State promises no funding cuts for Common Core opt-outs

Parents opting out of Common Core-based testing got some good news this week:

One: It won’t mean a cut in state funding.

And two: It won’t impact grades, promotion or school-choice vouchers.

Technically, state law prohibits the Ohio Department of Education from paying for students who didn’t take a state test the previous school year, according to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Richard Ross.

However, the law also allows him to issue a waiver, permitting funding for those students, Ross wrote in an email he sent Tuesday to Ohio school officials.

“Under that authority, the department has, in the past, automatically funded these students for many years,” Ross wrote. “We plan on continuing the same practice this year. This means that we will continue to fund each student in your district, regardless of their participation.”

Schools could still see restrictions placed on federal funds, although that would only happen if fewer than 95 percent of students take the test at any one school or district – or, fewer than 95 percent of any subgroup, such as students who qualify for free and reduced lunch.

Common Core is a set of nationwide standards that detail what students should know in English and math at the end of each year. Students across Ohio started in February taking the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers tests. The PARCC tests are centered around Common Core, and, in an effort to push back against the new standards, some parents are withdrawing their children from taking the exams.

There is no statewide data on opt-outs, but numbers seem to vary greatly district to district.

At Cincinnati Public Schools, for example, only 24 students opted out, said Public Affairs Director Janet Walsh.

At Lakota Local Schools, the second largest district in the region, 194 students opted out.

At Mason City Schools, however – smaller than CPS and Lakota – 350 students opted out. That’s about 4.5 percent of the Mason students scheduled for the test, said Tracey Carson, public information officer.

Re-enforcing Ross’ announcement, the Ohio Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill that would offer “safe harbor” to students who opt out this year – meaning it won’t impact grades or promotion. House Bill 7 is largely symbolic, but supporters say it provides another level of comfort for parents who don’t their children taking the new tests.

The bill will go back to the Ohio House then on to Gov. John Kasich for approval.

(Read more at cincinnati.com).

Should Ohio cut testing time or keep PARCC? New panel will review state's key testing issues

State Sen. Peggy Lehner wants to hear from educators about how much testing Ohio has and whether the new PARCC tests are what Ohio needs.

Lehner, who heads the Senate Education Committee, and Ohio Senate President Keith Faber just announced creation of the Senate Advisory Committee on Testing -- a panel of state school board members, teachers and superintendents.

Lehner said it is clear that Ohio will have to make a lot of decisions about testing, as opposition to increased test hours grows and as Ohio shifts to new tests based on the Common Core and other new state education standards.

On the table: testing time and the future of the new Common Core tests through the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) that Ohio students have just started taking.

(Read more at Cleveland.com).

Defunct Cleveland charter school faces $9.4 million suit from Ohio attorney general

Attorney General Mike DeWine's office is suing to recover almost $2.6 million found to be illegally transferred from the now-defunct Lion of Judah Academy to people and businesses associated with running the Cleveland charter school.

The lawsuit, filed Monday against 19 individuals and businesses affiliated with the East Side charter school, also seeks more than $6.8 million in damages under the state's organized crime law.

Academy officials diverted nearly a third of the school's resources to other companies they controlled and also received bonuses and other financial perks, according to the lawsuit. Lion of Judah took in nearly $8.2 million in public funds between 2007 and 2013, when the academy was shut down, the lawsuit stated.

Meanwhile, the school itself continually languished in academic emergency - the institutional equivalent of an "F" - and legitimate debts were ignored, according to DeWine's lawsuit.

(Read more at Dispatch.com)

ODE Backs off Testing Threats

After increasing pressure from parents threatening to opt-out of PARCC testing, the Ohio Department of Education has backed off it's threat to withhold funding for any student who doesn't participate in Ohio's new testing regime.

The state Superitendent, Dick Ross issued this statement to Local School Districts

Colleagues:

Recently, many school districts have contacted the Ohio Department of Education asking if they will experience financial consequences for students who do not participate in Ohio's New State Tests.

State law forbids the Ohio Department of Education from funding a student who does not take a state test in the prior school year. However, Ohio law also allows the state superintendent to issue a waiver that permits the department of education to fund that student the following school year. Under that authority, the department has, in the past, automatically funded these students for many years. We plan on continuing the same practice this year. This means that we will continue to fund each student in your district, regardless of their participation.

I would also like to share that the Senate Education Committee approved an amendment to House Bill 7 last Wednesday that would prohibit the department from withholding state funds for students who do not participate in state tests during the 2014-1015 school year. While this is not yet law, it is evidence that the legislature is responding to this challenging issue.

Additionally, the federal No Child Left Behind Act also requires districts and schools to administer state tests to all students in certain grades and subjects. Federal law says that if fewer than 95 percent of students at a school or district take the tests, there could be financial consequences. This also is true if fewer than 95 percent of a subgroup of students, like students in poverty, take the tests. These consequences vary from school to school based on any grants a school receives and how well it performs otherwise. While schools or districts may not lose federal funding, some could see restrictions placed on their federal funds.

I know you understand the importance testing plays in an effective education system. Testing shows evidence of student progress. It provides much needed information to classroom teachers and others so they can monitor and improve student learning. Results of these assessments provide teachers perspective on what their students were able to retain and apply long term, allowing for reflection and correction in future school years. Especially at a time when we must prepare our students for the high-skill demands of today's workforce, we need testing--and test results--to tell us how to best help our students succeed. I hope you will explain this critical relationship between testing and teaching to the parents of your communities and encourage them, as much as you are able, to allow their students to take Ohio's New State Tests.

Sincerely,

Richard A. Ross

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Ohio won't penalize districts for kids who opt out of state tests

The state won't penalize school districts if large numbers of students skip this year's state test, state Superintendent Richard Ross announced today.

An ever-growing number of parents are pulling their kids out of new state tests this year, as the state dramatically increases testing time and changes test providers. This year Ohio is seeing its first state tests using the new multi-state Common Core learning standards.

An exact number of students is not yet available, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

Ross' announcement comes as states across the country sort out how to handle schools where students and parents refuse to take the test. Just last week, Chris Minnich, the head of the national council of state superintendents urged parents to participate.

(Read more at Cleveland.com)

Ohio charter schools identified as among worst in nation

During a day of panel discussions with education reporters and experts at the University of Colorado Boulder, national and local school choice supporters had plenty to say about Ohio.

None of it, however, was good.

The Buckeye State took center stage Friday in Denver as school-choice supporters and critics debated what seems to be working in the nation’s charter schools, and what isn’t.

The event was hosted by the Education Writers Association with funding from the Walton Family Foundation, a staunch proponent of private and charter schools.

While panelists disagreed on how much regulation should be applied to charter schools, which are exempt from some states’ requirements, there was little debate about where some of the lowest performing charter school companies operate.

“Mike [Petrilli] could probably go down a list of Ohio operators that fall into this category,” said panelist Todd Ziebarth, senior vice president for state advocacy and support for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Ziebarth and Petrilli, president of the national Thomas B. Fordham Institute, support charter schools, which are publicly funded but, especially in Ohio, can be operated by private, for-profit companies.

Among the lowest performing charter school operators continually identified by Ziebarth, Petrilli and other panelists were: K12 Inc., a national company that operates Ohio Virtual Academy and Insight of Ohio; the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, an Ohio online charter school owned by political contributor Bill Lager; and White Hat Management, an Akron-based company founded by local industrialist David Brennan, who pioneered Ohio’s charter school movement. Two of the operators run only cyber, or online, schools in Ohio, which has the third-highest enrollment of online charter school students in the nation, said panelist John Watson, who runs a K-12 educational technology consulting firm.

(Read more at The ABJ)