Opposition to voucher expansion has doubled to more than 170

Only a month has passed since we last published the long list of local communities opposing the statewide expansion of vouchers contained in the Governor's budget. But in that short period of time, the number of school districts passing a resolution in opposition has now passed 170.

Here's the list.

Adena local	Lorain County ESC
Allen East Local	Lordstown Local
Anthony Wayne Local	Loudonville-Perrysville
Antwerp Local	Louisville City
Athens City	Lynchburg-Clay Local
Austintown Local	Madeira City
Barnesville EV	Mahoning County C&TC
Bath Local	Manchester Local
Bellbrook-Sugarcreek	Marietta City
Belmont-Harrison Vocational	Mathews Local
Belpre City	Miami County ESC
Berea City	Miamisburg City
Big Walnut Local	Millecreek West Unity
Bloom-Carroll Local	Milton-Union Local
Bloomfield-Mespo Local	Minford Local
Bluffton EV	Monroeville Local
Boardman Local	Morgan Local
Bridgeport	Muskingum Valley ESC
Bristol Local	National Trail Local
Brown Local	Nelsonville-York City
Brown County ESC	New Lexington City
Buckeye Local (Jefferson)	New Richmond
Caldwell EV	New Riegel
Campbell City	Newcomerstown EV
Chagrin Falls EV	Newbury Local
Chillicothe City	Noble Local
Chippewa Local	North Olmsted
Circleville City	Northern Local
Clay Local	Northmont City
Clinton-Massie Local	Northwest Local (Scioto
Clyde Green Springs	Northwestern Local
Columbiana County ESC	Northwood Local
Columbiana EV	Oak Hill Union Local
Coshocton City	Oak Hills Local
Coshocton County JVS	Oakwood City
Coventry	Oberlin Local
Crestline EV	Ohio Valley ESC
Crestview Local	Old Fort Local
Crooksville EV	Ottawa-Glandorf
Cuyahoga Falls	Parma City
Cuyahoga Heights	Put-in-Bay Local
Dublin City	Revere Local
East Guernsey Local	Ridgedale Local
East Liverpool City	Ripley Union Lewis Huntington
Eastern Local (Meigs)	River View Local
Eastern Local (Pike)	Ross Local
Fairbanks	Ross-Pike ESC
Fairborn City	St. Clairsville-Richland City
Fairfield Union	St. Marys City
Fayetteville-Perry Local	Sandusky City
Federal Hocking Local	Sheffield-Sheffield Lake
Felicity-Franklin Local	Shelby City
Findlay City	South Central Ohio ESC
Firelands Local	South Range Local
Fort Frye	Southeast Local (Portage)
Fort Loramie Local	Southern Local
Franklin Local	Southern Ohio ESC
Galion City	Southington Local (Lucas)
Gallipolis City	Springfield Local (Summit)
Garaway Local	Southwest Local
Geneva Area City	Springfield Local
Genoa Area Local	Springfield City
Goshen Local	Streetsboro City
Graham	Sylvania Local
Grand Valley Local	Trimble Local
Granville EV	Trumbull Career & Tech
Green Local (Franklin Furnace)	Tuscarawas Vlley Local
Greenfield EV	Tuslaw Local
Hardin-Houston Local	Union Local
Huber Heights City	Urbana City
Huntington Local	Vanlue Local
Indian Creek Local	Vantage Career Center
Indian Valley Local	Van Wert City
Jackson City	Vinton County Local
James A. Garfield Local	Warren City
Jennings Local	Warren Local
Kalida Local	Washington Local
Kenston Local	Washington-Nile
Keystone Local	Waverly
LaBrae Local	Wayne County Career Center
Lancaster City	Wayne Local
Leetonia EV	Wellston City
Liberty Local	West Muskingum
Licking County ESC	Wheelersburg
Lincolnview Local	Williamsburg Local
Lisbon EV	Yellow Springs EV
Logan-Hocking Local	Zane Trace Local
	Zanesville City

Education News for 05-20-2013

State Education News

• Glitches follow switch from paper to computer testing (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Students aren’t the only ones nervous about state testing. Very public computer glitches plaguing online testing in several states in recent weeks are making educators and state leaders…Read more...

