121. The committee will consider the following bills:
• HB30 (Johnson) Educator Letters of Admonishment: Defines "Letters of Admonishment" that could be issued by the State Board of Education to a licensed educator, and processes that could be used to rescind or seal a "Letter of Admonishment" in an educator's file.
• HB181 (Brenner) Personal Identifiable Information - Student: Prohibits submission of a student's personal identifiable information to the federal government without direct authorization of the local school board. -HB171 (McClain/Patmon) Religious Instruction: Permits public school students to attend and receive elective credit for released time courses in religious instruction conducted off school property during regular school hours.
National News
States Granted More Flexibility: U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued a letter to state school officers on June 18, 2013 informing them that the U.S. Department is open to granting additional flexibility for states that have been granted waivers of certain provisions under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act or are implementing Race to the Top grants.

The letter states that states will be granted on a case by case basis up to one additional year (2016-17) to implement new teacher and leader evaluation systems. States interested in this extension may request this change before September 30, 2013 through the current ESEA flexibility amendment process.

States can also request a one-year waiver that will allow schools participating in field tests of the new Common Core State Standards assessments to administer only one assessment in 2013-14 to any individual student. In Ohio these assessments are being developed by a consortium called the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). This means that students would only need to take the current statewide assessments or the field test assessments. Schools that administer the field test assessments will retain their Federal accountability designations, but will still be required to implement targeted interventions for an additional year during the transition to the use of the new assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards.

The letter is available.

Committees Pass ESEA Reauthorizations: U.S. Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats, and House Republicans have introduced separate legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind Act (2001). The act has been in limbo since 2007 as lawmakers continue to disagree about the federal role in K-12 education and specifically about how to reauthorize various provisions of the act that have become controversial. Both the U.S. House and Senate have passed separate legislation in 2012 to reauthorize ESEA, but the bills eventually died at the end of the session.

On June 12, 2013 the Senate Health, Education, Pension, and Labor Committee (HELP) reported along party lines the Strengthening America's Schools Act of 2013 (SASA) (S1094), sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the committee. The bill is available.

The U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee approved along party lines on June 19, 2013 the Student Success Act (H.R. 5), which would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The bill, which is sponsored by Representative John Kline, chair of the committee, and Representative Todd Rokita, was introduced on June 6, 2013. The Student Success Act is available.

Senate Republicans also have introduced their own version to reauthorize ESEA entitled the Every Child Ready for College or Career Act (S.1101). The bill is sponsored by Senators Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Pat Roberts of Kansas, Orrin Hatch of Utah, and Mark Kirk of Illinois. No hearings have been scheduled on this bill. The bill is available.Tax Changes Big News for the Budget
On June 20, 2013 House and Senate Republican lawmakers unveiled a new tax reform plan that is expected to be included in Am. Sub. HB59 (Amstutz) Biennial Budget this week. The $2.56 billion plan includes an Ohio Earned Income Tax Credit for lower-income Ohioans, a cut in income taxes, and a cut in taxes for small businesses. The proposed plan will be funded by changes in the Commercial Activity Tax, an increase in the state sales tax, elimination of the property tax rollback for some levies, and increases in other taxes. The following is a summary of the proposed tax changes:
• The proposed Ohio Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) would be nonrefundable and equal to five percent of the federal earned income tax credit. Some other provisions currently in law for low income earners would be repealed. (New R.C. 5747.71)
• The income tax cut would reduce rates by 10 percent phased in over three years. There would be an 8.5 percent cut in the current tax year and a 9 percent cut the second year. For tax years beginning in 2015 and thereafter, the reduction would be ten percent. The adjustment in rates due to inflation will be suspended for those three years. These rate reductions are expected to reduce income taxes by $3.2 billion over the three years.
• The proposed tax plan also includes a 50 percent tax cut on the first $250,000 in personal income for small businesses. An estimated 98 percent of small businesses could take advantage of this reduction, which totals $500 million annually.
• To pay for the tax cuts, the plan includes increases to some current taxes and eliminates some current exemptions and rollbacks.
• Increases the state sales tax rate by a quarter of one percent from 5.5 percent to 5.75 percent.
• Decreases the threshold for payment of the Commercial Activity Tax (.26 percent tax rate) from $1 million in annual taxable gross receipts to $500,000.
• Potentially increases local property taxes on new or replacement levies by eliminating the 12.5 percent tax rollback, and tightens the homestead exemption on property taxes for senior citizens.
Currently there is a 10 percent rollback in property taxes for residential and agricultural property (R.C. 319.302) and an additional 2.5 percent reduction in property taxes for owner-occupied residential property. The state reimburses local entities (school districts, local governments, etc.) for tax revenue lost due to the rollback, which is over a $1 billion for schools.

The proposed tax changes would eliminate these rollbacks on new or replacement levies approved by voters after the bill becomes effective, so that tax payers would have to pay the full amount of the property tax, and the state would only reimburse local taxing authorities for revenue lost on existing and renewal levies, which are referred to in the bill as "qualifying levies".

The plan also revises the homestead exemption (R.C. 323.152). Currently the homestead exemption provides a 2.5 percent exemption in property taxes for owner-occupied residential property owners who are totally disabled or at least 65 years old, regardless of the owner's income level.

The bill would eliminate the exemption for owners (65 and older) with annual incomes above $30,000, but exempt those who are currently receiving the deduction.
• Eliminates tax breaks for gambling losses.
• Taxes the sale of "specified digital products", which includes electronic books, digital audiovisual and audio products, but not cable services. Also taxes the sale of magazines, although charitable nonprofit publications would still receive the tax break.
• Expands Ohio's membership in the multi-state Streamlined Sales Tax initiative to collect $20 million in sales taxes for online and catalogue purchases. Currently this tax is not being collected.
• Increases tax rates on little cigars to match the tax rate on cigarette products.
Education Stakeholders Testify Against Rollback Repeal
Representatives from the Ohio Association of School Business Officials, the Ohio School Boards Association, and the Buckeye Association of School Administrators asked members of the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Representative Beck, to remove the proposed changes in tax law that would eliminate the 10 and 2.5 percent tax rollback on residential property taxes and reduce the number of qualified senior citizens who could receive the homestead exemption. The changes are expected to be added to Am. Sub. HB59 (Amstutz) Biennial Budget this week.

The education organizations believe that the proposed tax changes will make it more difficult for school districts to pass future levies, because the proposed tax changes will increase property taxes for unqualified senior citizens, and will increase property taxes for homeowners by 12.5 percent.

The following other concerns with the proposed tax changes were raised:
• further shifts the tax burden for supporting schools from the state to local property owners
• complicates the already very complicated property tax laws in Ohio, which could further confuse tax payers
• establishes different tax rates for the same property
The education organizations also requested that changes in tax law go into effect in 2014 rather than in 2013. Some school districts have already notified their communities that they will be placing levies on the November 2013 ballot, and the proposed changes in law could affect the amount of the levy requests.
Update from the State Board of Education
The State Board of Education, Debe Terhar president, met on June 10 - 11, 2013 in Columbus.

The State Board's June agenda included, among several items, a presentation regarding HB555 Schools; an update about Ohio's Teacher Education program; a discussion about graduation requirements aligned to Ohio's new state assessment system; and the Board's business meeting.

HB555 Section 4 Schools: The Urban Education Committee, chaired Angela Thi Bennett, presented a report to the full State Board entitled Every Child Deserves a Champion, Recommendations for HB555 Section 4 Schools.

House Bill 555 (Stebelton/Butler) was signed by Governor Kasich into law on December 21, 2012. Section 4 of the law requires the State Board to develop a comprehensive statewide plan to intervene and improve persistently poor performing schools and districts, and submit the plan to the General Assembly by August 31, 2013.

Persistently poor performing schools are defined as:
• Priority schools and focus schools as defined by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act waiver issued by the United States Department of Education under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001;
• Schools and school districts that have been in school improvement status as defined by the United States Department of Education for four of the five most recent school years;
• Schools and school districts with performance index scores that place them in the bottom five per cent of schools statewide for three of the five most recent school years; or
• Schools and school districts that have a value-added progress dimension grade of "F" for three of the five most recent school years under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code, as amended by H.B. 555, or the equivalent measure.
The committee found that there are 966 school buildings in Ohio that meet the definition of persistently poor performing schools and would be subject to HB555 Section 4. These schools serve approximately 500,000 students and are located in urban areas (44 percent) and non-urban (56 percent) areas. Most of the schools (61 percent) are located in school districts with Local Report Card (LRC) designations ranging from Excellent with Distinction to Continuous Improvement.

A survey of the schools found that a majority of them have more than 14 percent of students with disabilities and more than 50 percent of students identified as economically disadvantaged. The committee also reported that when asked, the stakeholders in these schools said that they need more resources, services, and supports to address the academic and non-academic barriers to student learning and achievement. The committee also noted that teachers need to become more culturally competent so that they can better understand their students and provide instruction to meet their needs.

The committee developed a plan to address HB555 Section 4 schools and recommends that the interventions and supports outlined in Ohio's ESEA Waiver be extended to HB555 Section 4 schools, and that the committee continue to review the impact of non-academic barriers on student learning and achievement, and identify effective practices in Ohio's LEAs to overcome these barriers. The full Board will vote on the committee's recommendations in July, and submit them to the General Assembly by August 31, 2013.

