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Final budget analysis

July 09, 2013 in Article

Our Friends at OEA have put togerher a great analysis of all the education related elements contained in the budget that the Governor signed.

House Bill 59 (State Budget) As Signed by the Governor – June 30, 2013 The final budget does not contain numerous provisions proposed by the Governor and/or passed by the House that would have had a negative impact on education:

Salary Schedules: No provision eliminating the statutory minimum teacher salary schedule and single salary schedule.
Five Day School Week: No provision eliminating the five-day school week.
Operating Standards Review: No provision requiring the State Board of Education to review and revise school operating standards by the end of the year. These operating standards include issues of great importance, such as requirements on class size, professional development and planning time.
School District Takeover: No provision on the School District Takeover Amendment (Am. 1622) that would have authorized the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to hand control of a local school district over to an appointed commission if the Auditor of State determined that the district knowingly manipulated student data with evidence of intent to deceive.
Parent Trigger: No provision expanding the untested pilot Parent Trigger statewide to schools that have been ranked in the lowest 5% of all public schools by their performance index score for three or more consecutive years.

K-12 School Funding

Establishes a per-pupil base of $5,745 in FY 2014 and $5,800 in FY 2015. The current level is $5,732.
Sets the gain cap on growth at 6.25% in FY 2014 and 10.5% in FY 2015.
o 342 districts are subject to the gain cap in FY 2014 and 242 districts in FY 2015
o The gain cap underfunds the school funding foundation formula by approximately $1.3 billion over the biennium.
Fails to restore over $515 million of the $1.8 billion in state reductions in direct support to schools from last budget cycle.
Places 191 school districts on the guarantee in FY 2014 and 177 districts in FY 2015
Fails to create an ongoing legislative process to determine the components of a high quality education, costing these provisions out and making recommendations to the legislature for changes to the funding formula.
Provides funding for various subgroups of students: 1) students with disabilities; 2) economically disadvantaged students; 3) limited English proficient students; and 4) gifted students.
Specifies that if a school or district fails to show “satisfactory achievement and progress” as determined by the state board of education (not later than 12/31/14) for any subgroup of students, the school or district shall submit an improvement plan to the Ohio Department of Education (ODE).
Permits ODE to require that such a plan include an agreement to partner with another school, district or education provider that has demonstrated the ability to improve the education outcome for that subgroup of students.
Shifts money away from the K-3 literacy component and increases the funding for the Economic Disadvantaged Funding component to provide resources for students living in poverty.
Requires that schools use funding that is received for economically disadvantaged students for any of the following: 1) extended school day and school year; 2) reading improvement and intervention; 3) instructional technology or blended learning; 4) professional development in reading instruction for teachers of students in Kindergarten through third grade; 5) dropout prevention; 6) school safety and security measures; 7) academic interventions for students in any of grades 6 through 12; and 8) community learning centers that address barriers to learning.
Includes transportation and career technical funding in the formula.
Restores current law regarding Average Daily Membership (ADM) counts for the 2013-2014 school year (October only). Beginning July 1, 2014, requires that school districts report rather than certify the enrollment (rather than ADM) of students receiving services as of the last day of October, March and June of each year.
Restores current law regarding the Payment in Lieu of Transportation for students a district deems that it can’t transport and changes the minimum amount to $250.
Clarifies that only districts offering all-day Kindergarten for the first time, and those districts already charging tuition for all-day Kindergarten, may charge tuition.
Funds the six special education weights at 90% and applies the state share index instead of a dollar amount as proposed in the Executive Budget proposal.
Changes the funding methodology for the catastrophic special education cost fund from self-funded by school districts to an outside the formula amount that provides $40 million in each year.
Provides gifted identification funding at $5.00 in FY 2014 and $5.05 in FY 2015 per Average Daily Membership (ADM). Also funds gifted unit funding at a cost of $37,000 in FY 2014 and $37,370 in FY 2015.

Teacher Evaluation and Value Added

Restores current law requiring the student growth factor to comprise 50% of teacher evaluations. The Senate change that set the student growth factor at 35% of teacher evaluations, with a local option to increase the growth factor up to an additional 15%, was not retained.
Maintains the current framework regarding the portion of the 50% student growth factor comprised of value-added data (VA).
o The current framework sets the value-added (VA) component of the student growth factor in proportion to the part of a teacher’s schedule of courses/subjects that are VA applicable (grades 4-8, math and reading). If a teacher’s schedule is comprised only of courses/subjects for which VA is applicable, the following applies: Beginning March 22, 2013 until June 30, 2014, the majority of the student growth factor shall be based on VA; on or after July 1, 2014, 100% of the 50% student growth factor shall be based on VA.
Changes the number of student absences allowed before a student is no longer included in the student growth calculation used on a teacher’s evaluation from 60 or more unexcused absences to 45 or more excused or unexcused absences.
Changes the teacher and principal evaluation rating currently labeled “Proficient” to “Skilled.” Therefore, the four levels of evaluation ratings are as follows, from highest to lowest: Accomplished, Skilled, Developing, Ineffective.

Voucher Programs The bill contains a provision to create a statewide expansion of vouchers for students based solely on household income. Additionally, the bill expands eligibility for the existing Ed Choice program for schools based on progress on the K-3 literacy component of the report card.

Income-Based Voucher

Provides vouchers to students entering Kindergarten in the 2013-2014 school year and Kindergarten and first grade the following year. This proposal would expand vouchers statewide, even in the highest-performing school districts.
Bases eligibility solely on household income. The income threshold would be set at 200% of the federal poverty rate ($46,100 for a family of four).
Funds the program directly out of lottery funds, rather than the “pass-through” funding of other existing voucher programs. The appropriation in the budget is estimated to provide for 2,000 vouchers in the first year and 4,000 in the second year.
States that once a student receives a voucher, they have priority for a renewal each year until they graduate from high school. However, a student’s voucher amount will be reduced if household income rises above 200% of the poverty level in subsequent years. If household income exceeds 400% of the poverty level, the student will no longer qualify for renewal.

