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Legislative Update 6/25/12

 

June 25, 2012

capitol hill

Arts On Line
Education Update

 

Please Note:  This is the final Education Update for this school year.  The next update will be published in September 2012.  During the summer there will be occasional updates published about the school funding hearings.  Please follow these updates, and respond to any action alerts posted.

 

129th Ohio General Assembly 

The Ohio House and Senate are on summer recess.
oHearings on School Funding to Resume: Representative Ron Amstutz announced last week that the House Finance Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary Education will receive public testimony on June 28, 2012 on the topics of funding equity and distributing state funding per pupil according to where the student attends school. The hearing will be held at 1:00 PM in hearing room 313. Future topics include:

  •  Tax policy
  •  The role of technology and regional/shared services
  •  Human capital management, productivity, and performance-based funding
  •  Categorical funding/weighted student funding

The members of the subcommittee include Representatives Amstutz; Bill Hayes (R-Granville); Matt Lundy, (D-Elyria); Ron Maag (R-Lebanon); Jeff McClain (R-Upper Sandusky); Debbie Phillips (D-Athens); Gerald Stebelton (R- Lancaster); and Vernon Sykes (D-Akron).

Appointment to the State Board of Education: Governor Kasich appointed former Ohio State University quarterback Stanley Jackson to the State Board of Education on June 18, 2012. Mr. Jackson replaces Dennis Reardon, who resigned on June 8, 2012.

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State Board of Education Meeting June 11 and 12, 2012 

The State Board of Education, Debe Terhar president, met on June 11 and 12, 2012 at the Ohio School for the Deaf, 500 Morse Road in Columbus, Ohio.

MEETING ON MONDAY, June 11, 2012

The State Board held a 119 Hearing on Rule 3301-51-08, Parentally Placed Nonpublic School Children. The Rule was amended to include changes as result of recently adopted legislation creating the Jon Peterson Scholarship Program, which provides vouchers for qualifying students with special needs to use at qualifying private schools and service providers. No one testified about the Rule changes.

The Executive Committee
The Executive Committee, chaired by President Terhar, announced that the State Board had received a letter of resignation from Dennis Reardon effective June 8, 2012. The committee also discussed the evaluation of the Superintendent, and requested that Board members return the evaluation form as soon as possible.

The last item for discussion was the development of the State Board of Education's goals and action plan. According to the Ohio Revised Code, the State Board is required to develop goals every two years and report the goals and plan for achieving the goals to the governor and Ohio General Assembly. Over the next few months the Board will be working on the goals, to be completed by July 2013. Currently, the State Board is making efforts to achieve five goals outlined in Ohio's Race to the Top grant. These goals state that Ohio's schools will:

  • Increase the state's on-time graduation rate by 0.5 percent each year.
  • Reduce graduation rate gaps by 50 percent by 2014.
  • Reduce performance gaps by 50 percent.
  • Reduce the gap between Ohio and the best performing states in the nation by 50 percent.
  • More than double college enrollment for 18 and 19 year olds.

Achievement Committee
The Achievement Committee, chaired by Angela Thi Bennett, discussed the revision of the Early Learning Standards. The revised standards have been posted on the ODE website. There have been over 600 comments, and so far the responses have been positive.

The committee also discussed some proposed changes for the assessment rules, Chapter 3301-13. The changes basically align the rules with current ODE procedures. However, the changes are only temporary, because when the new assessments are implemented in 2014-15 the rules will need to be updated again.

The committee received an update on the new online assessments being developed through Ohio's work with the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC). The update included information about PARCC's technology readiness tool, assessment procurement status, and implementation, supports, and resources.

The committee also received an update on the proposed operating standards for internet-based community schools. The State Board is not required to take any action on these standards, which were developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction with the Governor's Office of 21st Century Education. According to HB153, the standards are to be submitted to the General Assembly by July 1, 2012.

Jeff Hardin made a presentation on the Third Grade Guarantee, and showed how many students in Ohio are in need of early reading intervention. According to his data, about 80 percent of students do not need reading intervention, but the remaining twenty percent need added assistance to become proficient readers on grade level.

Capacity Committee
The Capacity Committee, chaired by Tom Gunlock, considered the following items:

Dropout Prevention and Recovery Performance Measures for Community Schools: The committee approved Dropout Prevention and Recovery Performance Measures for Community Schools, which, once approved by the full Board, will be sent to the General Assembly as required by HB153.

Chairman Gunlock reviewed the history of the development of these standards, saying that they were added and then removed from SB316 (Lehner) Mid Biennium Review - Education, obligating the State Board of Education to comply with current law and adopt them by July 1, 2012. The next steps for the ODE include 1) collecting data on the measures and 2) developing benchmarks for the measures.

Since the Capacity Committee had deliberated on a draft of these standards before the introduction of SB316, there are three "report only" measures that the committee needed to discuss: graduation rate; achievement as evidenced by the passage of the high assessments; and student progress or growth. The committee also recommended attendance rate, post-secondary credits earned, industrial credits earned, military enlistment, job placement, and other student outcome data as report-only measures. Currently, data on some of these measures are not being collected by the ODE.

According to Mr. Gunlock, the goal of the State Board is to assist the General Assembly in making a fair accountability system for dropout recovery schools. Although student growth and progress is important, the goal of these schools should be for the students to graduate, and dropout recovery schools that are not helping students graduate should close.

SEED Foundation Early College Preparatory Boarding School Contract. Bill Zelei, ODE Associate Superintendent, Division of Accountability and Quality Schools, and Jessica Spears, ODE Division of Accountability and Quality Schools, provided the committee with an update about the contract negotiations with the SEED Foundation to operate an Early College Preparatory Boarding School in Cincinnati, Ohio. The committee has scheduled an extra meeting on June 26, 2012 to review the contract with the SEED Foundation. The full Board is expected to consider the contract at the July 2012 Board meeting.

Expenditure Standards: The committee adopted an intent to adopt resolution to approve and also rescind expenditure standards following a discussion led by Dr. Zelei, and Eric Bode, Executive Director, Quality School Choice and Funding. The standards are required by HB153 (Amstutz), which directs the State Board of Education to adopt the standards by June 30, 2012. However, the General Assembly is expected to make changes in the law through SB316, which would necessitate that the expenditure standards be rescinded, and possibly amended, based on the changes in the law.

The standards determine how to calculate a total "classroom" instructional expenditure and a total "non-classroom" instructional expenditure for each school district annually. The calculations will enable the ODE to rank school districts by expenditure per student, within groupings of like districts, and then rank school districts by classroom and non-classroom expenditures. The information about rank will be included on each local report card.

Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES) Pilot Program Update: Lori Lofton, ODE Senior Executive Director, Center for the Teaching Profession; Jim Herrholz, Association Superintendent, Division of Learning; and Kathy Harper, ODE Office of Equity and Talent, presented information about the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System Pilot Program and information about the May 25, 2012 Educator Evaluator Symposium, in which over 2500 educators participated.

The committee received information about feedback collected throughout the year regarding the OTES model, which school districts can choose to use to implement teacher evaluation systems aligned to the OTES Framework. The feedback has been used to revise the model. Currently 138 local education associations are participating in the pilot program and MGT of America has been contracted by the ODE to collect data about the pilot, including survey results and case study findings. The ODE will also enlist the Ohio Educational Research Center in an external evaluation of the student growth component and the overall OTES model.

According to the presenters, the next steps include training over 15,000 people over the next two years to be credentialed evaluators of teachers. In May 2012 60 individuals were selected and trained to be statewide trainers. There is no cost for training, which takes three days and requires successful passage of an online assessment to be credentialed as an evaluator. The training allows participants to gain a better understanding of OTES, practice skills such as scripting, evidence analysis/categorizing and coaching, and share resources and best practices. By the end of September 2012, the ODE expects to have trained 5,050 individuals to be evaluators.

According to the presentation how to use student growth measures in the teacher evaluation process continues to be an issue for schools/districts. For the most part school districts are piloting teacher evaluation models this year, and are working out the issues. The ODE is developing a guide-book and scoring information for using the Student Learning Objectives (SLOs).

Lori Lofton stated that she is requesting to leverage some of the Race to the Top funds to support experts in the field to provide technical assistance to school districts and assist the ODE as districts/schools implement their OTES models. These experts will be trained at the ESCs.

The ODE is also developing exemplars for the student learning objectives (SLOs). Sixteen regional groups comprised of teachers from the arts and other subjects without state assessments and teachers at grade levels without state assessments, have been formed to develop student learning objective exemplars this summer using ODE tools available on the web through the SLO process. The SLOs will be vetted by an advisory committee headed by Matt Cohen, ODE Executive Director Education Reform and Strategic Planning. In addition, the ODE, as part of the work to develop the guide-books, is working with other states to develop exemplars for the SLOs. These exemplars will be available by September 2012.

Five Year Update of OAC 3301-24-01 Glossary/Definitions for Chapter 3301-24 (Licensing and Education Programs). The committee approved a resolution to adopt a revision to Rule 3301-24-01 following a presentation by Jennifer Kangas, ODE Director, Office of Educator License, who reviewed the rule changes with the committee. This rule defines certain terms that are used throughout Chapter 3301-24 regarding Licensing and Education Programs. The proposed changes bring the rule up to date to align with current statute.

Anti-Harassment and Intimidation Policy: Krista Allison, ODE Executive Director, Office of Family and Community, led the discussion about the changes to the Anti-Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) Model Policy (HIB) as a result of the passage of HB116, the Jessica Logan Act. The committee approved a resolution to amend the policy, which includes harassment, intimidation, and bullying on a school bus and through electronic means; recommending the possible suspension of students for cyber-bullying; allowing anonymous reports; disciplinary procedures for students who make false reports; and strategies for protecting other victims or other persons from harassment and retaliation. The revised policy also includes a process for educating students about anti-bullying, and the seriousness about cyber-bullying. It also requires notification of parents about a bullying incident, and providing training for all teachers and school personnel. The full Board will consider the resolution in September 2012.

Committee on Urban Education
Joe Farmer provided an update about the work of the committee, which now reports to the full board rather than the Executive Committee. The committee discussed replacing its liaison with the ODE, Adrian Allison, who recently resigned from the ODE, and stated that Melissa Thompson will serve as an interim liaison.

The committee discussed some draft policies and recommendations to improve urban schools, and reviewed appendix A & B of the budget recommendations and how to incorporate those recommendations in their work. The committee will focus on early childhood and how the budget impacts student achievement. The committee is expected to make its recommendations to the Legislative and Budget Committee.

Board Recognitions
The full Board recognized the Middle Schools to Watch and national Green Ribbon Schools. The 2012 Ohio Schools to Watch include Coventry Middle School in Coventry Local Schools (Summit County), Dodge Intermediate School in Twinsburg City Schools (Summit County), and Kings Junior High School in Kings Local School District (Warren County).

Ohio's Green Ribbon Schools include Loveland High School in Loveland City School District (Hamilton County), and North Adams Elementary in Ohio Valley School District (Adams County).

Presentation on New and Revised Standards
The full board participated in a policy discussion about the Fine Arts and World Language standards and the standards for Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship, and Non-Career Tech Business Education.

Shasheen Phillips and Tom Rutan presented information about the process that was used to revise the academic content standards for the fine arts and world languages, and create the new standards for non-career tech business education, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. The ODE was tasked with updating the standards through 128-HB1, and all standards are web-based.

According to the presentation, the revision of the fine arts standards was informed by "all of the four disciplines" and arts education stakeholder groups. The key elements and components of the fine arts standards include standard expectations, what students should know and should be able to do in the four disciplines of the arts: dance, drama/theater, music, and visual art, and themes and content statements. The Fine Arts standards complement the standards in English Language Arts, mathematics, science, and social studies by supporting rigorous content and embracing the essential knowledge and skills of the 21st Century, such as innovation and creativity. A change was made in the final version of the standards as a result of public feedback. The process standard "creating" was added to "perceiving" "creating" in the standards for music.

The world language standards help students understand and appreciate different cultures and how to communicate effectively. They have been streamlined from five standards to two: communication and culture. The world language standards include content statements and grade band proficiency target statements, so that students progress from novice to intermediate to pre-advanced, and advanced levels. The presenters noted that the description of the proficiency levels in the beginning of the standards for world languages is cutting edge, because it also factors in the difficulty of the language. The world language standards "reinforce" the importance of immersing elementary students in world languages, because students might never reach the advanced level if they begin to learn a language in high school.

Business/Non-Career Technical Education Standards support business-related courses such as accounting, business management, business law, personal finance, business economics, etc. These are usually separate courses offered at a high school and not part of a career-pathway program through a Career-Tech school.

The Entrepreneurship Standards reinforce the skills that students need to become innovative and creative thinkers, and can be used by teachers to create separate courses or integrated with other courses, such as business-related courses.

The Financial Literacy Standards were developed to inform instruction in grades 9-12 so that all students have an understanding about personal finance and money management, investing, risk-management insurance, etc. These standards can be used to develop separate courses in financial literacy or integrated in social studies or other courses. Standards for financial literacy are also being developed at the elementary and middle school level, with the intent that these standards will be integrated into the social studies curriculum.

After reviewing the standards, Ms. Phillips said that after these standards are adopted by the State Board the ODE will provide training and professional development for teachers in the field in the 2012-13 school year and develop model curricula for the standards.

Following the presentation State Board members asked a variety of questions.

Mary Rose Oakar asked a question about the types of world languages that are offered in Ohio's schools. Ryan Wertz, ODE consultant for world languages, responded that 800,000 students are studying Spanish, followed by French (64,000), German (40,000), Latin, and American Sign Language. Fewer students study other languages including, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Pennsylvania Dutch, etc. There is a shortage of world language teachers in Ohio for some languages, and that prevents the language from being offered.

Ms. Oakar recommended that more schools offer world language at elementary level so that students are fluent; offer more non-European languages; and train more teachers in more languages.

Superintendent Heffner asked why standards in the Fine Arts do not include proficiency levels and grade band levels similar to the world language standards? Nancy Pistone, ODE consultant for the Fine Arts, responded that it was important for the standards for the arts to include content statements for every grade so that students have sequential learning in the arts. The fine arts standards at the high school level, however, also include proficiency levels of beginning, intermediate, and advanced, because students in high school often start arts courses at different levels of proficiency.

Ms. Oakar responded that it is very disappointing that when school budgets are cut, the first courses to go are the arts. She suggested that students should be mandated to complete two credits in the arts in order to graduate, and that the State Board should recommend that schools not cut the arts.

Superintendent Heffner responded that students are required to complete one credit in the arts in grades 7-12, but that students in career-technical education programs are exempt.

Meetings of the other committees
The Board Policy and Procedures Task Force and the Ohio School for the Deaf and the Ohio School for the Blind Task Force also met.

The Board then adjourned for the evening.

MEETING ON TUESDAY, June 12, 2012

The Legislative and Budget Committee
The Legislative and Budget Committee, chaired by C. Todd Jones, discussed special education expenditures for FY12; the Mid-Biennium Budget Review bills; and received legislative updates on pending legislation.

Review of the 2012 Expenditures for Special Education
Sue Zake, director of the Office for Exceptional Children, and Tom Lather, associate director, presented an overview of the 2012 expenditures for special education.

According to the presentation the General Revenue Fund supported in FY12 the following special education programs:

  • Home Instruction, over 200 LEAs served: $2.2 million
  • Institutions and County Boards of Development Disabilities: $45.2 million
  • Parent Mentors: $1.3 million (56 mentors are supported with GRF and 24 are supported with IDEA Funds. At least $25,000 per grant/award. There is a waiting list of districts to receive this funding.)
  • School Psychologists Interns: $2.5 million supporting 92 interns.
  • Catastrophic Special Education Funds: $10 million pool of funds that school districts can apply for. School districts were reimbursed less than $.17 per dollar in FY11. This program had been funded at $20 million in the past. Some Ohio districts are also participating in a shared risk pool to share special education costs. 

Federal funds supported the following programs:

  • State Personnel Development Grant: $1.9 million. This is the fifth year of this grant. This grant has been used to assist districts in the school improvement process to improve instruction for students with special needs.
  • IDEA: $530 million. Includes two grants and allows spending over 27 months. $435 million is the closer to the amount that Ohio receives. $391 million flows directly to schools through a specific formula. 1065 entities received IDEA funds.
  • IDEA Federal Stimulus Funds ARRA: $40 million. FY12 is the last year of this appropriation.

The policy principles that drive the programs include 1) raise expectations for students with disabilities and 2) close the achievement gap between students with disabilities and their peers. Other policy goals focus on training new teachers, eliminating a shortage of skilled teachers, increasing statewide capacity to implement Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, and shifting from monitoring compliance to performance-based accountability.

Following the presentation, members of the State Board asked the following questions:

  • Rob Hovis asked about the special education teacher shortage. Ohio has a shortage of special education teachers in southeast Ohio. Tom Lather responded that there is also a shortage of paraprofessionals in southeast Ohio, and in some school districts the paraprofessionals are being asked to provide educational services, which they are not qualified to do.
  • Jeff Hardin reported that school district administrators have told him that there is a problem of recruiting qualified special education teachers in southeast Ohio. Tom Lather said that the ODE provided some seed money to Youngstown State and Shawnee State to prepare special education teachers to work in southeast Ohio, and this project has been successful.
  • Mike Collins reported that the Southeast Consortium, led by Renee Middleton (Dean, Ohio University), reported that the gap in training special education teachers in southeast Ohio is closing.

Legislative Update
Kelly Weir, ODE Executive Director of the Office of Legislative Services and Budgetary Planning and Jennifer Hogue, ODE Office of Legislative Services, also updated the State Board about HB487, SB316, and HB525. (Please note: These bills have been passed by the House and Senate. Summaries about them were included in the June 18, 2012 Education Update.

Mary Rose Oakar requested information about what cuts have been made to schools, such as Cleveland; the impact of cuts on the variety of schools in Ohio; and the differences between the EdChoice and the Cleveland Scholarship program. She also asked if the state plans to provide schools/districts with additional revenue as a result of the anticipated state budget surplus for this fiscal year.

Ms. Weir replied that no school/district received more than an 8 percent cut in funding compared to FY11 levels, because federal stimulus dollars were helping to support schools/districts in FY11, and the State was required to maintain a minimum level of funding for schools as part of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Regarding the differences between the EdChoice and Cleveland Scholarship, Ms. Weir responded that HB487 better aligns the scholarship/vouchers programs, but there are still some differences. She said that she will provide some additional information to the State Board about those differences.

Ms. Weir also said that even though there could be a budget surplus for this fiscal year, she did not anticipate that the Office of Budget and Management would provide additional funding for schools. The current budget has a $500 million gap as a result of the inability of the OBM to transfer certain liquor control funds to support JobsOhio, due to a lawsuit that was just settled. She also said that she would provide a summary of year-end status of funding for schools/districts to the State Board.

Mike Collins also requested information about the status of schools/districts funding, including state funding and cuts in tangible personal property and utility tax cuts.

Jennifer Hogue also presented an update about HB375 (Butler) Non-Public Higher Institutions of Higher Education Allowed to Purchase School Property and HB437 (Roegner) School Buses Out of State Travel.

Mike Collins expressed concern over the role of the State Board in the revised Cleveland Plan (HB525) regarding closing community schools and selecting community school partners.

Superintendent Heffner replied that it was the decision of the negotiators of these provisions in HB525 that the State Board of Education would be the best arbitrator to hear the appeals of community schools, if the situation arises.

Presentation to the State Board of Education
Superintendent of Public and Instruction's proposed Legislative and Budget Recommendations for FY14-15

Kelly Weir, ODE Executive Director of the Office of Legislative Services and Budgetary Planning, presented the proposed FY14-15 budget recommendations to the State Board for their consideration. The timeline calls for the State Board of Education to adopt the budget by September 2012, when it is due at the Office of Budget and Management. Governor Kasich will submit his next state budget for FY14-15 in February 2013.

The State Board is required by Section 3301.07 of the Ohio Revised Code to prepare "a report on the status, needs, and major problems of the public schools of the state, with recommendation for necessary legislative action." According to the presentation, this proposed budget targets scare resources so that all students "Start Ready, Graduate Ready", and meets other policy goals to continue the reforms underway in the Race to the Top grant and HB153.

Total recommendations for the General Revenue Fund and the Lottery Profits Education

Fund are $7.23 billion in FY 2014 and $7.24 billion in FY 2015. This reflects a $12.4 million (0.2%) increase in FY 2014 over FY 2013 funding levels and an $11.7 million (0.2%) increase in FY 2015 over FY 2014. These figures do not include the rollback and homestead reimbursement, which will be determined by the Department of Taxation.

Compared to the FY12 and FY13 total of $22.5 billion, the FY14-15 total for education will be $21.8 billion. This reflects reductions in federal aid and the phase-out of tangible property tax and other reimbursements to school districts. There could also be further cuts in federal education funding, if Congress and the President are unable to reach an agreement on the federal budget by January 2, 2013, and mandatory sequestration takes effect.

The FY14-15 budget recommendations include a placeholder amount of $6.860 billion each fiscal year for the Foundation Program until Governor Kasich completes work on a new school funding formula.

The Foundation Program is the main source of funding for school districts and includes funds that are transferred from school districts to support three voucher programs, community schools, some STEM schools, and the post secondary enrollment options program. (The Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program is included in a different program, because it is partially funded by the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.) Also included in the Foundation Program is funding for Joint Vocational School Districts and, in the future, funding for the College Preparatory Boarding School. (No specific amount was included for the Boarding School, but funding will need to be included in the future, when the school opens.)

