Executive Budget Analysis for K-12

Here’s an analysis by OEA, of Governor Kasich’s Executive Budget detailing his plans for the state budget for Fiscal Years (FY) 2016 and 2017.

The governor claims that his budget proposal would provide an additional $700 million in state foundation support to schools. However, the approximate $235 million cut in the tangible personal property tax reimbursements to school districts would result in a significantly lower amount. Changes to the school funding formula and tangible personal property tax replacement reductions will result in 323 school districts receiving less money in FY 2016 than they received in FY 2015. Calculations also indicate that approximately 287 districts will receive reductions in FY 2017 over FY 2016 levels. District numbers provided below come from state officials in various offices.

School Funding

• Increases the per-pupil funding amount from $5,800 in FY 2015 to $5,900 in FY 2016 and $6,000 in FY 2017
• Retains the school funding structure enacted two years ago and provides for a 2% annual increase for the special education component; 4% annual increase for careertechnical education aid; annual 5% increase for K-3 literacy component
• Sets a 10% gain cap on annual growth in formula aid in each year of the biennium
• 236 school districts are on the 10.5% gain cap this year (FY 2015)
• 204 school districts will receive a cap on increases in FY 2016
• The administration’s intent is to eliminate the cap on funding by FY 2019
• Modifies the income adjustment portion of the formula and claims that this adjustment will target state aid to districts with a lower capacity to generate local revenue
• 321 districts would receive no income adjustment
• 176 districts would receive increases in the amount of aid beginning in FY 2016
• 114 districts with higher income would result in a greater share of funding delivered by local contributions and phased in over a five-year period
• Reduces guaranteed funding for school districts by up to one percent of the district’s combined state and local resources from the prior fiscal year
• 278 districts would see reductions in FY 2016
• Reduces payments to school districts from the replacement payments from the elimination of the Tangible Personal Property Tax and Kilowatt Hour Tax by between 1% 2 and 2% of total district funds. The reduction percentage is based upon the property wealth of the school district.
• 260 districts currently receive reimbursements, 352 districts receive no reimbursements
• 203 school districts would receive reimbursements in FY 2016
• 136 school districts would receive reimbursements in FY 2017

Testing

• Limits time spent on standardized tests to no more than 2 percent of the school year and time spent on practice tests to no more than 1 percent
• Allows local districts to decide on non-reading diagnostic tests in grades 1-3
• Eliminates the fall Third Grade Reading Test and requires that the test be taken in the spring and, if needed, in the summer while retaining alternative assessment
• Eliminates the use of student learning objectives for teachers teaching in non-core subjects areas in grades 4-12

Charter Schools

• Increases the per-pupil funding amount from $5,800 in FY 2015 to $5,900 in FY 2016 and $6,000 in FY 2017
• Increases the per-pupil school facilities amount from $100 to $200 per student
• Establishes a $25 million fund for construction and renovation projects for charter schools with the highest rated (“exemplary”) sponsors
• Allows charter schools sponsored by the highest rated sponsors to receive local tax dollars if approved by local school boards and voters
• Prohibits the second-lowest level (“ineffective”) sponsors of charter schools from sponsoring new schools and places them on a one-year improvement plan
• Sponsors rated at the lowest level (“poor”) would lose their charter schools which would be reassigned to higher performing sponsors and these sponsors would be banned from sponsoring new schools

Vouchers

• Appropriates $23.5 million in FY 2016 and $31.5 million in FY 2017 for the income-based EdChoice Voucher and expands the program to students in second and third grade whose household income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level ($47,700 for a family of 4)
• Increases the EdChoice Voucher amount for students in grades 9-12 from $5,000 to $5,7003

Early Childhood Education

• Provides an increase of $40 million over the biennium to an additional 6,125 economically disadvantaged children to attend preschool
• Allocates $14 million over the biennium to cover childcare copays for families making less than 100 percent of the poverty level
• Appropriates $10 million over the biennium to expand access to early childhood mental health counselors for children, teachers and staff

Other

• Allows the highest rated teachers to skip additional coursework requirements and take a year off from annual evaluation requirements
• Exempts districts rated “exceptional” in reading proficiency, student growth and graduation rates from state rules on class size and “other rules” not identified
• Allows local school districts to exempt third-year teachers from state-level evaluations since Ohio’s four-year licensure program for new teachers includes the Resident Educator Summative Assessment
• Creates standards for school counselors and provides for $2 million over the biennium to improve access to school counseling services
• Provides for $200 million over the biennium for two rounds of grants through the Straight A Fund in order to assist schools in projects that increase student achievement and increase student efficiency o Earmarks $18.5 million to train more high school teachers to teach college-level courses and encourage student participation in College Credit Plus
• Increases funding for the Ohio Community Connectors program by $30 million over the biennium