Graduation Committee Created: State Board of Education President Debe Terhar appointed a new Graduation Committee to develop recommendations to complete Ohio's system of college and work ready assessments and identify new graduation requirements aligned to the state's new assessment system. The committee will be chaired by C. Todd Jones and include Darryl Mehaffie, Angela Thi Bennett, Jeffrey Mims, Senator Peggy Lehner, Representative Gerald Stebelton, Superintendent Richard Ross, and "other stakeholders" including representatives of the Ohio Federation of Teachers and the Ohio Education Association.

Ohio is phasing out the Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT), which students now take in 10th grade. A new assessment system will be implemented aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in mathematics and language arts and state standards in science and social studies. The new assessment system includes 10 end of course exams (EOCs) in the following content areas: physical science, biology, algebra I and II and geometry (or integrated mathematics 1, 2 and 3), English language arts 1, 2 and 3, American history, and American government.

Currently Ohio students must pass all five parts of the OGT in order to graduate. The class of 2016 will be the last class that will be required to pass the OGTs in order to receive a diploma.

The Graduation Committee will need to determine how many EOCs students must pass in order to graduate; what types of assessments (SAT, ACT, IB) could be used to meet the state's graduation requirements; what minimum performance levels will be needed to pass the EOCs; and how these requirements will apply to students in independent private schools, dropout recovery schools, etc.

The committee is expected to complete its work in about six months.

Update on the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES): The Capacity Committee, chaired by Tom Gunlock, received a presentation led by Lori Lofton, ODE Senior Executive Director for the Center for the Teaching Profession, about the experiences of schools piloting the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System framework. The performance component of the framework was piloted in 2011-12 by 139 districts and charter schools and by 13 additional school districts in 2012-13.

Participating in the presentation were teachers, principals, and administrators from the Cincinnati City Schools, Maysville Local Schools, Parma City Schools, and the Auglaize County Educational Academy, Auglaize County.

The presenters were asked to describe for the State Board members the positive aspects of OTES and challenges so far.

Representatives from the schools had positive comments about their experiences and expressed that the OTES system was working. They especially noted how the process increased collaboration among teachers, including teachers from other disciplines, by bringing together teams of teachers to develop student learning objectives. Some teacher teams in the fine arts, for example, contacted teachers in other states to share information about student learning objectives and assessments. Teachers and principals also said that the pre and post conferences between the teachers and evaluators were very helpful and provided teachers with useful information to become better teachers. The results of the evaluations were used to identify areas in which teachers wanted more professional development as part of their growth plans.

The presenters also identified the following challenges:
• Principals in some schools were "crunched" for time as they tried to conduct two observations for all teachers. They recommended that observations/evaluations should not be required each year. One school district determined that a principal could evaluate a maximum of 20 teachers each year, although the school had more teachers than that. One school district considered hiring retired teachers and administrators in the future to conduct the teacher observations, but some teachers said that they wanted to be evaluated by their own administrators, who know the school and the students.
• One school identified logistics, timing, and other internal factors that could be improved to facilitate the teacher evaluations.
• Developing uniform student growth measures across a large district was a challenge for one district.
• Ensuring consistency in teacher evaluations within the district became an issue for one school district in which there were overall higher evaluations posted for teachers in one school compared to the other.
• Several presenters said that the evaluations should use multiple measures and that the percent of the evaluation based on value added is too high, especially when the measure is based on the results of one test. One presenter said that since teachers know their value added score at the beginning of the school year, those who are rated "below expectations" already know that they can only be rated as high as "developing", no matter what they do that year, which is disappointing.
State Board Business Meeting:

Under public participation on agenda items, Dan Dodd representing the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS) requested that the State Board revise or not approve a proposed resolution opposing a HB59 provision that exempts students enrolled in ISACS schools from taking end of course exams. Mr. Dodd explained that students in these private schools already take a national standardized exam, such as the SAT or ACT, which could be used as an alternative exam.

Fifteen witnesses presented to the State Board during public participation on non agenda items. They explained their opposition to the Common Core State Standards, Race to the Top, PARCC assessments, and collecting and sharing data about students. Overall the witnesses raised the following concerns:
• Corporate profits are driving the education reform agenda.
• There is a lack of rigor in the Common Core State Standards.
• The Common Core State Standards are not accountable to the public.
• The Common Core Standards and the PARCC assessments are unfunded mandates.
• Changes made in May 2011 in the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) so that student identifiable data could be shared with authorized representatives of states and local educational authorities and organizations conducting studies will lead to a loss in student privacy.
During their business meeting the Board approved the following resolutions:

#2 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Amend Rule 3301-13-02 of the Administrative Code entitled Administering Required State Assessments at the Designated Grades.

#3 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Consider Confirmation of the West Geauga Local School District's Determination of Impractical Transportation of Certain Students Attending St. Francis of Assisi School, Gates Mills, Cuyahoga County, OH.

#6 Approved a Resolution to Adopt Rules 3301-28-01 to 06 of the Administrative Code regarding Local Report Card Measures and to Rescind Rules 3301-58-01 to 3301-58-03 of the Administrative Code regarding the value-added progress dimension.

#7 Approved a Resolution to Amend Rule 3301-52-01 of the Administrative Code entitled Appropriate Uses of Early Childhood Education Screening and Assessment Information.

#8 Approved a Resolution to Amend Rules 3301-102-01 of the Administrative Code regarding Community Schools.

#9 Approved a Resolution to Adopt Rules 3301-102-10 of the Administrative Code regarding the Academic Performance Rating and Report Card System for Community Schools that Serve Students Enrolled in Dropout Prevention and Recovery Programs.

#10 Approved a Resolution to Adopt Model Curriculum in English language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies with embedded Career Connection Learning strategies for the Purpose of Meeting the Requirements of Revised Code Section 3301.079

#11 Approved a Resolution to Adopt the New Ohio Assessments for Educators (OAE) and Associated Qualifying Scores for Various Ohio License Areas. The 42 new lensing assessments have been developed by Pearson, and include four that assess pedagogy for each licensing level and 38 that assess content knowledge. Implementation of the assessments will begin on September 3, 2013. The passing scores for the exams were developed through a process that involved the Educator Standards Board and the Capacity Committee. The passing scores will be reviewed next April to determine how well teachers scored on the exams, and if they need to be adjusted. The exams will be computer-based and offered at Pearson Professional Centers, educator preparation program sites, and at out-of-state centers. Pearson also provides online preparation tools, such as study guides and practice tests.

#12 Approved a Resolution to Confirm the Tuslaw Local School District Board of Education's Determination of Impractical Transportation of Certain Students Attending Heritage Christian School in Canton, Stark County, OH.

#13 Approved an Emergency Resolution from the Legislative and Budget Committee to support legislative changes regarding the state's graduation requirements. The State Board requested that current law be changed so that students starting the ninth grade after July 1, 2013 would be designated as the first class required to take end of course exams to meet graduation requirements aligned with the new state assessment system, which includes end of course exams rather than the Ohio Graduation Test.

#14 Approved an Emergency Resolution from the Legislative and Budget Committee to oppose a proposed change to Ohio Revised Code section 3313.612 (E) included in HB59 (Amstutz) Biennial Budget to exempt students at certain nonpublic schools from meeting the end of course exam requirements for graduation. The resolution was amended to add that the Graduation Committee will communicate with stakeholders of the Independent Schools Association of the Central States as they work to complete the system of college and work ready assessments.

Following the business meeting, Board member Mary Rose Oakar (District 11) shared some concerns raised by parents in her district about a student choking incident at a school and the lack of supervision of students eating lunch at some schools. She was assured that the Ohio Revised Code requires that schools supervise students during lunch and that adults supervising students at lunch be trained in the Heimlich maneuver. President Terhar requested that Superintendent Ross investigate this complaint.

Board member Sarah Fowler (District 7) requested that the State Board of Education conduct a discussion about the Race to the Top grant, the Common Core State Standards, and the PARCC assessments, and how they fit together.
Supporting Classes in the Humanities and Social Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences, released on June 19, 2013 a report entitled The Heart of the Matter. This report includes ways to support humanities and social sciences in American classrooms. The report responds to a request from Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia), and Representatives Tom Petri (R-Wisconsin) and David Price (D-North Carolina) about the loss of instructional time in school for humanities and social sciences as a result of increased testing in math, English language, and science.

According to the report, humanities and social sciences are "...the heart of the matter, the keeper of the republic-a source of national memory and civic vigor, cultural understanding and communication, individual fulfillment and the ideals we hold in common."

To ensure that Americans have the intellectual framework and context for understanding and thriving in a changing world the report recommends the following:
• Educate Americans in the knowledge, skills, and understanding they will need to thrive in a twenty-first-century democracy by supporting literacy as the foundation for all learning; investing in the preparation of citizens; increasing access to online resources, including teaching materials, and engaging the public by supporting a "...strong network of schools, museums, cultural institutions, and libraries that engage the public in humanities and social science activities."
• Foster a society that is innovative, competitive, and strong, by increasing investment in research and discovery for the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, and other relevant agencies; communicating to importance of research; creating cohesive curricula to ensure basic competencies; strengthening support for teachers of the humanities and social sciences through a Humanities Master Teacher Corps to complement the STEM Master Teacher Corps; and encouraging all disciplines to address the challenges this nation is facing regarding clean air and water, access to food, health, energy, and universal education.
• Equip the nation for leadership in an interconnected world by promoting language learning; expanding education in international affairs and transnational studies; supporting study abroad and international exchange programs for undergraduates; and developing a "culture corps" to "transmit humanistic and social-scientific expertise from one generation to the next."
The report is available. Bills Introduced
HB209 (Ramos) Finish Fund: Creates the Finish Fund and the Finish Reserve Fund to provide grants for students who are nearing completion of their bachelor's degrees and display financial need or hardship, and makes an appropriation.

