Education News for 06-14-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Tougher reading standards passed (Dispatch)

A sweeping education bill proposed by Gov. John Kasich that imposes a new reading requirement for third-graders and a stricter evaluation of teachers passed the General Assembly yesterday, largely along party lines. The bill says districts must assess the reading skills of all children in grades K-3 starting this fall. Those who are struggling must be given services including “intensive, explicit and systematic instruction.” The additional help cannot be general; it must be targeted at a child’s specific reading problem. Read more...

• Legislature OKs education reforms (Vindicator)

COLUMBUS - State lawmakers have signed off on legislation increasing reading requirements for third-graders and providing increased intervention for younger students who are not keeping pace with their grade level. Senate Bill 316 calls for increased testing requirements in coming years, eventually blocking students who are not proficient from moving on to fourth grade. The bill also calls for reading assessments of students starting in kindergarten and increased identification, parental notification and targeted teaching intervention for students struggling with reading. Read more...

• Bill Targets Third-Graders For Reading Help (WBNS 10 CBS)

COLUMBUS - Ohio third-graders lagging in reading skills face the possibility of being held back for up to two school years under a sweeping overhaul of state education policy that has cleared the state legislature on Wednesday. The so-called third grade reading guarantee is modeled after a Florida program that's shown positive results in improving reading scores. It's one of dozens of elements in the education bill that cleared the Ohio House on Wednesday, and the Senate agreed to the changes. Read more...

• Report pushes shared services for schools, local governments (Dispatch)

Shrinking budgets have left Ohio schools and local governments with a choice: raise taxes or cut services. A state report being released today focuses on a third option: sharing services to save money. A state report being released today focuses on a third option: sharing services to save money. It’s not a new idea. In fact, the report, Beyond Boundaries: A Shared Services Action Plan for Ohio Schools and Governments, identifies nearly $1 billion in savings already being realized by 51 collaborative efforts involving schools and governments across the state. Read more...

Local Issues

• USV audit shows potential saving measures (Lima News)

McGUFFEY — Upper Scioto Valley schools has already reduced more than a recent state audit said it should, but officials continue to look for more ways to save the struggling district. “We will get control of this. We are trying to salvage and save the district,” said Superintendent Dennis Recker, who also said he faces constant surprise expenses that “bites the district.” A state performance audit suggests adjustments to staff levels and bus routes to address forecasted future deficits. The office believes the recommendations can save $686,900. Read more...

• Springfield seeks free lunch for all students (News-Sun)

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield City School District plans to apply to a federal program that provides free lunch and breakfast for all students in the district. The board will vote Thursday night on a resolution to apply for the Community Eligibility Option for the National School Lunch and Breakfast program. The USDA-funded program allows high-poverty districts like Springfield to serve free lunch and breakfast to all students at all schools, regardless of family incomes, and pays schools back for the cost of the meals. Read more...

• Pay hike for Wolf Creek teachers (Marietta Times)

Teachers in the Wolf Creek Local school district will receive pay increases in exchange for insurance concessions. The district's board of education unanimously approved a new three-year contract with members of the Wolf Creek Local Education Association during an early morning meeting on May 31. The agreement creates a two-tiered insurance system. Workers who choose the first option, a traditional plan which includes prescription drug coverage, will receive a half-percent increase to their base salary. Read more...

• Cleveland Schools CEO Hopes to Stay With District (WJW 8 FOX)

CLEVELAND — The man in charge of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) is giving himself a passing grade for the school year, and hopes to be rehired by the school board. On Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Eric Gordon spoke to FOX 8 News about the future of the district. “We’ve got a long way to go,” said Gordon. “We knew that going into it, but we can’t discount how much great goes on within the CMSD every day just because we haven’t gotten to the end goal, so I think we’ve had a great year!” Read more...

Editorial

• A new chapter (Dispatch)

When state lawmakers gave the green light Tuesday for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to go forward with a groundbreaking reform plan, they gave that troubled district its best chance yet to break out of decades of dysfunction and failure. And if it brings meaningful improvement, it could provide a model for other districts. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, a Democrat, deserves credit for risking the ire of his traditional political supporters by pushing for changes that the Cleveland Teachers Union and other unions dislike. Read more...