Ed Choice Eligibility

Expands eligibility for the Ed Choice voucher based on a school’s progress in improving literacy in grades K-3. Beginning in the 2016-2017 school year, students would be eligible if they are assigned to schools that receive a “D” or “F” on this component of the report card for two out of three years.
Specifies that out-of-state students and home-schooled children who would be assigned to a qualifying school are eligible to receive a voucher.

Other Voucher Provisions

Requires private schools to administer achievement tests to all students if at least 65% of the school’s total enrollment is participating in state voucher programs. There is a parental opt-out provision for non-voucher students at the school.
Requires the Ohio Department of Education to conduct an evaluation of the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program by December 31, 2015.

Days to Hours

Changes Ohio’s standards for a minimum school year in the 2014-2015 school year to be based on hours rather than a minimum number of days and hours. The hour requirements would be 910 hours for all-day Kindergarten-6th grade and 1,001 hours for grades 7-12 (same as current law). The changes to the minimum school year would not apply to any collective bargaining agreement executed prior to July 1, 2014 but would require that any collective bargaining agreement or renewal executed after that date comply with those provisions.
Retains current law defining a school week as 5 days.
Eliminates the 5 statutory calamity days and allows school districts to count the time over the minimum hour requirements toward time missed due to calamity.
Requires school district boards to hold a public hearing on the school calendar 30 days prior to adopting the school calendar.
Prohibits a school district from reducing the total number of hours of instruction from the previous years, unless the reduction is approved by the district board.
Permits chartered non-public schools to have school on the weekends.
Exempts school districts from transporting students to and from chartered non-public and community schools on Saturday and Sunday, unless an agreement to do so has been made prior to July 1, 2014.

Early Childhood Education

Provides $78.6 million over the biennium to fund early childhood education programs for children at least three years old but not yet eligible for Kindergarten with household income below 200% of the federal poverty level.
Funds programs at school districts, joint vocational school districts, educational service centers, community schools, chartered non-public schools and childcare providers who are highly-rated in the state’s quality rating and improvement system (Step Up to Quality).
Requires the Early Childhood Advisory Council to issue recommendations regarding an early childhood voucher program by October 1, 2013, but specifies that decisions regarding the implementation of such a program must be made by the Governor’s Office of 21st Century Education.

Charter Schools

Appropriates approximately $57 million more to charter schools than they received in the 2011-2012 school year. It is estimated that low-performing charter schools will receive, on average, an additional $479 per pupil, while charters rated “Excellent” or higher will receive an average bump of $83.
Removes a provision in current law that requires any classroom teacher initially hired by a community school after July 1, 2013, to provide physical education instruction, to hold a valid license from the State Board of Education for teaching physical education.
Removes a funding guarantee for charter schools rated “excellent” for three consecutive years.
Permits the Ohio Department of Education to require the sponsor of a charter school found not to be compliant with applicable laws and administrative rules to remedy the reasons why it is non-compliant and to place temporary limits on the breadth and scope of the sponsor’s authority, including suspension of its authority to sponsor new schools, until the sponsor remedies its noncompliance, in lieu of revoking a sponsor’s authority to sponsor.
Specifies that a charter school contract that has been suspended is void if the school’s governing authority fails to provide a proposal to remedy issues for which the school’s contract was suspended by September 30.
Requires the State Board of Education to review the performance levels and benchmarks for report cards issued for dropout-recovery charter schools by December 31, 2014.
Changes the closure trigger for charter schools that offer any grades 4-8, but no grades higher than grade 9 by requiring that, in addition to being in academic emergency for 2 of the 3 most recent school years, the school must also have shown less than one standard year of academic growth in either reading or mathematics, as determined by ODE.
Specifically authorizes charter schools, including e-schools, to provide career-technical education in the same manner as school districts.
Allows a new charter school, beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, to accept responsibility for providing or arranging for the transportation of students who are residents of the district before it is open for its first year of operation.
Limits the percentage by which an e-school may increase its enrollment beginning with the 2014-2015 school year: an e-school that has 3,000 or more students may increase their enrollment by 15%; an e-school with an enrollment limit of less than 3,000 students may increase their enrollment by 25%. The bill also limits first-year enrollment at a new e-school that opens after September 28, 2013 to 1,000 students.

Straight A Fund

Creates a new program, appropriating $250 million over the biennium, to provide one-time grants to education entities for projects that meet at least one of the following goals: 1) increase student achievement; 2) reduce spending in the five-year fiscal forecast; or 3) utilize a greater share of resources in the classroom to “increase their operational efficiency.” The Straight A Fund would be allocated to fund projects (not on-going programs) aimed at reducing costs. This program is funded through lottery profits.
Creates a nine-member governing board to award the grants. Board members must have fiscal and education expertise but does not explicitly require a teacher to be selected.
Establishes an 11-member advisory committee to review the program annually and provide strategic advice to the governing board.
Caps award amount at $5 million for a single entity and $15 million for a consortium, while allowing the State Controlling Board to approve higher amounts.
Earmarks $10 million over the biennium to provide low-wealth, low-density school districts with funds for improving the efficiency of pupil transportation. Specifies that the funds must be distributed based on each district's qualifying ridership.
Earmarks $6 million of the Straight A Fund for the Cleveland Municipal School District for implementation of HB 525, the “Cleveland Plan,” passed during the last general assembly.

