Education News for 02-08-2013

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State Education News

  • State school board goes Downtown for meeting after leader’s Facebook post (Columbus Dispatch)

    • With Ohio school board President Debe Terhar expected to make her first public appearance since last month’s uproar over her Adolf Hitler Facebook post, the state Board of Education…Read more...

  • Kasich hasn't seen numbers for own school funding plan (Columbus Dispatch)

    • A week after rolling out a sweeping revamp of how Ohio funds schools, Gov. John Kasich said he still has not seen any material detailing how much state money each of Ohio’s 612 school districts would receive under his plan…Read more...

  • Property values present challenge on whether Kasich budget delivers to schools what it promises (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The jury is still out on the Kasich administration’s rationale that school districts with reduced property values would get more money under his budget, while those where property values rose would get no new money…Read more...

  • Kasich's funding plans draw complaints from school leaders (Columbus Dispatch)

    • A week ago, Bob Caldwell was among more than a dozen school superintendents praising Gov. John Kasich’s education plan. The longtime leader of Wolf Creek Local School District in southeastern Ohio…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Akron Public Schools panel negotiates budget cuts (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • The Akron Public Schools Finance Committee convened Thursday with the goal of minimizing the effect of this year’s $16 million budget shortfall and a projected $9.5 million negative cash…Read more...

  • State schools budget showers Shawnee, leaves others cold (Lima News)

    • Shawnee schools could get a decent pot of money from the state, but Superintendent Paul Nardini says Gov. John Kasich’s proposed school funding plan is flawed…Read more...

  • Hundreds of Strongsville teachers protest, threaten strike at Feb. 7 school board (Sun Newspapers)

    • Citing an "appalling level of disrespect" from the Strongsville City Schools Board of Education in ongoing contract negotiations, more than 350 teachers swarmed the board's Feb. 7 work session…Read more...

  • Mentor Schools’ issue improperly filed for May 7 ballot (Willoughby News Herald)

    • A request by Mentor Schools to place a 10-year, estimated 8.84-mill renewal levy on the May 7 ballot could be rejected next week when the four-member Lake County Elections Board meets to certify issues for the special election…Read more...

  • Teacher says training was beneficial (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • One teacher who attended training that focused on preparing educators for an active- shooter scenario says the information was worth-while and he recommends it for others…Read more...

Editorial

  • Formula for confusion (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • With the release of the funding estimates for school districts this week, it looks less and less like John Kasich finally has solved Ohio’s school-funding enigma…Read more...

  • Kasich's school funding plan needs a lot of work (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • When Ohio Gov. John Kasich sketched out his new two-year school funding formula last week, he was characteristically blunt…Read more...

On Teacher Quality

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Rhonda Johnson, a Columbus City Schools educator and President of CEA has a great letter published on the Reimagine Columbus Education website, that we wanted to share

Our goal as a community must be to have a competent, caring and high-quality teacher in every classroom. Why? Teacher quality is the most important school-based factor in a high- quality education.

To that end, we must invest in high-quality teaching and organize schools for success for all of our students. This trumps other investments, such as reduced class size, overall spending on education, and teacher financial incentives and salaries.

There are clear conditions that must be present to attract and retain high-quality teachers, especially in challenging schools.

Pre-service preparation through appropriate and rigorous experiences at the university, in collaboration with faculty and public school teachers, is crucial. Teacher preparation programs, state departments of education and school districts must engage in residency programs analogous to the residency model in schools of medicine.

School leadership matters . . . a lot. Principal behavior is the primary factor affecting a teacher’s decision to stay at or leave a particular school. In fact, leadership behavior is a stronger predictor of teacher retention than either student demographics or achievement.

Teaching and learning conditions — such as job-imbedded professional development, teaching assistants and administrative support— matter more than individual financial incentives. In partnership with communities, school districts must provide sufficient resources to get the job done — newer technologies, instructional equipment and supplies, and access to social and health services.

Schools must provide the opportunity for teachers to work collaboratively with peers who share the responsibility for every student’s success. Teachers must work with colleagues to analyze student work, plan lessons and build relationships with students and families.

Effective teachers are committed to creative teaching and inquiry learning. Teaching is about discovery, learning and awe, not minute-by-minute curriculum mandates, scripted instruction and testing.

Education policymakers and administrators would be well served by recognizing the complexity of the issue of teacher quality and adopting multiple measures along many dimensions to support existing teachers and to attract new, highly qualified teachers.

Research suggests that investing in teachers can make a difference in student achievement. To implement needed policies associated with staffing every classroom — even the most challenging ones — with high-quality teachers, substantial and targeted investments must first be made in teaching quality.