• The Jackson plan finally wins out (Plain Dealer)

The battle for the Cleveland schools is far from over, but Tuesday's overwhelming Ohio House and Senate votes to approve Mayor Frank Jackson's school reform plan show what can happen when politicians look beyond partisan self-interest. The mayor, who often works behind the scenes, deserves tremendous credit for staying out front and for acting without regard to his Democratic Party affiliation or his own political future. Read more...

Education News for 06-13-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Strickland appointee resigns from state school board; one left (Dispatch)

One of two remaining appointees of the former Democratic governor has resigned from the Ohio Board of Education. Dennis Reardon, former executive director of the Ohio Education Association, the state’s largest teacher’s union, stepped down about six months before his four-year term on the 19-member board was to expire. “Due to scheduling conflicts with other activities in which I am involved, I must resign from the state Board of Education,” the 69-year-old Pickerington resident wrote in a letter to Gov. John Kasich, a Republican who will appoint a replacement. Read more...

• Ohio lawmakers approve Mayor Jackson's Cleveland schools plan after weeks of tense negotiations (Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS - Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, after weeks of tense negotiations, finally gained the legislative approval he needed on Tuesday to carry out his plan to reform the city’s troubled schools. The mayor’s proposal was debated at length, with several Democrats from outside Cleveland opposing the plan because it allows the city to share local tax dollars with charter schools. But the ongoing dismal performance of Cleveland schools proved too much for the majority of lawmakers to ignore. Read more...

• Lawmakers approve Cleveland school plan (Dispatch)

The Ohio House and Senate today overwhelmingly passed Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson’s plan for improving ailing school district. Republican and Democratic supporters hailed the legislation as a model of collaboration and local control. “We should help the mayor do what he believes he needs to do,” said Rep. Sandra Williams, a Cleveland Democrat and co-sponsor of the legislation. “I am a product of the Cleveland Municipal School District. I believe when I was in school, I got a great education,” she said. “I don’t think those kids that are there now are getting a great education.” Read more...

• Local school districts face deficits next 5 years (News-Sun)

SPRINGFIELD — Most local school districts face grim financial forecasts in the next five years, with several staring down multimillion dollar deficits, according to a Springfield News-Sun analysis of Ohio Department of Education documents. Flat or falling state aid and the expiration of federal stimulus funds meant to close the gap combined with rising costs of doing business has many districts eyeing large deficits in the future, according to the five-year forecasts. Districts are legally required to file the projections every October and May. Read more...

• Education Bills Top Ohio Statehouse Agenda (ONN)

COLUMBUS - The Ohio Legislature is slated to return Tuesday after a Memorial Day break and lawmakers hope to finish work on a handful of bills before recessing for the summer. Education-related bills are at the top of their agenda this week, including a wide-ranging measure being pushed by Gov. John Kasich as part of his midterm budget review. The Legislature also is expected to take up a proposed compromise to a Cleveland school improvement bill that's aimed to help the city's struggling public schools and high-performing charter schools co-exist. Read more...

• Bill gives Cleveland mayor stronger control over schools (Dispatch)

Ohio legislators yesterday overwhelmingly approved Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson’s plan to improve his ailing school district. Republican and Democratic supporters hailed the legislation as a model of collaboration and local control. Though the Cleveland district was once a national model, today two-thirds of students attend failing schools. It’s also the only district in the state under mayoral control, a decision made by district voters more than a decade ago. Read more...

• Gov. John Kasich, Ohio House and Senate Republicans reach deal on education policy (Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS - Gov. John Kasich and Republican state lawmakers from both chambers brokered a deal on a third-grade reading guarantee and quickly sent the measure through the House Education Committee Tuesday. The deal tasks the state Board of Education with developing a phased-in standard that third-graders must meet on a state reading test to be promoted to the fourth grade. The standard would start off holding back third-graders who score "limited" in reading next school year. Read more...