Post-Secondary Enrollment Options

Requires the Chancellor of the Board of Regents to report recommendations to establish the College Credit-Plus Program by December 31, 2013.
Considers students qualified to participate based on the college’s placement standards for credit-bearing, college level courses, rather than the college’s admission standards.
Requires the Ohio Department of Education to annually compile a list of all institutions of higher education that currently participate in Post-Secondary Enrollment Options or in other dual enrollment programs, and to send that list to school districts. Further requires school districts to provide this list to interested parents and students.
Allows the Ohio Department of Education to accept late application for participation in the 2013-2014 school year from home-schooled students who wish to participate during that time frame.
Specifies that a school district, community school or STEM school may not charge an enrolled student an additional fee or tuition for participation in a dual enrollment program.

Other Education Policy

Requires that human trafficking content be included in a school's in-service staff training program for school safety and violence prevention.
Permits a STEM school to contract for any services necessary for the operation of the school and specifies that the governing body of each STEM school must “engage the services of” instead of “employ and fix the compensation” of administrative officers, teachers and nonteaching employees. (Please Note: OEA is exploring the impact of this provision.)
Exempts students enrolled in Internet or computer-based schools from the physical education requirement for high school graduation.
Revises the composition of a Joint Vocational School District (JVSD) board by requiring that each school district or Education Service Center (ESC) in the JVSD each appoint one member representing a regional employer who is qualified to consider workforce needs with an understanding of the skills, training and education needed for current and future employment.
Permits students enrolled in chartered or non-chartered non-public schools and students receiving home instruction to participate in an extracurricular activity at the school of the student's resident school district to which the student would otherwise be assigned.
Authorizes a school district board of education to require students enrolled in chartered or non-chartered, non-public schools, students attending a STEM school and students receiving home instruction who are participating in an extracurricular activity in that district to enroll and participate in not more than one academic course at the school district as a condition of participating in the activity.
Requires the district board, if it chooses to implement the course requirement described above, to admit students seeking to enroll in an academic course to fulfill that requirement as space allows after first enrolling students assigned to that school.
Subject to a child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP), exempts a child with a disability from all of the following: 1) the physical education requirement for graduation from high school; 2) the physical activity pilot project; and 3) school body mass index screenings.
Allows for chiropractors to assess and clear concussed athletes.

Taxation

Limits the application of the 12.5% property tax rollback by specifying that the rollback may not be applied to reduce the taxes due on new or replacement levies that become effective in or after tax year 2014. Property tax levies effective in tax year 2013 and renewals of these levies remain subject to the rollback. As a result of this elimination, property owners will be responsible for paying their entire tax bill. This provision impacts all local entities, including school districts and County Boards of Developmental Disabilities.
Changes the eligibility requirements for the Homestead Exemption for elderly or disabled owners who apply for the exemption for the first time in tax year 2014, or tax year 2015 if a manufactured home, to only those owners who have a total income of less than $30,000. Individuals who currently receive the exemption (prior to 2014) will continue to receive it under this plan.
Phases in a 10% income tax reduction for all brackets over three years by reducing current rates by 8.5% for taxable year 2013, 9% for taxable year 2014, and 10% for taxable years beginning in 2015 and thereafter. The top 1 percent ($335,000 and over) on average would get tax cuts of more than $6,000 a year, and the bottom fifth of Ohioans ($18,000 and below) pay $12 more a year.
Provides a 50% small business income tax deduction on net income up to $250,000.
Increases the state sales tax rate from 5.5% to 5.75% beginning January 1, 2014.
Subjects the sale or use of electronically transferred digital audio, audiovisual or digital books to sales and use tax. This provision does not subject cable service of video programming to this taxation as a form of a “digital good.”
Eliminates the sales and use tax exemption for sales of magazine subscriptions beginning January 1, 2014.

SB21 Decoded

May 22, 2013 in Article

A number of readers have asked us to decode the Ohio House's version of SB21, which is likely to be passed into law.

In the area of teacher qualifications, after July 1, 2013, third grade students who have been retained or are on a reading improvement plan shall be assigned to a teacher who has at least one year of teaching experience and satisfies one of the following criteria:

a) K-12 reading endorsement on their teaching license
b) Master’s degree in reading or literacy
c) Rated “most effective” for reading instruction for the most recent two years based on student growth measures
d) Rated “above expected value added” in reading instruction as determined by criteria established by ODE for the most recent consecutive school years
e) Passed a rigorous test of principles of scientifically research-based reading instruction approved by the State Board of Education
f) Holds a teaching license for P-3 or 4-9 issued on or after July 1, 2017

The House version limited or did away with qualifications in the Senate version that allowed for evidence of completion of a program of scientifically research-based reading instruction programs approved by the department (limited to until July 1, 2016) or the teacher is an effective reading instructor as determined by criteria established by the department (eliminated).

The House version of the bill also expands who may offer services in the following ways:

A teacher with less than one year of experience provided they meet one of the qualifications and is assigned a teacher mentor who meets one of the qualifications
Through July 1, 2016, a teacher who has successfully completed training on reading instruction approved by the department
A teacher other than the classroom teacher to whom the student is assigned provided the teacher meets the qualifications, the teacher and the principal agree and the assignment is documented in the student’s reading improvement plan
A speech language pathologist may provide reading intervention and remediation services

Additionally, the House version of the bill allows school districts who cannot furnish the number of teachers to satisfy the qualifications to submit a staffing plan to the Ohio Department of Education. ODE may grant extensions of district staffing plans through the 2015-2016 school year.