HB211 (Williams) Lottery Profits Education Fund Report: Requires the Director of the State Lottery Commission to prepare a report related to the Lottery Profits Education Fund.

HB215 (Devitis) School Safety: Authorizes a board of education or governing authority of a school to enter into an agreement with a volunteer who is a current or retired law enforcement officer to patrol school premises to prevent or respond to a mass casualty event.

HB216 (Patterson) Indebtedness: Forgives a school district's indebtedness to the Solvency Assistance Fund upon its voluntary consolidation with another district if specified conditions are satisfied.
FYI Arts
Update on the National Core Arts Standards: The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards announced recently that drafts of the next generation of national standards for the fine arts for grades PreK-8 will be available for public review beginning on June 30 and ending July 15, 2013. The draft standards will be available.

Appointment to the Ohio Arts Council: Governor Kasich appointed on June 21, 2013 Emma Scharfenberger Off of Cincinnati (Hamilton County) to the Ohio Arts Council for a term beginning June 21, 2013 and ending July 1, 2014. Ms. Off is a 2011 graduate of the University of Cincinnati College of Law and an associate attorney with Graydon Head in Cincinnati. She was recently elected to the board of trustees of Artworks in Cincinnati.

National Arts Policy Roundtable 2012 Report Released: The Sundance Institute and Americans for the Arts released on June 11, 2013 a report based on the findings and recommendations from the annual National Arts Policy Roundtable (NAPR) discussions led by Robert Redford, Sundance Institute founder and president, and Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. The report is entitled 2012: Leveraging the Remake: The Role of the Arts in a Shifting Economy.

The National Arts Policy Roundtable (NAPR) is convened each year by Robert Redford, founder of the Sundance Institute and Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, to identify ways for the arts to thrive in this rapidly changing society, and ways to advance the arts. Membership of the NAPR changes each year and includes artists, public officials, and private and public sector leaders from a variety of content and geographic areas.

The 2012 NAPR report proposes that, "....the arts can serve as both a model and catalyst for change for a number of the pressing societal challenges which face our nation."

To achieve this goal the report includes the following recommendations to be implemented by leaders in both the public and private sectors:
• Understand our nation's demographic changes and build partnerships across the breadth of diverse America, including ethnic, gender, age, preference, income, and all kinds of diversity.
• Give artists the tools and training to be leaders in their communities and part of the brain trust that helps the country move forward in this new economy.
• Better utilize design thinking in problem-solving for communities and for the arts themselves.
• Develop a consistent "brand" message for the multiple values of the arts, so when we do speak to decision-makers and stakeholders we speak with a common voice.
• Convene a national dialogue around technology and how it can be better utilized by the arts and involve creators of technology, funders, artists, curators and policy leaders.
• Create a central database for the research and case-making information about the arts and categorize it easily, including economy, education, society, quality of life, and more.
• Establish a searchable online database for cultural tourism opportunities in America.
• Study the viability and potential options for at-risk legacy organizations.
• Identify outstanding success stories in the arts and arts education and create a best-practices guide.
The report is available.

As a follower of the OAAE, you can find out what's happening around the state with school arts programs and arts education decisions made by local school boards and the State Legislature, and share other relevant arts education related news. It's a quick and easy way to stay connected to us and to share what's happening with arts education in your community and throughout Ohio.

This update is written weekly by Joan Platz, Research and Knowledge Director for the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education. The purpose of the update is to keep arts education advocates informed about issues dealing with the arts, education, policy, research, and opportunities. The distribution of this information is made possible through the generous support of the Ohio Music Education Association (www.omea-ohio.org), Ohio Art Education Association (www.oaea.org), Ohio Educational Theatre Association (www.Ohioedta.org); OhioDance (www.ohiodance.org), and the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education (www.OAAE.net).

Donna S. Collins
Executive Director
77 South High Street, 2nd floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215-6108
614.224.1060

Ohio Alliance for Arts Education

Arts on Line Education Update

Joan Platz

June 10, 2013

•Update on HB59 (Amstutz) Appropriations for FY14-15:  The Senate passed Am. Sub. HB59 (Amstutz) Appropriations for FY14-15 on June 6, 2013 along party lines. The $61.7 billion budget bill was amended twice by the Senate Finance Committee and then the Senate, adding more money for K-12 education compared to the House and executive versions of HB59, but does not include an executive provision to expand Medicaid for uninsured Ohioans, or provide additional state funds for local governments. More information about the Senate version of HB59 is included below.

•Third Grade Reading Guarantee:  Governor Kasich signed SB 21 (Lehner) Third-grade Reading Guarantee on June 4, 2013. The Third Grade Reading Guarantee was enacted by the 129th General Assembly in SB316 and amended later in HB555. SB21 addresses concerns raised by educators after the law was approved last year, including a provision that severely limits the number of teachers who would be qualified in Ohio to provide intervention services to students who are not reading on grade level. 

•Ohio’s School Funding System Still Unconstitutional:  The Columbus Dispatch reported on June 3, 2013 an interview in which Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor expressed her belief that Ohio’s system of funding public schools is not compliant with the DeRolph court decisions issued by the Ohio Supreme Court.  According to the Dispatch, “The Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor says state lawmakers have failed to fix the way public schools are financed since the high court in 2002 issued its last of four rulings that the funding system was unconstitutional.”  The Chief Justice was speaking to the Dispatch Editorial Board about how lawmakers have responded to the DeRolph decisions. She believes that nothing has changed, and the system is still unconstitutional.  

The article is available at http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/06/04/justice-still-waiting-for-compliance.html

•State Tax Revenues Up:  The preliminary May 2013 revenue report released by the Office of Budget and Management, Tim Keen Director, shows that state revenue is now $735 million ahead of forecasts for FY13, which ends on June 30, 2013. More revenue than expected was collected from personal income tax and sales taxes.  The personal income tax earned $8.6 billion for the fiscal year so far, which is about $520 million over estimates.

This is good news for House and Senate leaders, who expect a conference committee will be needed to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions of HB59 (Amstutz) Appropriations for FY14-15, and will be using the latest revenue estimates to determine FY14-15 allocations for HB59. Republican lawmakers and Governor Kasich are also discussing additional income tax cuts, while Democrats would use additional funds to support K-12 education, the local government fund, food banks, health care services, etc.

The OBM revenue report is available at 

http://obm.ohio.gov/MiscPages/MonthlyFinancialReports/

Senate and House Leaders Introduce Education Bills:  U.S. Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats, and House Republicans introduced last week separate legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind Act (2002). The act has been in limbo since 2007 as lawmakers continue to disagree about the federal role in K-12 education and specifically about how to reauthorize various provisions of the act that have become controversial. Both the U.S. House and Senate have passed legislation to reauthorize ESEA, but neither chamber has seriously considered the other chamber’s bills.

Senate Democrat Plan:  Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Pension, and Labor Committee (HELP), introduced on June 4, 2013 the Senate Democrat’s latest version to reauthorize ESEA entitled, Strengthening America’s Schools Act of 2013 (SASA) (S1094).

According to a summary of the bill, the Strengthening America’s Schools Act of 2013 provides a framework to help all students graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills needed for success in college/and or a career by supporting teachers and principals to provide high quality instruction; ensuring disadvantaged students get the supports they need to succeed; and focusing federal attention on supporting states and districts in turning around low-performing schools and closing achievement gaps.

To accomplish these goals SASA focuses on education programs for young children; the achievement of subgroups of students; equal educational opportunities; flexibility for states to sustain current reforms; and teachers and principals.

The bill would direct states to develop guidelines for what children should know and be able to do prior to kindergarten entry to reduce gaps in school readiness; encourage states to provide full-day kindergarten and expand early childhood education; and help more schools provide a well-rounded education with time for the arts and physical activity.

The bill also includes a number of provisions that arts education advocates support.  The arts are listed as a core academic subject; arts and music are included as enrichment activities in the Expanded Learning Time and Supporting Successful, Well-Rounded Students sections; and the bill amends ESEA to require states to develop core standards for key subjects such as math, reading, and “creative arts” for students in kindergarten through 3rd grade. This is a very positive step, because it will align K-3 standards with existing standards for grades 4-12, which already include the arts as key subjects.

Some of the more controversial and unpopular provisions of No Child Left Behind Act are modified, but still included in SASA, such as the practice of disaggregating student achievement data across subgroups to focus on disparities, and teacher evaluations based on student performance. 

The bill calls for an expansion of the categories of disaggregation to include gender and English proficiency, and disseminating an equity score card to provide school-level information to parents on the school’s climate, the school’s educational opportunity offerings (such as AP, full-day kindergarten, or gifted programming), the number of assessments required, and the school’s funding by sources (state, local, and federal).