Taxation Tax Increases (which would generate a $5.17 billion increase in revenue over the biennium)

• Increases the state sales tax from 5.75% to 6.25%
• Broadens the sales tax base to include cable TV, parking, travel packages and tours, debt collection services, lobbying services, public relations, management consulting and research/opinion polling
• Raises the cigarette tax from $1.25 to $2.25 per pack
• Raises the tax on other tobacco products to a level equivalent to the cigarette tax
• Adjusts the rate of the Commercial Activities Tax (CAT) on business from 0.26 to 0.32 percent
• Raises the severance tax on oil and gas, generating an estimated $325 million in revenue
• Eliminates a number of tax deductions and credits for Ohioans making more than $100,000 in annual income including the retirement income credit, Social Security deduction, $50 senior credit and the lump sum senior credit Tax Decreases (equals a $5.69 billion reduction in revenue over the biennium)
• Implements a 23% personal income tax reduction across all income brackets over two years
• Eliminates the income tax for Ohio businesses with annual gross receipts of $2 million or less
• Maintains Ohio’s 50% tax deduction on the owner’s first $250,000 of net business income for businesses with annual gross receipts of $2 million or more
• Increases the personal exemption amount for Ohioans who earn $80,000 or less

Turnover common at e-schools

Ohio’s largest online charter school averaged 14,600 students last school year, but almost 23,000 students were enrolled over the course of the year.

Thousands of those students enrolled for just a few weeks or months in the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow.

The large-scale turnover isn’t unique to ECOT: With the exception of schools designed for dropouts, no schools churn through students like Ohio’s online charters. At many of Ohio’s charter e-schools, more than 40 percent of students leave before they’ve completed a full academic year.

Churn, or student mobility, has long been “generally considered a negative thing” facing education, said Aaron Churchill, research director for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in Columbus. It can disrupt students’ learning routines and is generally associated with low achievement, he said.

(Read more at the Dispatch)

Tri-Valley parents opt out of testing in droves

In protest of the Common Core educational standards, some parents in Tri-Valley School District are opting their kids out of state testing en masse.

Of the district's 3,100 students, 365 have already opted out of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers testing, compared to two at Zanesville City Schools, 12 at West Muskingum Local Schools and 18 at Maysville Local Schools.

(Read more at Times-Recorder).

Yost demands repayment of nearly $300,000 in state money

Ohio Auditor Dave Yost demanded repayment of nearly $300,000 on Thursday from Columbus-area educators who apparently pocketed the tax money meant to benefit students.

In the first case, a would-be charter-school operator received $88,750 for a school she never opened.

According to the annual audit of Ohio’s financial records, Wendy Marshall received the state aid to open the Directional Academy in Columbus in the fall of 2013 under the sponsorship of the North Central Ohio Educational Service Center.

Yost said the misspending was the latest problem in Ohio’s system of privately operated, publicly funded charter schools.

“The system is busted, broken and doesn’t work,” Yost said. “When everyone is responsible, no one is responsible. Ohio’s chaotic supervision of charter schools is inadequate and needs reformed. ”

The audit also uncovered problems at a private school in Hilliard.

(Read more at the Dispatch.com).

Springfield Board votes to opt out of some testing

The Springfield Board of Education voted Thursday night to apply for a waiver to opt out of most state and federal testing requirements.

The district is a part of the Innovation Lab Network, a group of schools that experiment with new student centered learning techniques. Recently a law went into effect that gives the group permission to apply for the waiver.

If Springfield’s waiver is approved by the state, the wave would exempt students from different tests in third grade all the way up to the high school.

Superintendent Dr. David Estrop says some of those mandated tests are redundant and his teachers spend more time preparing the students for tests rather than teaching.

(Read more at wdtn.com).

New school tests spur anger, absences

More area school parents are taking a "none of the above" stance and yanking their kids from what they say is excessive new testing.

And some area school superintendents are joining them by taking rare, public positions in opposition to state education officials' backing of new Common Core-inspired testing for grades three through 12 in Ohio.

The tests, which are new this school year, have triggered various objections. Some parents worry about the new exams' frequency, complexity and what they see as lack of educational value. Others fear schools will share data about their child's performance. Still others worry about the shift away from pencil and paper to using computerized exams.

But the most common complaint is that local school districts are losing their autonomy to state, federal officials and private corporate backers of Common Core, a sweeping set of education reforms that have drawn both strong supporters and opponents in recent years.

Common Core backers tout the new academic standards' uniformity - to various degrees the reforms were adopted by all but four states - and its extensive testing as adding accountability to American student achievement assessments.

Many Greater Cincinnati districts are now putting thousands of students through the new exams that are drawing complaints and accusations of unduly pressuring students.

(Read more at cincinnati.com)