Other provisions of the House passed version of SB 21 include:

Specifies that retention under the Third Grade Reading Guarantee is triggered by failure to attain at least the “equivalent level of achievement” as determined by ODE
Exempts English language learners enrolled in U.S. schools for less than three years
Exempts students with significant cognitive disabilities from diagnostic tests on a case-by-case basis as determined by ODE
Requires the State Board of Education to adopt competencies for reading credentials and training by January 31, 2014. Requires all new applicants seeking an educator license for grades P-3 or 4-9 to pass an examination aligned with these competencies. Requires reading endorsement programs to align to these new competencies not later than July 1, 2016
Requires school districts and community schools that receive a D or F on the K-3 literacy progress measure on the new school district report cards and less than 60% of students score at least proficient on the third grade English language arts assessment submit a reading achievement improvement plan.

Thanks to OEA's Government Services for their expertise in helping to decipher SB21.

HB555 Analysis

December 03, 2012 in Article

The Ohio House of Representatives approved HB 555. The House passed the bill without amendments in a party line vote, 58-27. The bill will now head to the Senate.

The Legislative Services Commision has analyzed the bill and produced the report below. While the devil is in the details, and there are some devils, here's a brief breakdown of the policies HB555 contains

Replaces the current academic performance rating system for school districts, individual buildings of districts, community schools, STEM schools, and collegepreparatory boarding schools with a phased-in letter grade system under which districts and schools are assigned grades of "A," "B," "C," "D," or "F" based on 15 measures to reflect the performance profile of each district or school.
Creates six component classifications in which each performance measure is categorized and a grade is assigned for each component to be calculated into assigning an overall grade to a school district or building.
Requires the State Board of Education to develop an alternative academic performance rating system for community schools serving primarily students enrolled in dropout prevention and recovery programs.
Establishes criteria for closing dropout prevention and recovery community schools based on their academic performance.
Requires the Department of Education to review additional information included on report cards and submit to the Governor and the General Assembly recommendations for revisions.
Establishes a new evaluation process for determining which community school sponsors may sponsor additional schools.
Permits the Ohio Office of School Sponsorship to sponsor a community school if the school's sponsor has been prohibited from sponsoring additional schools.
Delays implementation of the new sponsor evaluation system until the 2015-2016 school year.
Renames the Ohio Accountability Task Force as the Ohio Accountability Advisory Committee and alters its membership and duties.
Requires the State Board to submit to the General Assembly recommendations for a comprehensive statewide plan to intervene in and improve the performance of persistently poor performing schools and school districts.
Reinstates the permanent requirement for five scoring ranges on the state achievement assessments.
Requires a school district to provide immediate services and regular diagnostic assessments for a student found to have a reading deficiency pending development of the student's reading improvement and monitoring plan required under continuing law.
Adds college-preparatory boarding schools to the provisions requiring the Department of Education to rank public schools by expenditures.
Requires that a designated fiscal officer of a community school be licensed as a school treasurer by the State Board of Education prior to assuming the duties of fiscal officer.
Requires the Department of Education to conduct two application periods each year for the Educational Choice Scholarship Program.
Establishes measures the Superintendent of Public Instruction must consider before approving new Internet- or computer-based community schools.
Restates that the requirements of the standards-based state framework for teacher evaluations and the standards and procedures for nonrenewal of a teacher's contract as a result of the evaluation prevail over any conflicting provisions of a collective bargaining agreement entered into on or after the effective date of the bill.
Specifically permits educational service centers to partner in the development of STEM schools
Permits an educational service center to sponsor a new start-up community school in any challenged district in the state, instead of just its service territory, so long as it receives approval to do so from the Department of Education.
Qualifies for a War Orphans Scholarship, children of military veterans who participated in an operation for which the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal was awarded.
Authorizes the administrators of the Ohio National Guard Scholarship Program and the Ohio War Orphans Scholarship Program to apply for and receive grants; to accept gifts, bequests, and contributions from public and private sources; and to deposit all such contributions into the respective National Guard Scholarship Reserve Fund (existing) or the Ohio War Orphans Scholarship Fund (created by the bill).

OFT is asking that the following fixes be made to HB 555

Eliminate graded items for the current school year. It’s not fair to change the rules in the middle of the game, or year. Delay any grades to 2014-2015.
Don’t grade items that are impacted by a lack of resources - participation in AP courses, dual enrollment participation rate, K-3 literacy rate, college admission testing scores, remediation.
Eliminate Accountability Board language
A composite score dilutes the value of the dashboard and should be eliminated.
Eliminate language that raises the standard and the cut score for achievement tests. This causes double jeopardy for school districts. Raising the cut score and standards from 75 to 80 percent will force more school districts to have lower scores making them and buildings subject to possible vouchers for low performance. Only the cut score should be raised.
Safe harbor: For three years the student portion of teacher evaluations should be reduced from 50 percent to 25 percent. For three years school districts currently earning a continuous improvement rating or higher should be exempt from sanctions.

HB 555 Analysis

SB316 analysis Part II

June 18, 2012 in Article

We published our first look at SB316, the mid biennium review education bill, here. OEA has just published their analysis of the bill, which you can read in full, here (pdf).

We'd like to pull out a few sections that go into greater detail than our original analysis, specifically on teacher evaluations and school choice.