Education News for 02-07-2013

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State Education News

  • Rich, growing school districts do well under governor’s funding proposal (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • Gov. John Kasich’s office rolled out spreadsheets Wednesday showing how much money school districts will receive under his new funding formula…Read more...

  • Plan means no funding growth for most schools (Chillicothe Gazette)

    • Gov. John Kasich’s school funding plan dramatically changes the state funding formula for districts, but most Ohio schools would see no new money under the proposal…Read more...

  • Kasich details educational funding (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • Most Southwest Ohio school districts were breathing sighs of relief Wednesday after Gov. John Kasich’s office released detailed funding amounts for each district…Read more...

  • Susan Zelman hired by the Ohio Department of Education to work on school funding (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • Susan Zelman, who was state superintendent for 10 years, has returned to the Ohio Department of Education to work with schools on funding issues…Read more...

  • Most schools to get no additional funds in Kasich plan (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Sixty percent of Ohio school districts — including all those in Perry County, where the state’s long-running school-funding lawsuit originated — would get no additional state money in the next two years under Gov. John Kasich’s education plan…Read more...

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  • Kasich funding formula favors suburban schools; TPS, other urban districts, mostly flat under (Toledo Blade)

    • Preliminary breakdowns of how Gov. John Kasich’s new school-funding formula will affect school districts show that growing, relatively wealthier suburban districts in metro Toledo will receive significant increases…Read more...

Local Education News

  • CPS evaluation policy remains unresolved (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • After months of discussion and several heated meetings with representatives from the teachers’ union, Cincinnati’s school board Monday voted 4-3 to delay a vote on a new controversial policy to evaluate its roughly 2,000 teachers.…Read more...

  • Northeast Ohio schools get first look at what new state funding formula may mean to them (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • School officials across Ohio have gotten their first peek at how much state money they might get over the next two years from Gov. John Kasich's proposed funding formula…Read more...

  • Second lawsuit filed in data-rigging case (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Another parent has sued several current and former Columbus school district leaders, saying the district’s “pattern of corrupt activity” has hurt his daughter…Read more...

  • Lakota maintains high return on investment (Hamilton Journal-News)

    • An independent compensation study reveals the Lakota school district is spending less and getting more…Read more...

  • Online Teacher Fired For Paying Former Student To Teach Class, Grade (WBNS)

    • The Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, or ECOT, isn’t a traditional public school, but like all public schools, classes are supposed to be taught by licensed teachers.Read more...

  • Liberty hires county's treasurer services (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • The school board has approved using staff at the Trumbull County Educational Service Center as the district’s interim treasurer for the remainder of the school year…Read more...

  • Boardman, Lordstown get largest increases in Kasich’s budget plan (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • While no Mahoning Valley school districts would get less state money in Gov. John Kasich’s proposed biennium budget, most wouldn’t get any more either…Read more...

Editorial

  • School budget (Findlay Courier)

    • It will take some serious number-crunching and time before we know if Gov. John Kasich's school funding formula is any better than the current one, which was ruled unconstitutional in 1997…Read more...

  • Gov. Kasich’s budget (Toledo Blade)

    • The state budget that Gov. John Kasich proposed on Monday reflects a healthier Ohio economy than the one his first, austere spending plan responded to two years ago…Read more...

  • Kasich plan for schools sounds good (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

    • Reports last week that Gov. John Kasich wants to provide additional state help to school districts with meager property tax bases no doubt was received happily by some area education…Read more...

Governor's school funding bamboozle

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Yesterday, finally, the Governor released his district by district breakdown of school funding. To say that the numbers didn't reflect the rhetoric given at the rollout would be quite the understatement. During the rollout the Governor and his education advisors led everyone to believe that funding levels would be based upon district property wealth and income. The breakdowns produced however show almost the opposite.

David Varda, executive director of the Ohio School Business Officials Association, said he suspects many school officials in poor districts expected more state aid under Kasich’s plan.

“Based on the premise that this funding was going to deal with disparity, I’m surprised by some of the lower-wealth districts not getting any increase while some higher-wealth districts are getting more, although they seem to be districts with growing enrollment,” Varda said.

If districts were expecting more, the vast majority are going to be greatly disappointed. We looked at the percentage funding increase being offered for 2014 and produced the following chart

As you can see from this chart, 396 of 614 districts received zero extra dollars for 2014. When one factors in inflation, the number grows in real terms to over 400. Worse still, the funding data released by the Governor does not include money that districts will lose to charter schools and voucher recipients - in 2012 that was over $700 million in Ohio.

