We hear a lot from the Governor and his legislature about the need for students to be "college ready", which is laudable. But there's the rhetoric of "being ready" and the reality of a legislature that is making college harder, especially for students from poor families.
Exhibit A is this graph sent to us by a reader, regarding the states disinvestment in the Ohio College Opportunity Grant
The Washington Post is reporting on a lawsuit being filed by Florida teachers, that cold shake the foundations of a lot of teacher evaluation systems both in Florida, but across the country, including here in Ohio
The seven teachers who filed the lawsuit include Kim Cook, who, as this post explains, was evaluated at Irby Elementary, a K-2 school where she works and was named Teacher of the Year last December. But 40 percent of that evaluation was based on test scores of students at Alachua Elementary, a school into which Irby feeds, whom she never taught.
Kim Cook's story is very unneverving
Her plight stems back to last spring when the Florida Legislature passed Senate Bill 736, which mandates that 40 percent of a teacher’s evaluation must be based on student scores on the state’s standardized tests, a method known as the value-added model, or VAM. It is essentially a formula that supposedly tells how much “value” a teacher has added to a student’s test score. Assessment experts say it is a terrible way to evaluate teachers but it has still been adopted by many states with the support of the Obama administration.
Since Cook’s school only goes through second grade, her school district is using the FCAT scores from the third graders at Alachua Elementary School to determine the VAM score for every teacher at her school.
Alachua Elementary School did not do well in 2011-12 evaluations that just came out; it received a D. Under the VAM model, the state awarded that school — and Cook’s school, by default — 10 points out of 100 for their D.
In this school district, there are three components to teacher evaluations:
1. A lesson study worth 20 percent. In the lesson study, small groups of teachers work together to create an exemplary lesson, observe one of the teachers implement it, critique the teacher’s performance and discuss improvement.
2. Principal appraisal worth 40 percent of overall score.
3. VAM data (scores from the standardized Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores for elementary schools) worth 40 percent of the overall score.
Cook received full points on her lesson study: 100 x .20 (20%) = 20 points
Cook received an 88/100 from her former principal: 88/100 x .40 (40%) = 35.2 points
On VAM data — points awarded by the state for the FCAT scores at Alachua Elementary School: 10/100 x .40 (40%) = 4 points
Total points that she received: 59.2 (Unsatisfactory)
Here's a video of Kim speaking on this issue
We imaging this to be the first, not the last legal action against many of the provisions corporate education reformers are trying to cram into teacher evaluations.
The House finance committee moved their substitute budget bill out of committee yesterday along a party line vote. Few changes were made to the education funding and policy piece, leaving the House budget bill underfunding Ohio's public schools by about $200 million less than the Governor's widely panned funding plan.
The House budget bill continues to hand gifts to the private school and for-profit charter school movement. There is a massive expansion of vouchers, only limited by household income needing ot be below 200% of the federal poverty line (currently ~$46,000). This means that for the first time, high performing districts could lose students and dollars to private schools that likely underperform their public school counterparts.
Steve Dyer has a good run down of the giveaways to charter schools, and especially the catastrophically bad eschools.
My hunch is this will allow one or both of two things to happen: 1) e-Schools to separate out their higher and lower performing schools and 2) e-Schools to collect more money. I'm becoming more and more impressed with William Lager -- the head of the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow. He is fast becoming the state's new David Brennan, giving big checks to politicians accompanied by nice budget carve outs.
[...]
Provides that an e-school is eligible to receive career technical education funding in addition to the core opportunity grant and special education funding.
Once again, kudos to William Lager for getting e-School hands into another pot of public money! While Career-Tech money only constitutes about $120 million over the budget cycle, it will only add to e-School profits. I mean, what better way to learn woodworking than over a computer! I know watching those YouTube demonstrations of how to cut outside mitres have really helped my carpentry. Ask my wife!
[...]
Permits a community school to charge tuition to a student who is not an Ohio resident.
The addition to the Houses's budget bill that caught the most attention however was a move to criminalize the teacher of sex education
The measure also would prohibit handing out contraception on school property.