Teacher evaluations

Extends the annual deadline for completing teacher evaluations from April 1 to May 1.
Specifies that the statutory requirements regarding teacher evaluation in Ohio Revised Code Section 3319.111 prevail over conflicting provisions of collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after the bill’s effective date rather than on or after September 29, 2011. (OEA supports the date change that fixed the back dating issue, but continues to oppose this language and its placement because it restricts educators’ voices in teacher evaluation.)
Specifies that a teacher be evaluated under the teacher evaluation framework, only if the teacher spends at least 50 percent of their time employed providing student instruction.
Allows for third-party evaluators, such as Educational Service Centers, to be contracted by the board to perform evaluations (requires that an evaluator must hold a credential from the Ohio Department of Education). Does not require individuals hired by third parties to conduct evaluations to possess a superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal, vocational director, administrative specialist or supervisor license.
Restores current law allowing teacher evaluations to be conducted by persons designated in a peer review agreement entered into by an employer and its teachers.
Allows a teacher who is rated “accomplished” to complete a project instead of the second observation of an evaluation.
Requires only one annual evaluation instead of two for teachers on limited or extended contracts.
Requires at least three formal observations instead of two observations for teachers who are under consideration for nonrenewal.
Excludes students who have 60 or more unexcused absences for the school year in the calculation of student academic growth data for an evaluation.
Requires the State Board of Education to develop by June 30, 2013 a standards-based teacher evaluation framework for state agencies that employ teachers. Further, requires these state agencies to adopt the framework. (Note: Teachers employed by County Boards of Developmental Disabilities will fall under the ODE teacher evaluation framework.)
Requires the district to annually report the number of teachers receiving each evaluation rating aggregated by the teacher preparation programs for which the teachers graduated and graduation year to ODE. Also requires ODE to establish guidelines for the report and explicitly prohibits using teachers’ names or other personally identifiable information.
Requires the State Board of Education to adopt a resolution when they update the teacher evaluation framework.

School "Choice"

Removes provision creating regional gifted charter schools.
Removes changes to community school sponsor rankings (will likely be addressed in HB 555).
Specifies that unless the General Assembly enacts performance standards, a report card rating system, and closure criteria for community schools that operate dropout prevention and recovery programs by March 31, 2013, those schools are subject to permanent closure under the existing criteria that applies to other community schools. Stipulates that only the performance ratings issued to schools that operate dropout programs for the 2012-2013 school year and later count in determining if a school meets the closure criteria.
Allows for single-gender community schools without a comparable school for the other gender.
Requires ODE to post community school contracts on the Internet.
Revises the definition of a community school sponsor to explicitly include the local school district boards, educational services centers that agree to the conversion of a school building, and “grandfathered” sponsors.
Permits a person from serving on five instead of two governing authorities of start-up community schools at the same time.
Allows a community school to operate in a residential care facility, as long as the school was operating in Ohio prior to May 1, 2005, regardless of whether the school was operating from or in the facility on that date.
Retains current law on community school sponsorship and trigger for prohibiting an entity from sponsoring additional schools.
Requires that each time a school district completes an evaluation of a child with a disability or reviews a child’s IEP that the district send by letter or electronic means a notice to the child’s parent about voucher programs.
Requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules establishing procedures for awarding EdChoice vouchers to students already attending a nonpublic school when the school receives its charter.
Requires ODE to disaggregate data by grade not age for students participating in the EdChoice Voucher or Cleveland Voucher programs.

Final Budget Analysis

July 01, 2011 in Article

Below is an analysis, provided by OEA, of the education provisions contained within the budget bill (HB153) as signed by the Governor on June 30th, 2011.

K-12 School Funding

The following chart is based on “ALL FUNDS” dollars, not just state foundation aid:

Category	Current FY 2011	FY 2012	% from FY 2011	FY 2013	% from FY 2012	Total 2 Yr. Change
K-12 Education	$11.5 bill	$10.3 bill	(11.5%)	$9.8 bill	(4.9%)	($2.9 bill)
Higher Education	$2.57 bill	$2.3 bill	(10.5%)	$2.4 bill	3.7%	($440 mill)
DD Board Subsidies	$67 mill	$41 mill	(38.7%)	$44 mill	8.7%	($49 mill)

Decrease overall education funding by approximately $2.9 billion over FY12-13 from FY 11 amounts ($1.2 billion cut in FY 12 and $1.7 billion cut in FY 13). $200 billion of K-12 education funding was added by the House and Senate during the legislative process.
“All funds” reductions are result of, in part, cuts to Tangible Personal Property tax “hold harmless” payments, elimination of state fiscal stabilization funds, reduction in federal stimulus funding for IDEA, reduction in the Kilowatt Hour tax reimbursement and other education line item cuts.
Repeals Evidence-Based Model for school funding and eliminates the School Funding Advisory Council.
Restores gifted funding to 2009 appropriation levels.
Allocates funding to each joint vocational school district (JVSD) in FY 2012 and FY 2013 equal to the JVSD's total state funding allocation for the previous fiscal year. Funding for JVSDs totals approximately $263 million in each fiscal year.
Specifies that the amount of state funding allocated in each fiscal year for special education and related services and for career-technical education for each district be equal to the amounts allocated for those purposes in FY 2011.
Diverts more funding from local school districts by expanding charter schools and vouchers.

Budget Includes Language on Teacher Evaluations, Compensation and Layoffs

The teacher evaluation and compensation provisions agreed to in conference committee require the following:

State Board of Education to Develop Teacher Evaluation Framework:

The State Board is required to develop a standards-based framework for the evaluation of teachers by December 31, 2011. The framework would be required to

(1) Provide for multiple evaluation factors, including student academic growth as 50% of each evaluation,

(2) Be aligned with the Educator Standards Board's standards for teachers,

(3) Require classroom walkthroughs and observation of the teacher on at least two occasions for 30 minutes each,

(4) Require the teacher to be provided with a written report of the evaluation results,

(5) Develop a list of assessments to measure student academic growth for grade levels and subjects for which value-added data is not available,

(6) Implement a classroom-level, value-added program, and

(7) Provide for professional development and the allocation of financial resources to support it. Further, the State Board would be required to develop standards and criteria for teacher and principal evaluations that distinguish between four levels of performance: "accomplished," "proficient," "developing," and "ineffective."