The following is a summary of some of the Foundation Program funding levels, which are maintained at FY13 levels, until a new school funding system is recommended by Governor Kasich:

  • Bridge Funding - $5.6 billion (The Bridge Funding plan was enacted in HB153-Amstutz)
  • Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program - $30.6 million
  • Educational Service Centers (ESCs) - $35.4 million
  • School Improvement ESCs - $3.5 million
  • Gifted Funding for ESCs - $8.1 million
  • Institution/County Boards of Developmental Disabilities Special Education - $45.2 million
  • Catastrophic Special Education - $10 million
  • Preschool Special Education Units - $84.4 million
  • Pupil Transportation - $375.1 million
  • Payment in Lieu of Transportation - $5 million
  • Special Education Transportation - $60.4 million

Accompanying the Foundation Program placeholder are General Foundation Program Policy Goals, Foundation Program Specific Policy Goals, and Non-Foundation Program Policy Goals.

The policy goals represent important concepts that should be considered when developing a school funding formula. The following are the General Foundation Program Policy Goals:

Stability and Predictability:

  • Funding levels should be commensurate with the number of students served.
  • A sound funding formula should minimize the need for a guarantee. Dollars spent through a funding formula should support specific academic policies and strategies. These policies and strategies cannot be achieved with dollars spent through a guarantee.
  • With all other key factors of a formula held constant, a reasonable rate of growth from year to year should be built into the formula once a new funding formula is fully implemented. Students should be counted as simply as possible. The count method should incentivize attendance and performance throughout the school year. The count method should recognize the reality of costs driven by the number of students served and the educational entity's ability to adapt throughout the year.

Funding Alignment:

  • Students should be counted where they are educated, as opposed to where they reside, for funding purposes.

Counting where educated increases transparency for how and where students are funded. Counting where educated increases collaboration between community schools and school districts, and open enrollment recipient and donor schools.
-Various school models (i.e., traditional school districts, community schools, STEM schools, college preparatory boarding schools, and joint vocational school districts) should be funded using similar parameters. Although models should be funded on similar parameters, the funding should recognize the different needs of different business models - i.e., brick-and-mortar schools to blended learning to e-schools.

State/Local Share:

  • Funds should be distributed equitably to ensure student success regardless of location.
  • Any assumed local contribution should be a realistic representation of the locality's capacity to raise revenue.

Consideration should be given to income, in addition to property wealth.
-Policies that discourage local revenue should be avoided.

Also included in the budget documents are the following education policy goals for specific Foundation Programs. The following are examples of these policy goals:

Academic Improvement: Provide support for Limited English Proficient (LEP) student through programs with a history of success. Specific funding for LEP students was included in the FY10-11 budget, but not separated out in the FY12-13 budgets.

Career-Technical Education: Recognize the additional costs of program delivery; address differing costs of various career-technical education delivery systems and programs; eliminate disincentives for districts in student participation in career-technical education.

Early Childhood Education: Support early childhood education, including all-day kindergarten and preschool special education. The Race to the Top Early Learning grant will provide more information to meet student needs.

General State Support: Increase participation in dual enrollment programs; make clear the manner by which funds transfer from school districts to ESCs and transparently identify the intended use of the funds.

Gifted Education: Provide pupil-based funding and, contingent upon such funding, require gifted students be identified and served; incentivize the use of gifted coordinators on a regional basis; recognize the varying costs of giftedness across a continuum of services and degrees of need; develop and encourage policies supporting instructional environments and supports that allow gifted students to excel.

School Choice: Consolidate scholarship/voucher programs into as few as possible; align funding for scholarship/voucher programs to funding for community schools and school districts on a per-pupil basis; encourage collaboration/cooperation between community schools and traditional school districts.

School Operations-Pupil Transportation: Incentivize regional collaboration to increase efficiency, accommodate special logistical circumstances; promote increased ridership and student safety; do not include transportation funding in the calculation of an overall funding guarantee.

Special Education: Provide pupil-based funding that recognizes the different costs of varying degrees of disability; provide that catastrophic special education costs are not born by single districts, but are addressed regionally; fully fund the state's share of special education costs; require a review of the funding model periodically by appropriate stakeholders.

Students at Risk: Account for challenges associated with concentrations of poverty and mobility, account for the differences in addressing the challenges of poverty in urban settings and rural settings.

The State Board will receive a presentation about the Non-Foundation Recommendations at the July 2012 meeting. At this time there are no plans for the State Board to meet in August to discuss the budget recommendations.

Board members raised the following questions following the presentation:

Mike Collins and Deb Cain expressed concern about how the estimated $25,000 per pupil for room and board for students attending the College Preparatory Boarding School would be raised. They both said that they would not support additional funding to support the program from the ODE or school districts. The educational and transportation costs for students attending the boarding school will be deducted from the district of residence, but there is currently no funding source for the cost of room and board.

Mary Rose Oakar suggested that a level of funding for the College Preparatory Boarding School be included in the FY14-15 budget recommendations.

Jeff Mims suggested that there be a breakdown of the local share of the costs for the programs that are deducted from school district state funding.

Debe Terhar suggested that the State Board strongly support early childhood education programs.

Brian Williams questioned the policy recommendation about regionalizing the cost of catastrophic special education. He suggested that the state might assume the cost of high cost special education services. A shared risk pool for special education could also be established regionally or at the state level.

Angela Thi Bennett asked if community schools are allowed to provide early childcare programs supported by the ODE? Ms. Weir was not sure.

Rob Hovis suggested that the budget recommendations include more funding for early childcare programs, and that policy-makers should work to implement the recommendations that a State Board of Education task force developed several years ago.

Mary Rose Oakar stated that she also supports early childcare programs. She also asked if the Cleveland Metropolitan School District was considered a local control district, because so many policies are determined by the state. She suggested that some indication of local control for Cleveland should be noted in the budget.

Mike Collins suggested that Superintendent Heffner provide the Board with a framework for responding to the budget recommendations. He asked how the Board could participate in developing the budget recommendations. He said that he does not think that it is the role of the State Board to "maintain" the status quo and the current funding levels, but neither can the State Board ask for "pie in the sky".

Superintendent Heffner said that the comments made by Board members will be incorporated into budget recommendations, so that the FY14-15 budget recommendations truly reflect the policies and vision of the State Board.

Mike Collins also asked about regionalizing gifted coordinators. He said that he is concerned that school districts that use regional coordinators will think that they no longer have a responsibility to pay attention to and provide leadership for gifted education. He also said that when seeking information about special education and gifted education, that the ODE not just seek information from the associations for gifted and special education students, but also seek feedback from the field.

Mr. Collins also commented about the policies regarding school choice. He said that the recommendation/concept about aligning the scholarship/voucher programs is fine, but there will be consequences. For example, regarding the Peterson Scholarship, about 90 percent of the scholarships are at the maximum level, so that each scholarship amount, about $20,000, is being transferred from a school district to a private school or provider. (He referred to the ODE data as the source of this information.) So, if these programs are aligned, there won't be enough money for all recipients to receive $20,000. At some point school districts will run out of money. He is also concerned that the private schools receiving public funds do not have to comply with the same requirements. If there is alignment, there must be alignment of responsibility and accountability, and all schools that receive tax dollars should be required to meet the same standards and accountability system. He noted that doing that would "be a sweeping change".

Superintendent Heffner replied that the State Board should have more discussions about what gets reported, because what gets reported gets done.

Ann Jacobs commented that it is really important to realize and plan for the needs of career tech students, and to ensure accountability of the ESCs. She said that she is surprised that there hasn't been more attention to accountability for ESC funding.

Jeff Hardin also addressed JVSD funding, which has been kept at a flat level. He said that there is one unfunded JVSD in Adams County, and that the number of students attending JVSDs in his area have increased. The JVSDs have not received additional funding to educate these students. JVSD funding should be distributed on a per pupil basis.

Jeff Mims congratulated Ms. Weir for a great presentation and emphasize the importance of the process. He would like to make sure that as the State Board goes through the process, that the State Board receives some feedback from the field regarding the recommendations.

He also expressed a concern about separately operated career-tech schools. He supports offering technology or career tech programs in the traditional high school. These programs provide students with a variety of opportunities to learn skills that also support other course work. When students have to travel to a separate career tech school, the students who are left behind in the high school often do not have the opportunities to experience the practical applications of science and math.

C. Todd Jones responded to Mr. Collins about the accountability of public funds going to private schools through the special education scholarship/voucher programs . He said according to the federal law, a parent is allowed to place their student at the institution of choice when a school district does not offer a free and appropriate education program for students with special needs. That decision of the parent is not held accountable by any other standard than the choice of the parent. "The logic of the state special education plan in Ohio is a wise one, and is an extension of that, that a parent may have other qualitative and quantitative evaluative standards for placing their child, and we do not as a state need to hold accountable those who receive all forms of funding from our state for the education of their child as it relates to special education."

Mary Rose Oakar responded that Mr. Jones' remarks, were "right on target."

State Board of Education Business Meeting
The State Board of Education resumed its business meeting from June 11, 2012. After approving the minutes for the May meeting, President Terhar recognized Dannie Greene, who presented to the State Board eight recommendations from the Ohio School for the Deaf and Ohio School for the Blind Task Force. The Board discussed whether or not to accept the recommendations as an emergency resolution, and decided to hold an extra Executive Committee meeting to discuss the process. (At that meeting later in the day, the Executive Committee agreed to vote on the recommendations at the July 2012 meeting.)

The State Board then received from Stan Heffner the report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Superintendent Heffner brought two items to the Board's attention. He shared with the Board that three Ohio students will represent the USA in an international competition in Leipzig, Germany in July at the 2013 World Skills International Competition. The students will be competing against students from 53 other countries. The students are Antony Costantini and Jarrod Nichols, graduates of Clyde High School from Vanguard-Sentinel Career and Technology Center, and Christopher Kuhn, graduate of Brookside High School from Lorain County Joint Vocational School District. They are among 20 SkillsUSA national medalists from around the country traveling to the international games.

Superintendent Heffner also stated his intent to begin a policy discussion with the State Board about the "Schools of the Future". Superintendent Heffner said that he and the ODE staff will prepare demographic and economic information to inform the discussion about future trends that could affect educational policies, and the knowledge and skills that students will need in the future to succeed. Some of the questions that the Board will explore include,

  • What will the student population be like in 2030, and where will they live?
  • What will be the economy in Ohio? How will the shale oil industry affect Ohio? 
  • What skills will students need in the future? 
  • What is the relationship of school with the family?
  • What will teaching look like in the future? 
  • What about teacher preparation and licensure? 
  • What will be the duties of teachers?

Following the Superintendent's report, Deb Cain asked Superintendent Heffner to comment about the capacity of school districts in Ohio to implement the online assessments that will be part of Ohio's new assessment system aligned to the Common Core standards. According to Ms. Cain, at a meeting in Stark County, superintendents raised questions about the bandwidth and technology needed to participate in the state's new assessment system in 2014. Schools/districts are currently being surveyed to get a better picture about their capacity to implement this new online system and determine what investments will be necessary. In some cases schools will need to be renovated to add more lines.

Superintendent Heffner said that he is discussing these issues with partnering states in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career, which has recently released the specs and devices needed for partnering states to participate in the new assessment system for schools. The Superintendent will update the Board next month on the status of the program.

Rob Hovis recommended that the students who are competing in the international competition be recognized at a future Board meeting.

The State Board of Education Board then resumed its business meeting, and took action on the resolutions listed below.

Resolutions Considered by the State Board of Education on June 12, 2012:

#4 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Amend Rule 3301-24-05 of the Administrative Code Entitled Licensure.

#5 Approved a Resolution Regarding Public Participation at the July 2012 State Board of Education Business Meeting in July 2012.

#6 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer of School District Territory from the Coventry Local School District, Summit County, to the Barberton City School District, Summit County, Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.

#7 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer of School District Territory from the Fairborn City School District, Greene County, to the Huber Heights City School District, Montgomery County, Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.

#8 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer of School District Territory from the Medina City School District, Medina County to the Highland Local School District, Medina County, Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.

#9 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer of School District Territory from the Northwestern Local School District, Wayne County, to the Norwayne Local School District, Wayne County, Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.

#10 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer of School District Territory from the Toledo City School District, Lucas County, to the Ottawa Hills City School District, Lucas County, Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.

#14 Approved a Resolution to Adopt Academic Content Standards for the Fine Arts and World Languages. Vote 17 to 0

#15 Approved a Resolution to Adopt Academic Content Standards in Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship and Non Career Technical Business.

#16 Approved a Resolution to Appoint Karie McCrate to the Educator Standards Board. During the discussion about this appointment, Dennis Shelton and President Terhar said that there has been a discussion about changing the law to require the Educator Standards Board to include someone who represents special needs students. Mr. Shelton will request the ODE draft a legislative recommendation, which will be presented to the State Board of Education's Legislative and Budget Committee.

#17 Approved a Resolution Regarding the Report and Recommendations of the Hearing Officer in the Matter of the Arts Academy West Community School Full-Time Equivalency Review Appeal. The recommendation states that the State Board of Education shall order the calculation of a final figure of overpayment, and that upon the finalization of this figure, that the ODE take such measures as are necessary to collect the overpayment (estimated to be over $118,000,000) from the Arts Academy West Community School.

#18 Moved to Postpone. A Resolution to Accept the Recommendation of the Hearing Officer and to Revoke the Registration of Rays of Hope as an Autism Scholarship Provider, Pursuant to Section 3310.41 of the Ohio Revised Code and Rule 3301-103-06(E) of the Ohio Administrative Code. The registration is being revoked based on information learned during an on-site investigation that the school failed to have a licensed or certified staff person providing oversight to the staff or managing progress toward meeting the IEP goals of students between September 2, 2010 and May 5, 2011; failed to document the amount of time students were served; failed to provide an appropriate fee schedule for the services provided; and failed to comply with Ohio statutes, rules, and guidelines. The postponement was approved until there is more understanding about how the ODE reconsiders service providers who have been revoked by the ODE after they have corrected their infractions.

#19 Approved a Resolution to Adopt Performance Standards for Community Schools that Operate Dropout Prevention and Recovery Programs.

#20 Approved a Resolution to Adopt Standards Regarding Operating Expenditures.

Under new business Rob Hovis said that he will bring to the State Board in September 2012 a resolution that would require the ODE to establish a separate course in Financial Literacy.

C. Todd Jones said that he will bring to the State Board in July/September some ideas to re-structure the State Board of Education meetings to maximize the amount of work and provide greater emphasis on policy-making. Following a discussion about this concept, Superintendent Heffner recommended that Mr. Jones work with ODE staff to integrate this proposal into the July Board Retreat.

Tom Gunlock said that in July he will bring to the State Board a resolution in support of the A-F Rating System for Ohio's Schools. Following a discussion about this concept, Superintendent Heffner recommended that Mr. Gunlock work with ODE staff to develop some guidance or framework about this resolution.

In recognition of his service to the State Board of Education, President Terhar read for the record a certificate of commendation for Dennis Reardon, who resigned from the Board effective June 8, 2012.

The State Board of Education then adjourned.

View the State Board of Education's schedule.

 

News from the ODE 

ODE's New Web page, "College and Career-Ready Standards: The Ohio Department of Education has created new web site to learn more about the academic content standards and model curriculum. The Academic Content Standards section has links to each content/subject area, and each subject area eventually will offer links to Resources (supporting materials), Transition (tools) and Professional Development. The new Transition Toolkit will assist districts in preparing for full implementation of new standards in 2014-2015. Also included are links to brief instructional videos to guide users through the transitioning steps. Access the new site.

Online Assessment Pilot (OAP) resources available: More than 35,000 eighth-grade students across Ohio schools and districts participated in the OAP, May 15-25, 2012. The OAP provided educators, administrators, and students an opportunity to experience what it might be like to participate in online assessments that include technology-enhanced test questions. Information about OAP (including a practice test, tutorials, monthly newsletters, an overview of procedures, technology requirements, schedules and software) is available at the Online Assessment Pilot Portal, is available.

Ohio Performance Assessment Pilot (OPAPP) is recruiting participants: OPAPP is recruiting up to 300 high school teachers statewide from all Ohio schools for Cohort 4 of the program. Participation is open to all schools, not just those participating in Race to the Top. Applications and a recorded webinar describing the project are posted.

Questions may be directed to Lauren Monowar-Jones at lauren.monowar-jones@education.ohio.gov.

Recorded webcast explains how tool will guide transition to new assessments: More than 250 Ohio school district superintendents and district-level technology coordinators participated in a statewide kick-off webcast May 15, 2012 for the Technology Readiness Tool, which will help Ohio transition to the Next Generation of Assessments. The tool was created by the two national consortia that are working on these new assessments: the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), in which Ohio is a governing member, and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). Access a recording of the webcast.

Free access to online resources available to Ohio schools through 2012-2013: The Libraries Connect Ohio program of the State Library of Ohio will use a $2,471,481 federal grant to purchase the Ohio Web Library core set of online resources and publications for the next state fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2012. Ohio preK-12 schools will continue to have free access online to full-text magazines and journals, reference materials, newspapers, art, tutorials, test preparation materials, online courses, and career exploration and job search tools. The federal grant was made possible by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Complete information and a list of resources are available on the INFOhio website.
  

 

FYI Arts

OAGC Seeking Artwork for Auction: The Ohio Association for Gifted Children is seeking artwork from grades 9-12 and regions 3, 7, 10, and 12 for their annual conference. An annual art auction is held each year in honor of Susan Faulkner, advocate for the arts and gifted children.

The Susan Faulkner Fine Arts Exhibition and Auction will be featured during the OAGC Conference, to be held on October 14-16, 2012. This is a silent art auction of student artwork from all across Ohio. Conference participants will bid on the artwork during the conference, and the artwork will be sold to the highest bidder. The artwork that is selected for the auction will also be judged during the conference, and the top artists will be awarded scholarships.

Details for how to submit artwork can be found on the OAGC Art Auction nomination form.

Article Recaps Founding Fathers Support for the Arts: An article in the Huffington Post by Nicholas Ferroni on June 22, 2012 describes our nation's founding fathers' passion for the arts and questions current decisions by local boards of education to eliminate arts programs in schools. The article is most timely with the Fourth of July celebrations approaching, and shows that America's early leaders were specific in their support of the arts as part of our young nation's vision. ("By Eliminating the Arts We Are Undermining Our Founders Vision of America by Nicholas Ferroni, Huffington Post, Posted: 06/22/2012 12:29 PM.)

As a historian and educator, the author recounts examples of support for the arts among our nation's early leaders, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Sam Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, and others. Their writings and actions demonstrate a "love, respect and passion for philosophy, art and music, three subjects that are the basis for all humanities courses." Several of our early leaders became the trustees of universities that encouraged equally the study of the arts with the sciences and humanities, because "they believed the arts were as important to the development and growth of an enlightened country as science and philosophy."

The author wonders what our nation's Founding Fathers would think today when so many schools are cutting the arts to save money or to promote the study of math and science.

The author writes, "By eliminating the arts, we are eliminating the most unique and successful characteristic that has separated Americans from the rest of the world since our founding, which is why the founding fathers immediately attempted to make the arts the foundation of their creative experiment."

The article is available.

House Appropriations Committee to Take Action on NEA Budget: The U.S House of Representatives Appropriations Interior Subcommittee passed on June 20, 2012 an initial FY13 funding legislation, which proposes a cut of $14 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to $132 million. The NEA budget for this year is $146.3 million. President Obama in his budget request proposed an increase of $8 million over the current NEA appropriation to $154.2 million for FY13.

The proposed budget for the National Endowment for the Humanities is also cut to $132 million. The National Gallery of Art would be funded at $126 million, a decrease of $2.6 million below last year's level.

The proposed budget for the Department of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies is $28 billion, a cut of $1.2 billion below last year's level and $1.7 billion below the President's budget request.

The full House Appropriations Committee will be considering this recommendation on June 27, 2012.

For more information please contact Americans for the Arts.

A draft of the proposed budget for the Department of the Interior is available.

 

Connect With US on Facebook!

Join The Ohio Alliance for Arts Education on Facebook. Click to "like" us but don't stop there - post your support for the OAAE and arts education on your profile, and ask your friends and colleagues to 'like' us too.

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

Legislative Update 6/16/12

 


June 16, 2012

capitol hill

Arts On Line
Education Update

129th Ohio General Assembly 

The House and Senate completed work on a variety of bills last week and are taking a summer break. A schedule for the second half of this legislative session has not been posted yet, but lawmakers might return in July or the fall to complete work on several high profile issues, such as pension reform and Governor Kasich's proposal to increase the severance tax on oil/gas production in Ohio. Otherwise lawmakers will be on the campaign trail through election day, November 6, 2012.

Major Education Bills Approved: The House and Senate approved two major education bills last week, SB316 (Lehner/Turner) Mid Biennial Review -- Education, and HB525 (Amstutz/Williams) Cleveland Plan. The Governor is expected to sign the bills into law.

Both bills were hotly debated over the past months, resulting in last minute changes and revisions of revisions last week. The controversial A-F state rating system for schools and standards for dropout prevention schools were removed from SB316 by the House and are expected to be included in stand-alone legislation, HB555 (Stebelton). Also removed from the bill were provisions supporting regional schools for gifted students.

Representative Debbie Phillips unsuccessfully tried to amend the HB525 provision that allows the Cleveland Municipal School District to share local tax revenue with partnering charter schools. Representative Phillips recommended that the Cleveland Metropolitan School District develop a "memorandum of understanding" to share revenue with partnering community schools, rather than share local tax revenue. This is still one of the most controversial aspects of the legislation, and could lead to a constitutional challenge.