• Charter tax plan raises questions (Columbus Dispatch)

A proposed state law singles out Columbus City Schools taxpayers to shoulder part of the tax burden for charter schools even though thousands of Franklin County’s charter-school students live in suburban school districts…Read more...

• Reading help on the way for Columbus kindergartners (Columbus Dispatch)

Most children who came to kindergarten in Columbus schools without knowing the ABCs, which way to hold a book or other important early-reading skills remained behind when they reached third grade…Read more...

• Former state education official pleads guilty to possessing child porn (Columbus Dispatch)

A fired state education official has pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of possession of child pornography…Read more...

• Lorain Academic Distress Commission meets (Lorain Morning Journal)

The Lorain Academic Distress Commission will see a draft of the district’s academic improvement plan Monday, along with data on how the schools operate…Read more...

Local Education News



• Local revenue increases without ballot requests becoming more common for schools (Chillicothe Gazette)

For two decades, Licking Valley Local Schools have not gone to the ballot to ask for more money — but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t taken more from local taxpayers…Read more...

• CHCA continues to broaden international student program (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Many foreign students study abroad in high school for a year or two as exchange students. At Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, most stay for its entirety…Read more...

• Sheriff won’t support school levies unless districts look at armed personnel (Dayton Daily News)

Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones declared this week that he “won’t support a school levy again that doesn’t address school safety with armed personnel…Read more...

• Beavercreek schools face money crisis in 2015 (Dayton Daily News)

Without any changes, the Beavercreek City School District would start the 2015 fiscal year with $5.2 million in the bank, not enough to open the schools for 2015/16 school year…Read more...

• Gadgets growing on local schools: Even youngest of pupils getting involved (Lima News)

Temple Christian sixth-grader Anna Acklin spent this year using a school-issued iPad in class and at home. She considered herself lucky, until learning kindergartners at her school will get iPad Minis…Read more...

• Here's who wasn't picked; Lorain Academic Distress Commission candidates uncovered (Lorain Morning Journal)

The names of seven candidates for the local appointments to Lorain’s Academic Distress Commission have been uncovered through an investigation by the Morning Journal…Read more...

• Lorain County school leaders oppose expansion of voucher program (Lorain Morning Journal)

Lorain County’s school superintendents, as well as administrators from Sandusky City Schools, are speaking out against a proposed expansion to a state voucher program…Read more...

• Despite hurdles local ballot issues face, system unlikely to change (Mansfield News Journal)

For six consecutive times, West Muskingum Local Schools had gone to the voters seeking additional financial support only to be rejected…Read more...

• Stepp files lawsuit against Medina Board of Education (Sun Newspapers)

Medina City School District superintendent Randy Stepp has made good on a threat to take the district to court, filing a lawsuit against the board of education and other district officials in federal court…Read more...

• Eager for education (Youngstown Vindicator)

The 2013 graduates of the Youngstown Early College didn’t talk as much about all the good times they had in high school as about their journeys, and how tough it was staying the course…Read more...

Editorial

• A promise to our kids (Columbus Dispatch)

A bill pending in the Ohio House that would tweak some provisions of Ohio’s third-grade reading guarantee would make the program more workable for schools without undermining its intent…Read more...

State budget enabling education industrial complex

Following up on an earlier piece by William Phillis, Ohio E & A

Remember the news articles about military contractors charging the military $100 for a $2.98 hammer and $600 for toilet seats and $3,000 for a coffeemaker? The military is a government function but the size of the defense budget attracted lots of private operators to the table. Contractors developed cozy relationships and deals with government officials which cost the taxpayers heavily.