School District Adoption of Evaluation Framework:

All school districts and Educational Service Centers (ESC) are required to adopt a teacher evaluation policy that conforms with the State Board framework by July 1, 2013. However, the bill specifies that the policy takes effect at the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement in effect on the provision's effective date (90 days after the filing HB 153 with Secretary of State) and shall be included in any renewal or extension of such an agreement. Local associations can still bargain provisions related to evaluations and implementation not specified in the State Board framework.

Each teacher is required to be evaluated annually, except that an employer may elect to evaluate all teachers who were rated as "accomplished" on their most recent evaluations every two years. The bill requires student academic growth to be measured by value-added data derived from the state achievement assessments when applicable and by other assessments selected from the State Board's list when not applicable. Further, the bill requires each employer's policy to include procedures for using evaluation results for retention and promotion decisions and for removal of poorly performing teachers.

Teacher Compensation:

Districts receiving Race to the Top funds: Requires school districts, community schools, and STEM schools receiving Race to the Top funds (1) to pay teachers according to a performance-based schedule based on a teacher's level of license, whether the teacher is "highly qualified" under federal law, and evaluation ratings (50% student growth), and (2) to provide for annual adjustments based on evaluations. The bill permits payment of additional compensation to teachers who agree to perform duties that the employer determines warrant additional compensation. RTTT districts shall comply with this section in accordance with the timeline contained in the board’s scope of work. PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON RTTT DISTRICTS.

Districts NOT receiving Race to the Top funds: Requires school districts not receiving Race to the Top funds and ESCs to comply either with the bill’s requirements for a performance-based salary schedule or with current law. (Current law requires a district's or ESC's salary schedule for teachers to be based on years of service and educational training, and to comply with minimum salary requirements.)

Teacher Layoffs and Seniority:

The bill prohibits giving preference based on seniority in determining the order of layoffs or in rehiring teachers when positions become available again, except when choosing between teachers with comparable evaluations. This provision prevails over any conflicting provisions of agreements between employee organizations and public employers entered into on or after the effective date. Current law is retained that gives preference in retention to teachers with continuing contracts (tenure).

Many Negative Teacher Employment Provisions Kept Out of the Budget

The final budget did not contain numerous provisions proposed by the Governor and/or passed by the House that would have a negative impact on the employment status of teachers:

Continuing Contract (Tenure): No provision prohibiting awarding a continuing contract (tenure) to a teacher who was initially licensed after January 1, 2011.
Teacher Assignment: No provision prohibiting a school district superintendent from assigning a teacher to a school without the mutual consent of the teacher and the school teacher, if the teacher received a rating of “needs improvement” or “unsatisfactory.”
Termination: No provision prohibiting an employee from both appealing the board’s termination decision to the common pleas court and invoking the grievance procedure in a CBA.
Termination: No provision allowing a school district or ESC to terminate a teacher without “good and just cause” in first year of employment.
Termination: No provision requiring school districts or ESCs to lay off teachers based on “quality of performance.”
Compensation: No provision providing for teacher bonuses based on student test scores.
Retirement: No provision requiring 12%/12% employer/employee pension contribution split.

Charter Schools

The budget does not include language expanding for-profit charter school entities and stronger school closure provisions were put in place:

Automatic closure of charter schools strengthened: Beginning July 1, 2011, revises the performance criteria that trigger automatic closure of a charter school by requiring schools that do not offer a grade higher than 3, and schools that offer any of grades 10 to 12, to close after being in academic emergency for two of the three most recent school years (rather than three of the four most recent school years, as in current law).
No expansion of for-profit charters or new types of charter schools: The budget does not include language passed by the House that would have permitted a charter school to be established as a for-profit corporation or limited liability corporation; does not include language permitting a start-up charter school in a non-“challenged” school district if the school has 75% enrollment of students with disabilities or identified as gifted.
Eliminates e-school moratorium but requires standards: Eliminates the e-school moratorium after January 1, 2013, but requires e-schools to comply with standards enacted by the General Assembly (if enacted) or (2) the International Association for K-12 Online Learning’s standards.
Drop-out prevention school accountability: Requires the State Board, by July 1, 2012, to review its March 2008 legislative recommendations for performance standards for charter schools that operate dropout prevention and recovery programs and to issue new recommendations.
Collective bargaining at Cleveland conversion charter schools: Prohibits the employees of a conversion charter school from collectively bargaining if the Mayor of Cleveland submits a statement to the district board and the State Employment Relations Board requesting that the employees be removed from their collective bargaining units. The House passed language prohibiting collective bargaining at all charter schools was not included in the final version of the bill.
Location of start-up charter schools - “challenged district”: Adds to the definition of “challenged school districts” where start up charter schools may be located, any district that is in the lowest 5% of all school districts.
No exemption from state laws: No provision specifying that charter schools cannot be required to comply with any law or rule that is not specified in Chapter 3314 (charter school law) of the Revised Code or in its contract or that does not otherwise apply to chartered nonpublic schools.

Voucher Expansion

Raises cap on the number of EdChoice vouchers from 14,000 to 60,000 over the next two years and expands eligibility to students from schools in the lowest 10% based on performance index scores.
Creates a new voucher program for special education students. The number of vouchers is capped at 5% of students statewide with an IEP (approximately 13,000 students). Voucher amounts can be up to $20,000.
Increases the eligibility and the voucher amount for the Cleveland voucher program.