Absentee Ballots for Every Voter!! Secretary of State Jon Husted announced on June 12, 2012 his plan to send absentee ballot applications to every registered voter in Ohio for the November 2012 Election. According to a press release, the ballot applications will be mailed in two installments, September and also in October. The $2-3 million cost will be covered by the federal "Helping America Vote Act". Voting by absentee ballot starts October 2, 2012. More information is available. 

State Board Members Resign: Dennis Reardon and Tess Elshoff, appointed members of the State Board of Education, submitted their resignations last week. Mr. Reardon's term would have ended on December 31, 2012 and Ms. Elshoff's term would have ended in December 2014. Governor Kasich has the authority to appoint new members to the State Board, which includes 11 elected and 8 appointed members.

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Governor Kasich Comments About Upcoming Initiatives

Hannah News Service reported on June 14, 2012 that Governor Kasich plans even more changes for Ohio in the next budget. (Kasich, Leaders Laud MBR,
Governor Says 'You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet', Hannah Report, June 14, 2012.)

Speaking at an event at the governor's residence in Bexley, the governor said that the changes made in Ohio's education system, energy policies, tax policies, jobs programs, and more through the Mid Biennium Review legislation were nothing compared to his administration's future plans for Ohio.

According to the article, the governor intends to push for a severance on natural oil/gas production, linking educational initiatives to private sector needs, a new system for funding schools, and an initiative in the next budget that he referred to as the "twin towers". He also said that budget guidance for state agencies and departments would be released within the next two or three weeks. The focus of the school funding proposal will be on the quality of the graduates, rather than the amount allocated to schools.

The Governor also said that it is his responsibility to develop the new system, although he is willing to share information with the House subcommittee that is expecting to meet over the summer to discuss a new school funding formula.

 

Beyond Boundaries Released 

Richard A. Ross, director of The Governor's Office of 21st Century Education and Tim Kean, director of the Office of Management and Budget released on June 13, 2012 a
report entitled "Beyond the Boundaries: A Shared Services Action Plan for Ohio Schools and Governments".

The report includes the results of a survey of Ohio schools, other educational service providers, and local political subdivisions regarding shared services, and a Shared Services Model which is expected to be included in some form in the next biennium budget for FY14-15.

The survey identified the following barriers to collaboration:

  • 39.8 percent of survey respondents indicated that legal and policy barriers were the main obstacle to sharing services
  • 28.5 percent reported that collaboration made "No financial sense"
  • 27.5 percent said that budget difficulties was a barrier
  • 26.4 percent reported that negotiated agreements were a barrier

Other barriers reported included geographic obstacles, governance, organizational inertia, cost model for service, job security/employee cooperation, issues related to competition, and lack of public support (2.9 percent).

The report includes the following recommendations;

  • Local government and education leaders need to utilize existing authority to enter into simple agreements. (HB153 - Sec. 9.482 ORC)
  • The State should make a thorough review of Ohio's existing network of educational service, information technology and education technology centers, and provide recommendations on the necessary structure and governance that will provide an integrated system of regional shared service centers (RSSC) using implementation strategies detailed in this plan.
  • The State should continue to seek legislative approval, when necessary, to further remove identified barriers to shared services.
  • Formation of regional shared service centers must become a priority.
  • Apply additional market forces to encourage the use of shared services and ensure the quality of services.
  • The State should continue developing tools to assist local collaboration and shared services.
  • The Local Government Innovation Council should create and award bonus points to applicants for submitting projects that are consistent with recommendations or promising practices identified in this Shared Services Plan.
  • The State should develop benchmarks for spending and/or financial reporting that provide public transparency around cost effectiveness and create the capacity for state reporting necessary to evaluate performance and cost effectiveness.
  • The State should create "triggers" for districts and/or local governments in fiscal distress (categorized as fiscal caution, fiscal watch or fiscal emergency) or those with substantial recommendations coming out of performance audits.
  • The Shared Services Model should be used by state and local leaders to determine opportunities for shared services and the optimum manner for individual entities to join together for the provision of a specific shared service.
  • State associations that have participated in developing this Shared Services Plan should take a leadership role in developing draft agreements; educating their members; facilitating the relationships regionally - both within and across their memberships; training their members in using the tools available to them and communicating about shared services consistently over the next few years.
  • The Shared Services Model should be used by state and local leaders to determine opportunities for shared services and the optimum manner for individual entities to join together for the provision of a specific shared service.

The report is available.

 

Highlights of SB316 (Lehner) Mid Biennium Review - Education

Senate Bill 316 (Lehner) was introduced on March 22, 2012 at the request of Governor Kasich. The bill was part of Governor Kasich's mid-biennium budget review, and, as introduced, cleaned-up some dates and language, and amended and adopted new sections of law regarding child day care, including Type B family day-care homes (Sec. 5104). In fact most of the changes in law included in the bill are about standards, evaluation, and the operations of preschool/child day care centers.

But the bill, as introduced, also included a variety of changes in education law regarding the state's system of rating and ranking schools/districts; community schools; dropout prevention schools; teacher evaluations; blended learning; etc.

Since its introduction SB316 has undergone several revisions, as lawmakers debated provisions regarding the third-grade guarantee, a new A-F rating system for schools/districts, teacher evaluation, and accountability for dropout and prevention programs. The proposed new A-F rating system for schools/districts and accountability provisions for dropout recovery and prevention programs were eventually removed from the bill, and have been moved to HB555 (Stebelton/Butler) Academic Performance Rating Systems for Schools.

The following is a summary of the key components of the bill as enacted.

Sec. 3301.04. State Board of Education Meetings: Changes the number of required meeting that the State Board of Education must hold annually. Requires the State Board to adopt, by the thirty-first day of March each year, a calendar indicating the dates on which the board will hold its regular meetings for the following fiscal year rather than hold a regular meeting once every three months.

Sec. 3301.079 Career Connections: (A) Directs the State Board of Education to adopt academic content standards "periodically". By June 30, 2013, the State Board, in consultation with any office housed in the governor's office that deals with workforce development, is required to develop a K-12 model curricula that embeds career connection learning strategies into regular classroom instruction.

(G) Blended Learning: Requires the State Board to provide information on the use of blended or digital learning in the delivery of the standards or curricula to students.

(I) Defines blended learning as the delivery of instruction in a combination of time in a supervised physical location away from home and delivery whereby the student has some element of control over time, place, path, or pace of learning. Defines digital learning as learning facilitated by technology that gives students some element of control over time, place, path, or pace of their learning.

Sec. 3301.0710. Third Grade Guarantee: Requires the State Board to determine and designate a level of achievement, not lower than "limited" on the third grade English language arts assessment for a student to be promoted to the fourth grade. The State Board is directed to review and adjust upward the level of achievement designated under this division each year the test is administered until the level is set to proficient.

Sec. 3301.0714 Student ID: (D)(2)(c) Allows other entities, such as state agencies (health, job and family services, mental health and developmental disabilities) that administer publicly funded programs and services to children who are younger than compulsory school age, in addition to school districts and community schools, to request and receive a unique data verification code to students upon enrollment, and (D)(2)(b) requires community schools (as well as school districts) to ensure that the data verification code is included in the student's records.

Sec. 3301.0715 Third Grade Guarantee: Requires boards of education to administer diagnostic assessments to students at least once annually and when appropriate and in accordance with 3313.608 (third grade reading guarantee) to all students in the appropriate grade level, and report the results and any remediation plan developed for the student to the Ohio Department of Education and to parents.

Sec. 3301.52 Child Care: Defines "school child" as a child who is enrolled in or is eligible to be enrolled in a grade of Kindergarten or above, but is less than fifteen years old.

Defines "child care" as administering to the needs of infants, toddlers, preschool children, and school children outside of school hours by persons other than their parents or guardians, custodians, or relatives by blood, marriage, or adoption for any part of the twenty-four-hour day in a place or residence other than a child's own home. States that "Child day-care center," "publicly funded child care," and "school-age child care center" have the same meanings as in section 5104.01 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 3301.58 Child Care Programs: Makes changes in the operation and licensing of preschool programs and child care programs; the evaluation and investigation of preschool and childcare programs; and revocation of a license.

Sec. 3301.90 Removes reference to the childhood advisory council advising the state about the center for early childhood development.

Sec. 3301.922 Body Mass Screenings: Requires the ODE to issue an annual report on the participation by schools in the optional screening of students for body mass index and weight status categories, and submit the report to the governor, general assembly, and healthy choices for healthy children council.

Sec. 3301.941 Authorizes the collection of unique student data for early childhood programs publicly funded.

REMOVED: Sec. 3302.022: This section was in the bill as introduced, but has been removed. It required by March 31, 2013 the State Board of Education to adopt performance indicators for dropout prevention and recovery programs operated by school districts or community schools for the purposes of the report cards required under sections 3302.03 and 3314.012 of the Revised Code. The performance indicators shall measure all of the following:

  • The extent to which the district's or school's program meets each of the applicable performance indicators established under section 3302.02 of the Revised Code and the number of applicable performance indicators that have been achieved;
  • The performance index score of the district's or school's program;
  • Student academic growth in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies measured using nationally normed tests, the assessments prescribed by section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code, or other assessments approved by the department of education;
  • Graduation rate for both of the following student cohorts: the percentage of students currently enrolled in a school who entered ninth grade for the first time five years prior to the current school year and earned a high school diploma by the completion of the current school year; and the percentage of students currently enrolled in a school who entered ninth grade for the first time six years prior to the current school year and earned a high school diploma by the completion of the current school year.

NO CHANGES: Sec. 3302.03: In the introduced version of the bill, this provision was revised to include the new A-F rating system for schools. As passed there are no changes in this section of law regarding Ohio's accountability system.

Sec. 3302.033. Report Cards for Joint Vocational Schools: Requires the Department of Education (ODE) to annually issue a report card for each joint vocational school district and career-technical planning district, beginning with report cards for the 2012-2013 school year to be published not later than September 1, 2013.

Requires that the State Board in consultation with the chancellor of the Ohio board of regents and any office within the office of the governor concerning workforce development, the Ohio association of career technical superintendents, and for other career-technical planning districts that are not joint vocational school districts, submit details of the approved report card to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, and the chairpersons of the standing committees of the house of representatives and the senate principally responsible for education policy.

As used in this section, "career-technical planning district" means a school district or group of school districts designated by the department as being responsible for the planning for and provision of career-technical education services to students within the district or group.

Sec. 3302.042: Parent Trigger: Establishes December 31st of any school year as the deadline for parents or guardians of eligible schools to file a petition requesting the district board of education to implement education reform options. (Parent Trigger) Makes exceptions for (E) if the provisions of this section conflict in any way with the requirements of federal law, federal law shall prevail over the provisions of this section, and (F) if a school is restructured under this section, Section 3302.10 or Section 3302.12 of the Revised Code, or federal law, the school shall not be required to restructure again under state law for three consecutive years after the implementation of that prior restructuring.

Sec. 3302.12: Parent Trigger: Makes exceptions regarding the restructuring schools of some schools that are ranked in the lowest five per cent of public schools according to the performance index score, for the Parent Trigger and for schools that have already been restructured within the past three years.

Sec. 3302.20: Reporting Classroom and Non-classroom Expenditures: Requires the ODE to align the expenditure categories required for reporting classroom and non-classroom instructional operating expenditures with the categories used to report to the U.S. Department of Education under federal law. Resets the deadline for the State Board of Education to adopt a final set of expenditure standards to December 31, 2012. Requires school districts, community schools, and STEM schools to begin reporting data in accordance with the standards on July 1, 2012 2013.

Requires that the ODE report the twenty per cent of all joint vocational school districts statewide with the highest report card scores.

Sec. 3302.21 and 3302.25 Reporting Classroom and Non-classroom Expenditures: Makes changes to the system that the ODE is required to develop to rank order all city, exempted village, and local school districts, community schools established under Chapter 3314, and STEM schools established under Chapter 3326 of the Revised Code based on expenditures. Removes joint vocational schools from the ranking system established for career technical schools. Cleans-up language and removes "administrative expenditures" and replaces the term with "non-classroom expenditures".

Sec. 3302.41 Blended Learning: Allows any local, city, exempted village, or joint vocational school district, community school, STEM school, college-preparatory boarding school, or non-public school to operate all or part of a school using a blended learning model.

Requires the State Board to revise operating standards for school districts and non-public schools to include standards for blended learning. Defines what should be included in those standards, including a provision that states, (B)(3) "The ability of all students, at any grade level, to earn credits or advance grade levels upon demonstrating mastery of knowledge or skills through competency-based learning models. Credits or grade level advancement shall not be based on a minimum number of days or hours in a classroom." Excludes internet- or computer-based community schools, as blended learning school authorized under this section.

Sec. 3310.03 Education Choice Scholarship: Allows students to participate in the program when (C) the student is enrolled in a non-public school at the time the school is granted a charter by the state board of education under section 3301.16 of the Revised Code and the student meets the standards of division (B) of section 3310.031 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 3310.31 Educational Choice Scholarship: Establishes the procedures for granting educational choice scholarships to students who attend non-public schools that are in the process of getting a charter from the Ohio Department of Education.

Sec. 3310.08 Payment of Educational Choice Scholarship: States that in the case of a student entitled to attend school in a school district under division (B)(2)(a) of section 3313.64 or division (C) of section 3313.65 of the Revised Code, the ODE shall deduct the payments from the school district that includes the student in its average daily membership as reported to the department under section 3317.03 of the Revised Code, as determined by the department.

Sec. 3310.15 Assessment of Students in the Educational Choice Scholarship Program: Changes "age" to "grade level" as a criteria to disaggregate student performance data for students participating in the Educational Choice Scholarship Program.

Sec. 3313.37 (2) Educational Service Centers: Removes the following statement: "If a governing board exercises any of these powers to acquire office or classroom space, the board of county commissioners has no obligation to provide and equip offices and to provide heat, light, water, and janitorial services for the use of the service center pursuant to section 3319.19 of the Revised Code, unless there is a contract as provided by division (D) of that section."

Sec. 3313.41 School Facilities: Allows boards of education to sell property to an eligible nonprofit institution of higher education and to the governing authority of a chartered non-public school. Establishes the priorities for school districts to follow when disposing of property, including the board of trustees of any college-preparatory boarding school.

Sec. 3313.411 School Facilities: Makes changes regarding offering unused school district property to governing authorities for college preparatory boarding schools and charter schools, and allows boards of education to offer school buildings to charter school governing authorities or individuals or groups holding valid preliminary agreements to open a charter school.

Sec. 3313.608 Third Grade Guarantee: Establishes new promotion requirements in reading for students entering the third grade in 2013-14 and new procedures for ensuring that students can read. Exempts students in limited English proficiency programs for less than two full years; students with disabilities and IEPs that exempt the student from retention; students who demonstrate acceptable level of performance on an alternative reading assessment; and students who meet other specified conditions.

Requires school districts to annually assess the reading skills of each student enrolled in Kindergarten to third grade by the 30th day of September and identify students who are reading below their grade level by the end of the school year.

(B)(4) Requires that students who are retained but are identified as gifted continue to receive instruction in the specific academic ability field as defined in section 3324.01 of the Revised Code.

Requires the school district to develop and monitor a reading improvement plan and provide intense remediation to students. Specifies that (F) "intensive, explicit, and systematic instruction" shall be included in the plan.

Sec. 3313.6411 Parent Notification: Requires school districts to provide parents who are enrolling their students in the school, with a copy of the most recent report card of the school.

Sec 3313.674 Body Mass Index: Makes completely permissive student screening for body mass index and weight status, but if a board of education adopts a policy to screen for body mass index, still allows parents to choose to opt-out. The ODE may produce a report.

Sec. 3314.012 Requires charter schools to comply with Sec. 3302.03 regarding Ohio's rating system for schools.

Sec. 3313.978 Assessment of Students in the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program: Changes "age" to "grade level" as a criteria to disaggregate student performance data for students participating in the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program.

Sec. 3314.015 Charter School Sponsor: Specifies that the Office of Ohio School Sponsorship, and not the ODE, may take over sponsorship of those community schools that lose their sponsors based on a decision by the State Board of Education to revoke the sponsor's approval. Community schools sponsored under this division do not apply to the limit on directly authorized community schools under division (A)(3) of section 3314.029 of the Revised Code, and can apply for sponsorship by the Office of Ohio School Sponsorship.

Sec. 3314.016 Charter School Sponsors: Makes several changes in the qualifications of sponsors of community schools, and in how community schools are ranked. Includes the Office of Ohio School Sponsorship in the ranking system. Requires the ODE to annually rank sponsors of conversion community schools and start-up community schools from highest to lowest based on a composite performance index score. Exempts all community schools that have been in operation for less than two full years and dropout recovery/prevention community schools unless the schools become subject to closure under 3314.35 (D).

Requires sponsors of community schools to comply with all provisions to report data or information to the ODE, and those that do not are not permitted to enter into contracts to sponsor additional community schools. Specifies that sponsors of conversion schools or start-up community schools that are ranked, based on the composite index score, in the lowest twenty percent of community school sponsors, are not allowed to enter into new contracts to sponsor community schools. The ODE is required to publish the rankings required between the 1-15th day in October.

Sec. 3314.02 Charter School Sponsors: Redefines "sponsor" of a community school to state that "(1) "Sponsor" means the board of education of a school district or the governing board of an educational service center that agrees to the conversion of all or part of a school or building under division (B) of this section, or an entity listed in division (C)(1) of this section, which either has been approved by the department of education to sponsor community schools or is exempted by section 3314.021 or 3314.027 of the Revised Code from obtaining approval, and with which the governing authority of the proposed community school enters into a contract pursuant to this under section 3314.03 of the Revised Code."

Sec. 3314.029 Charter School Sponsors: (A)(4) Allows the ODE to deny an application submitted by the governing authority of an existing community school, if a previous sponsor of that school did not renew its contract with the school.

Sec. 3314.03 Sponsor Contracts: Requires the ODE to make available on its web site a copy of every approve, executed contract filed with the superintendent under this section.

Sec. 3314.06 Community School Student Enrollment: Allows an individual younger than five years of age to be admitted to the school in accordance with division (A)(2) of Section 3321.01 of the Revised Code. Allows community schools to establish single gender schools for either sex.

Sec. 3314.08 Community School Student Enrollment: Requires a school district board and a community school governing authority to include in their reports any child admitted in accordance with (A)(2) of Section 3321.01. ( Children under the age of five).

Sec. 3314.11 Community School Enrollment Verification: States that school districts shall verify to the ODE both of the following: the community school in which the student is enrolled and that the student is entitled to attend school in the district under section 3313.64 or 3313.65 of the Revised Code. Permits community schools to adopt a policy that prescribes the number of documents required to verify a student's residency. This policy, if adopted, shall supersede any policy concerning the number of documents for initial residency verification adopted by the district the student is entitled to attend. If a community school does not adopt a policy under this division, the policy of the school district in which the student is entitled to attend shall prevail. Defines that the school district in which a parent or child resides is the location the parent or student has established as the primary residence and where substantial family activity takes place.

Requires community schools to provide documentation about the student's residency and make a good faith effort to accurately identify the correct residence of the student if the school district challenges the residency of a student.

Identifies the following documents that may serve as evidence of primary residence:

  • A deed, mortgage, lease, current home owner's or renter's insurance declaration page, or current real property tax bill;
  • A utility bill or receipt of utility installation issued within ninety days of enrollment;
  • A paycheck or pay stub issued to the parent or student within ninety days of the date of enrollment that includes the address of the parent's or student's primary residence;
  • The most current available bank statement issued to the parent or student that includes the address of the parent's or student's primary residence;
  • Any other official document issued to the parent or student that includes the address of the parent's or student's primary residence. The superintendent of public instruction shall develop guidelines for determining what qualifies as an "official document" under this division.

(F) When a student loses permanent housing and becomes a homeless child or youth, as defined in 42 U.S.C. 11434a, or when a child who is such a homeless child or youth changes temporary living arrangements, the district in which the student is entitled to attend school shall be determined in accordance with division (F)(13) of section 3313.64 of the Revised Code and the "McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act," 42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.

States that the Superintendent of Public Instruction or the state superintendent's designee, shall determine which district the student is entitled to attend and shall direct any necessary adjustments to payments and deductions under sections 3314.08 and 3314.13 of the Revised Code based on that determination if the community school and school district can not agree.

Sec. 3314.15. Body Mass Index Screening: The governing authority of a community school, other than an internet- or computer-based community school, may screen students for body mass index and weight status category. If a governing authority elects to require the screenings, it shall comply with section 3313.674 of the Revised Code in the same manner required of a school district board of education.

Sec. 3314.35 Closing Community Schools: States that (D) Notwithstanding division (A)(3)(a) of this section (community schools that have been granted a waiver under 3314.36), if, by March 31, 2013, the general assembly does not enact for community schools a report card rating system, and criteria for closure, those schools shall be required to permanently close upon meeting the criteria prescribed in division (A)(2) of this section, except that, subject to division (C) of this section, only the performance ratings issued for the 2012-2013 school year and later shall count in determining if the criteria are met.

Sec. 3317.01 Law Enforcement Emergencies: Exempts situations in which law enforcement emergencies close schools in the calculation of the minimum number of days or hours that a school must be open for instruction with pupils in attendance.