A parent could sue an instructor who violates the provision and receive damages and attorney fees. And a court could issue a civil fine against the instructor of up to $5,000.
[...]
Moments before taking a vote on the amended bill, committee Chairman Ron Amstutz assured the budget was not about ideology.
When asked what motivated GOP lawmakers to propose the sex education changes, Amstutz said he didn't "have much to offer," adding that he would have to take another look at the bill's language.
"There's been a lot of questions about that," Amstutz said.
The amendment's language prohibits instruction by those who endorse "non-abstinence" or "gateway sexual activity." It defines "gateway sexual activity" by citing the Ohio Revised Code's definition of "sexual contact" listed under the section on sexual offenses. It describes such activity as any touching of an erogenous zone for the purpose of sexual satisfaction.
Innovation Ohio has a good rundown of this ridiculous piece of legislation.
In short, the state budget now mandates that Ohio adopt an abstinence-only approach to sex education program.
But abstinence education doesn’t work. Research shows this. Teen pregnancies are highest in states with abstinence-only sex education. By contrast, teens who have had comprehensive sex education are 60 percent less likely to become pregnant.
In a state budget that already defunds Planned Parenthood and directs tax dollars to Crisis Pregnancy Centers that lie to women, Ohio lawmakers are moving the state in the wrong direction for Ohio’s women and young people.
Here's the Ohio Legislative Service Commissions document that compares the House version of the budget bill to that of the Governor's , in somewhat plain English
HB59 Comparison Document House
State Education News
Columbus City Schools would sit directly in the path of a state takeover under an amendment to the state budget bill proposed yesterday…Read more...
The Ohio Senate has approved a bill that would allow school districts to use money raise through a levy for school security…Read more...
The first meeting of the Academic Distress Commission for the Lorain City School District State Superintendent of Public Instruction will take place…Read more...
State officials say there is little hope for Mansfield City Schools to be removed from fiscal watch unless the district’s upcoming levy passes…Read more...
With the uncertainty of state dollars coming in next year after a revised statehouse budget was placed on the legislative table…Read more...
Local Education News
A city school district in northern Ohio has rescinded a superintendent’s contract because officials say the process violated the state’s Sunshine Laws…Read more...
A charter school that the Gahanna-Jefferson district created to take advantage of state grant money will return to the district’s control because the money has dried up…Read more...
The U.S. Department of Education has — once again — recognized Reynoldsburg schools…Read more...
More than 50 people attended Tuesday’s Ottawa-Glandorf School Board meeting to discuss re-hiring Superintendent Kevin Brinkman while he receives retirement benefits…Read more...
In addition to receiving an excellent rating on its 2011-12 report card, Beverly-Center Elementary School has been recognized by the state for the success…Read more...
The newly elected governor of Ohio YMCA’s Youth in Government program may have won the office, but she isn’t done campaigning…Read more...
Fifty-six days since their last public meeting, the school board will hold its April 18 meeting at the Strongsville High School…Read more...
The Cortland Police Department suspects that an adult created a phony Facebook page for a female teacher at Lakeview High School…Read more...