The size of America's collective education budget has gotten the attention of private operators in recent years. Much of the charter school money in Ohio goes to for-profit operators. State officials have allowed the "nonprofit" charters to be managed by companies whose bottom line seems to be profit-at any cost.

Campaign contributions from for-profit charter operators may be the reason that Ohio's charter school laws are, for the most part, not rational.

The corporate operation of charter schools may be just the tip of the iceberg. Pearson, the world's largest education company has operations throughout the world. This company continues to commercialize education by suggesting that every teacher and student in the USA is a potential customer. Pearson has been buying up the competition. This company is engaged in all facets of education-testing of students and teachers, virtual schools, textbooks, digital texts, online learning tools, etc.

The privatization movement, (i.e.) the Education Industrial Complex, seeks to eliminate the current practice that communities, through their boards of education, operate their schools for the benefit of all their students. The greatest discovery of mankind-the public common school-is being replaced. Unfortunately, state officials throughout the nation, particularly in Ohio, are enabling the demise of the public common school system through enactment of policies that open the door to the complete privatization of education.

As the privatization movement blossoms, there will be fierce competition among the private schools, nonprofit charters, corporate charters and huge education groups like Pearson. In this environment, the losers will be taxpayers, students and all who cherish democracy.

More Sen. Peggy Lehner Please

State Sen. Peggy Lehner (R-Kettering) is proving herself to be an unusual Republic legislator. One who has a keen understanding of education issues, and a willingness to listen and work with educators, not just tow the ideological line.

The first piece of evidence being her attempt to fix the problems with the 3rd grade reading guarantee law, via SB21 which she sponsored and shepherded through the Senate on a 30-1 vote, and then passage through the House (albeit with some questionable changes having been made).

Now comes news of her attempt to bring Ohio's preschool efforts back from the dead

A Senate Republican leader on education policy wants to create a $100 million voucher program over the next two years to allow thousands of low-income Ohio children to attend preschool.

For every dollar Ohio spends on early childhood education, the return is $10 or more, said Sen. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering. The need to have students enter kindergarten prepared to learn is more vital than ever, she and others argued, especially as the state implements a new requirement that students pass a reading exam in third grade or risk being held back.

“So many of our children come to kindergarten two or three years behind their peers, and we’re trying to catch them up before third grade,” Lehner said. “If we don’t catch them up, they don’t have a prayer of passing that third-grade reading guarantee.”

This would be a welcome policy change of direction after the Governor's shameful evisceration of early childhood education in his previous budget, and unwillingness to restore those cuts in the current proposal

A decade ago, more than twice as many Ohio children were enrolled in the state’s preschool program than now.

According to a recent report by the National Institute for Early Education Research, in 2011-2012 total state enrollment for preschool was 9,379. The state only paid for 5,700 of those students; the rest were paid for by parents, local dollars or federal funds.

Compare that to the 2001-2002 school year when 23,599 Ohio children were enrolled in the state’s preschool program.

Although the situation isn’t unique to Ohio, the state did see the most drastic drop in early childhood education enrollment in the nation over the last decade.

According to NIEER, Ohio’s decline in the number of preschoolers in state funded programs is the result of state budget cuts over the last few years.

Kudos to Sen. Peggy Lehner, and here's hoping more of her colleagues follow her lead of listening to educators concerns.

We note that Steve Dyer at 10th Period has some concerns about this pre-school proposal.

Adequately funding my school

JTF recently recieved this essay from Worthington City Schools senior, Hassan Mizra.

Education helps broaden the minds of young individuals to help them achieve success in the future. All across America students go to school to learn and prepare for their futures. Just imagine the students walking into a classroom with new desks with four stable legs, new chairs that aren’t cracked or missing parts and sitting down to their personal laptop provided by the school. This sounds like a school that most parents would want their children to attend. Wouldn’t it be great if all schools had all these? Wouldn’t it be fascinating if all students were able to partake in an improved quality of education for every school?