• School-funding advocates seek to inform the public (Vindicator)

BOARDMAN - Organizers of a meeting last month regarding public-school funding are planning to establish subcommittees this summer aimed at informing the public. Hundreds of people filled the Boardman Performing Arts Center last month for the forum that included local, state and national speakers about the issue. “We want to form subcommittees out of people who did respond,” said Ron Iarussi, superintendent of the Mahoning County Educational Service Center. Read more...

Local Issues

• Columbus district could offer $12 million in grants for charters, private schools (Dispatch)

Columbus City Schools could pay up to $12 million in local tax dollars to high-performing charter and private schools under a plan detailed by the district yesterday. Three-year grants could go to charter schools, private schools or even other district schools that score an A or B on their state report cards. The district envisions that grants could range from $380,000 to $2 million a year. The effort would link the high-performing schools with perhaps 17 or so low-performing district schools, Columbus school Superintendent Gene Harris said yesterday. Read more...

• Austintown parents panel vows to fight busing plan (Vindicator)

A committee of concerned parents says its Tuesday news conference is only the opening salvo in a fight against Austintown’s proposal to offer public-transit vouchers to private-school students instead of using district vehicles. “Stick with us and fight this fight. ... We cannot let them win because if they win, who’s next? Canfield? Boardman?” said David Gerchak, a member of the Austintown Parents for the Safe Transportation of Students Committee. He was one of several speakers who addressed a crowd of more than 80 people at St. Christine School. Read more...

• Orange Schools teacher contract talks at a standstill (Sun News)

PEPPER PIKE - Negotiations between the Orange school board and the Orange Teachers’ Association have reached an impasse, according to Superintendent Dr. Nancy Wingenbach. Further action will await assignment of a federal mediator to oversee the process. Negotiations to replace the OTA’s three-year contract began early this year, and the contract expires July 31. So by the time a mediator is assigned, late this month, all those involved will have just a month to make progress. Read more...

• 15 teaching positions eliminated in Niles (Vindicator)

NILES - The city board of education, which last month deadlocked on a proposal to eliminate 15 teaching positions, approved the issue Tuesday by a 3-2 vote. Without the layoffs, the board faced a deficit in excess of $1.3 million and could eventually have been forced into fiscal emergency and a state takeover, according to Superintendent Mark Robinson. The decision will cost 11 teachers, one of them a part-time employee, their jobs. The remaining four positions, which became vacant due to retirements, will not be filled. Read more...

Editorial

• Bend rules for dropout recovery (Tribune Chronicle)

Among the toughest challenges in education is keeping at-risk youngsters from dropping out of school. That does not mean institutions specializing in the task should not be required to meet some state requirements, however. More than 18,000 Ohio children attend special ''dropout recovery'' charter schools, which are private institutions receiving government funding. Perhaps in recognition of the difficulty of coaching such youngsters through graduation, state officials exempted such schools from some rules governing other institutions, both public and private. Read more...

People Not Politicians

Why Don’t Politicians Listen To Us?
Our politicians are going into backrooms to draw districts that benefit themselves—to ensure their own re-elections without being accountable to the voters. In order to gain political advantage, they have created bizarre districts that zigzag across Ohio and split apart numerous cities and counties. And then within three months of adopting new congressional districts, the politicians exchanged new maps in secret, changed the districts again, and even changed the date of the election! Leaving politicians in charge of drawing their own districts is like letting the fox guard the henhouse. For decades, politicians have protected their jobs and their friends through backroom deals on redistricting. This amendment puts a non-partisan citizen commission of Ohioans in charge.

Ohio is an evenly divided state politically, which should prevent either political party from dominating unfairly. But redistricting by politicians means that we have few competitive districts and whichever party is in control draws districts that favor their party. We need an independent citizen commission, not redistricting controlled by any one party.

Incumbent politicians have been drawing these lines to serve their own self-interests at the expense of the people’s collective interest. We the people have to take back this power by seizing the pen away and drawing the districts ourselves. The (redistricting) plan was secretly drawn, the public hearings were a sham and it’s very clear that the sole goal was to maximize partisan advantage. It was the exact opposite of a fair process— you’d be hard-pressed to find a place where the process or end product was uglier than ohio. ~Daniel Tokaji , Professor Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and a Leader of Voters First

What Can We Do?
Voters first is led by a coalition of nonpartisan groups and people from across Ohio. It was created to take the power over drawing our congressional and legislative districts out of the hands of the politicians and put it in the hands of the people. The Voters First Initiative will put more power in the hands of the people, not the politicians. It will give regular Ohioans a stronger voice in our democracy and provide them more control over their representation in Washington and Columbus.