However, states would be provided more flexibility to set their own accountability goals for student achievement and reforms to improve low-performing schools. Currently 37 states have received an NCLB waiver from the U.S. DOE to set their own accountability standards within certain federal guidelines.  States without a waiver would be allowed to adopt their own accountability targets based on certain criteria. However, the bill still requires that all state accountability systems must “include student academic achievement and growth, English language proficiency for English Learners and, for high schools, graduation rates for all students; systems will also include accountability for all subgroups.” 

One of the more interesting requirements would require that local and state resources per-pupil for Title I schools are equal to or greater than the average combined local and state funds per pupil in non-Title I schools.

The Strengthening America’s Schools Act is at http://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/ESEA%20One%20Pager%206.4.13.pdf

Senate Republican Plan:  Senate Republicans introduced their version to reauthorize ESEA on June 6, 2013 entitled the Every Child Ready for College or Career Act (S.1101).  The bill is sponsored by Senators Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Pat Roberts of Kansas, Orrin Hatch of Utah, and Mark Kirk of Illinois.

At just 220 pages, compared to the Senate Democrat plan at 1,150 pages, the Republic plan would “move out of Washington and back to the states decisions about whether schools and teachers are succeeding or failing”. 

The Senate Republican bill would transfer decisions about measuring student achievement and fixing under-performing schools to state and local control; give states the authority to define standards and tests for students in reading, math, and science; allow states to use $14.5 billion in Title I funds for low-income children to follow those children to the public school they attend; encourage the formation of charter schools; end the federal definition of “highly qualified” teachers and encourages states to use their share of $2.5 billion in federal Title II funds to create teacher evaluation systems related to student performance and other factors; consolidate 62 programs into two block grants, and give states more flexibility in spending education dollars; and continue state and district report cards; and create an annual Secretary’s report card about the nation’s schools.

The Republican Plan is available at http://www.help.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=3f7e7905-b348-44fd-b41b-22e175884794&groups=Ranking

House Republic Plan:  Representatives John Kline (R-Minnesota) and Todd Rokita (R-Indiana) introduced on June 6, 2013 the Student Success Act (H.R. 5) to reauthorize ESEA, and “....restore local control, support more effective teachers, reduce the federal footprint, and empower parents.” Representative Kline is chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, and Representative Rokita is chair of the House Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee.  The bill does the following:

-Reduces the federal role in education by returning authority for measuring student performance and turning around low-performing schools to states and local officials. The bill repeals the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) metric and federally-prescribed school improvement and turnaround interventions, and empowers states to develop accountability systems that effectively evaluate school quality. At the same time, the legislation maintains a focus on high standards and disaggregated assessment data, ensuring school and student performance is transparent and parents have the information needed to make decisions about their children’s education.  

-Eliminates more than 70 programs and replaces them with the Local Academic Flexible Grant to provide states and school districts the flexibility to support initiatives based on their local needs. 

-Maintains separate funding streams for the Migrant Education, Neglected and Delinquent, English Language Acquisition, Rural Education, and Indian Education programs, but merges them into Title I of the law. The legislation also strengthens these programs to improve student achievement, and provides states and districts flexibility to use funds across programs to better support their students’ needs.

-Repeals the Highly Qualified Teacher requirement and supports the development and implementation of state- and locally-driven teacher evaluation systems that provide states and school districts the tools necessary to measure an educator’s influence on student achievement. 

-Consolidates most of the teacher quality programs in current law into a Teacher and School Leader Flexible Grant program to support evidence-based initiatives to recruit, hire, train, compensate, and retain effective teachers.

-Reauthorizes the Charter Schools Program, which supports the expansion and replication of high- quality charter schools. The legislation also strengthens the existing Magnet School and Parent Information and Resource Center programs, which provide states, school districts, and other entities with federal support so parents can identify quality options and participate in their children’s education.   

-Strengthens the five existing Impact Aid programs, which provide direct funding to school districts impacted by the presence of the federal government. The programs reimburse districts located near, or serving students from, military bases, federal lands, and Indian reservations for the loss of 

property taxes.  

-Strengthens provisions to ensure the participation of private school students and teachers in the programs funded under the law, and improves the military recruiting provisions by ensuring military recruiters have equal access to high schools as institutions of higher education. 

-Limits the authority of the Secretary of Education in four key ways: prohibits the secretary from imposing conditions, including conditions involving state standards and assessments, on states and school districts in exchange for a waiver of federal law; prevents the secretary from creating additional burdens on states and districts through the regulatory process, particularly in the areas of standards, assessments, and state accountability plans; prohibits the secretary from demanding changes to state standards, and influencing and coercing states to enter into partnerships with other states; and outlines specific procedures the secretary must follow when issuing federal regulations and conducting peer review processes for grant applications. 

-Reauthorizes the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and places a greater emphasis on improved identification of homeless children and youth; provides better collaboration and information sharing among federal and state agencies to provide services for homeless students; and strengthens provisions in current law to enhance school stability and protections for homeless youth and parents. 

The Student Success Act is available at 

http://edworkforce.house.gov/studentsuccessact/default.aspx

1.   The House and Senate will hold sessions and hearings this week.

TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 2013

•The Senate Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Senator Schaffer, will meet on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 10:00 AM in the South Hearing Room.  The committee will receive testimony on the following bills:

-HB138 (McClain/Letson) Tax Appeals Board Law Changes:  Makes changes to the law governing the Board of Tax Appeals.

-SB127 (Jordan) Property Tax Reduction-Home Schooled Children:  Creates a property tax and a 

manufactured home tax reduction for parents of home schooled children equal to the taxes levied by the school district on the homestead of the parent.  

-SB135 (Tavares) Tax Credits-Donations-Community Services Providers: Authorizes nonrefundable tax 

credits for authorized donations to projects of nonprofit entities and municipal agencies providing community services.  

-SB89 (Skindell) Earned Income Tax Credit: Grants a state earned income tax credit equal to a percentage of the federal earned income tax credit.  

-SB52 (Coley) Property Tax Complaints: Permits property tax complaints to be initiated only by the property owner.  

•The Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Lehner will meet on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 1:30 PM in the South Hearing Room.  The committee will receive testimony on HB167 (Heard/Grossman) Columbus Plan, which would authorize the Columbus City Schools to levy property taxes, the revenue from which may be shared with partnering community schools. A vote is possible. 

The committee will also receive testimony on HB14 (Pelanda) School Records, which would change the process that school districts use when withholding or transferring to another district or school the records of a child who is alleged or adjudicated as an abused, neglected, or dependent child.  

•The House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Stebelton, will meet on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 4:00 PM in hearing room 116.  The committee will receive testimony on the following bills:

-HB18 (Paton) Metal Detectors-Public Schools.

-HB58 (Gerberry) State Board of Education Membership, which would change the voting membership of the State Board of Education to consist of a member from each of several electoral districts with boundaries coinciding with the state’s Congressional districts, and a president to be appointed by the Governor if there is an even number of such electoral districts.

-HB96 (Strahorn) Public Employees’ Collective Bargaining Law, which would eliminate an exemption from the Public Employees’ Collective Bargaining Law for specified educational employees.  

-HB178 (Phillips) School Safety Drills, which would amend the number and schedule of school safety drills in schools.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 2013

•If Needed:  The Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Lehner will meet on Wednesday, June 12, 2013 at 10:15 AM in the South Hearing Room.  The committee will receive testimony on HB167 (Heard/Grossman) Columbus Plan, which would authorize the Columbus City Schools to levy property taxes, and share the revenue with partnering community schools. A vote is possible. 

•The House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Representative Beck, will meet on Wednesday, June 12, 013 at 3:00 PM in hearing room 116 and receive testimony on the following bills:  

-HB107 (Baker) Career Exploration Internships - Tax Credit, which would authorize a tax credit for businesses that employ high school students in career exploration internships.

-HB24 (Boose) Tax Expenditure Review Committee, which would create a Tax Expenditure Review Committee for the purpose of periodically reviewing existing and proposed tax expenditures. 

THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2013

•The Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission will meet at 3:00 PM in the TJM Judicial Center Room 101. The agenda for the meeting includes a presentation by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, updates, and reports from the standing committees. 

The following committees of the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission will meet earlier in the day: 

-The Finance, Taxation, and Economic Development Committee at 9:30 AM in hearing room 115.  The committee will hear a presentation by Greg Stype, partner on Squire Sanders, on Article VIII (Public Debt and Public Works) and Article XVIII. 

-The Education, Public Institutions, and Miscellaneous and Local Government Committee will meet at 9:30 AM in hearing room 113.  

-The Judicial Branch and the Administration of Justice Committee will meet at 9:30 AM in hearing room 311. 

-The Legislative Branch and Executive Branch Committee will meet at 11:15 AM in hearing room 113. 

-The Revisions and Updating Committee will meet at 11:15 AM in Hearing Room 115. 

-The Organization and Administration Committee will meet at 1:30 PM in hearing room 115. 

-The Public Education and Information Committee will meet at 1:30 PM in hearing room 311. 

-The Liaisons with Public Offices Committee will meet at 1:30 PM in hearing room 113.

-The Coordinating Committee will meet at 1:30 PM in hearing room 114.