State Education News
Eileen Gorman likes to watch her students struggle. The eighth-grade math teacher at Glen Este Middle School in Cincinnati believes they will learn more that way…Read more…
Ohio placed fourth in a Center for Education Reform ranking of states by several educational quality measures, the Dayton Business Journal reports.…Read more…
With 20 years as one of the state’s most knowledgeable education funding analysts, Howard Fleeter of the Education Tax Policy Institute in Columbus was banging his head against his spreadsheets for much of last week…Read more…
As he sat in the bleachers at Triway High School, Dave Rice looked at his high school’s volleyball team.…Read more…
After years of debate over the practice known as “double dipping,” it has all but died in central Ohio schools.…Read more…
Ohio University wants to raise tuition and fees for in-state undergraduate students this fall by $164 per year, to a total of $10,380, under a proposal that the board of trustees is to vote on Friday.…Read more…
Monday is the loathed April 15 deadline for state and federal taxes, but due dates don’t carry the same weight to scofflaws and tax evaders.…Read more…
No one likes trying to hit a moving target, especially Ohio teachers and school superintendents who have faced a barrage of performance standards since No Child Left Behind was passed more than a decade ago.…Read more…
Local Education News
The teachers strike goes on. For the seventh time in six weeks, the bargaining teams for the Strongsville Education Association and the school board met at length at the behest of the federal mediator…Read more…
Bargaining teams for the 383 Strongsville teachers on strike since March 4 and the school board will meet in the presence of the federal mediator for the seventh time at 1:30 p.m. April 14.…Read more…
One day longer. That was the refrain of a cross-union rally held on the Strongsville Commons April 12, as more than 300 people, including members and representatives from more than 15 unions across Northeast Ohio, gathered to show their support…Read more…
In the last week, the school district here got a nice surprise from Cuyahoga County..…Read more…
Catherine D. Ingram was appointed in October 1993 to fill a vacant seat on the Cincinnati Public Schools board of education – a position that was to be on the ballot about three weeks later.…Read more…
Private bus contractor First Student says Columbus City Schools’ claim that it could operate 300 bus routes itself next school year and save money doing it is a stretch…Read more…
The Forest Hills Local School District hopes to get more high school students using their laptops.…Read more…
At first glance, Waynesfield-Goshen schools Superintendent Chris Pfister is feeling much better about the Ohio House school funding proposal.…Read more…
Andrew Bullock hastily assembled a 12-inch tower of wooden blocks and waited for a group of elementary students to construct a wrecking tower made of Lego pieces.…Read more…
Romules Durant — most people call him Rom — was far from destined to be the next superintendent of Toledo Public Schools.…Read more…
The Tibetan bell no longer tolls at Warstler Elementary in Plain Township.…Read more…
The South Range Local School District is poring over 70 open- enrollment applications, hoping to bring in new students to help the district keep class sizes up and survive state budget cuts.…Read more…
Head Start, the school readiness program for children from low-income families, left an imprint on two local women that extended well beyond their own school careers.…Read more…
When the cancer returned, Darlene Schultz decided: She would see her son graduate from Hilliard Darby High School.…Read more…
Lima City Schools will soon put a policy in place requiring the district to have a reserve fund amounting to at least 10 percent of its overall budget.…Read more…
A cheerleading club for girls in this economically struggling suburb has lost its longtime practice space after the Warrensville Heights school district insisted that the group pay hundreds of dollars to use school facilities.…Read more…
The former treasurer of the Springboro Athletic Boosters Association admitted Thursday to stealing almost $440,000 from the group he helped found 20 years before.…Read more…
It took just one attempt for Kalida Elementary School to win an award for providing the highest quality of education to its pupils.…Read more…
The Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA) annually recognizes board members for their commitment to learning and leadership with the Award of Achievement program and the Master Board Member Award.…Read more…
Reductions will happen either way, but a levy passage in May will mean less cuts to an already strapped Louisville school system.…Read more…
Lorain High Schools’ culinary arts and junior achievement programs are sponsoring an international food tasting event at Lorain High to promote a cookbook developed by the students.…Read more…
Firelands Local Schools will cut eight classified staff members and reduce hours for eight others for the 2013-14 school year.…Read more…
Parent Beth Diesch requested the resignation of board president Susan Shealy at Thursday’s Buckeye Central school board meeting.…Read more…
It may only take 45 minutes, but an activity by students and staff at Bishop Fenwick High School is helping to feed hundreds of homeless people.…Read more…
The group of administrators stealthily crept down the hallway of Heritage Middle School, peeking around corners to make sure their appearance at Claire Goins’ door would be a complete surprise.…Read more…
The Springfield City School District will host its third annual “ready fair” Friday with activities and giveaways that will help parents of young children prepare for school.…Read more…
Merrill Eisenhower Atwater drove 12 hours from Kansas City to northwest Ohio, much of it on I-70.…Read more…
It’s official. Bedford Public Schools has a new superintendent. The Board of Education last week unanimously approved a three-year contract for Mark Kleinhans, the candidate selected as its top choice during a search this year.…Read more…
Scott J. Hunt will leave Perry Schools to become Cardinal School District superintendent effective Aug. 1.…Read more…
Two additional school levies are on the May 7 primary ballot in the city, and the school district’s superintendent says their approval is the only way to keep the red ink from getting worse.…Read more…
It looked like a 3-mile run/walk with dogs, but it was really a homework assignment.…Read more…
Editorial
There is no harm in the Ohio Department of Education clarifying the rules for how and why schools may officially withdraw students from attendance rolls.…Read more…
Only a U.S. District Court jury -- or Joseph Palazzo himself -- can say whether the former technology director of Cuyahoga Heights Schools is guilty of stealing $3.4 million from the district.…Read more…
The Ohio House put forward its own school-funding plan last week with the aim to rectify shortcomings in Gov. John Kasich’s “Achievement Everywhere” proposal in the biennial budget bill.…Read more…
Shame on the Medina City School District's Board of Education and Superintendent Randy Stepp, for the disdain they showed citizens by quietly negotiating hundreds of thousands of dollars for Stepp's bonuses and education expenses…Read more…
As a general rule, we are opposed to the retire/rehire policies that have grown in popularity in the public sector as government employees strive to squeeze the maximum in benefits by retiring when they become eligible.…Read more…
By Maureen Reedy, former teacher of the year and candidate for the Ohio House of Representatives.