Sec. 3318.034 School Facilities: Changes from .04 to .02 times the district's valuation, the minimum amount of the cost of a segment of construction/renovation to participate in the school facilities program.

Sec. 3318.364 School Facilities: Allows the Ohio School Facilities Commission to provide at its discretion assistance to a school district that has entered into an expedited local partnership agreement before the district is otherwise eligible for that assistance based on its percentile rank, if the commission determines that the district meets certain provisions.

Sec. 3318.37 School Facilities: Changes the definition of exceptional need classroom facilities assistance based on health and safety rather than low wealth or large area school district.

Sec. 3318.70 STEM Schools Facilities: (C) In the case of the governing body of a group of STEM schools, as prescribed by section 3326.031 of the Revised Code, the governing body shall submit a proposal for each school under its direction separately, and the commission shall consider each proposal separately.

Sec. 3319.02 Assistant Principals/Other Administrators: Includes assistant principals in the state teacher evaluation system. Defines "other administrators" as a supervisor, business manager, and someone employed as an "licensed administrator" and teaches less than 50 percent of the time. Requires boards of education to renew the contracts of administrators prior to the first day of June of the year, rather than March.

Sec. 3319.11 Teacher Contracts: Requires boards of education to renew the contracts of teachers prior to the first day of June of the year, rather than April, or give notice to not reemploy. States that a teacher is presumed to have accepted employment under such continuing contract unless such teacher notifies the board in writing to the contrary on or before the fifteenth day of June.

Sec. 3319.111 Requires boards of education not later than July 1, 2013 in consultation with teachers employed by the board, to adopt a standards-based teacher evaluation policy that conforms with the framework for evaluation of teachers developed under section 3319.112 of the Revised Code. States that this provision applies to any person who is employed under a teacher license and who spends at least fifty per cent of the time employed providing student instruction. However, this section does not apply to any person who is employed as a substitute teacher.

Specifies who can conduct the evaluations. Allows a person employed by an entity contracted by the board of education of a school district to conduct teacher evaluations, as long as the persons have the credential established by the ODE for evaluators.

Requires boards of education of school districts to submit to the ODE the number of teachers evaluated and the number assigned a rating, aggregated by the teacher preparation programs from which and the years in which teachers graduated.

The guidelines shall not permit or require that the name of, or any other personally identifiable information about, any teacher be reported under this division.

States that "Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code, the requirements of this section prevail over any conflicting provisions of a collective bargaining agreement entered into on or after September 29, 2011."

Sec. 3319.112 Teacher Evaluation System: Allows the State Board to update the Ohio Teacher Evaluation Framework periodically. States that "In calculating student academic growth for an evaluation, a student shall not be included if the student has sixty or more un-excused absences for the school year."

Requires the State Board by June 30, 2013, in consultation with state agencies that employ teachers, to develop a standards-based framework for the evaluation of teachers employed by those agencies.

Sec. 3319.58 Teacher Examinations: Beginning with the 2015-16 school year, requires classroom teachers (in city, exempted village, local school districts, and joint vocational school districts, and currently teaching in a core subject area) and who have received a rating of ineffective on the evaluations conducted under section 3319.111 of the Revised Code for two of the three most recent school years to register for and take all written examinations of content knowledge selected by the ODE as appropriate to determine expertise to teach that core subject area and the grade level to which the teacher is assigned.

Sec. 3319.58 Teacher Examinations: Beginning with the 2015-16 school year, requires classroom teachers in community schools and STEM schools and teaching in a core subject area with a building ranked in the lowest ten per cent of all public school buildings according to performance index score, under section 3302.21 of the Revised Code, to register for and take all written examinations to teach that core subject area and the grade level to which the teacher is assigned under section 3319.22 of the Revised Code.

(D) States that if a teacher who takes an examination under division (B) of this section passes that examination and provides proof of that passage to the teacher's employer, the employer shall require the teacher, at the teacher's expense, to complete professional development that is targeted to thedeficiencies identified in the teacher's evaluations conducted under section 3319.111 of the Revised Code. The receipt by the teacher of a rating of ineffective on the teacher's next evaluation after completion of the professional development, or the failure of the teacher to complete the professional development, shall be grounds for termination of the teacher under section 3319.16 of the Revised Code. A teacher who passes the examination is not required to take the examination again for three years.

Sec. 3321.01 Kindergarten Admission; Allows students under the age of five by the beginning day of the school semester to be eligible for early admittance if the child has been recommended for early admittance in accordance with the district's acceleration policy adopted under section 3324.10 of the Revised Code. A child who does not meet the age requirement for admittance to kindergarten or first grade shall be evaluated for early admittance upon referral by the child's parent or guardian, an educator employed by the district, a preschool educator who knows the child, or a pediatrician or psychologist who knows the child. (4) States that after a student has been admitted to kindergarten in a school district or chartered non-public school, no board of education of a school district to which the student transfers shall deny that student admission based on the student's age. Removes all language regarding the responsibilities of the pupil personnel services committee, which issued waivers allowing students to be admitted to first grade without completing Kindergarten.

Sec. 3323.011 IEP Requirements: Requires an individualized education program (IEP) to include for children fourteen, rather than sixteen, appropriate measurable post-secondary goals based onage-appropriate transition assessments related to employment in a competitive environment in which workers are integrated regardless of disability.

Sec. 3323.052 Peterson Scholarship Program: Requires that each time a child's school district completes an evaluation for a child with a disability or undertakes the development, review, or revision of the child's IEP, the district shall notify the child's parent, by letter or electronic means, about both the autism scholarship program, under section 3310.41 of the Revised Code, and the Jon Peterson special needs scholarship program, under sections 3310.51 to 3310.64 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 3323.19 Eye Examinations: Requires the ODE to annually report the total number of students enrolled in the district who received an eye examination.

Sec. 3326.03 Multiple STEM Schools: States that the STEM Committee may authorize the establishment of a group of multiple STEM schools to operate from multiple facilities located in one or more school districts under the direction of a single governing body in the manner prescribed by section 3326.031 of the Revised Code. The STEM committee may approve one or more STEM schools to serve only students identified as gifted under Chapter 3324 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 3326.031 Outlines how the STEM group schools will operate and requires the ODE to issue a separate report card for each school within a group, and a report card for the group of schools.

Sec. 3328.15 College-preparatory boarding school: Allows the governor, operator, or any other person or entity who appoints a member of the board of trustees to remove that member from the board at any time.

Sec. 3333.0411 Teacher Preparation Programs: Requires, not later than December 31, 2012, the chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents to report the aggregate academic growth data for students assigned to graduates of teacher preparation programs for teachers who teach English language arts or mathematics in any of grades 4-8 in a public school in Ohio. For this purpose, the chancellor shall use the value-added progress dimension prescribed by section 3302.021 of the Revised Code. The chancellor shall aggregate the data by graduating class for each approved teacher preparation program, except that if a particular class has ten or fewer graduates to which this section applies, the chancellor shall report the data for a group of classes over a three-year period.

Not later than December 31, 2014, the chancellor of the Ohio board of regents shall report for each approved teacher preparation program, the number and percentage of all graduates of the program who were rated at each of the performance levels on an evaluation conducted in accordance with section 3319.111 of the Revised Code in the previous school year.

In no case shall the report reports identify any individual graduate. The department of education shall share any data necessary for the report with the chancellor.

Sec. 4123.391 Learn to Earn Program: Allows the Department of Job and Family Services to establish "learn to earn programs" which are designed to increase an individual's opportunity to move to permanent employment through a short-term work experience placement with an eligible employer.

Sec. 4139.05 Makes some changes regarding apprentice programs and the apprenticeship council.

Sec. 5104 Child Care Programs: Makes a variety of changes regarding licensed child care programs; the criteria for establishing the programs; the qualifications for the administrators and staff of licensed child care programs; the evaluation of the programs based on the tiered quality and rating system rather than a "voluntary child day care center quality rating system", and more.

Sec. 5123.022 Developmental Disabilities: Establishes as a policy of the state that employment services for individuals with developmental disabilities be directed at placement whenever possible of each individual in a position in the community in which the individual is integrated with the employer's other workers who are not developmentally disabled. The policy articulated in this section is intended to promote the right of each individual with a developmental disability to informed choice; however, nothing in this section requires any employer to give preference in hiring to an individual because the individual has a disability.

Sec. 6301.02, 6301.04, 6301.06 State Workforce Policy Board: Establishes the state workforce policy board established by section 6301.04 of the Revised Code and the local workforce policy board created pursuant to section 6301.06 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 267.10.90. (C) Requires the State Board of Education, not later than December 31, 2013, to submit to the General Assembly recommended changes to divisions (A)(2) and (3) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code necessary to successfully implement the common core curriculum and assessments in the 2014-2015 school year.

Sec. 267.50.30. Allows a community school that was not open for operation as a community school as of May 1, 2005, to operate from or in any home, as defined in section 3313.64 of the Revised Code, located in the state, regardless of when the community school's operations from or in a particular home began.

SECTION 733.10. States that not later than June 20, 2013, the Department of Education shall conduct a study of the licensure requirements for educational staff responsible for the development of informational sources for the support of curriculum and literacy development in schools. The Department and the State Board of Education shall use the study to make any necessary updates or revisions to the licensure requirements for those staff.

 

Highlights of HB525 (Amstutz/Williams) the Cleveland Plan

The Ohio House and Senate eventually approved Sub. HB525 (Amstutz/Williams) the Cleveland Plan after debating two similar bills, SB335 (Turner-Lehner) and HB525 (Williams-Amstutz), in their respective chambers over the past few weeks. The House approved HB525 on June 12, 2012 and the Senate on June 13, 2012.  

 

The two bills were introduced on April 25, 2012 to implement changes for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District proposed by Mayor Frank Jackson, business and foundation leaders, and agreed to, in part, by the Cleveland Teachers Union. The bills, SB335 (Turner-Lehner) and HB525 (Williams-Amstutz) "replaced" SB325 and HB506, which were first introduced in March. The new bills include provisions negotiated by Mayor Jackson and the Cleveland Teachers Union, but retain some controversial provisions that allow the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to share local tax revenue with "partnering" community schools. 

 

HB525 also includes provisions negotiated with community school stakeholders, who initially opposed how community schools would have been selected to participate as partners with the Cleveland school district. 

 

The approved version of the bill also eliminates a provision that would have created criteria to close under-performing community schools located within the Cleveland school district. This provision would not have affected community schools operating dropout prevention and recovery programs, or community schools for students with disabilities receiving special education and related services. 

 

Representative Debbie Phillips proposed on the floor of the House an amendment that would have addressed one of the most controversial provisions of HB525, the provision that allows the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to share local tax revenue with "partnering" community schools. This provision is a significant change in tax policy for the state, and even though it only applies to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, there is a concern that community schools will now pressure the General Assembly to expand the tax sharing provision statewide, or even sue the state to expand this provision for all community schools. The amendment proposed by Representative Phillips would have authorized the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to establish a "memorandum of understanding" with partnering community schools to receive additional funds rather than share local tax revenue. The amendment was tabled by the House before the bill passed 77 to 16. 

 

The following is a summary of some of the key provisions included Sub. HB525: 

 

Overall the bill as enacted amends several sections of education law to align with new Sections 3311.77 to 87. Sections 3311.71 to 76 in current law refer to a municipal school district (the Cleveland Metropolitan School District - CMSD) in which the mayor appoints a nine-member board of education. Throughout the legislation "municipal school district" means the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSC). 

 

Sec. 2921.02 Cleans-up language about bribery of a state official. New provisions (E) and (F) state that no persons should bribe a member of the transformation alliance established in this legislation. 

 

Sec. 3302.03 (C)(6) (c) Performance Standards: Permits the CMSD under Section 3311.71 of the Revised Code, to combine the academic performance of students enrolled in a community school with comparable data from the schools of the district for the purpose of calculating the performance of the district as a whole on the district's report card, and to have the students attending the community school noted separately on the district's report card. This election is subject to the approval of the community school governing  authority. 

 

Any district that so elects shall annually file with the department a copy of the lease or agreement and other documentation indicating eligibility, as required by the department, by October 1st. States that this section does not apply to dropout recovery schools. 

 

Sec. 3311.74. (B)(1) School Improvement Plans: Requires the chief executive officer of a municipal school district to develop a plan that "requires the parents or guardians of students who attend low-performing schools to attend, prior to the fifteenth day of December each year, at least one parent-teacher conference or similar event held by the school the student attends to provide an opportunity for the parents and guardians to meet the student's teachers, discuss expectations for the student, discuss the student's performance, and foster communication between home and school." 

 

(B)(2) Requires the chief executive officer, with the concurrence of the board, to take corrective action in low performing schools, including "adjusting the length of the school year or school day." 

 

(B)(3) Requires the chief executive officer, prior to taking corrective action pursuant to the plan, to identify which schools are in need of corrective action, what corrective action is warranted at each school, and when the corrective action should be implemented. Collectively, these items shall be known as the "corrective plan." 

 

States that "The corrective plan is not intended to be used as a cost savings measure; rather, it is intended to improve student performance at targeted schools." 

 

Requires the chief executive officer and the presiding officer of each labor organization whose members will be affected by the corrective plan to each appoint up to four individuals to form one or more corrective action teams, and implement the plan with a timeline set by the chief executive officer. 

 

Allows the chief executive officer to implement another plan if he/she disagrees with all or part of the recommendations of a corrective action team, or if a corrective action team fails to make timely recommendations on the implementation of all or part of the corrective plan. 

 

States that the chief executive officer and any corrective action team are not bound by the applicable provisions of collective bargaining agreements in developing recommendations for and implementing the corrective plan. 

 

(B)(4)"Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Chapter 4117 of the Revised Code, the content of the plan developed under this division and any actions taken to implement the plan prevail over any conflicting provision of a collective bargaining agreement entered into on or after the effective date of this amendment." 

 

Sec. 3311.741 Performance Standards: (B) Requires the Cleveland Metropolitan School District by December 1, 2012 to submit to the superintendent of public instruction an "array" of measures to be used to evaluate the performance of the district, including student achievement, student progress over time, achievement and progress of categories of students, and college and career readiness. The state superintendent can approve or modify the recommendations. 

 

(C) Requires the board of education of the municipal school district to measure progress toward meeting its goals beginning with the 2012-2013 school year based on the measures and (D) issue a report to the governor, state superintendent, and the general assembly. 

 

Sec. 3311.742 Partnering Community Schools: Defines partnering community school" as a community school established under Chapter 3314 of the Revised Code that is located within the territory of a municipal school district and that either is sponsored by the district or is a party to an agreement with the district whereby the district and the community school endorse each other's programs. 

 

(B) Requires the board of education of each municipal school district and the governing authority of each partnering community school to require each of its schools offering grades nine to twelve to establish a student advisory committee to recommend strategies to improve teaching and learning at the school; how to use technology in the classroom to engage students; strategies to encourage high achieving students to work with under-performing students; ways for students to improve the behavior of other students to reduce  incidents of bullying and disruptive behavior; and procedures to monitor progress. (C) The strategies and recommendations will be provided to the district chief executive officer, the school principal, and, if applicable, the person designated to be the representative of the teachers' labor organization for the school. The board or governing authority shall post the recommendations on the district's or school's web site. 

 

Sec. 3311.751 Sale of School District Property: States that notwithstanding division (F) of section 5705.10 of the Revised Code, if a municipal school district board of education sells real property that it owns in its corporate capacity, moneys received from the sale may be paid into the general fund of the district, as long as all of the following conditions are satisfied: 

(A) The district has owned the real property for at least ten years. 

(B) The real property and any improvements to that real property were not acquired with the proceeds of public obligations, as defined in section 133.01 of the Revised Code, of the district that are outstanding at the time of the sale. 

(C) The deposit of those moneys in that manner is not prohibited by any agreements the district board has entered into with the Ohio school facilities commission. 

 

Sec. 3311.76. Waivers: Allows the board of education of a municipal school district to request and receive waivers from certain laws under Title 33 of the Ohio Revised Code and rules. Exceptions apply to Sections 3302, 3317, 3323 (Special Education), and parts of 3307, 3309, and 3319. 

 

Sec. 3311.77 Teacher Contracts/municipal school district. Requires a municipal school district to comply with this section rather than 3319.08 of the Revised Code regarding types of teacher contracts, and states that Section 3319.0811 of the Revised Code shall not apply to the municipal school district. Describes the terms of a contract for a municipal school district and the conditions of employment. 

 

Sec. 3311.78 Salary Schedules. Requires the board of education of each municipal school district to annually adopt a differentiated salary schedules for principals and teachers based on performance as  outlined in (D) of this section. 

 

Requires the board to determine the teacher's or principal's initial placement on the applicable salary schedule based on years of experience and area of licensure and any other factors the board considers appropriate, and initially place the teacher on the applicable salary schedule so that the teacher's annual salary on the schedule is comparable to the teacher's annual salary for the school year immediately prior to the school year covered by the schedule. For each principal hired prior to the effective date of this section, the board shall initially place the principal on the applicable salary schedule consistent with the principal's employment contract. 

 

(C) States that the salary of a teacher shall not be reduced unless such reduction is accomplished as part of a negotiated collective bargaining agreement. The salary of a principal shall not be reduced during the term of the principal's employment contract unless such reduction is by mutual agreement of the board and the principal or as part of a uniform plan affecting the entire district. 

 

(D) Prescribes the following be used to measure a teacher's or principal's performance to determine salary: (1) The level of license issued under section 3319.22 of the Revised Code that the teacher or  principal holds; (2) Whether the teacher or principal is a highly qualified teacher, as defined in section 3319.074 of the Revised Code; (3) Ratings received by the teacher or principal on performance evaluations conducted under section 3311.80 or 3311.84 of the Revised Code. (4) Specialized training and experience. 

 

(E) Allows teachers and principals to receive additional compensation for duties, not contracted for under a supplemental contract, that the board determines warrant additional compensation. Those duties may include, but are not limited to, assignment to a school building eligible for funding under Title I of the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965," 20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.; assignment to a building in "school improvement" status under the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001," as defined in section 3302.01 of the Revised Code; teaching in a grade level or subject area in which the board has determined there is a shortage within the district; assignment to a hard-to-staff school, as determined by the board; or teaching in a school with an extended school day or school year. 

 

(F) Allows the board to increase a teacher's or principal's salary based on performance and duties upon the recommendation of the chief executive officer. The performance-based increase for a teacher or principal rated as accomplished shall be greater than the performance-based increase for a teacher or principal rated as proficient. The board can also decrease the teacher's or principal's salary if the teacher or principal will perform fewer or different duties described in division (E) of this section in the school year for which the salary is decreased. 

 

(G) States that this section prevails over any conflicting provisions of a collective bargaining agreement entered into on or after the effective date of this section, but requires the board and the teachers' labor organization to negotiate the implementation of the differentiated salary schedule for teachers and negotiate additional factors regarding teacher salaries, provided those factors are consistent with this section. 

 

Sec. 3311.79 Assignment of Teachers. Allows all teachers to apply for open positions. Requires the formation of a building level team to conduct interviews of applicants prior to school opening and during  the school year. The team shall be chosen by the principal and the representative of the district's teachers' labor organizations, and shall include the building principal, a representative of the district teachers' labor organization, a parent, a staff member in the same job classification as the posted position, and any other members mutually agreed upon by the principal and the labor organization representative. Specifies the credentials for hiring teachers, including the level and number of subject licenses; highly qualified status; results of teacher performance evaluations in subjects taught; specialized training or experience; and other credentials established. 

 

States that the building team recommendations shall be sent to the chief executive officer. If the building team cannot come to consensus, the chief executive officer or designee can fill a teaching position based on the best interests of the district and the input from the building team. 

 

Allows the chief executive officer or designee to assign, reassign, or transfer a teacher after meeting with the teacher, principals of affected buildings, and representative from the teachers' labor organization. 

 

States that seniority or a continuing contract status shall not be used as a primary factor in determining any teacher's assignment to a school. 

 

States that this section prevails over conflicting provisions of a collective bargaining agreement, but that the board and teachers' labor organization shall negotiate regarding implementation of this section, including the processes by which each building level team conducts its interviews and makes recommendations. 

 

Sec. 3311.80 Teacher Evaluations. Requires a municipal school district to comply with this Section rather than Section 3319.111 - teacher evaluations. Outlines certain conditions for an evaluation framework, which shall be adopted by the board of education and the teachers' labor organization by July 1, 2013. The evaluation procedures shall conform with the framework developed under Section 3319.112. 

 

States that the evaluation procedures shall describe how the evaluation results will be used for decisions regarding compensation, retention, promotion, and reductions in force and for removal of poorly performing teachers. 

 

Allows teachers to challenge any violation of the evaluation procedures in accordance with the grievance procedures specified in any applicable collective bargaining agreement. A challenge under this division is limited to the determination of procedural errors that have resulted in substantive harm to the teacher. 

 

States that this section does not apply to substitute teachers employed for less than 120 days or to administrators appointed by the chief executive officers, and prevails over conflicting provisions of a collective bargaining agreement, but that the board and teachers' labor organization may negotiate additional evaluation procedures. 

 

Section 3311.81 Teacher Contracts. Defines limited and extended contracts for teachers in a municipal school district, and states that this section applies rather than 3319.11. Requires that teachers who receive a written notice of the intention of the board not to re-employ such teacher pursuant to this division are entitled to the hearing provisions of division (C) of this section. The decision of the board shall be final and not subject to further appeal. 