4) State Board of Education to Meet:  The State Board of Education, Debe Terhar president, will meet on June 10 and 11, 2013 at the Ohio Department of Education Conference Center, 25 South Front Street in Columbus, OH.  

This month the State Board will hold a Chapter 119 Hearing on Ohio Administrative Code Rules 3301-83- 09, 10, 16, 17,  21, 22, 24, and 51-10, Pupil Transportation Rules, and receive presentations about implementing provisions of HB555 (Stebelton) Report Cards (129th General Assembly); the Third Grade Guarantee; STEM schools; and new assessments for educator licensing.

The State Board will recognize Ohio Schools to Watch, recipients of the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, and the Milken Educator.  

The Achievement, Capacity, Legislative and Budget, and Urban Education committees will also meet.  

The Achievement Committee will discuss and approve a Resolution to Adopt Career Connections Learning Strategies; discuss and approve a Resolution of Intent to Adopt Amended Rule 3301-13-02, Administering Required State Assessments at the Designated Grades; receive an update on the Early Learning Challenge Grant; and discuss graduation requirements.

The Capacity Committee will receive a presentation on Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES)-Feedback from Pilot Schools and Districts; discuss Rule 3301-57-01, Administering the Child Abuse Detection Training Program; and discuss proposed amendments to School Operating Standards.

The Urban Education Committee will continue work on implementing HB555 of the 129th General Assembly.

The Legislative and Budget Committee will receive updates about HB59 (Amstutz) Appropriations for FY14-15; Medicaid for Schools Program; and federal legislative activity.

The State Board will consider and vote on the following resolutions:

#2 Approve a Resolution of Intent to Amend Rule 3301-13-02 of the Administrative Code entitled Administering Required State Assessments at the Designated Grades (Volume 2 Page 6).

#3 Approve a Resolution of Intent to Consider Confirmation of the West Geauga Local School District’s Determination of Impractical Transportation of Certain Students Attending St. Francis of Assisi School, Gates Mills, Cuyahoga County, OH.  (Volume 2 Page 19).

#6 Approve a Resolution to Adopt Rules 3301-28-01 of the Administrative Code regarding Local Report Card Measures and to Rescind Rules 3301-58-01 to 3301-58-03 of the Administrative Code regarding the value-added progress dimension.  (Volume 3, Page 30.)

#7 Approve a Resolution to Amend Rule 3301-52-01 of the Administrative Code entitled Appropriate Uses of Early Childhood Education Screening and Assessment Information.  (Volume 3, Page 54.)

#8 Approve a Resolution to Amend Rules 3301-102-01 of the Administrative Code regarding Community Schools. (Volume 3, Page 59.)

#9 Approve a Resolution to Adopt Rules 3301-102-10 of the Administrative Code regarding the Academic Performance Rating and Report Card System for Community Schools that Serve Students Enrolled in Dropout Prevention and Recovery Programs. (Volume 3, Page 93.)

#10  Approve a Resolution to Adopt Model Curriculum in English language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies with embedded Career Connection Learning strategies for the Purpose of Meeting the Requirements of Revised Code Section 3301.079 (Volume 4, Page 4.)

#11  Approve a Resolution to Adopt the New Ohio Assessments for Educators (OAE) and Associated Qualifying Scores for Various Ohio License Areas.  (Volume 4, Page 6).

#12  Approve a Resolution to Confirm the Tuslaw Local School District Board of Education’s Determination of Impractical Transportation of Certain Students Attending Heritage Christian School in Canton, Stark County, OH.  (Volume 4, Page 17.)

5) Ohio Senate Amends HB59:  The Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Senator Oelslager, agreed to additional amendments for HB59 (Amstutz) Appropriations for FY14-15, before the full Senate amended and approved the $61.7 billion budget plan on June 6, 2013. 

Overall the Senate version of HB59 adjusts Ohio’s system for funding schools; provides a tax cut for small businesses, but not the across the board tax cut proposed by the House; and excludes Medicaid expansion, which was proposed by Governor Kasich and included in the bill as introduced.

The Senate version of HB59 provides a total for the biennium of $22.6 million in General Revenue Funds for the Ohio Arts Council.  This is an increase of $5.8 million over FY12-13 levels. All Fund Groups for the Ohio Arts Council total $25.6 million for the biennium.

The General Revenue Fund budget for the Ohio Department of Education increases from $15.1 billion in FY12-13 to $16.4 billion in FY14-15, an increase of $1.292 billion.  The All Fund Groups budget for education increases from $22.4 billion in FY12-13 to $23.6 billion in FY14-15. 

Compared to FY12-13, the Senate version of HB59 increases funding through the General Revenue Fund for Early Childhood Education; the Ohio Educational Computer Network, due to the re-constitution of the eTech Commission; Academic Standards; Student Assessments; Educator Preparation; Community Schools/Choice; General Technology Operations; Technology Integration and Professional Development; Transportation; Auxiliary Services; Nonpublic Administrative Costs Reimbursements; Special Education Enhancements; Career Tech Enhancements; Foundation Funding; Literacy Improvement; and Property Tax Allocation.

New education programs included in the bill are the Straight A Fund ($250 million); Education Choice Expansion ($25.5 million); and Community School Facilities ($15 million).  These programs are being funded out of the Lottery Profits Fund, which is increasing from $1.4 billion in FY12-13 to $1.78 billion in FY14-15.

HB59 also slightly decreases funding for Accountability/Report Cards and eliminates funding for Ready to Learn, a program originally included in the House version of HB59, and now removed by the Senate. 

The total General Revenue Fund budget for FY14-15 increases by $7.5 billion from $54 billion in FY12-13 to $61.7 billion in FY14-15. The All Fund Groups budget totals $120.5 billion for FY14-15.

6) Senate Budget Bill Addresses Some Opponents' Issues:  The latest Senate version of HB59 also addresses the following K-12 policies that education stakeholders testified against before the Senate Finance Committee, Education Subcommittee:

-Tax Appeals:  Removes a provision, added by the Senate Finance Committee, that would prohibit boards of education from filing appeals on property values for real estate taxes within their districts. Boards of education often challenge the value of properties through the Board of Revisions process in order to ensure that real property is valued fairly for tax purposes, so that school districts receive the tax dollars that they are due to operate the schools, and all tax payers are treated fairly.

-Pupil Count:  Changes a House provision requiring school districts to take a monthly student count, and instead requires two student counts per school year, one in October and another in February.  Witnesses testified that taking a student count every month would be impractical and would lead to significant planning problems for school districts.  Currently school districts take one count of all students in October, but it takes on average three months to verify the results. 

-Payment in Lieu of Transportation:  Restores current law regarding how parents are reimbursed when school districts determine that transportation of students is impractical. Several witnesses requested that the House provision be removed, because it removed the ability of the school district to negotiate with parents about the transportation of their students, and would have deducted from the school district’s transportation aid a larger per pupil reimbursement.  Since state aid for transportation is already underfunded and must be supplemented with local district revenue, school districts told lawmakers that they could not afford this change, and have enough money to transport students.

-Straight A Fund: Increases the Straight A Fund to $250 million a year.  Governor Kasich had proposed $300 million to support the Straight A Fund in the executive budget, but the House lowered the fund to $150 million.  The purpose of the fund is to provide districts grants through a competitive process to become more innovative and improve academics or lower costs. 

-Early Childhood Education:  Increases state funds to support early childhood education, including $33.3 million in FY14 and $45.3 million in FY15 to allow children from low-income families to attend private preschools when publicly funded preschools are not available.

-Motor Fuel Tax:  Increases the motor fuel tax reimbursement for city, exempted village, joint vocational, and local school districts and educational service centers for motor fuel purchased and used for school district and service center operations from 6¢ per gallon to 10¢ per gallon. Under continuing law, the overall motor fuel tax rate is 28¢ per gallon. Superintendents and treasurers testified that the reimbursement hadn’t been changed in years.

7) Requests not included in HB59:  Superintendents, treasurers, and representatives of education organizations urged Senators to change several HB59 provisions that could negatively impact schools and districts, and establish a mechanism for determining an adequate formula amount per pupil for funding schools.  

The Senate, however, retained several controversial provisions in HB59, and did not include a method to determine an adequate formula amount based on education standards, services, or student needs.

-EdChoice Expanded:  Retains the expanded EdChoice voucher programs with some changes. The Senate version of HB59 includes two voucher programs, one based on family income and the other based on school district ratings on the Third Grade Reading Guarantee measure. 

The expanded Education Choice voucher based on income would allow students in the 2013-2014 school year entering Kindergarten and first grade to qualify for a voucher to attend eligible private schools,  if their family income is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, regardless of the rating of the school on the local report card. The program would be funded by the state rather than through deductions from the resident school district, which is the way the EdChoice voucher is currently funded.  Participation in the program is therefore limited by the amount of state funding, which is $8.5 million in FY14 and $17 million in FY15.  Assuming students use the maximum scholarship amount, there would be about 2000 vouchers available in FY14 and 4000 available in FY15. The bill also states that students can continue to receive vouchers in future years. The bill was amended to provide tiered funding for continuing voucher students whose parents’ income level increased more than 200 percent of the poverty level.

