Education News for 08-23-2012

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State Education News

  • Teach for America recruits get feet wet at local schools (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • As students across Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky return to school this month, some will be taught by a new breed of teacher: graduates of the first-ever class of Teach for America-Southwest Ohio...Read more...

  • College freshmen perceive world differently (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Incoming U.S. college students have never seen a paper airline ticket, like to watch television on almost anything but a television...Read more...

  • Inmates facing long wait for a GED (Columbus Dispatch)

    • About 12 percent of Ohio prisoners are enrolled in education programs, with more than 2,100 receiving a high-school equivalence certificate...Read more...

  • School districts eye shared services to save money (Newark Advocate)

    • Licking Heights and Southwest Licking local schools are in the process of narrowing down a list of possible shared services, with an eye on saving money. Treasurers from the two neighboring school districts have been meeting...Read more...

  • Report says state knew of TPS practice on attendance (Toledo Blade)

    • State education officials were told directly by Toledo Public Schools staff at least four years ago about the district's policy to withdraw and then re-enroll habitually truant students...Read more...

  • Ohio students test better on ACT than national average (Willoughby News Herald)

    • Ohio students have once again tested above the national average on the ACT, according to results released Wednesday. Ohio’s class of 2012 had a composite score of 21.8 in English...Read more...

Local Education News

    Copley administrator takes on two roles (Akron Beacon Journal)

    Copley High School’s new acting principal is a familiar face in the district. Aaron Sable will greet students in a return role when students begin classes today. On Tuesday, the Copley- Fairlawn Board of Education announced his hiring...Read more...

  • Private-school parents sue Northridge schools over busing (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The bus wasn’t going to pick up his kids for their first day of school on Monday, not until Bill Jones fought back. It took a meeting with a Licking County judge yesterday to keep the wheels rolling...Read more...

  • Carey board buys computer system (Findlay Courier)

    • Carey school board recently approved the purchase of a new wireless computer system for the district, according to The Progressor-Times newspaper...Read more...

  • Tentative pact with teachers reached (Findlay Courier)

    • North Baltimore school officials and its teachers' union have reached a tentative contract agreement, the two sides announced Wednesday. Details of the offer were not released...Read more...

  • Amherst schools blame glitch for mass callings (Lorain Morning Journal)

    • Amherst schools got off to a rocky second day of the school year yesterday when parents and guardians for the roughly 4,000 youths students...Read more...

  • Early readers get a boost from donors (Marion Star)

    • Bedtime stories can do more than get a child off to sleep. Reading them to your children may give them the power later in life to learn and earn...Read more...

  • Local officials urge governor to restore funds (Toledo Blade)

    • Elected officials, police and fire union leaders, and public agency representatives called on Gov. John Kasich on Wednesday to restore funds that were cut from local government, schools, and libraries as part of Ohio's two-year budget...Read more...

  • Cleveland: A critical school year ahead (WKYC)

    • The Cleveland Metropolitan School District is facing a critical start to the school year. The district is grappling with layoffs, shorter school days and a mega-levy on the ballot in November...Read more...

Editorial

  • Crescendo schools scandal shows why teachers need due process (Los Angeles Times)

    • The shameful cheating at the now-closed Crescendo charter schools shows why legislative attempts to strip teachers of due process before they can be fired...Read more...

  • Don’t Y’town residents realize clock’s ticking on city schools? (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • There’s a lot to chew on in the report by the Harwood Institute For Public Innovation on the community’s attitude toward the Youngstown City School District...Read more...

Kasich pushes public ed to precipice

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Already faced with having to deal with massive budget cuts created by the Governor's raid on school funding to balance his own budget, he has now asked all departments, including the Department of Education to provide budget scenarios that include a further 10% cut

State agency heads will be lucky if they get to keep current funding levels when Gov. John Kasich rolls out the next state budget in the spring.

That's the tone being set by a budget guidance document released Monday by Kasich's administration that asks state agencies to plan a pair of scenarios for the 2014-15 budget -- one where they see no growth in funding and a second in which agencies are hit with a 10 percent cut in general revenue funds.

The Governor's own Office of Budget and Management ran the number to discern the impact. It would be ironic if the Governor killed his own education policies via his own fiscal policy.

In areas of academic improvement, the results are dire

  • A 10% cut could jeopardize Ohio's ESEA flexibility waiver by reducing services by up to 4,000 hours and not providing the additional support to priority and focus schools required. The 16 fiscal agents (ESCs) that deliver the Ohio Improvement Process for districts in school improvement already do not have the capacity to support all districts in need of support.
  • A 10% cut to Ohio's Alternative Education Grant programs could result in as many as 29 programs closing resulting in increased drop-out rates and decreased graduation rates. Students who drop out often result in long term costs to the state through various social service and remediation programs. This funding has experienced a reduction of funding of a little over 40% to what was originally budgeted for in FY09

On Curriculum and assessment, the cuts would end the efforts to increase academic rigor and hinder the newly legislated (and already unfunded) 3rd grade reading guarantee.