 

States that this division prevails over any conflicting provision of a collective bargaining agreement, and the board and the teachers' labor organization shall negotiate the due process procedures preceding a teacher's receipt of a written notice indicating the intent of the board not to re-employ the teacher. 

 

Section 3311.82 Termination of Contracts and Disciplinary Suspension. Includes the procedures for the termination of a contract and disciplinary suspension of a teacher in a municipal school district, rather than through Sections 3319.16 and 3319.161, but states that those sections shall apply to the district with respect to termination of contracts with other district employees licensed by the state board of education, subject to division (F) of section 3311.84 of the Revised Code. 

 

Section 3311.83 Suspension of Teacher Contracts/Reductions in Force. Includes the procedures for reductions in force of teachers in a municipal school district, rather than through 3319.16 and 3319.161,  but states that those sections shall apply to the district with respect to termination of contracts with other district employees licensed by the state board of education, subject to division (F) of section 3311.84 of the Revised Code. 

 

Specifies that the reasons for reduction in force include: 1) Return to duty of regular teachers after leaves of absence, including leaves of absence provided pursuant to section 3319.13 or 3319.14 of the  Revised Code; (2) Decreased enrollment of students in the district; 1922 (3) Academic reasons resulting in consolidation of teaching positions, duties, or functions or resulting in changes in educational programs; (4) Financial reasons; (5) Territorial changes affecting the district. 

 

Establishes in division (B) categories of teachers based on their type of contract and teacher evaluation status, and states that teachers will be reduced based on their category. 

 

Allows that teachers whose contracts are suspended by the board through this section have the right of restoration by the board. 

 

States that the board and the representative of the teachers' labor organization shall negotiate how specialized training and experience will be factored into reduction in force and recall decisions and that additional factors to be considered in determining the order of reductions can be negotiated. After applying specialized training and experience and any other negotiated factors, teachers within the same  category prescribed by division (B) of this section shall be given preference based on seniority. 

 

Section 3311.84 Evaluation of Principals. Includes the procedures for evaluating principals and assistant principals, rather than through 3319.02, but states that all other provisions of that section shall apply to the district with respect to principals and assistant principals. Section 3319.02 of the Revised Code in its entirety shall apply to the district with respect to employees other than principals and assistant principals who are covered by that section, except as otherwise provided in section 3311.72 of the Revised Code. 

 

States that termination of a principal's contract shall be in accordance with section 3319.16 of the Revised Code, except as follows: (1) Failure of the principal's building to meet academic performance standards established by the chief executive officer shall be considered good and just cause for termination under that section. (2) If the chief executive officer intends to recommend to the board that the principal's contract be terminated, the chief executive officer shall provide the principal a written copy of the principal's evaluation at least five days prior to making the recommendation to the board. 

 

Section 3311.85 School Year. Permits a board of education of a municipal school district to establish a school calendar for the district and one or more of the district's school buildings that provides for additional student days beyond the minimum prescribed by law, or year-round instruction, or an extended school day. The calendar must comply with the minimum school year prescribed by section 3313.48 of the Revised Code. 

 

States that notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in Chapter 4117 of the Revised Code, the requirements and authorizations of this section prevail over any conflicting provisions of a collective  bargaining agreement entered into on or after the effective date of this section. Requires the district board and teachers' labor organization to negotiate regarding any additional compensation for school staff for an extended school day or school year. 

 

Section 3311.86 Transformation Alliance: Defines the transformation alliance as a nonprofit corporation (under Chapter 1702) created for a municipal school district. Defines partnering community school as a community school established under Chapter 3314 and is located within the territory of a municipal school district, and is either sponsored by the district, or is a party to an agreement with the district, whereby the district and the community school endorse each other's programs. 

 

Defines "Transformation alliance education plan" as a plan prepared by the mayor and confirmed by the alliance, to transform public education in the alliance municipal school district and partnering community schools that will be held to the highest standards of school performance and student achievement. 

 

States that the mayor of a municipal school district may initiate proceedings to establish a municipal school district transformation alliance and appoint initial directors. The directors will represent the municipal school district; partnering community schools; members of the community at large, including parents and educators; and the business community, including business leaders and foundation leaders. The mayor shall be an ex officio director and chairperson of the board of directors. 

 

(C)(1) States that any formal action taken by the board of directors shall take place at a meeting of the board and shall require the concurrence of a majority of the members of the board. Meetings of the board of directors shall be public meetings open to the public at all times, except that the board may hold an executive session for any of the purposes for which an executive session of a public body is permitted under division (G) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code. (C)(1) Requires public notice of meetings and (C)(2) filing of all records with the department of education. All records will be made available to the public according to Chapter 149 of the Revised Code. 

 

(D) Requires the transformation alliance to do the following: (1) Report annually on the performance of all municipal school district schools and all community schools established under Chapter 3314 of the Revised Code and located in the district, using the criteria adopted under division (B) of section 3311.87 of the Revised Code; (2) Confirm and monitor implementation of the transformation alliance education plan; (3) Suggest national education models for and provide input in the development of new municipal school district schools and partnering community schools. 

 

Section 3311.86 (E) States that Divisions (E)(1) to (3) of this section apply to each community school sponsor that is subject to approval by the department of education under section 3314.015 of the Revised Code whose approval under that section is granted or renewed on or after the effective date of this section. Divisions (E)(1) to (3) of this section do not apply to a sponsor that has been approved by the department prior to that date, until the sponsor's approval is renewed or granted anew on or after that date. (1) Before a sponsor to which this section applies may sponsor new community schools in an alliance municipal school district, the sponsor shall request recommendation from the alliance to sponsor  community schools in the district. (2) The alliance shall review the sponsor's application and shall  make a recommendation based on the standards for sponsors developed under division (A)(2) of section 3311.87 of the Revised Code. (3) The department shall use the standards developed under division (A)(2) of section 3311.87 of the Revised Code, in addition to any other requirements of the Revised Code, to review a sponsor's request and make a final determination, on recommendation of the alliance, of whether the sponsor may sponsor new community schools in the alliance municipal school district. No sponsor shall be required to receive authorization to sponsor new community schools under division (E)(3) of this section more than one time. 

 

Section 3311.86 (F) States that "Directors, officers, and employees of an alliance are not public employees or public officials, are not subject to Chapters 124 (Department of Administrative Services), 145 (Retirement Fund), and ORC Section 4117 (Labor and Industry), and are not "public officials" or "public servants" as defined in section 2921.01 of the Revised Code. Membership on the board of directors of an alliance does not constitute the holding of an incompatible public office or employment in violation of any statutory or common law prohibition against the simultaneous holding of more than one public office or employment. Members of the board of directors of an alliance are not disqualified from holding any public office by reason of that membership, and do not forfeit by reason of that membership the public office or employment held when appointed to the board, notwithstanding any contrary disqualification or forfeiture requirement under the Revised Code or the common law of this state. 

 

Section 3311.86 (G) States that the authority to establish an alliance under this section expires on January 1, 2018. Any alliance established under this section is terminated, and any related authority granted to the alliance under this section expires on that date. 

 

Section 3311.87 Sponsoring New Community Schools: Requires the Department of Education, in conjunction with the municipal school district transformation alliance and a statewide nonprofit organization whose membership is comprised solely of entities that sponsor community schools and whose members sponsor the majority of start-up community schools in the state, to establish by December 31, 2012 both of the following: 

(1) Objective criteria to be used by a sponsor to determine if it will sponsor new community schools located within the municipal school district. Beginning with any community school that opens after July 1, 2013, each sponsor shall use the criteria established under this division to determine whether to sponsor a community school in the municipal district. 

(2) Criteria for assessing the ability of a sponsor to successfully sponsor a community school in a municipal school district. The criteria adopted under divisions  

(A)(1) and (2) of this section shall be based on standards issued by the national association of charter school authorizers or any other nationally organized community or charter school organization. 

(B) Not later than April 30, 2013, establish a comprehensive framework to assess the efficacy of district schools and community schools located in the municipal school district. Where possible, the framework shall be based on nationally accepted quality standards and principles for schools and shall be specific to a school's model, mission, and student populations. 

 

Section 5705.192 Taxing Authorities: 5705.192 (3) states that "In the case of an existing school district levy imposed under division (B) of section 5705.21, division (C) of section 5705.212, or division (J) of section 5705.218 of the Revised Code, the rates allocated to the municipal school district and to partnering community schools each may be increased or decreased or remain the same, and the total rate may be increased, decreased, or remain the same." 

 

(C) Requires that the form of a ballot be modified for the type of levy proposed by a municipal school district, to indicate the number of mills or the portion of the rate increased/reduced to be allocated to a partnering community school. 

 

Section 5705.21 Levy for Municipal School District and Partnering Community Schools: (B) (1) States that "The levy of a tax for the current expenses of a partnering community school under this section and the distribution of proceeds from the tax by a municipal school district to partnering community schools is a proper public purpose." 

 

Requires a board of education of a municipal school district to approve a resolution to submit the question of an additional tax levy to the voters of the school district. The resolution shall state the purpose of the levy, the rate of the tax expressed in mills per dollar of taxable value, the number of such mills to be levied for the current expenses of the partnering community schools, and the number of such mills to be levied for the current expenses of the school district, the number of years the tax will be levied, and the first year the tax will be levied. The number of years the tax may be levied may be any number not exceeding ten years, or for a continuing period of time. 

 

Partnering Community School Fund: Requires the board of education of a municipal school district to establish a separate fund for the deposit of tax revenue raised for partnering community schools under this section. 

 

Resident student: Defines a resident student as a student enrolled in a partnering community school who is entitled to attend school in the municipal school district under section 3313.64 or 3313.65 of the  Revised Code. 

 

Distribution of Tax Revenue: States that each partnering community school shall receive a portion of the partnering community schools amount in the proportion that the number of its resident students bears to the aggregate number of resident students of all such partnering community schools as of the receipt and deposit of the tax distribution. For the purposes of this division, the number of resident students shall be the number of such students reported under section 3317.03 of the Revised Code and established by the department of education as of the receipt and deposit of the tax distribution. 

 

Qualifications for State Aid: States that, "The taxes charged and payable for the current expenses of partnering community schools shall not affect the calculation of "state education aid" as defined in section 5751.20 of the Revised Code." 

 

Please Note: Changes in several other sections of law are also included so that all new provisions align with unchanged laws. The provisions that refer to local taxation authorize the CMSD to share with partnering community schools combined levies for permanent improvements or incremental levies, etc.

 

 

Bills Introduced 

SB356 (Burke) Local Government-School District Comparative Data: Requires the Auditor of State to adopt rules to solicit comparative data from local governments and school districts and to make that information available to the public.

 

FYI Arts

Measuring Student Achievement in the Arts: An article in Slate on June 13, 2012 summarizes the challenge of evaluating teachers in the arts based on student achievement. ("No More Ditching Gym Class: The next wave of standardized testing is here, measuring your kids in art, music, and phys ed. Is that even possible?" by Dana Goldstein Posted Wednesday, June 13, 2012, at 7:05 AM ET)

The author explains that states are scrambling to find ways to evaluate teachers using student achievement data to comply with the Obama administration's Race to the Top program, which is providing billions of dollars to states and school districts. But, there is no consensus on how to evaluate arts teachers when there are few standardized assessments to measure student achievement or growth in the arts. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), for example, recently reported that it could find only 30 high-quality arts assessments being used across the country. The NEA report recommends the creation of a national, online database of high-quality arts assessments, but so far, the U.S. Department of Education has not taken up the challenge.

Some efforts to assess student achievement in the arts mentioned in the article include an arts assessment used by the Harrison District #2 in Colorado Springs; the Theater Communications Group's TEAM project; the International Baccalaureate Program's arts assessment; the College Board's Advanced Placement Studio Art program; a music assessment program in South Carolina via the computer; and a statewide project in Florida, which is developing a bank of test questions and performance-based assessment scenarios for dance, music, and theater called the Performance and Fine Arts Assessment Project.

Some of these assessments require students to write about their learning in the arts and combine the written tests with performance-based assessments. Some assessments can be graded by a computer.

According to the article, testing students in the arts is controversial among parents, because it increases the number of tests students are taking, and teachers believe that the tests often don't assess what students have really learned through the arts. Some question how a test can measure creativity, for example.

Bob Schaeffer of FairTest, who was interviewed for the article, calls state standardized assessment in the arts "fundamentally ludicrous". He also says that testing student knowledge of terms used in artistic disciplines is not assessing arts learning, but tests how well students memorize and regurgitate specialized language.

The author also notes a positive outcome from the push to evaluate teachers in the arts. She writes, "But if schools assess students fairly in the arts-and ideally involve teachers in creating these assessments-they're sending an important message: The arts matter. After a decade of No Child Left Behind, in which the arts, social studies, and science were often scaled back as schools obsessed over math and reading scores, this could be a real upgrade. The challenge will be in training teachers, improving the curriculum, and communicating with students and parents about what nontraditional assessment is all about. In most districts, this work has barely even begun."

The article is available.

 

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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

 

 

Legislative Update 6/15/12

OSPA LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

6-15-12

The General Assembly wrapped up a busy legislative session with the passage of both the education mid-budget review bill (SB 316) and the Cleveland school reform bills (HB 525/SB 335). All passed the week of June 11, 2012.

 

Sub. SB 316, Education MBR bill summary:

1) Third grade reading guarantee retention provisions:

* Beginning with students entering third grade in the 2013-2014 school year,

(2) promote the student to fourth generally prohibits school districts and community schools from promoting to fourth grade a student scoring below a cut score determined by the State Board of Education on the third grade reading achievement assessment, but makes several exceptions (see below).

 

* Requires the State Board of Education to determine the "cut" score, progressively adjusting it upwards until the retention requirements apply to students who do not receive at least a "proficient" score. Prohibits the State Board from designating a level lower than "limited." Not later than December 31, 2013, requires the State Board to submit to the General Assembly recommended changes to the scoring ranges of the state achievement assessments necessary for the successful implementation of the common core curriculum and assessments in the 2014-2015 school year.

 

*Exempts from retention the following:

 

(1) Limited English proficient students who have been enrolled in U.S. schools for less than two full school years and have had less than two years of instruction in an English as a second language program;

 

(2)(a) Special education students whose IEPs exempt them from retention under the third-grade guarantee, and (b) special education students whose IEPs or 504 Plans show that they have received intensive remediation in reading for two school years, and who have previously been retained in any grades K to 3, but who still demonstrate a deficiency in reading.

 

(3) Students who, as determined by the Department of Education, demonstrate an acceptable level of performance on an alternative standardized reading assessment. Does not include an exception for demonstration of mastery through a student portfolio.

 

(4) Students who received intensive remediation in reading for two school years but still demonstrate a deficiency in reading, and were previously retained in any of grades K to 3, as long as the student continues to receive intensive reading instruction in fourth grade. That instruction must include an altered instructional day that includes specialized diagnostic information and specific research-based reading strategies that have been successful in improving reading among low- performing readers.

 

* Requires school districts and community schools to provide all retained third-graders with instruction in a specific academic field that is commensurate with student

achievement levels.

2) Third grade reading guarantee assessment and interventions provisions:

* Requires each district and community school beginning in the 2012-2013 school year to assess the reading skills of each student in grades K to 3 by September 30 of each school year and identify students reading below grade level. Requires that they administer the state-developed diagnostic assessments in English language arts, or a comparable tool approved by the Department of Education, to all students.

 

* Maintains current law requiring the district or community school to notify the parent or guardian of each student identified as reading below grade level.

Specifies that the notice must inform the parent or guardian that the student has been identified as having a substantial reading deficiency, describe the current services provided to the student, describe the proposed supplemental services and supports to be provided, and explain that the student may be retained in third grade if the student scores below the State Board's cut score on the third grade

reading achievement assessment.

 

* Maintains current law requiring school districts and community schools to provide intervention services to each student reading below grade level, Specifies that intensive reading instruction must be provided immediately following identification of a reading deficiency, and must include (1) "intensive, explicit, and systematic instruction," (2) research- based reading strategies that have been shown to be successful in improving reading among low- performing readers, and (3) instruction targeted at the student's identified reading deficiencies.

 

* Requires the district or community school to develop a reading improvement and monitoring plan for each student identified as reading below grade level. The plan must (1) identify the student's specific reading deficiencies, (2) describe the additional instructional services and support that will be provided to remediate the student's deficiencies, (3) include opportunities for parental involvement in those services and support, (4) specify a process for monitoring the student's receipt of the services and support, and (5) state that the student may be retained in third grade for failure to pass the third-grade reading achievement assessment. Requires each plan to provide a reading curriculum during regular school hours that a)provides scientifically based and reliable assessment, and (b) provides initial and ongoing analysis of each student's reading progress.

 

* Requires the district or community school to report to the Department of Education any information requested by the Department about the reading improvement and monitoring plans.

 

* Requires the district or community school to assign each student who has a reading improvement and monitoring plan, and who enters third grade in the 2013-2014 school year or later, to a teacher who either (1) has received a passing score on a rigorous test of principles of scientifically based reading instruction or (2) has a reading endorsement on the teacher's license.

 

* For each student retained in third grade, requires each district or community school, to do the following:

 

(1) Provide intense remediation services until the student is able to read at grade level. Specifies that the services must include intensive interventions in reading that address the areas of deficiencies, including not less than 90 minutes of reading daily, and optional strategies such as uninterrupted, research-based reading instruction and other strategies such as small group instruction, reduced student-teacher ratios, or extended school day, week, or year;

 

(2) Provide a high-performing teacher, as determined by the teacher's student performance data, only when it is available, and performance reviews.

 

(3) Offer the option to receive services from one or more providers other than the district or community schools. Requires the district, community school, or Department to screen any other service provider.

 

(4) Establish a policy for mid-year promotion if the student demonstrates that the student is reading at or above grade level, and promote the student to fourth grade if the student demonstrates reading proficiency in accordance with standards adopted by the Department.

 

* Includes summer reading camps as an option for services offered to retained third-graders. Does not mandate summer services, but likewise eliminates the requirement of current law that summer remediation be provided in a school or community center and not on an at-home basis.

 

* Repeals the general prohibition against requiring school districts and community schools to report students' results on diagnostic assessments to the Department or State Board of Education or making the results available to the public.  Requires districts to submit the results of the K-3 diagnostic assessments in English language arts and math to the Department. Allows the Department to issue a report on the data collected.

 

* Reverses current law by specifying that blank copies of diagnostic assessments are not public records.

 

* Requires each district and community school annually to report to the Department on its implementation of and compliance with the bill's third- grade guarantee requirements.

 

*Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction annually to report to the Governor and General Assembly the number and percentage of students in grades K-4 reading below grade level, types of intervention service provided, and an evaluation, if available, on the efficacy of those services, all aggregated by school building as well as by school district.

 

3) Third grade reading guarantee report on federal funding provision:

* Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Governor's Director of 21st Century Education to report to the Governor and the General Assembly, by December 31, 2012, on the ability of the Department of Education to reprioritize state and federal funds, in order to identify additional funds that may be used to support the assessments and interventions associated with the third-grade reading guarantee. The Superintendent and Director must examine all available sources of funding, including Title I federal funds for disadvantaged students, Title II(D) federal funds for educational technology, and Title III federal funds for limited English proficient students.

 

4) Legislative recommendations regarding reading readiness provision:

Requires the State Board of Education and the Early Childhood Advisory Council jointly to develop legislative recommendations on the state's policies on literacy education of children from birth to third grade. The joint recommendations are due to the Governor and members of the General Assembly not later than February 28, 2013.

 

5) District and building academic performance ratings ; The provisions were removed from the final version, the Governor and the House and Senate Republican leadership stated that this issue will be introduced in a separate bill later this year.

 

6) Joint vocational school district rankings and report cards provision:

Requires the State Board of Education, in consultation with the Chancellor of the Board of Regents and the Governor's Office of Workforce Development and the Ohio Association of Career and Technical Education and the Ohio Association of Career and Technical Superintendents Ohio Association of City-Career Technical Schools to develop a report card for joint vocational school districts and for career-technical planning districts separate from those for city, exempted village, and local school districts, and to begin issuing the report card for the 2012-2013 school year.

 

7) School report cards during admissions process:

Requires the Department of Education to present to the State Board of Education standards for determining and comparing district and school operating expenditures for classroom instructional purposes with those for nonclassroom purposes. The State Board of Education must adopt the standards by December 31, 2012. They must be aligned with the expenditure categories required for reporting to the USDOE, under federal law.

 

8) Legislative presentation of academic standards and model curricula:

Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to present updated academic standards and model curricula in English language arts, math, science, and social studies to the House and Senate education committees at least 45 days before their adoption by the State Board of Education.

 

9) Teacher evaluations provisions:

* Specifies that the public school teachers who are subject to the requirement of current law to undergo evaluation by their employers are those who are employed under a teacher license and spend at least 50% of their time employed providing student instruction. Exempts substitute teachers from the evaluation requirement.

 

* When calculating student academic growth for the purpose of teacher evaluations, excludes students with 60 or more unexcused absences for the school year .

 

* Authorizes to conduct teacher evaluations (1) persons designated by an agreement entered into by the teacher's employer and (2) persons employed by an entity hired by the employer to conduct evaluations and who are licensed as a superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal, vocational director, or supervisor and (3) administrative specialists if they work for t he teachers employer or for a third party hired by the employer to conduct evaluations and (4) qualified persons who are not licensed as a superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal, vocational director, administrative specialist, or supervisor, if they work for a third party hired by the district to conduct evaluations. Teacher evaluations may also be conducted by persons designated in a peer review agreement entered into by an employer and its teachers.