Employee Benefits

Requires the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) to study the feasibility of providing health care plans to school district employees through mandatory or voluntary pooling. Specifies that no action can be taken without enactment by the General Assembly.
Eliminates the School Employees Health Care Board and transfers its duties to DAS. Requires school employee health plans to comply with best practice standards adopted by the Board or DAS.
Retains current law on pension contribution rates. Proposed 2% shift from employer to employee contributions is not a part of the bill.
Exempts substitutes, seasonal and intermittent employees from requirement of 15 days of sick leave.

Privatization of School District Transportation Services

Permits non-Civil Service school districts (local, exempted and some city) to terminate transportation employees for reasons of economy and efficiency and contract with an independent agent if various conditions are satisfied, including that any CBA covering employees to be terminated has expired or will expire within 60 days. The independent agent is required to consider hiring terminated employees for similar positions. In addition, the independent agent is required to recognize any employee organization, for the purposes of collective bargaining, that represented employees at the time of termination.

Education Policy

Requires teachers in core subjects at schools that rank in the lowest 10% based on performance index to retake licensure tests in their subject. Teachers shall not be responsible for the cost of the test and if the teacher passes the exam they do not have to retake for three years.
Creates a pilot project in the Columbus City Schools for a parent-initiated takeover of a school that has been ranked in the lowest 5% of statewide performance index scores for three or more consecutive years.
Allows any school, with support of administration teachers and staff assigned to the school, to be deemed an innovation school and waive requirements under law or a collective bargaining agreement.
Emphasizes distance learning through a clearinghouse of interactive courses for students.
Removes requirements that academic standards specify the development of 21^st Century skills and removes senior project from graduation requirements.
Allows a principal or other employee to serve as a district’s gifted education coordinator.
Specifies that the achievement assessments administered in grades 3-8 in the 2011-12 school year and later are not public records.
Authorizes districts to make up a maximum of three calamity days through lessons posted online or distributed to students. Requires the written consent of the teacher’s union.
Prohibits rules regarding career-technical teaching licensure from requiring the completion of a degree.
Requires the individualized education program (IEP) developed for disabled students to specify the manner in which the student will participate in the state achievement assessments.
Removes the senior project from the high school graduation requirements as a component of the college and work ready assessments.

State Council of Professional Educators (SCOPE)

The following chart is based on “ALL FUNDS” dollars, not just General Revenue Fund dollars, for Fiscal Years 2012 and 2013:

Category	Current FY 2011	FY 2012	% from FY 2011	FY 2013	% from FY 2012	Total Change
DRC	$1.75 bill	$1.58 bill	(9.9%)	$1.57 bill	(.7%)	($350 mill)
DYS	$287.1 mill	$242.3 mill	(15.6%)	$251.9 mill	4%	($80 mill)
School For Blind	$10.1 mill	$12.4 mill	22.1%	$12.4 mill	0%	$2.3 mill
School For Deaf	$12 mill	$11.9 mill	(1.2%)	$11.9 mill	0%	($100 k)
State Library Board	$22 mill	$21.6 mill	(2.1%)	$21.6 mill	0%	($400 k)

Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections

Decrease overall funding from $1.75 billion in FY 11 to $1.58 billion in FY 12 and $1.57 billion in FY 13.
General revenue funding decreased from $1.58 million in FY 11 to $1.49 million in FY 12 and $1.48 million in FY 13
The Institution Education Services line-item (primary subsidy for education programs) is decreased from $23.18 million in FY 11 to $20.2 million in FY 12, and $18 million in FY 13
Education Services line-item (subsidy for education programs) decreased from $2.83 million in FY 11 to $2.37 million in FY 12 and $2.35 million in FY 13
Selling prisons by competitive bid to private operators: Lake Erie Correctional Institution (currently privately operated); North Coast Correctional Treatment Facility (currently privately operated); Grafton Correctional Institution; North Central Correctional Institution (Marion). State law requires privately operated prisons to realize five % savings. Provides state right of first refusal to repurchase facilities; requires operators to pay all taxes.
Removes sentencing reform and earned credit expansion language in order to be hard as separate legislation. SCOPE supports separate legislation containing these proposals.
No provision providing that employees of community-based correctional facilities and district community-based correctional facilities can collectively bargain only if the public employer elects to do so.
Sentencing reform and earned credit removed from budget to be heard as separate legislation.

Department of Youth Services

Decrease overall funding for FY 12 by 15.6% to $242.3 million, increase of 4% to $251.9 million in FY 13
GRF decreased in FY 12 by 13.1% to $218.7 million, increased by 4.6% to $228.7 mill in in FY 13
Education Reimbursement line-item (funding for high school coursework and special education) reduced from $11 million in FY 11 to approx. $8.1 million in FY 12 and $8.1 million in FY 13.
Education line-item (subsidy for education programs at DYS facilities) reduced from $5.4 million in FY 11 to $1.7 million in FY 12 and $1.5 million in FY 13.
Vocational Education line-item reduced from $2.7 million in FY 11 to $762,000 in FY 12 and $758,000 in FY 13.
Selling prisons by competitive bid to private operators: Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility (currently closed) and Ohio River Valley Juvenile Correction Facility. Provides state right of first refusal to repurchase facilities; requires operators to pay all taxes.

Ohio School for the Blind

Ohio School for the Blind receives no increase in general revenue dollars for both fiscal years ($7.3 million). In overall funds, there is a $2.2 million increase (22%) in FY 12 to $12.4 million and no change in FY 13.
Personal Services line-item (subsidy for programs and staff) is flat funded from FY 11 levels at $6.5 million.