What Would The New Process Look Like?
Voters first’s proposal will create an Independent Citizens Commission. Politicians, lobbyists and political insiders are prohibited from serving on the Commission. The Commission’s work will be open and it will be accountable to the public. The Commission will empower voters to choose their politicians instead of politicians picking their voters.

• Citizens, not politicians

Instead of the current procedures (in which politicians draw district boundaries that unfairly favor their own party and/or protect incumbents), a 12-member Citizens Commission will create the districts. Any member of the public can submit a plan for consideration.

• Openness and transparency

All meetings, records, communications and draft plans of the Commission must be open to the public. No more backroom deals.

• Balance and impartiality

The Citizens Commission will include equal numbers of Republicans, Democrats and independents, and the approval of at least seven of the twelve members of the Commission will be required for the adoption of any plan. This will ensure that the final plan fairly represents all Ohioans, not just those currently in power.

• Community representation

Districts will be created that are geographically compact, and which minimize the division of counties, townships, municipalities and wards between different districts.

• Accountability & competitive districts

Politically balanced districts will be created, rather than “safe districts” which make it difficult or impossible for voters to hold elected officials accountable.

• Fairness

To the greatest extent possible, the share of districts leaning toward a party will reflect the political preferences of the voters of Ohio.

Join The Voters First Effort
To move forward, we need to identify sufficient resources to gather 386,000 signatures by july 4, 2012, and mobilize a statewide educational campaign for the November 2012 election.

for additional information, and to get involved, visit the Voters first website, www.Votersfirst.com

The Casino shell game

Hopes of school districts hitting the proverbial jackpot are set to take a significant hit if analysis conducted by the Cincinnati inquirer prove accurate.

“This is all a big shell game,” said Warren County Administrator David Gully. “We’re not really getting anything. All the new money we’re getting is going to be offset by cuts in the Local Government Fund.”

Gully was referring to state budget cuts through mid-2013 that severely slashed funding to counties and local communities in order to close an $8 billion budget gap.
[...]
Tax projections also depend on whether slot machines open at Ohio’s seven racetracks. Local governments can count on a 27 percent reduction in projected tax proceeds if that occurs because “racinos” are expected to dip into casino profits. The low end of The Enquirer’s analysis includes that scenario.

That scenario is now certain, with the Governor signing SB386 which will allow racetracks to offer slot machines. Ohio schools are likely to received just 39% of what was promised in 2009, which wasn't big money to begin with. In 2009 projections were that $327,441,791 would flow from casino to local tax juridistions, but now just $130,452,323 is expected, a massive drop of $196,989,468

School officials are skeptical about how much money they’ll receive and what it will mean to their budgets.

Consultants have told school districts to expect $21 per student for 2012 and up to $80 per student when all casinos are open.

“It’s not big money, although it sounds like a lot to the average Joe,” said Randall Bertram, treasurer at Northwest Local Schools, the second-largest school district in Hamilton County with about 9,000 students.

Northwest, which is laying off 56 people on Aug. 1, including 21 teachers to trim $3 million from the payroll, is hoping to get about $1 million a year in tax revenue from the casinos. That’s still only 1.25 percent of an $80 million general fund budget in a district that axed $16 million from its spending since 2005, Bertram said.

The further fear, which materialized with the lottery revenues, is that casino revenues will further supplant state funding

“It took one or two biennium budgets and it’s in the same bucket of money as everything else,” Bertram said of lottery proceeds. “We don’t know how long this is going to last. It’s almost like stimulus money. You hope you get it, and you hope you can do good with it. You don’t rely on it.”

Here's a district by district breakdown of expected revenues.