History seems to be repeating itself in the Statehouse. Once again, legislators are poised to pass a state budget bill that continues to take billions of our tax dollars out of traditional public schools to fund for-profit charters that have produced dismal results after two decades of experimentation in our state.
“Let the money follow the child,” is a favorite phrase of Gov. John Kasich and his fellow charter-school fans to craft legislation that diverts more and more of our public funds to charter schools each year.
For two decades, the money has been following Ohio’s children out of the doors of our public schoolhouses and through the doors of charter schools. Despite losing over $6 billion to charters during the past 15 years, traditional public schools continue to vastly outperform their charter-school counterparts.
While 77 percent of Ohio’s public schools were successful last year (rated Excellent with Distinction, Achieving or Effective), only 23 percent of Ohio’s charters were successful (rated Effective or Achieving). So 77 percent of Ohio’s public schools are receiving A’s, B’s and C’s while 77 percent of Ohio’s charter schools are receiving D’s and F’s. And the bottom 111 performing schools last year? All were charter schools.
Graduation rates also should give our legislators reason to put the brakes on funneling dollars to charters: 81 percent of Ohio’s students graduate from their public high schools as compared to a 30 percent to 40 percent high-school graduation rate for charter-school students.
“Following the money” also leads us to family-run charter-school operations with hefty salaries and few education credentials, including multimillion-dollar salaries for the CEOs of Ohio’s two largest charter-school chains, David Brennan of White Hat Management Co. and William Lager of Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow. Our tax dollars also are going to pay for advertising campaigns to recruit students to attend their underperforming charter schools.
Also perplexing are the two sets of rules that seem to exist for public schools and charter schools. Apparently, once public money goes into a charter-school operation, it ceases to be public and belongs to the charter-school corporation.
Brennan of White Hat has refused to open his books to the state auditor for the third consecutive year. We are still waiting to hear exactly what percentage of public tax money is being spent on instructional resources and supports for educating children verses top-level multimillion-dollar administrative salaries, advertising and recruitment efforts in the corporate headquarters of White Hat.
In addition, while Lager of ECOT receives millions of dollars for his annual salary from public funding, his private software company has enjoyed profits of over $10 million in just a single year selling products to his ECOT schools, paid for by our public tax dollars.
Charter schools also are permitted to close their doors and shut down operations when cited for multiple violations, only to re-open the next day under a different sponsor, in a different building under a different name and continue to receive our tax dollars.
As charters close, oftentimes at mid-year, hundreds of children are shuffled back to their public schools without adequate records and a significant loss of instructional time. Just as tragic is the students’ loss of community and social connections, which contributes to academic deficits and delays.
As a parent, taxpayer and 30-year public-school teacher, I have to ask: Why are legislators proposing a budget that does nothing to restore funding for our public schools, but instead increases funding to charter schools? Why are we continuing to invest billions in a failed experiment that weakens our stronger-performing traditional school system and risks the future of Ohio’s children?