 

* Requires all authorized evaluators to obtain a credential established by the Department of Education before doing teacher evaluations.

 

* Requires only one annual evaluation of teachers on limited or extended limited contracts. (Under current law, employers must conduct two evaluations of those teachers in any year the employer is considering not rehiring the teacher.)

 

*Requires at least three classroom observations (instead of two, as currently required) of teachers on limited or extended limited contracts and who are under consideration for nonrenewal, as part of the evaluation process.

 

* Permits an employer to require only one classroom observation (instead of two, as currently required) of a teacher rated as "accomplished" on the teacher's most recent evaluation, if the teacher completes a project approved by the employer to demonstrate continued growth and practice at the accomplished level.

 

* Extends from April 1 to May 1 the deadline for employers to completeteacher evaluations.

 

* Specifies that the statutory requirements regarding teacher evaluations prevail over collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after the bill's effective date.

 

* Specifically authorizes the State Board of Education to periodically Update through a resolution its state framework for evaluating public school teachers.

 

* Directs the State Board to develop, by June 30, 2013, a standards-based teacher evaluation framework for state agencies, and requires each state agency that employs teachers to adopt a teacher evaluation policy that conforms to the framework.

 

10) Assistant principal evaluations

Requires each school district's evaluation procedures for assistant principals (required under continuing law) to be based on principles comparable to the district's teacher

evaluation policy, but tailored to the duties and responsibilities of assistant principals.

 

11) Testing teachers

* Beginning in the 2015-2016 school year revises the circumstances triggering the requirement that teachers of core subject areas take exams to prove their knowledge, so that it applies to teachers employed by school districts and joint vocational districts when the teacher has been rated "ineffective" on evaluations for two of the three most recent years. (Retains the law applying the requirement to teachers employed by community schools and STEM schools when the teacher's building is ranked by performance index score in the lowest 10% of all public schools.)

 

* If a teacher employed by a school district passes the required exams, the teacher, at the teacher's own expense, must complete professional development targeted at the deficiencies identified in the teacher's evaluations. The district may terminate the teacher if the teacher (a) does not complete the professional development or (b)

receives an "ineffective" rating on the teacher's next evaluation after the professional development.

 

*Applies the exam requirement to teachers who are currently teaching a core subject when they become subject to the provision.

 

*Specifies that the exams the teachers must take are content knowledge exams selected by the Department of Education to determine expertise to teach the teacher's subject area and grade level (rather than content knowledge and pedagogy exams needed for licensure in that subject area and grade level, as in current law).

 

12) Teacher evaluation data:

* Requires the Chancellor of the Board of Regents annually, beginning in December 31, 2014,to report the number and percentage of graduates of each Ohio teacher preparation program who were rated at each of the four performance levels on evaluations conducted by their employers in the previous school year.

 

* Requires that districts and schools report the number of teachers receiving each evaluation rating, aggregated by the teacher preparation programs from which the

teachers graduated and graduation year. Requires the Department of Education to establish Education Management Information System (EMIS) guidelines for this report, and prohibits the guidelines from permitting or requiring the reporting of teachers' names or other personally identifiable information.

 

13) Nonrenewal of teacher and administrator contracts:

* Extends the deadlines for a school district or educational service center (ESC) to notify a teacher or administrator that the person's contract will not be renewed for the

following school year, as follows:

 

(1) From April 30 to June 1, in the case of teachers; and

 

(2) From March 31 to June 1, in the case of assistant superintendents, principals, assistant principals, business managers, supervisors, or other administrators. (To correspond with these changes, the amendment also extends from April 30 to June 1 the deadline by which a school district employee must be notified of nonrenewal in order for the employee to qualify for unemployment benefits. The amendment does not affect the date for notice of nonrenewal for superintendents and treasurers, which under continuing law is March 1.)

 

* Extends from June 1 to June 15 the deadline for a teacher or administrator to notify a school district or ESC that the person is declining reemployment, in cases where the person is automatically reemployed due to the district's or ESC's failure to comply with the statutory nonrenewal procedures.

 

14) Gifted educator coordinators

Retained current law allowing for principals or other employees assigned to a school district to also serve as the school districts gifted education coordinator, if qualified to do so under the State Board of Education's rules.

 

15) Regional charter schools serving gifted students: The provision authorizing 16 regional charter schools to serve gifted students was removed for the final version of the bill.

 

16) Ed Choice eligibility

*Specifies that, in the case of a child placed in the custody of either a government agency or a person other than the child's parent, the school district that includes the child in its average daily membership, for funding purposes, is the district from which Ed Choice scholarship payments must be deducted.

 

* Requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules establishing procedures for awarding Ed Choice scholarships to students already attending a nonpublic school when

the school receives its charter. The scholarships must be awarded to eligible students beginning in the following school year after the school is chartered. The State Board's

procedures must provide special application periods for students enrolled at the time the school's charter is granted, if necessary, and provide notice to the students' resident school districts. A student who is already enrolled in the nonpublic school when it receives its charter qualifies for a scholarship if either:

 

(1) The student currently would be assigned to a school district building whose students qualify for Ed Choice, provided that the student either (a) has always been enrolled in

that particular nonpublic school, or (b) was enrolled in a school operated by the student's resident district or in a community school prior to enrolling in the nonpublic school; or

 

(2) At the end of the last school year before the student enrolled in the nonpublic school, the student either (a) was enrolled in a school district building whose students qualified for Ed Choice or (b) was enrolled in a community school but otherwise would have been assigned to such a school district building.

 

*Requires the Department of Education to open a second application period for the 2012-2013 school year for eligible students who attended a nonpublic school in 2011-

2012 when the school received its charter.

 

17) Achievement assessment scores for 2012-2013:

* For the 2012-2013 school year, extends from 60 to 75 days after administration of the state achievement assessments the deadline to report individual scores to school districts. However, retains current law's ultimate deadline of June 15 by specifying that scores may not be reported later than June 15, 2013.

 

18) Assessment data for scholarship students:

*Requires the Department of Education, when publishing achievement assessment data for students participating in the Ed Choice or Cleveland scholarship program, to disaggregate that data by grade (instead of by age, under current law).

 

19) Autism scholarship and Jon Peterson Special Needs scholarship programs:

* Requires that, each time a school district completes an evaluation for a child with a disability or undertakes the development, review, or revision of the child's individualized education program (IEP), the district send by letter or electronic means a notice to the child's parent about the scholarship programs. The notice must include a prescribed statement indicating that the child might be eligible for a scholarship to attend a special education program operated by an alternative public provider or a registered private provider instead of that operated by the district. The notice must include the telephone

number of the office of the Department of Education responsible for administering the scholarship programs and the location of scholarship information on the Department's web site.

 

20) Eye exams for disabled students

*Requires the Department of Education, by December 31, 2013, to issue a report to the Governor and General Assembly on the compliance of school districts and community

schools with the requirement of current law to have students with disabilities undergo a comprehensive eye exam within three months after beginning to receive special

education and related services.

 

Specifies that the report must include data from the 2012-2013 school year, and that data must be collected annually thereafter.

 

Requires the Department annually to notify each school district and community school of the requirement of current law to have students with disabilities undergo a comprehensive eye exam.

 

21) Educational service center agreements:

* Eliminates the annual July 1 deadline by which a fee-for-service agreement between an educational service center and a school district must be filed with the Department of Education.

 

* Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, permits a school district with more than 16,000 students that enters into an agreement with an educational service center for services for which the state provides per-pupil funding, to opt out of receiving supervisory services (such as supervisors for the district's teachers). If a district opts out of those services, it is not required to pay for them through the deduction of supervisory units from the district's state aid account

 

*Permits an educational service center providing services for a child in the custody of a county or district juvenile detention facility to submit the bill directly to the school district responsible for paying the cost of educating that child (generally the district where the child's parent resides), instead of first billing the district in which the facility is located.

 

*Requires the district responsible for paying the cost of educating the child to include the child in its "average daily membership" (student count for state operating funding) and prohibits any other district from including the child in that count.

 

22) Early admission to kindergarten or first grade:

* Permits a school district or community school to admit to kindergarten or first grade a child who is not yet the required age, if the child is recommended for early admission in accordance with the district's or school's acceleration policy. (Generally, under current law, a child must be five years old to enter kindergarten, or six years old to enter first grade, by September 30 of the school year of admission. However, a school district or community school may adopt August 1 as the date by which the child must have attained the required age.)

 

Requires a school district to evaluate a child for early admission upon referral by (1) an educator employed by the district or school, (2) a preschool educator who knows the child, (3) a pediatrician or

psychologist who knows the child or (4) the parent of the child. 

 

Repeals provisions of current law that:

(1) Require a child to be issued a waiver by a pupil personnel services committee in order to be admitted to first grade without completing kindergarten; and

 

(2) Authorize early admission for children who meet established standards on standardized tests. (However, meeting testing standards still could be part of a district's or school's acceleration policy.)

 

*Specifies that a community school may admit a child younger than age five in accordance with these procedures.

 

* Prohibits a school district from denying a transferring student admission, based on the student's age, if the student had been admitted to kindergarten by another school district or a chartered nonpublic

school.

 

23) Body mass index screening program provisions:

* Removes the bill's acknowledgement of the Governor's veto of the repeal of the body mass index screening program. Instead, makes schools' (district schools, community schools, STEM schools, and chartered nonpublic schools) implementation of the body mass index (BMI) screenings optional, thereby eliminating the need to obtain a state waiver.

 

24) Sale of beverages in schools

*Repeals the requirement that at least 50% of beverages available for sale from school food service programs, vending machines, or school stores consist of water or other beverages .

 

25) Employment of persons with developmental disabilities:

* Declares it to be the state's policy that employment services for individuals with developmental disabilities be directed at placement in the community in positions in which these individuals are integrated with other workers.

 

*Requires state agencies that provide employment services to individuals with developmental disabilities to implement the employment policy and the Department of Developmental Disabilities to coordinate implementation.

 

*Requires that starting at age 14, the individualized education program (IEP) for a child with a disability include goals related to employment in a competitive environment in which workers are integrated regardless of disability.

 

Other provisions such as those addressing community school issues, preschool and child day care provisions can be viewed at this link:

http://www.lsc.state.oh.us/analyses129/s0316-rrh-129.pdf

 

HB 525 Cleveland School Plan Summary


After weeks of negotiations between the legislative leadership , charter school groups and Cleveland city leaders, a final bill was agreed to. The bill allows the Cleveland Municipal School District to manage their educational reform initiatives based on recommendations from the Cleveland city leadership partnership. These areas encompass significant changes to current law in several areas including teacher contracts, evaluations, teacher building assignments, and school improvement initiatives. The following general summary comes from the Legislative Service Commission (LSC) Analysis, to view the entire analysis for the details of the proposal go to: http://www.lsc.state.oh.us/analyses129/h0525-rh-129.pdf

 

BILL SUMMARY

Teacher contracts

Requires a teacher who is employed by a municipal school district and who meets the tenure requirements in current law to provide notice of the teacher's eligibility by September 15 of the year the teacher becomes eligible.

 

Lowers from five years to two years the maximum length of an initial limited contract for employment entered into between a municipal school district and a teacher on or after the bill's effective date.

 

Revises the procedures for a municipal school district to grant an extended limited contract to a teacher who is eligible for tenure.

 

Exempts municipal school districts from the requirement to enter into supplemental contracts with teachers who teach courses for high school credit outside the normal school day.

 

Assigning teachers to school buildings


Prescribes procedures for assigning teachers to school buildings of a municipal school district, whereby the decisions of the district CEO or designee are guided by the recommendations of building-level interview teams.

 

Prescribes credential factors that a building-level interview team must consider in making its recommendations to the CEO or designee.

 

Teacher evaluations

Requires a municipal school district to include review of a teacher's work samples as part of the teacher evaluations mandated by current law and specifies that (1) the required observations may be announced or unannounced and (2) "multiple measures" must be used in determining student academic growth.

 

Requires a municipal school district to conduct one annual evaluation (instead of two, as in current law) for a teacher whom the district is considering not reemploying.

 

Changes the deadline for a municipal school district to complete teacher evaluations from April 1 to June 1.

 

Requires evaluators in a municipal school district to be trained in accordance with criteria developed by the district CEO and teachers' union.

 

Requires a municipal school district to use evaluations in decisions about compensation and layoffs (in addition to promotion and retention decisions, as in current law).

 

Specifies that teachers in a municipal school district may use the collective bargaining agreement's grievance procedure to challenge violations of the evaluation procedures, but limits the violations that may be corrected to those that cause "substantive harm" to the teacher.

 

Teacher salaries

Requires a municipal school district to adopt a performance-based salary schedule for teachers, in the same manner required by current law for school districts that receive federal Race to the Top funds.

 

Requires a municipal school district to place newly hired teachers on the salary schedule based on years of experience, area of licensure, and other factors determined by the district.

 

Requires a municipal school district to initially place veteran teachers on the salary schedule so that their salary is comparable to their pay under the previous salary schedule.

 

Requires a municipal school district to consider specialized training and experience in the assigned position (in addition to the performance metrics in current law) when measuring a teacher's performance.

 

Adds teaching in a school with an extended school day or school year to the duties for which a municipal school district may provide additional compensation.

 

Allows a municipal school district to decrease a teacher's salary during the term of the employment contract if the teacher will perform fewer or different duties.

 

Nonrenewal of teacher contracts

Extends from April 30 to June 1 the deadline for a municipal school district to notify teachers that their contracts will not be renewed for the following school year.

 

Revises the procedures for holding a hearing on the nonrenewal of a teacher's contract in a municipal school district.

 

Exempts a municipal school district from most provisions requiring the automatic reemployment of a teacher when the district fails to comply with nonrenewal procedures.

 

Specifies that the decision of a municipal school district to not renew a teacher's contract is not subject to appeal.

 

Exempts a municipal school district from the requirement to notify employees by April 30 that their contracts will not be renewed in order for the employees to qualify for unemployment benefits.

 

Teacher terminations and disciplinary suspensions

Permits a municipal school district to place a teacher on an unpaid disciplinary suspension for a definite period of time for "good and just cause."

 

Specifies that "good and just cause" for a municipal school district to terminate a teacher's contract includes receiving an evaluation rating of "ineffective" for two consecutive years.

 

Establishes new due process procedures, including a fact-finding hearing, for teacher terminations and disciplinary suspensions in municipal school districts.

 

Prohibits an arbitrator from overturning the termination or disciplinary suspension of a teacher by a municipal school district for failure of the district to comply with the procedures of the bill or a collective bargaining agreement, unless the failure results in "substantive harm" to the teacher.

 

Teacher layoffs

Modifies the reasons for which a municipal school district may lay off teachers by (1) omitting suspension of schools as a reason and (2) allowing layoffs for academic reasons resulting in the consolidation of teaching positions, duties, or functions or in changes in educational programs.

 

Requires a municipal school district to lay off teachers in order of their evaluation ratings, starting with teachers with the lowest rating, and to lay off nontenured teachers before tenured teachers within each group of teachers with the same rating.

 

Requires a municipal school district to make decisions regarding the recall of laid-off teachers in the reverse order of the tenure status and composite evaluation rating categories used in the layoff decisions.

 

Specifies that the municipal district board and the teachers' union "shall negotiate" how specialized training and experience will be factored into layoff and recall decisions.

 

Specifies that laid-off tenured and nontenured teachers of a municipal school district have the right of restoration only to positions for which they qualify within three years after the date their contracts were suspended.

 

Requires a municipal school district to give teachers preference in contract renewals, layoffs, or rehiring based on seniority or tenure, only when deciding between teachers with the same evaluation rating and tenure status.

 

Collective bargaining

Specifies that the bill's requirements regarding teacher employment in municipal school districts, including requirements related to (1) contracts, (2) building assignments, (3) evaluations, (4) salaries, (5) contract nonrenewals, (6) terminations and disciplinary suspensions, and (7) layoffs, generally prevail over collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after the bill's effective date.

 

Employment of principals

Requires a municipal school district to pay principals based on performance, generally in the same manner required by the bill for the district's teachers.

 

Makes procedural changes to the requirement for a municipal school district to notify a principal before taking action to renew or not renew the principal's contract.

 

Exempts a municipal school district from the requirement to automatically reemploy a principal for a specified period of time when the district fails to comply with nonrenewal procedures.

 

Specifies that, in a municipal school district, the failure of a principal's building to meet academic performance standards established by the district CEO is grounds for termination.

 

Requires the CEO of a municipal school district to give a principal a copy of the principal's evaluation at least five days before the CEO recommends the principal's termination to the school board.

 

Academic performance plan

Requires that the district CEO's academic performance plan include provisions requiring parents or guardians of students in the district's schools to attend, prior to December 15 each year, at least one parent-teacher conference or similar event.

 

Adds adjustment of the length of the school year or school day to the items that may be included in the corrective actions specified in the plan.

 

Prescribes procedures for development of the CEO's "corrective plan" for a particular school, whereby the CEO and labor union presiding officer must appoint corrective action teams to make recommendations regarding implementation of the plan.

 

Specifies that the content and implementation of a corrective plan and any actions taken to implement the plan prevail over collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after the bill's effective date.

 

Additional accountability measures


Requires the board of education of an existing municipal school district to develop, subject to approval by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, an array of measures to evaluate the academic performance of the district, and to use those measures to report annually to the General Assembly, Governor, and state Superintendent.

 

Requires the state Superintendent, by November 15, 2017, to evaluate the district's performance based on the district board's approved array of measures and to issue a report to the General Assembly and Governor.

 

Student advisory committees

Requires a municipal school district and each of its partnering community schools to establish a student advisory committee at each of their schools offering grades 9 to 12 to make regular (at least semiannual) recommendations for improving the academic performance of the school.

 

School calendars

Declares that the board of a municipal school district "has final authority" to establish a school calendar for the district's school buildings that provides for additional student days or hours beyond the state minimum.

 

Specifies that the school calendar adopted by the board prevails over collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after the bill's effective date, but requires the board and the teachers' union to negotiate regarding any additionalcompensation for working an extended school day or school year.

 

Municipal School District Transformation Alliance

Allows the mayor of the city containing the greatest portion of a municipal school district to initiate the establishment of and appoint the board of directors of a Municipal School District Transformation Alliance as a nonprofit corporation under R.C. Chapter 1702.

 

Requires the Alliance, if created, to (1) confirm and monitor a "transformation alliance education plan" prepared by the mayor, (2) suggest national education models for and provide input in the development of new district schools and partnering community schools, (3) report annually on the performance of all municipal school district schools and all community schools located in the district, and (4) make recommendations to the Department on the approval of sponsors of new community schools located in the district.

 

Sunsets the authority to create an Alliance on January 1, 2018, and terminates any Alliance created under the bill on that date.

 

Exempts the Alliance and its directors, officers, and employees, from the state Public Ethics Law, Open Meetings Act, Public Records Law, Civil Service Law, Public Employees Retirement System Law, and Public Employee Collective Bargaining Law, but stipulates that board meetings must be open to the public, that records must be maintained as though they were public records, and that the board must establish a conflicts of interest policy.

 

Specifies that membership on the Alliance board does not constitute an incompatible holding of public office.

 

Expands the offense of bribery, a third degree felony, to include (1) promising, offering, or giving any valuable thing or valuable benefit, with purpose to corrupt or improperly influence, to a director, officer, or employee of the Alliance, or (2) knowingly soliciting or accepting for self or another, by a director, officer, or employee of the Alliance, any valuable thing or valuable benefit to corrupt or improperly influence the discharge of duties.

 

Framework to assess district and community schools

Requires the Department of Education, the Transformation Alliance, if created, and a statewide nonprofit community school sponsor organization, by April 30, 2013, jointly to establish a framework to assess the efficacy of district schools and community schools located in the municipal school district.

 

Criteria for community school sponsorship in a municipal school district

Requires the Department of Education, the Transformation Alliance, if created, and a statewide nonprofit community school sponsor organization, by December 31, 2012, jointly to establish criteria for both (1) sponsors to use to determine if they will sponsor new community schools in the municipal school district, and (2) the Department and the Alliance to use in assessing the ability of a sponsor to successfully sponsor schools in the district.

 

Use of standards by community school sponsors

Beginning with any community school that opens after July 1, 2013, requires each sponsor to use the criteria developed jointly by the Alliance, Department, and statewide sponsor organization to determine whether it will sponsor a new community school in the municipal school district.

 

Combining community school and district report card data

Authorizes a municipal school district, with the approval of the community school governing authority, to elect to have the student performance data of a community school located in the district combined with the district's data on the district's annual state report card, if the district either sponsors the community school or has entered into an agreement with the school to endorse each other's programs.

 

Authorizes a municipal school district, at its own discretion, to elect to have the number of students enrolled in a community school located in the district noted separately on the district's report card, if the district either sponsors the community school or has entered into an agreement with the school to endorse each other's programs.

 

Requires the district, by October 1 each year, to submit documentation to the Department of Education indicating eligibility for the election to include a community school's data on its report card.

 

Deposit of proceeds from the sale of real property

Permits a municipal school district that sells any parcel of real property to deposit the proceeds into the district's general fund, as long as (1) the district has owned property for at least ten years, (2) any securities or other obligations issued to pay for the real property or improvements to it are no longer outstanding at the time of the sale, and (3) the deposit is not prohibited by any agreements the district has with the School Facilities Commission (rather than deposit those proceeds into the sinking fund, the bond retirement fund, or a special fund for the construction or acquisition of permanent improvements as otherwise required under current law).