Superintendents and representatives from education organizations testified that many effective and excellent school districts, especially those in rural Ohio, could have a large number of students qualify for the expanded EdChoice voucher program based on family income.  Even though funding for the voucher would be capped at $8.5 million in FY14 and $17 million in FY15, and would be funded by the state, superintendents and treasurers testified that losing students and state funding per student could financially harm their school districts. They also noted that if the expanded voucher program continued in future biennia, it could provide public funds to almost all students attending private schools in a few years, increasing the overall burden and cost for K-12 education for the state. 

The Third Grade Guarantee voucher provision would begin with the 2016-2017 school year.  It qualifies for the EdChoice scholarship students in kindergarten through third grade who are enrolled in a district-operated school that has received a grade of “D” or “F” in “making progress in improving K-3 literacy” in two of the three most recent state report cards, and has not received an “A” in “making progress in improving K-3 literacy” in the most recent report card issued prior to the first day of July of the school year for which the scholarship is sought. 

Opponents of this voucher program told lawmakers that the provision would allow students to leave public schools that must ensure students are reading at grade level, to attend private schools that do not have to comply with the Third Grade Guarantee law or provide additional reading help for students.

-Contract-Out Provisions (Section 3317.40):  Retains the bill’s provision that requires school districts that fail to show “satisfactory achievement and progress”, as determined by the State Board of Education, serving subgroups of students (special education, economically disadvantaged, ELL and students identified as gifted in superior cognitive ability and specific academic ability), to submit an improvement plan to the ODE for approval. The ODE may require the school district to partner with other organizations to provide services to these students.  Witnesses testified that this provision is impractical to implement, because state aid only provides a portion of the full cost to provide services to subgroups of students anyway, and school districts already contract out many of these services to other organizations.

-Joint Vocational School District Boards:  Retains the bill’s provision that changes the composition of the boards of education of joint vocational school districts (JVSD).  The members of JVSD boards are now selected from among the elected representatives of participating districts.  The Senate version of the bill would require JVSD board members to be selected from regional employers, which would duplicate the membership of the JVSD business advisory boards, which currently include representatives of regional employers and others in the community who are involved in career education.

-Transportation and Career Tech Components:  Retains the bill’s provisions that keep state funding for transportation and career tech within the gain cap, thereby limiting the amount of state funding available for school districts.  Also retains a provision in the bill that removed components of the current transportation-funding formula. These components supported best practices regarding the transportation of students to schools.

8) Summary of Recent Senate Changes to HB59:  The Ohio Senate and House have now approved very different versions of HB59 (Amstutz) Appropriations for FY14-FY15.  The House is expected this week to vote to reject the Senate changes for HB59, which means that the bill will be assigned to a conference committee composed of three members from the House and three members from the Senate, who will work to develop a compromise bill.  The conferees could start work next week. Lawmakers have until June 30, 2013 to complete work on the bill, and most agree that the House and Senate will meet the deadline.

In the meantime, although more changes will be made by the conference committee, the following is a summary of the latest changes made by the Ohio Senate to HB59 last week.

FUNDING CHANGES

•Ohio Arts Council Section 217.10:  Increases appropriation item 370502, State Program Subsidies, by $25,000 in each fiscal year.

•Foundation Funding:  Decreases GRF appropriation item 200550, Foundation Funding, by $5.7 million in FY14 and increases this item by $147.3 million in FY15.

•Payment in Lieu of Transportation:  Earmarks $5 million in FY14 and $2.5 million in FY15 for payments to parents in lieu of transportation.

•Straight A Fund Section 263.10:  Increases the Lottery Profits Education Fund 7017 appropriation item 200648, Straight A Fund, by $50 million in each fiscal year. Appropriates $100 million in FY14 and $150 million in FY15.

•Early Childhood Education 263.20:  Increases GRF appropriation item 200408, Early Childhood, to $33.3 million in FY14 and by $45.3 million in FY15. Eliminates the Ready to Learn program and GRF appropriation item 200468, Ready to Learn, funded at $5.05 million in each fiscal year.

•Read Baby Read Section 263.255: Re-establishes GRF appropriation item 200566, Literacy Improvement, with an appropriation of $150,000 in each fiscal year and specifies that the funds be used for Read Baby Read.

•Ready, Set, Go.... to Kindergarten (Lorain County): Moves the $50,000 earmark in each year for the Ready, Set, Go...to Kindergarten Program from appropriation item 200468, Ready to Learn, to appropriation item 200408, Early Childhood Education.

•Jon Peterson Scholarship:  Increases GRF appropriation item 200550, Foundation Funding, by $5 million in FY14 and earmarks that amount in 2014. Specifies that the earmark must be used to reimburse school districts for the full cost of Jon Peterson Scholarship deductions taken for students who did not attend a public school in their resident district in the previous year, and specifies that the payment amounts may be prorated if the earmarked amount is not sufficient.

•Auxiliary Services:  Decreases GRF appropriation item 200511, Auxiliary Services, by $48,338 in FY14 and increases this appropriation item by $3.3 million in FY15.

•Nonpublic Administrative Cost Reimbursement 3317.063:  Decreases GRF appropriation item 200532, Nonpublic Administrative Cost Reimbursement, by $21,836 in FY14 and increases this appropriation item by $1.5 million in FY15. Allocates $58.9 million in FY14 and $62.4 million in FY15.  Increases the maximum per pupil amount for reimbursement of noncharter school administrative cost funds to $360. 

•Board of Regents Section 363.483: Increases the earmark under GSF appropriation item 235653, Co-op Internship Program, for the Ohio Center for the Advancement of Women in Public Service at the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University from $75,000 to $150,000.

•Board of Regents Section 363.10: Increases GRF appropriation item 235444, Post-Secondary Adult Career-Technical Education, by $500,000 in each fiscal 11 year.

•Board of Regents Section 363.483:  Earmarks $10,000 in each fiscal year in Fund 5JC0 appropriation item 235649, Co-op Internship Program, for the Ohio College Access Network to support the Ohio Student Education Policy Institute.

FORMULA CHANGES

•Formula Amount:  Changes the formula amount to $5,745 (from $5,732) in FY14 and to $5,800 (from $5,789) in FY15.

•Bi-annual ADM Counts R.C. 3317.01 and 3317.03 31: Requires the superintendent of each city, local, exempted village, and joint vocational school district to certify the average daily membership of students receiving services from schools under the superintendent’s supervision during the first full week of October and the first full week of February (rather than during the first full school week of each month as required by the bill).  Specifies that annualized periodic payments for each school district must be based on the district’s final student counts verified by the superintendent of public instruction based on reports under section 3317.03 of the Revised Code, as adjusted, if so ordered, under division (K) of that section, equal to the sum of one-half of the number of students verified and adjusted for the first full week in October plus one-half of the average of the numbers verified and adjusted for the first full week in October and for the first full week in February.

•Preschool Special Education Students:  Credits school districts with funding for preschool students who receive a scholarship to attend an alternative provider under the Autism Scholarship Program.

•Special Education:  Replaces the special education multiples of the formula amount in the bill (which are the multiples in current law) with dollar amounts for FY14, and increases those dollar amounts in FY15.

•Third Grade Reading Guarantee:  Changes the bill’s formula for Kindergarten through third grade literacy funds by decreasing the dollar amounts that are multiplied by the state share index, but adding an additional dollar amount that is not multiplied by the state share index to the payment, and provides for these dollar amounts to increase in FY15. Provides $125 in FY14 and $175 in FY15 per pupil for students in grades K-3.  The added amounts per pupil are $100 in FY14 and $160 in FY15.

•Economically Disadvantaged Students:  Changes the bill’s formula for economically disadvantaged funds by decreasing the dollar amounts from $300 to $250 per pupil in FY14 and to $253 in FY15. 

•Career Tech:  Replaces the career-technical education multiples of the formula amount and the career-technical education associated services multiple in the bill (which are the multiples in current law) with dollar amounts for FY14, and increases those dollar amounts in FY15.

•Joint Vocational School Districts:  Changes the formulas for special education funds, economically disadvantaged funds, career-technical education funds, and career-technical education associated services. Changes the formula amount to $5,745 in FY14 and to $5,800 in FY15.  Allocates an estimated $269 million in FY14 and $276.1 million in FY15 for JVSD state aid.

•Community Schools and STEM Schools:  Changes the formulas for special education funds, Kindergarten through third grade literacy funds, economically disadvantaged funds, and career-technical education funds.

•Student Counts for Certain Payments:  Specifies that 25 percent of a district’s students that attend a community school (other than an Internet- or computer-based community school (e-school)) are included in the district’s “net formula ADM” for purposes of calculating targeted assistance, to correspond with the provisions of the bill’s school funding formula specifying that community schools (other than e-schools) receive payments for 25 percent of students in this category.  Subtracts a district’s students attending an e-school from the district’s counts of limited English proficient students, Kindergarten through third grade students, and economically disadvantaged students to correspond with the provisions of the bill’s school funding formula specifying that e-schools do not receive payments for these categories of students.

•Gain Cap:  Increases the factor by which foundation funding is capped for traditional and joint vocational districts from 1.06 times prior year funding in each fiscal year to 1.0625 and 1.105 times prior year funding for FY14 and FY15.

•Transitional Aid Guarantee JVSD:  Requires the ODE to adjust, as necessary, the transitional aid guarantee base of school districts that participate in the establishment of a joint vocational school district (JVSD) that first begins receiving funding under the JVSD funding formula in FY14. 

