falls

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 01-25-2013

State Education News

  • State auditor: School data system broken (Cincinnati Enquirer)
  • Ohio Auditor Dave Yost is expected to recommend multiple changes to the way school districts and the state report attendance data…Read more...

  • ‘Hitler’ reference offensive (Columbus Dispatch)
  • The Anti-Defamation League is calling on Ohio School Board President Debe Terhar and other critics of gun-control legislation to stop referencing Adolf Hitler…Read more...

  • Galion ponders armed teachers (Mansfield News Journal)
  • Come February, Galion schools could be among the first in Ohio to discuss arming teachers after the tragic shooting in Connecticut…Read more...

Local Education News

  • Sycamore students follow passions, earn high school credits (Cincinnati Enquirer)
  • If you think high school is boring and irrelevant, you need to talk to Sycamore High School students Mitchell Bie and Matt Rickert…Read more...

  • Schools need to get online (Columbus Dispatch)
  • More online learning could be coming to a school near you, based on a meeting yesterday of Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s Education Commission, which is examining how to improve education in the city…Read more...

  • Washington-Nile School switches to natural gas (Portsmouth Daily Times)
  • The Washington-Nile Local School Board voted during their meeting…Read more...

  • Berea, Olmsted Falls schools exploring alternative approaches to keep kids safe (Sun Newspapers)
  • As a parent, Sarah Fox was amazed to learn her son’s school practices a lockdown drill that includes remaining in rooms, essentially hiding from an active shooter…Read more...

  • Still no response from CMSD on outrageous violence videos (WOIO)
  • Still no response from Cleveland Schools on outrageous videos of violence at John Adams High School. Two weeks and counting…Read more...

Editorial

  • This H-bomb is a dud (Columbus Dispatch)
  • State school-board President Debe Terhar, if she hasn’t given up social media entirely, likely is getting an education this week in what the Internet-savvy know as Godwin’s Law of Nazi Analogies…Read more...

  • Ms. Terhar must go (Toledo Blade)
  • State Board of Education President Debe Terhar apparently doesn’t have the decency or good sense to resign. So it falls to Gov. John Kasich to make that happen…Read more...

School privatization bill under intense pressure

With opposition to the public school privatization bill (HB136) now at record levels, the bill's sponsor, Rep Matt Huffman is looking to make changes

according to GOP sources, Huffman is proposing to scale back the bill in several ways.

He reportedly is proposing to: lower income requirements so fewer students would qualify for a voucher; cap the amount of tax revenues a school district would lose for students transferring to a private school with a voucher; limit the number of students a district could lose to the program to no more than 1 percent of enrollment; and eliminate a provision that would allow parents to deposit any unused voucher money into a college savings account for their child.

As Tom Ash the director of governmental development for BASA notes, it is unlikely to be enough, especially in light of the revelations reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer in depth report over the weekend titled "Voucher program gets little scrutiny".

Six years after Ohio taxpayers began paying private-school tuition for what is now more than 15,000 students, the state is not reporting academic results for about half of them.

State education officials say online access, human error and the independence of private schools all play a role in the lack of state testing results in their annual reports.

Even the Governor's spokesperson admits that this is a troublesome finding. It continues a pattern of weakening public education in the name of "choice" and "competition", but not applying the same standards of transparency and accountability to tax payer funded private schools.

With more and more school districts and education organizations joining the ranks of opposition almost daily now, and reports that the current voucher effort is woefully failing in it's legally mandated transparency requirements, HB136 is a bill that should simply be tabled.

Here's the most recent list of districts and organizations opposing HB136, from OSBA