 

Tax levy

Authorizes the school board of a municipal school district to propose a levy for current operating expenses, a portion of which would be allocated to "partnering" community schools and distributed among those schools on a per-pupil basis.

 

Other

Specifically authorizes the board of education of a municipal school district to request exemptions from education-related statutes and administrative rules through an existing law that permits any district to request such exemptions for an innovative education pilot program.

Legislative Update 6/11/12

Ohio Alliance for Arts Education
Education Update June 11, 2012
Joan Platz
 
1)  129th Ohio General Assembly:  The Ohio House and Senate will hold 
committee hearings and sessions this week to complete work on some 
major bills that lawmakers were unable to finish before the Memorial 
Day recess.
 
Most action will take place in the House and Senate education 
committees, which are working on two bills, SB316 (Lehner) Mid 
Biennial Review -- Education and HB525 (Amstutz/Williams) and SB335 
(Lehner/Turner) the Cleveland Plan. Substitute bills and or 
amendments are expected to be considered by the committees this week 
on these bills. The House Education Committee, chaired by 
Representative Stebelton, will meet on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at 9:00 
AM in hearing room 313. The Senate Education Committee, chaired by 
Senator Lehner, will meet on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at 10:30 AM in 
the South Hearing Room.  In addition to SB335 the Senate Education 
Committee will also receive testimony on HB377 (Duffey/Stinziano) 
Student Members of Trustees, Voting Powers, and SB15 (Turner) 
Education Performance Standards for Dropout Recovery Programs.
 
The Ohio House informally approved SB316 on May 24, 2012 after making 
several changes in the Senate passed version of the bill regarding 
the third-grade reading guarantee, the Local Report Card -- state 
accountability system, teacher evaluations, gifted education, etc. 
Over the past two weeks House and Senate lawmakers have been working 
to resolve issues between the House and Senate versions of the bill, 
and are expected to introduce another substitute bill that both House 
and Senate Republicans can support.
 
The House Education Committee is also expected to approve an amended 
version of HB525 the Cleveland Plan, which, once approved by the full 
House, will be heard in the Senate Education Committee, which has 
been holding hearings on a companion bill, SB335 (Lehner/Turner). 
Changes for HB525 were announced by House Speaker Batchelder a few 
weeks ago and address the proposed Transformation Alliance's role in 
approving charter school partners and how local tax dollars are 
shared with partnering community schools. The full Senate is expected 
to take action on HB525 by the end of this week.
 
2) FYI: HB386 (Blessing) Casino Tax Revenues for Education: The House 
and Senate approved on May 24, 2012 HB386 (Blessing) which makes 
changes to the law regarding video lottery terminals, casino gaming, 
and horse racing, and how tax revenue from casinos will be 
distributed to schools.  The bill was sent to Governor Kasich on May 
31, 2012, but the Governor has not signed the bill into law as yet.
 
The constitutional amendment that was approved by Ohio voters in 
November 2009 (Issue 3) and authorizes Ohio's casinos, directs that 
K-12 public schools in Ohio receive 34 percent of taxes on gross 
casino revenue.  Schools are expected to start receiving this revenue 
from the Ohio Department of Taxation in January 2013.
 
School districts and political subdivisions will also be affected as 
a result of the casinos, because horse racing tracks in Grove City 
and Toledo are expected to move to other cities (Youngstown and 
Dayton) to avoid competition from the casinos.  Schools and 
communities will lose or gain real property tax revenue when horse 
racing tracks relocate from one community to another.
 
The bill does the following:
-Establishes the Racetrack Facility Community Economic Redevelopment 
Fund and appropriates $12 million to re-purpose or demolish 
horse-racing facilities or reinvest in the area that loses a race 
track.
-Provides additional funds to municipal corporations and townships 
through the Casino Operator Settlement Fund to be used for 
infrastructure or capital improvements and through the Racetrack 
Relocation Fund.
-Directs the Tax Commissioner to provide payments of casino tax 
revenue for counties, municipal corporations and school districts. 
Each county will receive a proportional share of the Gross Casino 
Revenue County School Fund twice yearly beginning in 2013 based on 
the number of students in the county enrolled in school districts, 
joint vocational school districts, certain STEM schools, community 
schools, college preparatory boarding schools, and programs for 
preschool children with disabilities.
-Requires the Department of Education to report to the Department of 
Taxation twice yearly student enrollment in public schools and 
preschool programs.
 
For information about the bill please visit 
http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=129_HB_386.
 
3) 2012 Edition of Diplomas Count Released:  Education Week and 
Editorial Project in Education (EPE) Research Center released on June 
7, 2012 the 2012 edition of "Diplomas Count-Trailing Behind, Moving 
Forward:  Latino Students in U.S. Schools".  The report tracks 
graduation patterns and policies for all 50 states and the District 
of Columbia for 2009, the most recent year for which data is 
available. It also includes additional information about the 
challenges facing Latino Students and identifies promising strategies 
from several school districts that are improving graduation rates.
 
According to the report, the nation's graduation rate at 73.4 percent 
has increased for the past two years, and is the highest since the 
late 1970s. The graduation rate for Latino students has also 
increased 5.5 percent to a high of 63 percent.
 
However, 1.1 million students in the Class of 2009 still failed to 
earn diplomas, and a drop in the graduation rate was recorded for 
Asian-American and Native American students. The graduation rates for 
white students remained the same (78.8 percent). The national 
graduation rate for African-American students was 58.7 percent.  On 
average 70 percent of male students and 76 percent of female students 
graduated in 2009.
 
Forty-four states posted gains in graduation rates for 2009.  Ten 
states, Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, New 
York, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, increased their 
graduation rates by double-digits. States with the highest graduation 
rates (over 80 percent) are Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey, North 
Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The District of Columbia, 
Nevada, and New Mexico reported lower graduation rates of less than 
60 percent. Detroit had the lowest rate of 42.4 percent and 
Montgomery County in Maryland had the highest rate of 87.6 percent.
 
The report also includes graduation briefs for the 50 states and the 
District of Columbia, interactive tools, and EdWeek Maps, an online 
database that includes graduation information for every school system 
in the nation.
 
According to the report, the graduation rate for Ohio for 2009 was 
76.4 percent, higher than the national average.  White students 
graduated at a much higher rate (83.2 percent) than African-American 
students (51.3 percent) and Latino students (50.5 percent).
 
The report calculates the graduation rate using the Cumulative 
Promotion Index (CPI), which captures students who meet three grade 
to grade promotions (9 to 10; 10 to 11; and 11 to 12), and students 
who earn a standard high school diploma in grade 12.  The CPI differs 
from the Federal Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate, which 
states and the District of Columbia are now required to use to 
determine graduation rates.
 
To read the report please visit 
http://www.edweek.org/media/diplomascount2012_presspacket_final.pdf.
 
4)  State Board of Education to Meet: The State Board of Education, 
Debe Terhar president, will meet on June 11 and 12, 2012 at the Ohio 
School for the Deaf, 500 Morse Road in Columbus, Ohio.
 
MONDAY, June 11, 2012
 
The Board will hold a 119 Hearing on Rules 3301-51-08, Parentally 
Placed Nonpublic School Children at 8:30 AM.
 
The Executive Committee, chaired by Debe Terhar, will meet at 9:00 
AM.  The Committee will discuss the July Retreat and the goals of the 
State Board.
 
The Achievement, Capacity, and Select Urban committees will meet at 9:30 AM.
 
The Achievement Committee, chaired by Angela Thi Bennett, will 
discuss the following:
-Proposed legislative recommendations for operating standards for 
internet-based community schools
-An update on revisions to the Early Learning Standards
-Proposed changes to the assessment rules.
 
The Capacity Committee, chaired by Tom Gunlock, will discuss the following:
-College-Preparatory Boarding Schools- SEED contract
-Dropout Prevention and Recovery School Performance Measures
-New Expenditure Standards Required by HB153
-An update on the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System Pilot Program
-HB116 and updates to the Anti-Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying 
(HIB) Model Policy
 
The Select Committee on Urban Education, chaired by Joe Farmer, will 
discuss possible policy and legislative recommendations to improve 
urban district performance and close the achievement gap among groups 
of students.
 
The full Board will then convene at 11:15 AM to recognize Middle 
Schools to Watch and national Green Ribbon Schools. The 2012 Ohio 
Schools to Watch include Coventry Middle School in Coventry Local 
Schools (Summit County), Dodge Intermediate School in Twinsburg City 
Schools (Summit County), and
Kings Junior High School in Kings Local School District (Warren County).
 
Ohio's Green Ribbon Schools include Loveland High School in Loveland 
City School District (Hamilton County), and North Adams Elementary in 
the Ohio Valley School District (Adams County).
 
Following lunch at 1:00 PM the full board will participate in a 
policy discussion about the Fine Arts and World Language Standards 
and the Standards for Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship and 
Business Education Standards.
 
At 2:00 PM the Board will receive updates from the Executive, 
Achievement, Capacity, and Select Urban committees, and then convene 
into executive session. The Ohio State School for the Blind and Ohio 
School for the Deaf Governance Task Force and the Policy and 
Procedures Task Force will meet following the executive session.
 
The Board will then adjourn for the evening.
 
TUESDAY, June 12, 2012
 
The Legislative and Budget Committee, chaired by C. Todd Jones, will 
meet at 8:00 AM and discuss special education; the Mid-Biennium 
Budget Review bills; and receive legislative updates on pending 
legislation.
 
At 9:00 AM the full Board will receive a presentation regarding the 
Superintendent's proposed FY14-15 budget.
 
The Board will reconvene its business meeting at 10:45 AM.  The Board 
will receive reports from several committees, public participation on 
agenda items, the report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
and take action on the resolutions included below.
 
The Board will then discuss old business, new business, and 
miscellaneous business, and receive public participation on 
non-agenda items at 1:00 PM, and adjourn.
 
Resolutions To Be Considered by the State Board of Education on June 12, 2012:
 
#4 Approve a Resolution of Intent to Amend Rule 3301-24-05 of the 
Administrative Code Entitled Licensure.
 
#5  Approve a Resolution Regarding Public Participation at the July 
2012 State Board of Education Business Meeting in July 2012.
 
#6  Approve a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer 
of School District Territory from the Coventry Local School District, 
Summit County, to the Barberton City School District, Summit County, 
Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.
 
#7  Approve a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer 
of School District Territory from the Fairborn City School District, 
Greene County, to the Huber Heights City School District, Montgomery 
County, Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.
 
#8 Approve a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer 
of School District Territory from the Highland Local School District, 
Medina County, to the Medina City School District, Medina County, 
Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.
 
#9 Approve a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer 
of School District Territory from the Northwestern Local School 
District, Wayne County, to the Norwayne Local School District, Wayne 
County, Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.
 
#10 Approve a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer 
of School District Territory from the Toledo City School District, 
Lucas County, to the Ottawa Hills City School District, Lucas County, 
Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.
 
#14 Approve a Resolution to Adopt Academic Content Standards for the 
Fine Arts and World Languages.
 
#15 Approve a Resolution to Adopt Academic Content Standards in 
Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship and Non Career Technical 
Business.
 
#16 Approve a Resolution of Appointment to the Educator Standards Board.
 
#17 Approve a Resolution Regarding the Report and Recommendations of 
the Hearing Officer in the Matter of the Arts Academy West Community 
School Full-Time Equivalency Review Appeal. The recommendation states 
that the State Board of Education shall order the calculation of a 
final figure of overpayment, and that upon the finalization of this 
figure, that the ODE take such measures as are necessary to collect 
the overpayment (estimated to be over $118,000,000) from the Arts 
Academy West Community School.
 
#18 Approve a Resolution to Accept the Recommendation of the Hearing 
Officer and to Revoke the Registration of Rays of Hope as an Autism 
Scholarship Provider, Pursuant to Section 3310.41 of the Ohio Revised 
Code and Rule 3301-103-06(E) of the Ohio Administrative Code. The 
registration is being revoked based on information learned during an 
on-site investigation that the school failed to have a licensed or 
certified staff person providing oversight to the staff or managing 
progress toward meeting the IEP goals of students between September 
2, 2010 and May 5, 2011; failed to document the amount of time 
students were served; failed to provide an appropriate fee schedule 
for the services provided; and failed to comply with Ohio statutes, 
rules, and guidelines.
 
To view the State Board of Education's schedule, please visit 
http://education.ohio.gov/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&;TopicRelationID=576&ContentID=117915
 
5) Comprehensive Teacher Evaluation System Outlined:  The Stanford 
Center for Opportunity Policy in Education, with support from the 
Ford Foundation and the Sandler Foundation, released in May 2012 a 
report entitled "Creating a Comprehensive System for Evaluating and 
Supporting Effective Teaching" by Linda Darling-Hammond with 
assistance of Channa Cook, Ann Jaquith, and Madlene Hamilton.
 
The report outlines a comprehensive system for support and 
professional learning for teachers at critical milestones in a 
teaching career continuum:  pre-service teacher education, initial 
licensure, tenure, and professional license. The report distinguishes 
between "teacher quality", those personal traits, skills, and 
understandings that a teacher brings to teaching, and "teaching 
quality", which, in addition to teacher quality, includes curriculum, 
assessment, content, and teaching conditions. Policy makers must 
recognize the importance of both aspects of quality if teaching is to 
become more effective.
 
The report identifies the following criteria for a teacher evaluation system:
-Teacher evaluation should be based on professional teaching 
standards and should be sophisticated enough to assess teaching 
quality across the continuum of development from novice to expert 
teacher.
-Evaluations should include multi-faceted evidence of teacher 
practice, student learning, and professional contributions that are 
considered in an integrated fashion, in relation to one another and 
to the teaching context. Any assessments used to make judgments about 
students' progress should be appropriate for the specific curriculum 
and students the teacher teaches.
-Evaluators should be knowledgeable about instruction and well 
trained in the evaluation system, including the process of how to 
give productive feedback and how to support ongoing learning for 
teachers. As often as possible, and always at critical 
decision-making junctures (e.g., tenure or renewal), the evaluation 
team should include experts in the specific teaching field.
-Evaluation should be accompanied by useful feedback, and connected 
to professional development opportunities that are relevant to 
teachers' goals and needs, including both formal learning 
opportunities and peer collaboration, observation, and coaching.
-The evaluation system should value and encourage teacher 
collaboration, both in the standards and criteria that are used to 
assess teachers' work, and in the way results are used to shape 
professional learning opportunities.
-Expert teachers should be part of the assistance and review process 
for new teachers and for teachers needing extra assistance. They can 
provide the additional subject-specific expertise and person-power 
needed to ensure that intensive and effective assistance is offered 
and that decisions about tenure and continuation are well grounded.
-Panels of teachers and administrators should oversee the evaluation 
process to ensure that it is thorough and of high quality, as well as 
fair and reliable. Such panels have been shown to facilitate more 
timely and well-grounded personnel decisions that avoid grievances 
and litigation. Teachers and school leaders should be involved in 
developing, implementing, and monitoring the system to ensure that it 
reflects good teaching, that it operates effectively, that it is tied 
to useful learning opportunities for teachers, and that it produces 
valid results.
 
The report supports including student learning measures in teacher 
evaluations, but notes the limitations of using value added results 
to measure teacher effectiveness.  The problems with using value 
added data include the instability of value-added results for 
teachers from year to year; the effect of teaching different types of 
students, those from low-income families or new English learners, on 
teacher value added results; and the effects of non-school factors on 
student learning gains.
 
According to the report, "The limitations of value-added analysis do 
not mean that districts cannot include evidence of student learning 
in the evaluation process. Some districts use a variety of other 
measures of student learning in evaluations of teaching, such as 
evidence drawn from classroom assessments and documentation like the 
Developmental Reading Assessment; pre- and post-test measures of 
student learning in specific courses or curriculum areas (developed 
by individual teachers, departments, school faculty, or district 
faculty or staff); evidence of student accomplishments in relation to 
teaching activities, such as student science investigations, research 
papers, or art projects. Some districts use evidence from teachers' 
careful documentation of the learning of a set of diverse students 
over time, like that included in NBPTS portfolios."
 
The report is available at 
http://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/creating-comprehensive-system-evaluating-and-supporting-effective-teaching.pdf.
 
6) Louisiana Shifts More Public Money to Private Schools:  According 
to a Reuters article published on June 1, 2012, Louisiana has passed 
legislation that will shift more money from public schools to 
privately run schools through a new statewide voucher program. 
("Louisiana's Bold Bid to Privatize Schools" by Stephanie Simon, 
Reuters, June 1, 2012.) The legislation is called "Louisiana 
Believes" and was proposed by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.
 
The vouchers will be available this year for students in families 
with an income less than $57,625 a year for a family of four and who 
attend a school in which 25 percent of students test below grade 
level. Approximately 380,000 students in Louisiana will qualify for 
the voucher, or more than half of the 700,000 students in the state. 
In 2013 all students will be able to receive state support of up to 
$1,300 to pay for tutoring, apprenticeships, or special classes not 
available in their schools.
 
Private schools must register with the state to qualify to receive 
the voucher payment. According to the article, 120 schools are 
currently registered, including some small Bible schools. The 
Louisiana Department of Education announced that it would be visiting 
more private schools over the summer to assess their capacity.
 
Students using the voucher will have to take state tests starting 
next year.  The private schools must report the results to parents 
and the aggregated results to the state, but there is no formal 
consequence for schools that report poor results. The state 
superintendent is required to develop an accountability system by 
August 1, 2012.
 
Louisiana allocates about $3,5 billion a year for education.  The 
voucher amount (which can cover tuition and fees) can't exceed the 
sum that the state would spend educating a child in public schools, 
which is $8,800 a year.
 
To read the article please visit 
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/01/us-education-vouchers-idUSL1E8H10AG20120601.
 
7)  Bills Introduced
 
SB353 (Schaffer) Schools Occupational and 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
 
1) Report Shows How the Arts Support the Economy:  Americans for the 
Arts released on June 8, 2012 "Arts & Economic Prosperity IV", a 
comprehensive study that documents how the nonprofit arts and culture 
industry strengthen our nation's economy. According to Robert L. 
Lynch, President and CEO for Americans for the Arts, "The findings 
from Arts & Economic Prosperity IV send a clear and welcome message: 
leaders who care about community and economic vitality can feel good 
about choosing to invest in the arts."
 
"Arts & Economic Prosperity IV" includes economic impact findings in 
2010 for 9,721 nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in 182 
communities and regions representing all 50 states and the District 
of Columbia. The study uses four economic measures to define economic 
impact:  full-time equivalent jobs, resident household income, and 
revenue to local and state government.  The study does not include 
the for-profit arts and entertainment sector, such as Broadway or the 
motion picture industry.
 
The report also includes how the arts industry fared during the most 
recent recession in 2010, and reports that in spite of the recession. 
"...the arts industry continued to produce new and exciting 
work-performances and exhibitions and festivals that entertain, 
inspire, and draw audiences. So as the economy rebounds in the coming 
years, the arts are well poised for growth."
 
According to the report the arts and culture industry continue to 
serve as an economic engine, by generating $135.2 billion dollars of 
economic activity, including $61.1 billion in spending by nonprofit 
arts and culture organizations and $74.1 billion in spending by their 
audiences.
 
This economic activity had a significant impact on the nation's 
economy, turning a combined $4 billion allocation for the arts into 
4.1 million full-time jobs, and generating $22.3 billion in revenue 
to local, state, and federal governments every year.
 
The report notes that during the recent recession (2010) expenditures 
for the arts fell to $61.1 billion, which is three percent behind 
their 2005 levels.  The biggest effect of the recession was on 
audience spending.  The average event-related expenditure per person 
in addition to the cost of admission fell from $27.79 per person per 
event in 2005 to $24.60 in 2010.
 
As the economy rebounds, the arts are well situated for growth. 
According to the press release, "Arts & Economic Prosperity IV 
demonstrates that America's nonprofit arts industry is not only 
resilient in times of economic uncertainty, but is also a key 
component to the nation's economic recovery and future prosperity. 
This study shows that the nonprofit arts and culture industry is an 
economic driver in communities-an industry that supports jobs, 
generates government revenue, and is the cornerstone of tourism. The 
arts mean business!"
 
To read the report please visit 
http://www.americansforthearts.org/pdf/information_services/research/services/economic_impact/aepiv/NationalStatisticalReport.pdf

Legislative Update 5/14/12

Ohio Alliance for Arts Education
Education Update May 14, 2012
Joan Platz
 
1)  129th Ohio General Assembly:  The Ohio House and Senate will hold 
hearings and sessions this week.
 
*Ohio House is Back to 99 Members:  Kevin Boyce, former State 
Treasurer and Columbus City Council member, was sworn-in on May 9, 
2012 to serve the current 27th House District, replacing 
Representative Carlton Weddington, who resigned in March. With this 
appointment the Ohio House is back to its full 99 members.
 
*Update on Pension Plans:  Four bills have been introduced in the 
Ohio Senate to change Ohio's pension systems.  The bills are SB340 
(Niehaus/Kearney), Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund; SB341 
(Niehaus/Kearney), School Employees Retirement System; SB342 
(Niehaus/Kearney), State Teachers Retirement System; and SB343 
(Niehaus/Kearney), Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. 
Discussions continue on the legislative changes in store for the 
Highway Patrol Retirement System.  Hearings on the bills are being 
held in the Senate Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee, chaired 
by Senator Kevin Bacon.
 
2)  News from Washington, D.C.
 