Casino Revenue Analysis

Education News for 06-12-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Language for Cleveland school reform bill finalized at last minute (Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS - The Cleveland schools reform plan, supposedly a done deal just before Memorial Day weekend, was barely finished in time for today's planned vote. At the close of business Monday, the final legislation due to be voted on by both the Ohio House and Senate education committees still wasn't written -- 17 days after Republican Gov. John Kasich joined Democratic Mayor Frank Jackson and others in a celebratory press conference. Read more...

• Deal struck on Kasich’s schools bill (Dispatch)

Special charter schools for gifted children are out, and there will be no exemption from Ohio’s school-closure law for failing dropout-recovery charter schools under an agreement reached by state legislators on Gov. John Kasich’s sweeping education bill. The House and Senate are expected to pass Senate Bill 316 this week after legislators and the administration reached a compromise on competing versions of the proposal. Read more...

Local Issues

• Youngstown school district must get handle on finances (Vindicator)

When the president of the Youngstown Board of Education used the word “yet” in talking about the district’s finances — “We’re not out of the woods yet” — we wondered if he was indulging in a bit of wishful thinking. Lock P. Beachum has been around public education in the city for many years, having served as an educator — he retired as principal of East High School — and a board member for more than a decade, which means nothing surprises him. However, the system’s ongoing financial turmoil has Beachum baffled. Read more...

• Newark school board ends 'pickup' of administrator retirement costs (Newark Advocate)

NEWARK - Newark City Schools no longer will pay its administrators' share of retirement costs, beginning with their next contracts. Board members approved a resolution Monday to adjust administrators' pay during the next contract cycle to get rid of the district payment of their share of retirement -- commonly known as a "pickup" and a "pickup-on-the-pickup." "The pickup-on-the-pickup is a political hot button," Board President Bev Niccum said. "We want to move away from it." Read more...

Like shoving a pig through a snake

Greg, over at Plunderbund.com has an interesting piece discussing the many, many "top priorities" attempting to be implemented in Ohio K-12 education right now. He lists common core, new state tests, PARCC assessments moving online only, teacher and principal evaluations, teacher retesting and the new report card grading system, 3rd grade reading retention, voucher expansion, to name just a handful.

Having so many "top priorities" with imminent implementation dates, makes their individual success less likely, Greg smartly argues, using business management guru, Patrick Lencioni's writing

Most organizations I’ve worked with have too many top priorities to achieve the level of focus they need to succeed. Wanting to cover all their bases, they establish a long list of disparate objectives and spread their scarce time, energy, and resources across them all. The result is almost always a lot of initiatives being done in a mediocre way and a failure to accomplish what matters most.

When a CEO announces that her company’s top priorities for the year are to grow revenue, improve customer service, introduce more innovative products, cut expenses, and improve market share, she is almost guaranteeing that none of those objectives is going to get the attention it deserves.

Right after reading this, we read this article in the Plain Dealer, titled "Ohio schools prepare for another budget hit"

For the past year, many school districts across Ohio have been asked to do more with less after the state budget suddenly reimbursed them far less for lost business taxes -- called tangible personal property taxes -- than they had been getting. While keeping basic state aid flowing to schools, Gov. John Kasich made the change to help avoid a multibillion-dollar deficit.
[...]
The state had set up the reimbursement plan years before when it replaced tangible personal property taxes with a different business tax -- the commercial activities tax. Revenue from that new tax goes to the state instead of directly to districts.

The result will be a fiscal crunch for schools for the second year in a row.

Northeast Ohio's 97 districts will take a harder hit than some other parts of the state.

They'll see an increase of more than $9 million in basic state aid next school year -- about 15 percent of the statewide increase. But they will receive almost $74 million less in business tax reimbursements -- about a third of the loss statewide.

It's challenging enough to continue to provide a quality education in an environment of deep, widespread, funding cuts, but when coupled with a huge list of "top priorities" it is a recipe for disaster.

What is missing from the list of "top priorities", and missing from the legislatures mid biennium review (MBR) is a constitutional school funding mechanism that will prove to be fair, equitable and adequate to implement not only a quality education for all, but fund all these other pet project "priorities".

The Governor and his legislature have placed an incredible burden on school districts and their administrative and teaching staff, and simultaneously failed to provide the requisite support. That needs to change.