Education News for 02-19-2013

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State Education News

  • Ohio high school students could earn college credit, brush up on skills (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • Ohio officials and Udacity, an online education provider, are in discussions that could lead to allowing high school students to take classes online to catch up in math and science…Read more...

  • Charter-school operators want local tax money (Columbus Dispatch)

    • A group of charter-school operators voiced support for receiving a share of Columbus City Schools’ tax money before Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s Education Commission…Read more...

  • Kasich education adviser applies for top schools job (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Gov. John Kasich’s education adviser could become the next superintendent of Ohio public schools…Read more...

  • Local schools to get aid for non-English speakers in state budget (Columbus Dispatch)

    • When the state first offered school districts financial help for students with limited English, in 2006, only 10 districts qualified…Read more...

  • Preschool proposal mired in contradiction (Columbus Dispatch)

    • President Barack Obama’s call for universal pre-kindergarten during his State of the Union address was like many of the proposals he floated during that speech…Read more...

  • ‘Activist’ Kasich getting mixed reviews (Dayton Daily News)

    • Shortly after he was elected governor in November 2010, John Kasich told lobbyists they needed to get on “the bus” now that he was driving it, lest they be run over…Read more...

  • Auditor blasts school 'count week' (Findlay Courier)

    • The way Ohio school districts count their students needs a major update in order to prevent manipulated attendance data, the state's auditor said Monday…Read more...

  • School budget proposal stiffs Educational Service Centers (Lima News)

    • Gov. John Kasich says he wants more collaboration in education, but school officials wonder how that can be true when his proposed budget cuts…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Lion of Judah charter school leader indicted, accused of illegally spending $1.2 million in public money (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

    • The head of Lion of Judah Academy, a troubled Cleveland charter school, has been indicted by a Cuyahoga County grand jury…Read more...

  • Judge holds up closing of ScholArts academy (Columbus Dispatch)

    • A Columbus charter school that closed on Tuesday reopened yesterday because of a ruling by a Franklin County judge.Common Pleas Judge Guy Reece ordered a delay in enforcing the state school board’s decision…Read more...

  • Educator investigated after slap at Kasich plan (Columbus Dispatch)

    • A Dayton-area school superintendent who is facing criminal charges stemming from his opposition to Gov. John Kasich’s school-funding plan…Read more...

  • Hilliard schools explore new ways to learn (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Starting next year, Hilliard high-school students can serve as CEOs for a startup coffee shop and take college classes via videoconferencing…Read more...

  • Attendance down again at school following threats (Dayton Daily News)

    • Tipp City schools officials Friday found a threatening message in a restroom for the third straight day…Read more...

  • School districts may remove levies from ballot (Dayton Daily News)

    • Kettering City Schools may not be the only local district to pull its levy from the May ballot, as school officials closely examine Gov. John Kasich’s proposed school funding plan…Read more...

  • Council agrees to benefits of sharing services with school district (Middletown Journal)

    • City Council will consider legislation, likely at its meeting later this month, about sharing services with the Monroe Local School District…Read more...

  • Schools plan to explain to voters what Kasich plan means to them (Springfield News-Sun)

    • Districts hoping to persuade voters to support levies and bond issues this spring will have to explain the impact of Gov. John Kasich’s recently unveiled education funding plan…Read more...

  • Strongsville teachers approve strike authorization vote (Sun Newspapers)

    • In another sign contract negotiations between the school board and teachers union are breaking down, the Strongsville Education Association passed a strike authorization vote…Read more...

  • Prosecutor confirms plea offer on table in T.J. Lane case (Willoughby News Herald)

    • While Thomas Lane III’s attorney says plea bargain negotiations are under way for his client in connection with shootings at Chardon High School, Geauga County Prosecutor James Flaiz…Read more...

Editorial

  • Quality counts (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • Back in March 2009, President Obama tagged early childhood education “as the first pillar of our education reform agenda.” He noted at the time that “some children are enrolled in excellent programs. Some children are enrolled in mediocre programs…Read more...

  • Schools plan takes a different tack (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Grumbling at some of the results of Gov. John Kasich’s proposed education-funding plan reflects a fact of life for school districts: Each considers itself underfunded…Read more...

Improving the Budget Bill Part II

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Following up on part I of improving the budget, part II focuses on the unfairness of school funding vis-a-vi charter schools.

Innovation Ohio recently produced a report that should send shock waves through the "choice" community.