•Pupil Transportation:  Specifies the amounts of $413.4 million in FY14 and $434.1 million in FY15 earmarked from GRF appropriation item 200502, Pupil Transportation, for pupil transportation formula payments to school districts rather than earmarking the remainder of this appropriation for such payments after the allocation of certain set-asides.

•Pupil Transportation:  Specifies that, for purposes of calculating transportation funding, “rider density” means “total ADM per square mile of a school district” rather than “the number of qualifying riders per square mile of a school district.”

•Kindergarten Students:  Requires the ODE to adjust a district’s average daily membership certification by one-half of the full time equivalency for each student charged fees or tuition for all-day kindergarten.

•Tuition:  Removes a provision of the bill specifying that a district may charge tuition for a student enrolled in all-day kindergarten as long as the student is included in the student count reported to the Department of Education as less than one full-time equivalent student.

•Spending Requirement for Economically Disadvantaged Funds:  Requires a city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school district, community school, or STEM school to spend the economically disadvantaged funds it receives for any of the following initiatives or a combination of any of the following initiatives: extended school day and school year, reading improvement and intervention, instructional technology or blended learning, professional development in reading instruction for teachers of students in kindergarten through third grade, dropout prevention, and school safety and security measures.

Requires each school district, community school, and STEM school to submit a report to the ODE at the end of each fiscal year describing the initiative or initiatives on which the district’s or school’s economically disadvantaged funds were spent during that fiscal year, and requires the ODE to submit a report of this information to the General Assembly not later than December 1 of each odd-numbered year, starting in 2015.

•Educational Service Centers: Reinstates the $6.50 per pupil transfer and current law that permits the board of education of any client school district to pay an amount in excess of $6.50 per student, per district approval.  Sets the state payments per pupil to ESCs at $37.00 per pupil in FY14 and $35 per pupil in FY15. Increases the state earmark for ESCs to $43.5 million in FY14 and $40 million FY15, in addition to a $3.8 million earmark for ESCs to provide services for gifted students. 

SPECIAL EDUCATION

•Physical Education Exemption for Children with Disabilities R.C. 3302.032, 3313.603, 3313.6016, and 3313.674 98:  Subject to a child’s individualized education program (IEP), exempts a child with a disability from the physical education requirement to graduation from high school; the physical activity pilot project; and the school body mass index screenings. 

•Specifies that a child with a disability must not be included in the measure established by the State Board of Education to gauge student success in meeting physical education benchmarks, compliance with local wellness policies prescribed by the federal “Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004,” whether a school district or building elected to administer the screenings for body mass index, and whether a school district or building is participating in the physical activity pilot program.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

•Modifies the Early Childhood Education program to qualify licensed child care providers for funding and requires programs that are highly rated under the Step Up to Quality program to comply with the requirements of that program, instead of certain requirements of the existing program.

•Requires the Early Childhood Advisory Council to issue recommendations regarding an early childhood voucher program to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Governor’s office of 21st Century Education, the Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, and chairmen of the House and Senate Education Committees by October 1, 2013.

•Increases the appropriation for Early Childhood Education to $33.3 million in FY14 and to $45.3 million in FY15.  Increases the number of providers who are eligible to receive funds under the program.

JOINT VOCATIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS R.C. 3311.19:  

•JVSC Board:  Replaces the current method of appointing members of a JVSD board of education with a system where the school districts or ESC that belong to a JVSD each appoint one member to a JVSD board. Specifies that the appointed individuals may not be members of the appointing board or ESC and that the total number of members appointed to the JVSD board is equal to the number of members on the JVSD's board prior to the bill's effective date.Requires the appointing board to select members who represent regional employers and who are qualified to consider a region's workforce needs.Specifies that a term of office for a JVSD board member be three years and limits members to two consecutive terms.

EDUCATIONAL SERVICE CENTERS

•Carryover Funds:  Specifies that the option to carry over ESC funds at the end of a fiscal year applies only to both unexpended and unobligated funds, rather than funds that are only unexpended as under the bill. Removes the bill’s provision that would permit an ESC client to use a portion of its carryover funds for a purpose other than those specified in its service agreement, and requires that those funds only be used for services specified in the service agreement.

•Removes ESC Responsibilities:  Requires each “local” district board to prescribe a curriculum for all schools under its control, and removes this requirement for ESCs with respect to “local” districts (R.C. 3313.60). Removes a requirement that each ESC annually certify the average daily membership (ADM) of students receiving services from schools. Permits a “local” district superintendent to excuse a child that resides in the district from attendance for any part of the remainder of the current school year upon satisfying conditions specified in law and in accordance with district board and State Board rules, and removes this authority for an ESC superintendent acting on behalf of a “local” district (R.C. 3321.04). Requires the superintendent of a “local” district in which a child withdraws from school to immediately receive notice of the withdrawal from the child’s teacher, and removes this requirement as it applies to ESC superintendents acting on behalf of “local” districts (R.C. 3321.13). 

•Attendance Officer:  Permits a city or exempted village district board to obtain services from an ESC attendance officer instead of employing its own attendance officer (R.C. 3321.14). Permits, rather than requires, every ESC governing board to employ an ESC attendance officer, and requires an ESC to make the decision regarding employment of an attendance officer based on consultation with the districts that have agreements with the ESC (R.C. 3321.15).

•Instructional Program:  Permits a “local” district, rather than the ESC, to provide an instructional program for the employees of the district, in the same manner as currently authorized for “city” and “exempted village” districts (R.C. 3315.07(A)).

•Business Advisory Council:  Requires a “local” district board to appoint a business advisory council unless the district and an ESC have an agreement providing that the ESC’s business advisory council will represent the district’s business (R.C. 3313.82). Applies the above exception to the requirement to appoint a business advisory council to city and exempted village districts, which are already required to appoint a council under existing law (R.C. 3313.82).

TRANSPORTATION

•Parental School Transportation Subsidy:  Restores current law provisions for a payment in lieu of transportation to a student’s parent, where a school district board determines it is impractical to transport the student by school conveyance. Changes the minimum amount for payment in lieu of transportation from an amount determined by the ODE to $225, effective July 1, 2014. The maximum amount for payment in lieu of transportation, or the average cost of pupil transportation for the previous school year as determined by the ODE remains the same.Increases GRF appropriation item 200502, Pupil Transportation, by $2.5 million in FY15 and earmarks the same amount for payments in lieu of transportation.

•Transportation of Chartered Nonpublic and Community School Students on Weekends R.C. 3327.01: Maintains the bill’s provision exempting school districts from transporting students to and from chartered nonpublic and community schools on Saturday or Sunday, unless an agreement to do so is in place prior to July 1, 2014.

STRAIGHT A PROGRAM

•Straight A Program Section 263.325:  Adds both of the following to the list of entities that may receive grants from the Straight A Program and removes them from the list of entities which may be part of an education consortia: institutions of higher education and private entities partnering with one or more of the educational entities that are eligible to receive grants from the program.

•Purpose of Program:  Specifies that Straight A Program grants are for projects that aim to achieve significant advancement in one or more of the following goals: student achievement, spending reduction in the five-year fiscal forecast, and utilization of a greater share of resources in the classroom. 

•Board Membership:  Adds an additional gubernatorial appointee to the governing board that makes grant decisions for the Straight A Program.

•Grant Application Reviews:  Removes a requirement that the system for evaluating and scoring grant applications under the Straight A Program must be given priority to applicants whose goals “demonstrate particular attempts” in achieving the following: cost reduction in the delivery of services, progress in improving literacy in grades kindergarten to three, achievement and progress for students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students, limited English proficient students, and gifted students improving the performance measures that comprise the Prepared for Success component under the new academic performance rating system, and “utilizing programs recognized as innovative under the federal Race to the Top program.”

•Maximum Grant:  Removes a provision specifying that the maximum amount of a grant that may be awarded to a school district, educational service center, community school, STEM school, college preparatory boarding school, or individual school that applies for a grant is $500,000. Removes a provision specifying that the maximum amount of a grant that may be awarded to education consortia is $1 million.

NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS

•Administer State Achievement Tests:  Requires each chartered nonpublic school to administer the state achievement assessments to all of its students if at least 35 percent of its total enrollment is made up of students who are participating in the Educational Choice Scholarship Program, Autism Scholarship Program, Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program, or the Pilot Project (Cleveland) Scholarship Program.  For each chartered nonpublic school that has a total enrollment in which less than 35 percent of students participate in the scholarship programs described above, maintains current law which requires the school, if it educates students in ninth through twelfth grades, to administer the Ohio Graduation Tests, and permits the school to elect to administer the elementary state assessments.

VOUCHER PROGRAMS

Education Choice

•Ed Choice Scholarship – Volunteering in Lieu of Payment R.C. 3310.13 20:  Eliminates the requirement that chartered nonpublic schools that accept the Ed Choice Scholarship permit families of eligible students to provide volunteer services in lieu of cash payment to pay all or part of the amount of the school’s tuition not covered by the scholarship.