  • A 10% cut to funding for Content Standards and Model Curricula would jeopardize ODE's ability to manage all work required in statute in this area, such as embedding career connections into Ohio's model curricula. Additional cuts could also jeopardize Ohio's ESEA flexibility waiver by significantly hindering ODE's ability to provide technical assistance to districts in implementing the new academic content standards that begin in the 2013-14 school year. Reductions will jeopardize planned professional development supporting best practices instructional strategies, infusing technology into instruction, and supporting instruction for diverse learners in implementing the new State Learning Standards. This set-aside has experienced a cut of over 28% to amounts originally budgeted for in FY09.
  • A 10% cut to Assessment Contracts and & Administration would result in statutory noncompliance for Ohio's student assessment system and would jeopardize Ohio's ESEA flexibility waiver because the funding would not allow the new generation of assessments being developed through the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and state-developed assessments for science and social studies to begin in the 2014-15 school year.
  • A 10% cut to funding for the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment could hinder the release and administration of this literacy assessment which is critical to successful early childhood learning and the implementation of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee included in SB 316.

Cuts would also jeopardize district data collection and analysis, something ODE is already struggling to grapple with as the attendance scrubbing controversy drags on. While we can't currently publish school report cards, these cuts would also risk further future delays putting federal monies at risk.

Under educator quality efforts:

  • A 10% cut in funds for Educator Standards and Prep would mean new work required under statute, particularly for teachers and principals, could not be properly managed. Such work includes the implementation of the new teacher and principal evaluation systems required by statute and using evaluation systems to inform decisions including professional development, promotion, retention, placement, tenure and removal of ineffective educators.
  • 10% cut to Teacher and Principal Evaluation/Student Growth, could put in jeopardy the continued implementation of the teacher and principal evaluation systems which are included as a part of Ohio's ESEA flexibility waiver. Also, the incorporation of student growth as a metric in these systems, mandated by state law, could be put in jeopardy. LEA requests for support in implementation have been overwhelming and the need for support will continue to grow.

    • It would be ironic if the Governor killed his own education policies via his own fiscal policy.

Here's the full analysis

Impact of a further 10% cut to Ohio's education budget

Poll: Americans feel good about teachers

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The 44th Annual PDK/Gallup Poll on public schools has some interesting findings. The very first question the poll asks

Going back 10 years to 2002, we combined the responses that include discipline concerns, such as fighting, gang violence, and drugs. In 2002, these were the biggest problems identified by 39% of Americans. Today, just 10 years later, only 14% of Americans mentioned concerns about fighting, drugs, and poor discipline. This year, as in the last few years, lack of funding was by far the most common single response Americans cited as the biggest challenge facing schools in their communities. Parents were even more unified that lack of funding was the No. 1 challenge facing schools.

A further question explored sentiment to improving urban schools

Ninety-seven percent believe it’s very or somewhat important to improve the nation’s urban schools, indicating a strong continuing commitment, and almost two of three Americans said they would be willing to pay more taxes to provide funds to improve the quality of the nation’s urban schools. However, there was a clear difference of opinion between Republicans (41% in favor) versus Democrats (80% in favor) on the taxation question.

It's hard to get 97% of Americans to agree on pretty much anything, so to have that, and 2 out of 3 citizens wanting to increase taxes to address it, one might be forgiven for thinking we're talking about apple pie not urban education. A tip of the hat must also be given for recognition that our education system is unequal

On teacher evaluations, there is a significant divide

Americans are evenly divided on whether states should require that teacher evaluations include how well a teacher’s students perform on standardized tests, and this finding is consistent across all demographic groups. Clearly, American opinion on this doesn’t match the massive effort under way in many states and school districts to do so. Of the 52% who favor including students’ performance on standardized tests in teacher evaluations, almost half said this should constitute between one-third and two-thirds of the teacher’s evaluation.

Considering that people have only heard from one side of the debate on this, and have yet to see the consequences of these corporate education reform policies, this is likely to be a high water mark.

On the subject of teachers, few professions garner as much trust as teachers

Remaining constant over a series of years, 71% of Americans have trust in teachers, despite constant efforts to tear them down by corporate education reformers and their billionaire and media supporters .

You can read the entire survey at this link. We'll close out with words from teacher of the year, Rebecc Mieliwocki.

What a wonderful shot in the arm this year’s survey results are for the American schoolteacher. The core truth is that Americans are confident in their child’s teachers and proud of our educational system.

They see the best educators as caring, attentive, and demanding professionals. They want us to have the freedom to create relevant, rigorous, and engaging lessons for students and to have our effectiveness measured fairly through both classroom observations and student scores on standardized tests.

Americans want teachers held to high standards from the moment we enter a preparation program to our last day in the classroom, and they want us to improve how we prepare young people for the rigors of college and their careers. These are all good things. Just like teachers themselves, Americans want to see schools and the teaching profession elevated and strengthened.