  • Because of the $774 million deducted from traditional public schools in FY 2012 to fund charters, children in traditional public schools received, on average, $235 (or 6.5%) less state aid than the state itself said they needed.
  • More than 90% of the money sent to rated charter schools in the 2011-2012 school year went to charters that on average score significantly lower on the Performance Index Score than the public schools students had left.
  • Over 40% of state funding for charters in 2011-2012 ($326 million) was transferred from traditional public districts that performed better on both the State Report Card and Performance Index.

This indicates that far too many parents are being provided a false choice between a traditional public school and a failing charter school. That's a choice that Ohio's scarce education tax dollars should not be subsidizing.

Building off of this study, CREDO's recently release study of charter schools found

“This report’s findings challenge the conventional wisdom that a young underperforming school will improve if given time. Our research shows that if you start wobbly, chances are you’ll stay wobbly,” said Dr. Margaret Raymond, CREDO’s director and the study’s lead author. “Similarly, if a school is successful in producing strong academic progress from the start, our analysis shows it will remain a strong and successful school.”

“We have solid evidence that high quality is possible from the outset,” Dr. Raymond said. “Since the study also shows that the majority of charter management organizations produce consistent quality through their portfolios – regardless of the actual level of quality – policy makers will want to assure that charter schools that replicate have proven models of success.”

Clearly, if we are to be evidence based, Ohio charter schools with a history of poor performance should cease to receive tax payer funding, and Ohio's charter school accountability laws should be stiffened to prevent failed charter schools from simply reopening under a different name, as is currently happening according to a report by Policy Matters Ohio.

Making Ohio's charter school more acocuntable, and permanently closing charter schools that underperform their traditional public school counterparts should be a priority in HB59 given that we are now spending close to $1 billion a year on charter schools.

Education News for 02-15-2013

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Local Education News

  • James tackles Akron, state issues in ‘State of the Schools’ speech (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • Akron Public Schools Superintendent David James gave his fifth annual “State of the Schools” address Thursday, detailing challenges stemming…Read more...

  • Normal school security routine returns Monday (Chillicothe Gazette)

    • The atmosphere at Chillicothe Middle and High School is expected to regain a sense of normalcy on Monday after a week of boosted police presence at the campus…Read more...

  • Findlay evaluations will look for gifted students (Findlay Courier)

    • Findlay City Schools Gifted Services is arranging evaluations of students in kindergarten through 12th grade to determine if they are gifted in the visual and performing arts areas of dance, drama, music and visual arts…Read more...

  • New internal assessments elicit cautious optimism for Toledo Public Schools (Toledo Blade)

    • As Toledo Public Schools found itself mired in public turmoil in recent months, with a search for a new superintendent, a state investigation that criticized attendance…Read more...

  • McDonald officials reject arming teachers (Youngstown Vindicator)

    • McDonald schools have hired local off-duty police officers who will rotate for an eight-hour shift daily to provide additional security at the schools…Read more...

Editorial

  • Question of adequacy (Akron Beacon Journal)

    • For more than 20 years two concepts have dominated the school-funding debate in Ohio: adequacy and equity. Equity points to a distribution issue…Read more...

Improving the Budget Bill Part I

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Hb 59, the Governor's budget bill can be significantly improved during the legislative process. We're going to detail some of the ways improvements can be made.

Improvements can first start by correcting a major policy flaw inserted into HB555 at the last minute. HB 555 radically changed the method of calculating evaluations for about 1/3 of Ohio's teachers. If a teacher's schedule is comprised only of courses or subjects for which the value-added progress dimension is applicable - then only their value-add score can now be used as part of the 50% of an evaluation based on student growth. Gone is the ability to use multiple measures of student growth - i.e. Student Learning Objectives or SLO's.

Therefore we suggest the legislature correct this wrong-headed policy by repealing this provision of HB555.

Furthermore, greater evaluation fairness could be achieved by lowering the number of absences a student is allowed before their test scores can be excluded from a teacher's value-add score. Currently a student needs to be absent 60 times - or 1/3 of a school year. This is an absurd amount of schooling to miss and still have that student's score count towards the evaluation of his or her teacher. This absence exclusion should be lowered to a more reasonable 15 absences.

Value-add should not be used to punish teachers on evaluations, instead it should be just one component of a multiple measure framework, and a tool to help teachers improve student learning. HB555 moved us much further away from that goal.