*More Action on the National Budget:  The U.S. House Committee on the 
Budget, chaired by Representative Paul Ryan, reported HR4966 the 
Sequester Replacement Act of 2012 on May 7, 2012.  According to the 
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, this bill and HCR112 
(approved on March 29, 2012) stop across the board automatic federal 
spending cuts that would go into effect in January 2013. The 
automatic cuts, referred to as sequestration, were included in the 
Budget Control Act (BCA) approved in August 2011, and go into effect 
if Congress fails to reduce the federal budget by $1.2 trillion.
 
Instead, HR4966 and HCR112 abandon the BCA plan in FY13 for defense 
and non-defense discretionary funding; maintain sequestration for 
Medicare and some mandatory programs; and reduce discretionary 
funding by $19 billion, which brings the total funding cap to $1.049 
trillion, the amount set in HCR112. The bills also increase funding 
for defense by $8 billion above the existing cap, but lower funding 
for non-defense discretionary funding by $27 billion below the 
existing cap.  To make up for the increases in defense, a separate 
bill was approved by the House Budget Committee to reduce funding by 
$309 billion over ten years for a number of federal programs that 
support children and low-income families, including food stamps, 
Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and social service 
programs for children and the elderly.
 
HR4966 must still be approved by the U.S. House and Senate. President 
Obama has already stated that he would veto the bill in its current 
form.
 
To read more about the cuts, please visit 
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&;id=3767.
 
*SOS (Save Our Schools) Convention this Summer:  Save Our Schools 
(SOS) is holding a "People's Platform Convention" August 3-5, 2012 at 
the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington D.C.  Save Our Schools 
is a coalition of individuals and groups that came together last year 
in Washington, D.C. to support public education.  The coalition 
developed the following four guiding principles to support their work:
-Equitable funding across all public school communities
-An end to high stakes testing used for the purpose student, teacher, 
and school evaluations
-Teacher, family, and community leadership in forming public education policies
-Curriculum developed for and by local school communities
 
This year the coalition is coming together to develop a legislative 
plank that will address public school reforms that are not focused on 
standardized testing and privatization of public schools.
 
Information about how to attend the convention in August is available 
at http://saveourschoolsmarch.com/
 
3)  Legislative Update
 
*HB521 (Dovilla) Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit:  The Ohio House 
approved on May 9, 2012 HB521, which increases the maximum total 
amount of tax credits allowed per year for completion of motion 
pictures certified as tax credit-eligible productions. The vote was 
94 to 3.
 
*SB295 (Coley) Repeal HB194:  The Ohio House approved SB292 (Coley) 
on May 8, 2012 by a vote of 54 to 42.  SB295 repeals HB194 
(Blessing/Mecklenborg) Election Reform, but it does not return 
election law to pre-HB194 status. For example, provisions regarding 
early voting, which were part of Ohio law pre HB194, are not 
reinstated in SB295.
 
HB194 is facing a referendum in November 2012 backed by Fair 
Elections Ohio. There isn't any precedent in Ohio for the legislature 
to repeal a law also facing a referendum.  Secretary of State Jon 
Husted issued a statement on May 8, 2012 saying that with its repeal, 
there isn't any reason to keep the referendum of HB194 on the 
November ballot.  However, Fair Elections Ohio, according to their 
web site, wants the early voting provision to be put back into law, 
and is considering all of their options regarding the pending 
referendum.
 
For more information please visit the Secretary of State's website at 
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/mediaCenter/2012/2012-05-08-a.aspx and 
Fair Elections Ohio at http://www.fairelectionsohio.com/
 
4)  This Week at the Statehouse
 
TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2012
 
*Senate Education, Senator Lehner chair
The Senate Education Committee will meet at 9:30 AM in the South 
Hearing Room.  The committee will receive testimony on the following 
bills:
-HB375 (Butler) Property Sale by School Districts, which would allow 
school districts to sell real property to private, nonprofit 
institutions of higher education.
-HB437 (Roegner) School Board Vehicles:  Increases the number of 
miles a school district board may authorize its motor vehicles for 
out-of-state travel.
-SB335 (Turner/Lehner) Municipal School Districts/Community Schools, 
which would revise the management of school districts and community 
schools located within municipal school districts.
 
*House State Government and Elections Committee, Representative Maag, chair.
The House State Government and Elections Committee will meet at 1:30 
PM in Hearing Room 116.  Among the bills that the committee will 
consider is SCR14 (Jones) the World Choir Games, which would 
recognize the 2012 World Choir Games in Cincinnati, Ohio, as a global 
event of cultural significance to Ohio and the U.S. and expressing 
support by designating the month of July 2012 as "World Choir Games 
Month."  A vote is expected.
 
*House Education Committee, Representative Stebelton, chair
The House Education Committee will meet at 5:00 PM in Hearing Room 
313.  The committee will receive sponsor testimony on SB316 (Lehner) 
Mid-biennium review -- Education/Early Education/Workforce, pending 
referral.
 
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012
 
*House Education Committee, Representative Stebelton chair.
The House Education Committee will meet at 5:00 PM in Hearing Room 
313.  The committee will receive testimony on HB525 
(Williams/Amstutz) Municipal School Districts-Community Schools, and 
SB316 (Lehner) Mid-biennium review -- Education/Early 
Education/Workforce.
 
THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2012
 
*House Education Committee, Representative Stebelton chair.
The House Education Committee will meet at 10:00 AM in Hearing Room 
313.  The committee will receive testimony on HB525 
(Williams/Amstutz) Municipal School Districts-Community Schools, and 
SB316 (Lehner) Mid-biennium review -- Education/Early 
Education/Workforce.
 
5)  State Board of Education to Meet:
 
The State Board of Education, Debe Terhar president, will meet on May 
14 and 15, 2012 at the Ohio School for the Deaf.
 
MONDAY, MAY 14, 2012
The Executive Committee, chaired by Debe Terhar, will meet at 9:00 
AM.  The Committee will discuss the July Retreat and the annual 
evaluation of the State Superintendent,
 
The Achievement, Capacity, and Select Urban committees will meet at 9:30 AM.
 
The Achievement Committee, chaired by Angela Thi Bennett, will 
discuss the following:
-Approve a resolution of intent to adopt the revised standards for 
fine arts and world languages
-Approve a resolution of intent to adopt the standards for financial 
literacy, entrepreneurship, and business education
-Receive an update on revisions to the Early Learning Standards
-Receive an update on standards for social studies relative to SB165 
(Obhof) to include content on specified historical documents in the 
state academic standards and in the high school American history and 
government curriculum.
 
The Capacity Committee, chaired by Tom Gunlock, will discuss 
College-Preparatory Boarding Schools- Recommendation for Selection of 
School Operator under Chapter 3328 of the Revised Code; HB 116 
updates to the Anti-Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB) Model 
Policy; OAC Rule 3301-24-05, Licensure; Compulsory Attendance and 
Truancy Laws
 
The Select Committee on Urban Education, chaired by Joe Farmer, will 
receive an overview of special education services and the needs of 
students with disabilities in Ohio's urban areas presented by the 
Office of Exceptional Children and Columbus City Schools; discuss a 
parent and advocate perspective on students with disabilities with 
Mrs. Margaret Burley, Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children 
with Disabilities; discuss the April 23 visit to the Cleveland 
Metropolitan School District
 
The Board will recognize Title 1 Schools at 11:15 AM and then recess for lunch.
 
Following lunch at 1:00 PM the full board will participate in 
required annual ethics training from the Ohio Ethics Commission.
 
At 3:15 PM the Board will receive updates from the Achievement, 
Capacity, and Select Committee on Urban Education committees, and 
then convene into an executive session. Following the executive 
session the Legislative and Budget Committee, chaired by C. Todd 
Jones, will discuss the Mid-Biennium Budget Review Bills; receive an 
update on the Cleveland Plan legislation; discuss Special Education; 
and receive legislative updates on House Bills 462 and 437
 
The Board will then adjourn for the evening.
 
TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2012
 
The Policy and Procedures Committee, chaired by Rob Hovis and Ohio 
State School for the Blind and Ohio School for the Deaf Governance 
Task Force, chaired by Dannie Greene, will meet at 8:00 AM.
 
At 9:00 AM the full Board will receive a presentation about the 
implementation of the Common Core standards.
 
The Board will reconvene its business meeting at 11:15 AM.  The Board 
will receive public participation on agenda items, the report of the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, and take action on the 
resolutions included below.
 
The Board will then discuss old business, new business, and 
miscellaneous business, and receive public participation on 
non-agenda items, at 1:00 PM, and adjourn.
 
Resolutions To Be Considered by the State Board of Education on May 15, 2012:
 
#6 Approve a Resolution of Intent to Adopt Academic Content Standards 
for the Fine Arts and World Languages.
 
#7 Approve a Resolution of Intent to Adopt Academic Content Standards 
in Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship and Business.
 
#11 Approve a Resolution of Appointment to the Educator Standards Board.
 
#12 Approve a Resolution of Intent to Adopt the State Board of 
Education's Diversity Strategies for Successful Schools Policy.
 
#13 Approve a Resolution to Select the SEED Foundation as the 
Operator for the SEED School of Cincinnati, pursuant to Ohio Revised 
Code 3328.11.
 
#14 Approve a Resolution to Delegate to the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction the Responsibility for Negotiating and Entering into an 
Operator Contract with the SEED Foundation for the Operation of the 
SEED School of Cincinnati.
 
#15  Approve a Resolution to Approve the Plan of the Governing Board 
for the North Central Ohio Educational Service Center to Appoint 
Additional Members to the Board, pursuant to Section 3311.056 of the 
Ohio Revised Code.
 
To view the State Board of Education's schedule, please visit 
http://education.ohio.gov/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&;TopicRelationID=576&ContentID=117915
 
6)  Policy Matters Ohio Weighs-in on MBR:  Wendy Patton, Senior 
Project Director, Policy Matters Ohio, presented testimony on the 
Governor Kasich's legislative package referred to as the Mid-Biennium 
Review (MBR) before the Senate Finance Committee on May 9, 2012.  The 
testimony summarized the legislative changes in HB487 and the other 
MBR bills as more cuts to services; more "unscrutinized" tax breaks 
that leave Ohio with "inadequate revenue to make necessary 
investments" for the future; more unfunded or underfunded mandates; 
and more privatization.
 
The testimony notes, for example, that the third-grade guarantee 
(included in SB316 - Lehner) would cost hundreds of millions of 
dollars spanning preK-3rd grade, and no funds are allocated to 
support the plan for early child care programs to implement the Step 
Up to Quality (tiered rating system) criteria.
 
The MBR bills expand privatization in several areas, such as the sale 
and leaseback of state and local public buildings; weights and 
measures; and public health inspections.  According to Ms. Patton, 
when the public loses oversight of services, there is less 
transparency, and the public loses the ability to keep tabs on how 
public money is spent, or not spent.
 
Several cuts in services are proposed, including those for the 
Department of Youth Services, nutrition, the Department of Aging, and 
disease prevention.
 
The proposed changes in tax policies for financial institutions would 
close some tax loopholes, but then the tax revenue saved is given 
back to the banks, when Ohio needs additional tax revenue to restore 
state and local services that have been cut.  And, Ohio is failing to 
capitalize on the state's mineral wealth as lawmakers fail to take 
action on the governor's proposal to increase the severance tax on 
shale oil/gas extraction, which was removed from HB487 as introduced. 
Lawmakers should also oppose the governor's ill advised income tax 
cut, which mostly benefits high income individuals and is attached to 
the severance tax increase.
 
The testimony concludes with the following statement, "Tax cuts 
eliminate the revenue we need to provide schools with uniform quality 
across the state that helps kids graduate and community services that 
keep families' assets intact. The Mid-Biennium Review fails to review 
what's really wrong with the biennial budget and the corrections bill 
doesn't correct the problem."
 
The testimony is available at 
http://www.policymattersohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/MBR_Testimony-may2012.pdf. 
 
 
 
7) Update on SB316 (Lehner):  SB316 is shaping up as a major 
education reform bill.  Last week the Senate approved an amended 
version of the bill by a vote of 30 to 2.
 
The bill as amended makes changes in a variety of education 
provisions including the following topics:  Third Grade Reading 
Guarantee, Assessment and Intervention, and Grants; Legislative 
Recommendations Regarding Reading Readiness: Promotion and Retention 
Policies; School and District Accountability; Joint Vocational 
Schools District Rankings and Report; Performance Indicators for 
Dropout Prevention Programs; School Report Cards for Parents; Reports 
of District and School Spending; Presentation of Academic Standards 
and Model Curricula to the House and Senate Education Committees; 
Model Curricula for Career Connections Learning Strategies; Parent 
Trigger/School Restructuring; Teacher Evaluations;  Assistant 
Principal Evaluations; Testing Teachers; Teacher Evaluation Data; 
Nonrenewal of Teacher and Administrator Contracts; School District 
Business Manager Functions; Digital and Blended Learning; OhioLearns 
Gateway: Ed Choice Eligibility; Assessment Data for Scholarship 
Students; Autism Scholarship and Jon Peterson Special Needs 
Scholarship Program; Calamity Days; Community School Sponsor 
Rankings;  Additional Measures to Rank Community School Sponsors; ESC 
Sponsor Community Schools; New Sponsor for Community Schools; 
Community School Sponsor Definition; Combining Community School and 
District Data; Community School Governing Authority Membership; 
Single Sex Community Schools; Community School Contracts on the ODE 
Website; Community School Enrollment Verification; Community School 
Mandate Review Panel; Access to School District Property; College 
Preparatory Boarding School Governance; STEM Schools; Educational 
Service Center Agreements; Direct Billing for Educational Service 
Center Services; Graduation Credit for the Study of History and 
Government; Admission of Transferring Students; Licensing of 
Preschool and Latchkey Programs; Reporting Data of Young Children; 
Definition of State Education Aid; School Facilities Programs; Study 
of Licensure Requirements for Media Specialists; Body Mass Index 
Clarification; Sale of Beverages in Schools; Tiered Quality Rating 
System; Child Day-care Center Administrator Qualifications; Licensure 
of Type B Family Day-Day Homes; In-Home Aides; Employment of Persons 
with Developmental Disabilities; State Workforce Policy Board; 
Registered Apprenticeships; Workers' Compensation Learn to Earn; and 
Office of Workforce Transformation Web Site.
 
Earlier in the week the Senate Education Committee, chaired by 
Senator Lehner, made significant changes (over 40) by adopting an 
omnibus amendment and an amendment that requires schools/school 
districts to provide parents with the latest report card of a school 
during the admissions process offered by Senator Schiavoni before 
reporting the bill.
 
In summary, the bill now delays implementation of the third-grade 
reading guarantee until 2013-14 and lowers the qualifying test score 
from "proficient" to "limited" for students to be promoted to fourth 
grade; provides $13 million to implement the reading guarantee; 
delays implementation of the A-F report card rating system until 
2012-13 school year and establishes a task force to recommend changes 
in the state's accountability system; changes the teacher re-testing 
provision; excludes certain students, such as "habitual truants" from 
the calculations of teacher evaluations; extends the date in which 
teachers and administrators must be notified about the status of 
their contract; makes the Body Mass Index optional; and more.
 
During the Senate debate on the bill several amendments were tabled, 
including amendments that would have required teachers in charter 
schools to participate in the state's new teacher evaluation system; 
removed the third party evaluators from the bill; removed the 
expenditure ranking system from current law; and an amendment that 
would have provided more flexibility to school districts regarding 
teacher evaluations. The bill now moves to the Ohio House for 
consideration.
 
For a comparative synopsis of SB316, please visit 
http://www.lsc.state.oh.us/analyses129/s0316-rs-129.pdf.
 
8) School Funding Presentations Continue:  Paolo DeMaria, a principal 
at Education First, concluded on May 8, 2012 his overview of Ohio's 
system for funding schools before the House Finance and 
Appropriations Committee, chaired by Representative Amstutz. Mr. 
DeMaria's remarks focused on how local revenue is raised and the 
challenges that state and school leaders must overcome in Ohio to 
implement a school funding system.
 
According to the presentation, Ohio's school districts in 2010 
received 44.6 percent of their revenue from local sources through the 
income tax ($331 million) and a variety of property taxing options 
($8.6 billion).
 
A map of school district valuations per pupil by quintile for the 
2011-12 school year shows that many school districts in the southern 
and northwest part of the state could generate only $90,591 or less 
per pupil in local revenue, while wealthier school districts could 
generate $178,846 or more per pupil through local taxes.
 
To make Ohio's tax structure even more complicated, there are 
adjustments in law that affect the amount of local revenue that can 
be raised.  These adjustments include rollbacks, the homestead 
exemption, other exemptions, and House Bill 920, which became law in 
1976 and adjusts the tax rate (creating an effective tax rate) to 
ensure that school districts (and other local taxing authorities) 
only raise the amount of revenue specified in the original levy, 
except for new construction.
 
Mr. DeMaria explained how boards of education calculate the benefits 
of all the taxing options relative to House Bill 920. Currently 302 
school districts have chosen to operate at the twenty mill floor, 
which means that their effective tax rate for one or more classes of 
property has dropped below 20 mills, and as a result, these school 
districts receive some growth in their local taxes. Other school 
districts have combined the 20 mill floor growth with an income tax 
to raise additional revenue.
 
Mr. DeMaria also opined that to the public it appears that boards of 
education ask for more mills for a levy than they really need.  This 
is because school districts must raise enough local revenue in the 
beginning of a levy to balance income and expenses over several years 
of the levy. In terms of ballot frequency, from 1995-2005 207 school 
districts were on the ballot up to 2 times; 154 districts 3-4 times; 
124 districts 5-6 times; and 130 districts 7-15 times.
 
Under "Challenges and Emerging Issues" Mr. DeMaria talked about 
charter school funding, special education, gifted education, money 
following the child, human capital management, technology, 
inequities, return on investment/efficiencies, and more.  Mr. DeMaria 
said that the overall question that policy makers should consider is, 
"How can fiscal policy support other reforms-- and improve student 
achievement?"
 
Chairman Amstutz announced that a web site is being developed and 
will include additional resources about school funding.
 
If you are interested in receiving copies of Mr. DeMaria's testimony, 
please contact jplatz@chemistry.ohio-state.edu">jplatz@chemistry.ohio-state.edu.
 
9)  Bills Introduced
 
HB536 (Gerberry) Business Property Tax Exemption:  Allows a board of 
township trustees to reduce the percentage or term of a property tax 
exemption granted to a business under a tax increment financing 
agreement if the business fails to create the number of new jobs the 
business agreed to create.
 
HB543 (Anielski) Youth Suicide Awareness and Prevention:  Enacts the 
"Jason Flatt Act" to require public schools to train staff in youth 
suicide awareness and prevention.
 
SB340 (Niehaus/Kearney) Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund:  Revises 
the law governing the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund.
SB341 (Niehaus/Kearney) School Employees Retirement System:  Revises 
the law governing the School Employees Retirement System.
SB342 (Niehaus/Kearney) State Teachers Retirement System:  Revises 
the law governing the State Teachers Retirement System.
SB343 (Niehaus/Kearney) Public Employees Retirement System:  Revises 
the law governing the Public Employees Retirement System.
 
FYI ARTS
 
1)  New Report on the Status of Arts Education in New Jersey:  The 
New Jersey Arts Education Census Project released on May 10, 2012 
"Keeping the Promise-Arts Education for Every Child:  The Distance 
Traveled -- The Journey Remaining" an update of a previous report 
released in 2006 on the status of arts education programs in New 
Jersey.  The report was prepared by Bob Morrison of Quadrant Arts 
Education Research and is supported through a public-private 
partnership that includes the New Jersey State Council on the 
Arts/Department of State, New Jersey Department of Education, 
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the New Jersey Arts Education 
Partnership, ArtPride New Jersey Foundation, and Quadrant Arts 
Education Research.
 
According to the report "...New Jersey has made great strides in 
achieving equal access to arts education for all students in the 
state but there is still work to do".
 
The number of students who have access to arts education has 
increased to 97 percent, with music and visual art nearly universally 
available, but according to Bob Morrison "more remains to be done."
 
He writes, "Two key findings include the need for better 
accountability for arts education. Great policies with uneven 
accountability mean many students who should participate in arts 
programs are not given the opportunity.  Secondly, there are great 
arts programs across all economic categories in New Jersey, but for 
the first time we are seeing a connection between the affluence of a 
community and the level of arts education."
 
The report is available at http://www.artsednj.org/.
 
2) P. Buckley Moss Foundation: The P. Buckley Moss Foundation for 
Children's Education promotes the integration of the arts into all 
educational programs, with a special focus on children who learn in 
different ways. The Foundation makes grants for new or evolving 
programs that integrate the arts into educational programming in 
grades K-12. The purpose is to aid and support teachers who wish to 
establish an effective learning tool using the arts.  The maximum 
award is $1,000. The deadline is September 30, 2012.
For more information please visit http://www.mossfoundation.org/.
 
3) Guitars in the Classroom Program:  The Guitars in the Classroom 
program (GITC) trains, supports, and encourages teachers who want to 
integrate music-making in their lessons and daily school activities. 
The program was started in 1998 by Jessica Baron in California, and 
now has spread to thousands of classrooms.  GITC is free to teachers 
and provides a guitar, instruction, and singing and leading simple 
songs. The program is sponsored by by NAMM, The International Music 
Products Association, and GAMA, the Guitars and Accessories Marketing 
Association. For more information please visit 
http://www.guitarsintheclassroom.org/in_the_news.php
  1. Legislative Update 5/21/12
  2. Legislative Update 5/7/12

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Alanna MarrasAlanna Marras
OSPA President
2025-2026

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