The Governor had promised $1.2 billion in extra funding, but when totaling the increases for 2014 and 2015 we can only count to $563,713,406. Even accounting for the $300 million "Straight A fund" we're struggling to see how we get to the promised $1.2 billion

In order to explain this bizare school funding formula, the Governor's education advisors had to resort to even more bizarre word games with reporters

Kasich education policy advisor Barbara Mattei-Smith said that’s because school districts that many people think of as “poor” are not actually poor for the purposes of determining state funding under the Kasich plan.
[...]
Kasich education advisor Dick Ross said, while the funding estimates may surprise some, they represent “reality.”

“Maybe the perception needs to be recognized as not being what’s real,” he said.

What is real is the ongoing underinvestment in Ohio's public schools by this Governor. The numbers, which he was reluctant to release, speak for themsevles.

Kasich education team is out of control

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A week after the Governor's orchestrated school funding plan announcement, we are still waiting on him to release his actual school funding numbers

Ohioans still can’t see how their tax dollars will be divided among local school districts under Gov. John Kasich’s school-funding plan.

Although Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols had said on Friday that the information likely would be released yesterday, it turns out there was a problem with some of the data and “it’s still being worked on.”

Kasich adviser Barbara Mattei-Smith compiled and used the data to help the administration formulate its funding plan, which was released on Thursday, Nichols said.

The administration initially said such a record didn’t exist, then said it was merely her “notes” and didn’t have to be made public, before now saying the information Kasich relied on in the $15.1 billion education plan apparently was wrong.

Perhaps if his hand picked Superintendent wasn't fired for serious ethics violations, and his hand picked President of the State Board of Education spent less time comparing her ideological enemies to genocidal maniacs, and perhaps if his acting State Superintendent and his deputy weren't both looking for new jobs, we might have had the numbers by now. But if all that wasn't enough, news breaks today of even more shocking failure of leadership at the Ohio Department of Education

The Ohio Department of Education said it fired its chief operating officer after learning he was under investigation for possessing child pornography and then finding such images on his work computer.

John T. Childs, 47, of 2239 Planetree Court on the Northwest Side, was fired on Nov. 2, said John Charlton, an Education Department spokesman. Childs had been on paid administrative leave since around Oct. 15.

“He was under investigation by local law enforcement for child pornography on his home computer. We put Childs on paid administrative leave until we could investigate the alleged charges and we could look at his work computer as well,” Charlton said.

The department turned Childs’ work laptop computer over to the State Highway Patrol, which found thumbnail images "of pornographic nature."

The Governor's education team is out of control. We wish we were just talking about bureaucratic incompetence, but sadly we are now well into the realm of serious failures of ethics and criminal behavior.

Education News for 02-06-2013

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State Education News

  • Fewer Ohio students getting free lunches (Columbus Dispatch)

    • For the first time in six years, the number of Ohio students qualifying for free or reduced- price lunches has dropped. Still, a celebration seems premature…Read more...

  • Funding data for Kasich school plan not ready yet (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Ohioans still can’t see how their tax dollars will be divided among local school districts under Gov. John Kasich’s school-funding plan…Read more...

  • State education official fired after child porn found on computer (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The Ohio Department of Education said it fired its chief operating officer after learning he was under investigation for possessing child pornography and then finding such images on his work computer…Read more...

  • Be on your best behavior, schools chiefs told (Columbus Dispatch)

    • More than 500 school leaders heard Gov. John Kasich reveal his new school budget and reform plan at a meeting in the Polaris Hilton Hotel last week…Read more...

Local Education News

  • School model catches on in New York (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • About two years ago, a steady stream of out-of-town educators – school leaders, nonprofit agencies, education groups – started visiting Cincinnati…Read more...

  • Berea High School students demonstrate the dangers of distractions when driving (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • Berea High classmates Caleb Samol and Justin Harris discovered their reflexes suffered while trying to hit a flashing target…Read more...

  • Figure in Columbus schools data-rigging to resign (Columbus Dispatch)

    • The man whose name was uttered again and again in connection with Columbus schools’ student-data scandal — Steve Tankovich — resigned yesterday…Read more...

  • TRECA part of shared service, resource center (Marion Star)

    • The boards of directors of the Tri-Rivers Education Computer Association and Northwest Ohio Computer Association recently authorized creation of a collaborative shared service and resource center…Read more...

  • College rules the day at Oyler School (Marketplace)

    • There’s a parade of cute coming down the hallway -- a gaggle of first graders, walking single file, each one wearing a construction paper crown with a Penn State…Read more...

  • ABLE testing procedure changes upcoming (Portsmouth Daily Times)

    • Scioto County ABLE (Adult Basic Learning Exam), announced this week that the current version of the GED test will expire at the end of 2013…Read more...