The state's previous budget cut public school funding by $1.8 billion, which ultimately hurt Ohio's public education system. Ohio Governor John Kasich introduced a new state budget, which proposed a reform of the school funding formula. The new budget promised more money to the less funded school districts, but the promise proved empty. But the Governor, through the Republican dominated legislature, is doing the exact opposite. They are continuing to underfund public schools while increase funding to charter schools and further pushing public education into the hands of private corporations.

For the 2011-12 school year, Worthington Schools received $54,952,536 all total funds, and Olentangy Local Schools received $50,863,323. These two districts are 2 of the best in central Ohio, where they benefit from higher than typical property valuations. An essential aspect for each of these districts' high ratings is because they receive the necessary funding that a public school district should have.

However, the underfunding of public schools in Ohio is an enormous issue that affects many people, especially students. There is a need to re-work the current formula used by Ohio to determine how school funds are disbursed and also to increase public support for education funding. Limited funds for public schools have primarily affected the poor and have put them at a disadvantage in getting a quality education. Whitehall, generally speaking, has a lower property valuation. The schools in Whitehall do not receive the sufficient funding they deserve as a public school district.

Unequal funding throughout the state demonstrates the unfairness some school districts face. Is it fair that schools that reside in low property valuation areas don’t have the necessities to educate their youth?

The reason that some schools can't do things like buy computers and maintain their buildings to begin with is because the school funding system is so ineffective. The US government pays only 7% of all school money, and the rest is up to the state and the local tax-payers. Whatever money the state won't pay is paid as school income tax or property taxes, which are higher or lower depending on how much the property is worth, and the incomes of the districts residents. But this means that schools in poor neighborhoods get little money while wealthy schools get nearly all they need.

The Governor needs to start funding public education fairly and adequately. According to the Ohio Association of Independent Schools (OAIS) the vast majority Ohio students, roughly 1.85 million attend public schools, so it would make sense for the Governor to turn his attention towards public education. Despite whether a child's parents are wealthy or poor, it is in everyone's interest to guarantee that America's future generations are both highly skilled and well educated.

Education News for 05-17-2013

State Education News

• Legislature could require Columbus school levy to support charters (Columbus Dispatch)

After a mayoral education commission recommended sharing Columbus schools’ property- tax dollars with charters, two lawmakers introduced a bill yesterday requiring that such a levy go before district voters…Read more...

• Educators, legislators aren’t on same page on Ohio school reforms (Columbus Dispatch)

A survey of more than half of Ohio school superintendents revealed, with few exceptions, a wide gap between themselves and legislators…Read more...

• Legislator’s plan would provide preschool vouchers for 22,000 (Columbus Dispatch)

A Senate Republican leader on education policy wants to create a $100 million voucher program over the next two years to allow thousands…Read more...

• Brookfield schools unsure of fiscal future (Youngstown Vindicator)

The state auditor’s office said the district will face fiscal emergency even if a school levy is certified as passed…Read more...

Local Education News

• BYOD program makes learning fun (Lorain Morning Journal)

Usually students are discouraged from bringing electronic devices into the classroom. The fifth grade classes at Ely Elementary School in Elyria, though, are encouraged to bring their iPhones, iPads…Read more...

• Avon Lake schools put new student safety plan into motion (Lorain Morning Journal)

In light of recent school shootings, students and staff at Avon Lake schools have a new safety plan in place to ward off intruders and bullies…Read more...

• Bedford Schools to lay off 14 to 17 teachers, educators (Toledo Blade)

The Bedford Public Schools will send layoff notices to 15 teachers and other educators for the next school year to help close a persistent operating deficit. The board of education authorized the potential pink slips…Read more...

Editorial

• Lack of a guarantee (Akron Beacon Journal)

Beginning next school year, with a few exceptions, Ohio third-graders who are unable to read at a level specified by the state will not be promoted to fourth grade…Read more...

• Partners for change (Akron Beacon Journal)

The Cleveland school district is making itself a showcase of how to go about transforming a school system. Last week, the district and its teachers union unveiled a tentative…Read more...