The great news is that kids are learning more than ever before from teachers who are better trained than at any time in history. Walk into most classrooms in America, and you’ll see tremendous things happening. Yet, the persistent negative messages about public schools and teachers remain. If we hope to attract the best and the brightest into the profession and keep them there, we’ve got to put an end to this.

Education News for 08-22-2012

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State Education News

  • Delay in report card release keeps good news from parents (Middletown Journal)

    • With the state board of education indefinitely delaying the release of the state report cards, some local school districts will have to wait to announce good news to parents
    Read more…

  • Local school district leaders frustrated over delay with state report cards (New Philadelphia Times)

    • School superintendents in the Tuscarawas Valley say a delay in releasing state report cards won’t have a major impact on area districts, but it’s frustrating nonetheless.
    Read more…

  • Ohio school report cards delayed during investigation (Zanesville Times-Recorder)

    • Amid an attendance-tampering investigation, Ohio has delayed next week's release of annual school report cards whose results determine innumerable decisions by schools and families about funding, student scholarships and building and program placements.
    Read more…

Local Education News

  • Cloverleaf, Medina sign deal to share treasurer (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • The neighboring Cloverleaf and Medina school districts have struck a deal to share a treasurer for the next school year.
    Read more…

  • Teachers get closer look at oil, gas drilling industry (Chillicothe Gazette)

    • CHILLICOTHE -- A couple of area teachers recently picked up some first-hand experience with the oil and natural gas industry to take back to their classrooms this fall.
    Read more…

  • Columbus schools hire lawyers in attendance probe (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Despite having a full-time attorney on staff, Columbus City Schools agreed last night to pay up to $100,000 to hire independent attorneys “to advise and represent” the district in an ongoing investigation into data rigging.
    Read more…

  • School safety stressed (Marion Star)

    • MARION - As summer vacation ends and school starts for Marion City Schools students, law enforcement recommends that everyone give themselves a little more time to get to where they need to go.
    Read more…

  • Man mistaken for participant in mock school shooting (Newark Advocate)

    • PATASKALA -- Roy Luckett isn't a school shooter, but the Newark resident said he was tackled like one during a training exercise at Watkins Memorial High School this past week.
    Read more…

  • Parents sue Northridge school board over busing policy (Newark Advocate)

    • NEWARK -- Three parents filed a lawsuit against Northridge Local Schools' board Tuesday, saying their children should be bused to private schools.
    Read more…

  • Judge continues bullying lawsuit against Mentor Schools (Willoughby News Herald)

    • A lawsuit against Mentor Schools that alleges it failed to recognize and stop the bullying that resulted in a student’s suicide was continued on Tuesday in the United States District Court Northern District of Ohio.
    Read more…

Editorial

  • Sort it out (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The State Board of Education made the right call in voting 18-0 on Monday to delay releasing the state’s annual report cards on public schools’ performance.
    Read more…

  • No excuses for faking records (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • Area residents will have every right to be furious if they learn local school districts are among those that have been tampering with data to make it look as if student attendance is better than actually is the case.
    Read more…

Ryan budget wrecks public education

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Education issues have arrived front and center in the Presidential campaign. President Obama discussed education during his weekly address

With students starting to head back to school, President Obama used this week’s address to discuss the critical role that education plays in America’s future. Nothing is more important to a child’s education than a great teacher.

Unfortunately, tens of thousands of teachers will not be going back to school this year, partially because of budget cuts at the state and local level. That means more crowded classrooms, fewer kindergarten and preschool programs, and shorter school years and weeks. President Obama has proposed a jobs bill that would help states prevent further layoffs and rehire teachers, but Congress refuses to pass it.

Instead, the budget that almost every Republican voted for would further cut education in order to give tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires.

The debate continued in Ohio

President Barack Obama drew a sharp line with Republican Mitt Romney on education Tuesday, telling Ohio voters that "putting a college education within reach for working families doesn't seem to be a priority" for his opponent.

Obama quoted his Republican challenger's assertion that the best option for students trying to find an affordable education is to "shop around."

"That's his answer for a young person hoping to go to college — shop around, borrow money from your parents if you have to — but if they don't have it, you're on your own," Obama said in prepared remarks ahead of a planned campaign stop Tuesday afternoon.

The president was expected to point to the budget plan put forward by Romney's running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, as he tries to paint the GOP ticket as too extreme for the nation.

He plans to criticize Ryan's budget proposal for cutting $115 billion from the Education Department, removing 2 million children from Head Start programs and costing 1 million college students their Pell Grants over the next decade.

According to the Washington Post, a recent poll on the Ryan budget found that a leading concern about the Ryan budget were cuts to education, and that those cuts raised serious doubts about Romney when voters were told that he supports the Ryan agenda.

Those cuts, as the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities discovered, are needed to fund massive tax cuts for the wealthiest

Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney plan to further defund education in order to provide tax cuts to people who have the least need. The choices for public education supporters have never been more stark.