Akron  City Mapleton  Local
Allen  County  ESC Maplewood  Career  Center
Amanda-­-Clearcreek  Local Mariemont  City
Amherst  Ex  Vill Marietta  City
Arcadia  Local Marion  City
Archbold  Area  Local Marysville  Ex  Vill
Ashland  County-­-West  Holmes  JVSD Maumee  City
Ashtabula  Area  City McDonald  Local
Ashtabula  County  T&C Ctr. Medina  Ci†y
Athens-­-Meigs  ESC Medina  County  ESC
Aurora  City Meigs  Local
Austintown  Local Mentor  Ex  Vill
Ayersville  Local Middletown  City
Barnesville  Ex  Vill Millcreek-­-West  Unity  Local
Bath  Local Mohawk  Local
Bay  Village  City Morgan  Local
Bellbrook-­-Sugarcreek  Local Muskingum  Valley  ESC
Bellefontaine  City Napoleon  Area  City
Belpre  City National  Trail  Local
Benjamin  Logan  Local New  Bremen  Local
Benton-­-Carroll-­-Salem  Local New  Philadelphia  City
Bethel-­-Tate  Local New  Riegel  Local
Big  Walnut  Local Newark  City
Bloom-­-Carroll  Local Newbury  Local
Boardman  Local Newton  Falls  Ex  Vill
Botkins  Local Niles  City
Bowling  Green  City Noble  Local
Bristol  Local Nordonia  Hills  City
Brookfield  Local North  College  Hill  City
Brooklyn  City North  Fork  Local
Brown  County  ESC North  Olmsted  City
Brown  Local  (Carroll) Northeastern  Local
Brunswick  City Northridge  Local
Buckeye  Central  Local Northwest  Ohio  ESC
Buckeye  Local  (Ashtabula) Northwestern  Local
Buckeye  Valley  Local Norton  City
Bucyrus  City Norwood  Local
C-­-Tech  of  Licking  County Oak  Hills  Local
Canfield  Local Oakwood  City
Carey  Ex  Vill Oberlin  City
Cedar  Cliff  Local Olmsted  Falls  City
Centerburg  Local Orange  City
Chagrin  Falls  Ex  Vill Orrville  City
Champion  Local Ottawa-­-Glandorf  Local
Chardon  Local Ottoville  Local
Chillicothe  City Painesville  City
Chippawa  Local Perry-­-Hocking  ESC
Clark  County  ESC Perrysburg  Local
Clark-­-Shawnee  Local Pike-­-Delta-­-York  Local
Clay  Local Port  Clinton  City
Cleveland  Municipal Portsmouth  City
Clinton-­-Massie  Local Preble  County  ESC
Columbia  Local Reading  Community  City
Columbiana  Ex  Vill Revere  Local
Columbus  Grove  Local Rittman  Ex  Vill
Conneaut  Area  City Riverside  Local
Conotton  Valley  Union  Local Ross-­-Pike  ESD
Coshocton  City St.  Henry  Consolidated  Local
Crestview  Local St.  Marys  City
Crestwood  Local Shaker  Heights  Local
Crooksville  Ex  Vill Shawnee  Local
Cuyahoga  Heights  Local Sidney  City
Danville  Local Solon  City
Dayton  City South  Central  Ohio  ESC
Deer  Park  City South  Central  Local
Delaware  City South  Range  Local
Dublin  City South-­-Western    City
East  Guernsey  Local Southeast  Local
East  Holmes  Local Southeastern  Local
East  Knox  Local Southern  Hills  JVSD
Eastern  Local  (Brown) Southern  Local  (Meigs)
Eastern  Local  (Meigs) Southern  Local  (Perry)
Elida  Local Southern  Ohio  ESC
Elyria  City Southington  Local
Euclid  City Southwest  Licking  Local
Fairbanks  Local Spencerville  Local
Fairborn  City Springfield  City
Fairfield  City Springfield  Clark  CTC
Fairfield  Union  Local Springfield  Local  (Lucas)
Fairland  Local Springfield  Local  (Mahoning)
Fairless  Local Steubenville  City
Fairview  Park  City Stow-­-Munroe  Falls  City
Fayetteville-­-Perry  Local Strasburg-­-Franklin  Local
Federal  Hocking  Local Streetsboro  City
Felicity-­-Franklin  Local Strongsville  City
Field  Local Talawanda  City
Finneytown  Local Tecumseh  Local
Firelands  Local Toledo  Public
Forest  Hills  Local Triad  Local
Fort  Frye  Local Tri-­-County  ESC
Franklin  City Tri-­-Village  Local
Franklin  Local Trumbull  County  CTC
Fredericktown  Local Trumbull  County  ESC
Fremont  City Tuscarawas  Valley  Local
Galion  City Tuslaw  Local
Georgetown  Ex  Vill Twinsburg  City
Gibsonburg  Ex  Vill Union  Local
Goshen  Local United  Local
Graham  Local Upper  Arlington  City
Granville  Ex  Vill Upper  Sandusky  Ex  Vill
Green  Local Urbana  City
Greenon  Local Valley  View  Local
Groveport  Madison  Local Vanlue  Local
Hardin-­-Houston  Local Van  Wert  City
Highland  Local Vermilion  Local
Howland  Local Vinton  County  Local
Huntington  Local Wadsworth  City
Independence  Local Wapakoneta  City
Ironton  City Warren  City
Jackson-­-Milton  Local Washington  Local
Jefferson  Area  Local Waterloo  Local
Jefferson  County  ESC Wauseon  Ex  Vill
Jefferson  County  JVS Waverly  City
Jefferson  Local  (Madison) Wayne  County  JVS
Jennings  Local Waynesfield-­-Goshen  Local
Kalida  Local Wellston  City
Kenston  Local Wellsville  Local
Kent  City West  Branch  Local
Keystone  Local West  Carrollton  City
Kirtland  Local Western  Brown  Local
Knox  County  Career  Center Westlake  City
LaBrae  Local Wheelersburg  Local
Lakeview  Local Williamsburg  Local
Lakewood  City Winton  Woods  City
Lawrence  County  JVS Woodridge  Local
Leetonia  Ex  Vill Wooster  City
Liberty  Local Worthington  City
Licking  County  ESC Xenia  Community
Lima  City Yellow  Springs  Local
Lincolnview  Local Youngstown  City
Lisbon  Ex  Vill Zanesville  City
Logan-­-Hocking  Local County-­-wide  Letters  in  Opposition:
Lordstown  Local Lake  County  Superintendents
Loudonville-­-Perrysville  Ex  Vill Lorain  County  Superintendents
Lucas  County  ESC Medina  County  Superintendents
Lynchburg-­-Clay  Local Southern  Ohio  ESC  Center
Manchester  Local Member  District  Superintendents
Trumbull  County  Superintendent's  Assoc.