•Ed Choice Scholarship Eligibility R.C. 3310.032:  Removes a provision that deems a student who has received an educational choice scholarship in the previous year an eligible student in subsequent years even if the student’s family income rises above 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines and replaces it with a provision that establishes tiered eligibility according to the following:

If the student’s family income is above 200 percent but at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, the student may receive a scholarship in the amount of 75 percent of the full scholarship amount. If the student’s family income is above 300 percent but at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, the student may receive a scholarship in the amount of 50% of the full scholarship amount. If the student’s family income is above 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, the student is no longer eligible to receive an Educational Choice Scholarship.

•Ed Choice Eligibility R.C. 3310.03: Specifies that a student who will be enrolling in school in this state for the first time and would otherwise be assigned to a school building that would qualify for the Ed Choice scholarship (under the bill) must be at least five years of age by January 1st of the school year that the scholarship is sought. (Age five is the age at which a student who is not a preschool child with a disability becomes entitled to attend school in the district. The students parents, or in some case

the student, resides in.)

Autism Scholarship Program

•Autism Scholarship Program:  Specifies that individuals that provide services to a child under the Autism Scholarship Program are not required to obtain a one-year, renewable instructional assistant permit until December 20, 2014, which is 24 months (rather than 12 months as under current law) after the effective date of the act that authorized the State Board of Education to issue such a permit to an individual, upon the request of a registered private provider, qualifying that individual to provide services to a child under the Autism Scholarship Program.

Jon Peterson Scholarship

•Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program:  Provides that, during the fall 2013 application period for the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program, the ODE shall not accept any applications from students who have not received a scholarship from the program in the previous or current school year.

HOME-SCHOOL and PRIVATE SCHOOL PARTICIPATION

•Participation by Home-schooled and Private School Students in School District Extracurricular Activity R.C. 3313.5311 and 3313.5312 141:  Affords students enrolled in chartered or nonchartered nonpublic schools and students receiving home instruction the opportunity to participate in an extracurricular activity at the school of the student’s resident school district to which the student would be otherwise assigned under specified conditions. Permits the superintendent of any school district to afford any student, who is enrolled in a nonpublic school and is not entitled to attend school in that district, the opportunity to participate in a school’s extracurricular activities if, the nonpublic school in which the student is enrolled does not offer the extracurricular activity, and the extracurricular activity is not interscholastic athletics or interscholastic contests or competition in music, drama, or forensics.  Requires the superintendent of any school district to afford any student receiving home instruction and who is not entitled to attend school in that district the opportunity to participate in a school’s extracurricular activities, if the activity is not offered by the student’s resident district. Prohibits a school district, interscholastic conference, or organization that regulates interscholastic conferences or events from imposing eligibility requirements on nonpublic school or home schooled students that conflict with the amendment’s provisions. Authorizes a school district board of education to require students enrolled in chartered or nonchartered nonpublic schools and students receiving home instruction who are participating in an extracurricular activity in that district to enroll and participate in not more than one academic course at the school offering the extracurricular activity as a condition to participating in the activity. Requires the district board, if it chooses to implement the course requirement described above, to admit students seeking to enroll in an academic course to fulfill that requirement as space allows, after first enrolling students assigned to that school.

COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

•E-school Provisions R.C. 3302.035, 3314.261, and 3314.29:  Requires the ODE to issue composite grades to a community school operator that manages, in whole or in part, more than one Internet- or computer-based community school (“e-school”), based on the grades issued for the e-schools managed by the operator. Requires that an e-school managed by an operator described above be subject to sanctions or permanent closure based on the lower of the composite grade of the operator or the grade that the individual e-school received. Exempts community schools where the majority of its students are enrolled in dropout recovery and prevention programs from the provisions of the amendment. (Those schools are issued separate report cards that do not include letter grades and are subject to separate closure standards.) Specifies that a student who transfers from one e-school to another e-school managed by the same operator is considered “continuously enrolled” for purposes of state assessment administration.Specifies that the resulting two e-schools from a separation under the bill may not add grade levels.

•E-School Exemptions:  Exempt students enrolled in e-schools from the physical education requirement to graduate from high schools and exempts e-schools from the physical education/wellness measure on the report card.

•Licensing Requirements:  Removes a House provision that removed the requirement that physical education teachers in community schools to hold a proper teacher license to provide instruction in physical education.

•Community School Closure:  Specifies that in order to trigger permanent closure of a community school after July 1, 2013, a school that offers any of grades 4 to 8 and does not offer a grade higher than grade 9, in at least two of the three most recent school years, must have been both, in a state of academic emergency and showed less than one standard year of academic growth in either reading or mathematics, as determined by ODE. (Both criteria apply for such schools before July 1, 2013. Current law requires only that such schools be in academic emergency for 2 of the last 3 years to trigger permanent closure after July 1, 2013.) According to the Legislative Service Commission this provision might make it more difficult to close community schools after July 1, 2013 (compared with current law after that date).

MISCELLANEOUS

•New Leaders for Ohio Schools:  Requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules for the issuance of an alternative principal or administrator license to an individual who successfully completes the New Leaders for Ohio Schools pilot program.

•Tuition for All-Day Kindergarten R.C. 3321.01:  Specifies that the only school districts that may charge fees or tuition for all-day kindergarten are those districts that are offering all-day kindergarten for the first time or that charged fees or tuition for all-day kindergarten in the 2012-2013 school year.

•Gifted Funding Study Section 263.433:  Removes the provision that mandates a study of appropriate funding for gifted students.

•Executive Session Municipal School District R.C. 3311.86: Authorizes the committees and subcommittees of a board of directors of a municipal school district transformation alliance to hold executive sessions as if the committee were a public body with public employees. A provision in the bill authorizes the boards of directors of such entities to hold executive sessions under the same conditions.

•Student Participation in the PSEO Program R.C. 3365.02:  Requires the Chancellor of the Board of Regents to report recommendations to establish the College Credit Plus Program. Revises the bill’s requirement that student in the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options Program be based solely on the participating college’s established “admission” standards, to instead be based solely on the participating college’s established “placement” standards for credit-bearing, college level courses. Prohibits the ODE from reimbursing a college for any remedial college courses.

HIGHER EDUCATION

•Completion Plan R.C. 3345.81: Replaces the bill’s language requiring all boards of trustees of state institutions of higher education to adopt by May 1, 2014, an institution-specific strategic completion plan with certain provisions. Retains the bill’s requirements that the strategic completion plan be designed to increase the number of degrees and certificates awarded to students, be consistent with the

mission and strategic priorities of the institution, and include measurable student completion goals.

•HB193 (Brenner) High School Diploma Requirements:  Revises current high school diploma requirements including state-administered assessments.

FYI ARTS

1. The National Center on Time and Learning and the The Wallace Foundation released on June 5, 2013 a report entitled Advancing Arts Education Through An Expanded School Day:  Lesson from Five Schools by David Farbman, Dennie Palmer Wolf, and Diane

The report highlights the findings of case studies of five schools that were able to integrate the arts into a comprehensive education program by expanding and redesigning the school day; focusing on improving overall academic instruction; and focusing on individual student achievement. The report describes how these schools embed the arts throughout their educational programs; identifies the common components of the curricula, programs, and processes so that others can strengthen their arts programs; and examines the role of arts education programs in boosting student engagement, skills, and achievement. 

The schools included in the study are the Berkshire Arts & Technology Charter Public School - BART (Adams, MA); Clarence Edwards Middle School (Boston, MA); Metropolitan Arts and Technology Charter High School – Metro (San Francisco, CA); Cole Arts and Sciences Academy – CASA (Denver, CO); and the Roger Williams Middle School (Providence, RI). The schools predominately serve students from low-income families, and represent a variety of grades served, sizes, geographic locations, and school types.  They also provide more learning time than most schools, which, on average, operate 180 days and six and a half hours/day. 

According to the report, over the past 30 years, and particularly during the last decade, “arts education has occupied a shrinking place in the life of schools” due to the emphasis on increasing student achievement in math, language arts, and science.  Advocates for arts education have had to compete for instructional time during the school day with other content areas, instead of partnering “in a potential educational synergy that holds both intrinsic and instrumental benefits for students.” 

To raise student achievement and also expand learning opportunities for students, some schools have expanded the school day for students and teachers, which allows them to prioritize and design a more complete education program that includes the arts. A survey of schools conducted by the National Center on Time and Learning (NCTL) recently found that there are over 1000 schools across the national that operate at least seven hours per day.  Some of these schools were able to increase learning time through the federal School Improvement Grant program, which provides additional funding to extend the school day.  

The authors write that a study of the schools identified the following approaches that support arts education:  

-The arts are a core feature of a comprehensive educational program at each of the schools.  Teachers and arts specialists set high expectations for student achievement and value how the arts help students to develop the skills they need for school and lifelong success.

-The schools’ schedules support the arts.  All students participate at least one hour daily in arts-specific classes taught by arts teachers and arts specialists, and ample time is allotted for practice.

-The schools provide a variety of arts education choices and activities, so that students develop a broad array of skills, but also can develop proficiency in a particular art form.

-More time in the school day allows educators to reconcile the tension between meeting accountability requirements in content areas and providing students a well-rounded education.

The report is available at http://www.timeandlearning.org/?q=advancing-arts-education-through-expanded-school-day

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Joan Platz

Director of Research

Ohio Alliance for Arts Education

77 South High Street Second Floor

Columbus, OH 43215

614-446-9669 - cell

joan.platz@gmail.com