SB5 forging an undemocratic path

It is being widely reported that the shiny new S.B.5 is not going to have any time to be read by anyone before being voted on. Another clear sign, if we needed another clear sign, of bad dealing by the house Republican majority. They ignored the protests, phone calls, emails and even the petition of 64,000 people to kill the bill

The Reckless Budget, story after story

When we talk about the reckless budget proposal and its impact on public education it can be hard to visualize what billions, or even millions of dollars of cuts really mean. We republished documents Innovation Ohio obtained from the administration that show what the funding levels would likely be for individual school districts, but this doesn't truly capture the full scale of the problem.

As we collate our clips each morning here at JTF, we are starting to notice a distrubing but very regular pattern. Newspaper article after article detailing school funding problems. We want to start bringing these to your attention as a means to highlight just how drastic and reckless this budget is for public education, the students and our communities.

• Nearly all Ohio school districts face cuts
• Schools' programs for gifted may be cut
• Hilliard schools face cuts if levy fails
• Proposed cuts draw critics to Southwest Schools meeting
• Schools to freeze secretaries' pay
• Area schools may lose funding
• Districts Could Face Shortfalls Even If Levies Pass
• Lakota board stalls vote on school cuts
• Community Should Express Opinions on School Levy
• Schools are cutting SRO's as budgets tighten
• Both school districts face net loss in proposed state budget
• John Dudley: Central Tech cuts would save, but at what cost?
• Paying (a lot more) to play
• District Resource Officer Could Be Among Budget Cuts
• Students struggle to pay for Ohio’s cheapest schools
• Ohio school district: Lunchtime depends on levy

Please send us links to articles in your local paper that discuss school funding issues. You can send them to admin@jointhefuture.org.

News for March 29th, 2011

The Plain Dealer has a rundown of where we are with S.B.5 and some of the changes expected to be included

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The latest version of Senate Bill 5 -- a Republican-backed plan to reduce collective bargaining rights -- will be unveiled Tuesday with nearly a dozen changes, including modifications that could address concerns police and fire unions have raised.

Any changes short of entirely scrapping the bill, however, are unlikely to sway Democrats and union leaders, who have pledged to put SB 5 before voters on a statewide ballot either this November or next if the measure passes.

Onto the subject of "choice", despite it's staunch advocacy of the policy, Dispatch readers continue to reject the idea of increasing vouchers

If you lumped all of Franklin County's charter-school and voucher students into one district, it would be bigger than the South-Western school district.

Those 21,794 children would make up the sixth-largest school district in Ohio. Nearly 12 percent of publicly funded students in the county attend charter schools or use a state-funded voucher to attend private ones.

The Budget continues to bring bad news, with this article demonstrating clearly that the assault on public education has nothing to do with education

Scarce resources for gifted students could be lost entirely under Gov. John Kasich's two-year budget plan.

Stay tuned to our Twitter feed today as we cover the S.B.5 hearings and rally.

Internal Spread Sheets on School Funding Cuts

Innovation Ohio obtained school funding documents the administration didn't want anyone to see.

The district-by-district breakdowns of school funding cuts, including the reimbursement losses districts will incur from the discontinued business taxes contained in the Governor’s budget proposal can be found below.

Kasich administration internal documents:

• School funding by district, showing funding impacts relative to FY2011 including federal stimulus
• School funding by district, with impact of tax replacement revenue phase-outs included in FY2012 and 2013 levels

Innovation Ohio calculations:

• Combined impact on districts of elimination of stimulus and tax replacement revenue phase-outs
• District-by-district millage increases required to make up the shortfall

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However you choose to contact us, we look forward to hearing from you.

K-12 Budget Info

K-12 FUNDING PROPOSALS:

• Repeals Evidence-Based Model for school funding.
• Decrease overall education funding by $1.3 billion (11.5%) in FY 12 ($10.2 billion).
• Decrease overall education funding by another $500 million (4.9%) in FY13 ($9.7 billion).
• Decrease overall education funding by $3.1 billion over F Y12-13 from F Y 11 amounts ($1.3 billion cut in F Y 12 and $1.8 billion cut in F Y 13).
• Increase Foundation funding by 2% for FY 12 and 1.5% for FY 13.
• Eliminate state fiscal stabilization funds (federal stimulus for state foundation) of $457 million in FY 12.
• Reduce federal stimulus for IDEA Part B and Title IA totaling $400 million in FY11 by 90% for FY 12 with the remainder eliminated in FY13.
• Decrease overall Special Education funding by 14.5% in FY 12 and another 2.1% in FY 13. million (34.2%) in FY 13.
• Precise data for charter school funding not yet available because charter school funds flow through local districts.
• Maintain overall funding for Joint Vocational School Districts in FY 12 and FY 13.
• Decrease overall funding for early childhood education by 4.7% in FY 12 and another .5% in FY 13. and local governments by July 1, 2012. Administrative Services that local governments and school districts can join if they choose.
• Reduce Educator Standards Board funding from FY 11 by 40.8% to $786,737 in both FY 12 and FY 13.
• Require employer and employee to each pay 12% of pension contributions (50/50 split). Currently, the employer pays 14% and the employee pays 10%.

K-12POLICY PROPOSALS:

• Provide additional teacher payments for students who exceed achievement growth.
• Use "teacher quality" to drive employment decisions instead of seniority.
• Test teachers in failing schools.
• Streamline dismissal process for poor-performing schools.
• Give parents the right to "reconstitute" schools.
• Close poorest performing schools.
• Increase the number of EdChoice vouchers available (from 14,000 to 28,000).
• Remove cap on charter schools and enhance access to facilities.
• Expand on-line education.
• Make Ohio the PReferred destination" for Teach for America students