Education News for 02-14-2013

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State Education News

  • CPS responds on 'data scrubbing' (Cincinnati Enquirer)

    • Cincinnati Public Schools Superintendent Mary Ronan on Wednesday downplayed the possibility that the district could lose up to $40 million in state funding…Read more...

  • Kasich education advisers defend school-funding formula (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Gov. John Kasich’s top education advisers told legislators yesterday that they did not attempt to calculate the adequate cost of educating a child…Read more...

  • Budget proposal would fund creative education ideas (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Richard Ross didn’t mince words yesterday about the proposed $300 million “Straight-A” fund for schools, calling it the “single most-important element for change” in Gov. John Kasich’s school-funding formula…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Reynoldsburg, schools to share services of manager (Columbus Dispatch)

    • Reynoldsburg and the city school district will share the services of a human-resources manager…Read more...

  • District to buy 30 new buses for $2.6 million (Hamilton Journal-News)

    • Fairfield City Schools will spend more than $2 million during the next 10 years to purchase 30 new buses to replenish its aging fleet…Read more...

  • East Holmes makes changes in staff, drops German (New Philadelphia Times)

    • The East Holmes Board of Education has voted to realign academic and administrative staff for the 2013-2014 school year to deal with record enrollment at Hiland High and new graduation…Read more...

  • New internal assessments elicit cautious optimism for Toledo Public Schools (Toledo Blade)

    • As Toledo Public Schools found itself mired in public turmoil in recent months, with a search for a new superintendent, a state investigation that criticized attendance reporting practices, and the defeat of another levy…Read more...

  • Elyria City School District to cut 59.5 positions (WEWS)

    • By a unanimous vote the Elyria City School Board approved $3 million in cuts…Read more...

  • Superintendent oversees three districts (WKYC)

    • There is a push in Ohio for schools to share more resources and even people…Read more...

  • Costly lawsuits over school busing problems (WOIO)

    • For eight years now 19 Action News have brought you stories of busing woes in the Nordonia Hills schools…Read more...

Deep Red Opposition to Kasich Funding Plan

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As the 130th General assembly gets underway and begins its hearings on the Budget, questions from law makers and superintendents are already starting to heat up - and not from your typical quarters.

the most eye opening example is Superintendent of Franklin City Schools, in deep red Warren county who sent out a letter to residents calling John Kasich a liar, and asking for citizens to join him in removing him from office.

Governor John Kasich was untruthful last week, and in doing so, finally clarified that kids in poor school districts don't count.
[...]
As parents and friends of our district, I hope you will do two things: First, please join me in an active campaign to ensure that Gov. Kasich and any legislator who supports him are not re-elected. Second, I hope you will contact our state officials and urge them to ask Gov. Kasich to return to the drawing board on his school funding proposal.

Here's the full letter

Letter to Residents-Mr. Elam

Further difficult questions were posed to the Governor's education advisors during a House education committee hearing. Plunderbund captures on such exchange by Rep Smith (a Republican who won his district with over 65% of the vote in 2012)

During the hearings [video available here at 137:53] Smith asked a very moving question of Richard A. Ross, head the Governor’s Office of 21st Century Education. He simply wanted to know what, if anything, this budget would do to help the severely underfunded schools in his district, schools that are laying off teachers and other vital staff and can’t afford to provide simple classes in art of music. Ross compared his schools to the fast growing Olentangy school district in Central Ohio.

“Olentangy schools have German 1,2 and 3, Jewelry 1, Ceramics 1, Sculpture 1, Stage Craft 1, Concert Orchestra,” said Smith. ”These are things that children of Appalachia don’t get exposed to.”

“I’m not asking for synchronized swimming or a swimming pool or anything extra. I’m not asking for violin lessons or cello lessons. What I want for is my kids is music. And art… just give them a basic education,” pleaded Smith.

State Rep Smith also tells the story of Symmes Valley School District where the Superintendent had to layoff his board secretary, transportation director and curriculum director and is now doing all of those jobs himself. Another school district in Smith’s area has lost 40 teachers and the rest have had no raises in four years.

Smith ends by asking Ross asking if there is any “special sauce” in this budget that will help superintendents just provided a basic education to the kids in his district?

the Governor's advisors told Rep Smith that perhaps students in his poor district could learn music online. Then they laughed. They may not be laughing much longer, as opposition to the second worst school funding plan (The worst being their previous plan that cut almost $2 billion from school budgets) is increasing and hardening even in red corners of the state.

Stephen Dyer notes that Governor Kasich ought to be worried. We agree.