Ohio School for the Deaf

Ohio School for the Deaf receives no increase in general revenue dollars for both FY 12 & 13 ($8.7 million). In total funds, there is slight decrease (1.2%) in FY 12 to $11.9 million and no change in FY 13.
Personal Services line-item (subsidy for programs and staff) is increased 12.2% in FY 12 to $4.1 million and flat funded in FY 13 at $4.1 million.

State Library Board

Decrease overall funding by 2.1% to $21.6 million in both FY 12 and FY 13.
General revenue funding is decreased by 6.9% to $5.8 million in both FY 12 and FY 13.

SB5 vs The Budget

April 29, 2011 in Article

The Ohio House has just released their Substitute House Bill 153. It's contains many of the provisions found in SB5, and in some cases, provisions that are even worse. Here are some of the items that now appear in the budget bill.

Teacher Pay

Budget:

Replaces the Executive provision with a provision that requires school districts, community schools, STEM schools, ESCs, and county DD boards, beginning in the 2013-2014 school year, to pay teachers according to a performance-based schedule,

Replaces the Executive provision with a provision that requires the schedule be based on a teacher's level of license, whether the teacher is "highly qualified" under federal law, and evaluation ratings.

Requires the schedule provide for annual adjustments based on evaluations.

SB5:

The bill eliminates the salary schedules and steps in place for teachers and nonteaching employees and instead requires teachers to receive performance based pay.

The bill requires a board to measure a teacher’s performance by considering all of the following:

(1) The level of license (a resident educator license, professional educator license, senior professional educator license, or lead professional educator license) that the teacher holds;

(2) Whether the teacher is a ʺhighly qualified teacherʺ as defined in continuing law;

(3) The value‐added measure the board uses to determine the performance of the students assigned to the teacherʹs classroom;

(4) The results of the teacherʹs performance evaluations or any peer review program created by an agreement entered into by a board of education and representatives of teachers employed by that board;

Budget:

Permits payment of additional compensation to teachers who agree to perform duties that the employer determines warrant additional compensation.

SB5:

Teacher pay can be decided by any other criteria established by the board.

Both Budget and SB5:

Specifies that provisions on teacher pay prevail over collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after the provisions' (immediate) effective date.

Continuing Contracts for Teachers (Tenure)

Budget:

Prohibits awarding a continuing contract (tenure) to a teacher who was initially licensed after January 1, 2011.Limits an employment contract with a classroom teacher entered into by a school district, community school, STEM school, or ESC on or after the provision's (90-day) effective date to a maximum of three years, and specifies that any subsequent contracts must be for terms of two to five years.

SB5:

The bill abolishes continuing contracts for teachers, except for those continuing contracts entered into prior to the effective date of the bill. The bill instead requires classroom teachers to receive limited contracts.

A limited contract for a classroom teacher has a term of five years if the contract was entered into prior to the effective date of the bill.

The term of an initial contract cannot exceed three years if the contract is entered into on or after the effective date of the bill and for subsequent contracts the term is not less than two years or more than five years.

Teacher Evaluation

Budget:

Repeals the requirement for the State Board, in consultation with the Chancellor of the Board of Regents, to establish guidelines for the evaluation of teachers and principals for optional use by school districts, and instead requires the state Superintendent, by December 31, 2011, to develop a framework for the evaluation of teachers.

Requires the Superintendent (1) to develop standards and criteria for teacher and principal evaluations that distinguish between four levels of performance: "highly effective," "effective," "needs improvement," and "unsatisfactory" and (2) to designate a standard of student academic growth that must be met to achieve each of the ratings.

Specifies that the framework require each evaluation to consider: (1) quality of instructional practice, (2) communication and professionalism, and (3) parent and student satisfaction.

Directs each school district, community school, STEM school, and ESC, by July 1, 2012, to adopt a teacher evaluation policy that utilizes the framework and that specifies the relative weight of each factor in (1) to (3) above and how each of those factors will be assessed.

Requires the policy be approved by the Superintendent.

Requires at least 50% of each teacher evaluation be based on student academic growth for students assigned to the teacher during the three most recent school years, except that if less than three years of data is available, permits the portion of the evaluation based on student performance to be reduced to 40%.

Requires student academic growth to be measured by value-added data derived from the state achievement assessments when applicable and by other assessments selected by the employer when not applicable

Requires the employer's teacher evaluation system to (1) use multiple measures of teacher's skills and students' progress, (2) be aligned with the Educator Standards Board's standards for teachers, (3) provide statements of expectation for professional performance, (4) require observation of the teacher on at least two occasions for at least 30 minutes each time, (5) assign ratings in accordance with the state Superintendent's standards and criteria, and (6) require the teacher to be given a written report of the evaluation results, including specific recommendations for improvements

Requires employers to evaluate each teacher annually.

Requires employers to use teacher evaluations to inform decisions about compensation, nonrenewal, termination, reductions in force, and professional development.

Specifies that if a teacher receives a rating of "unsatisfactory" for two consecutive years or two of three consecutive years, a rating of "needs improvement" for three consecutive years, or a combination of ratings of "needs improvement" and "unsatisfactory" for three consecutive years, the teacher loses a continuing contract if the teacher has one.

Requires employers to submit aggregate teacher and principal evaluation results to ODE. Grants civil immunity to the board of education (or other governing body), its members, and evaluators for conducting evaluations in accordance with the adopted policy

SB5:

The evaluation on which a teacherʹs pay must be based is a new evaluation under the bill. No later than April 30, 2012, the Superintendent of Public Instruction must develop and submit recommendations for a framework for teacher evaluations to the State Board of Education.

The recommended framework must require all of the following:(1) At least 50% of each evaluation must be based on measures of student academic growth specified by the Department of Education.

When applicable to a teacher, those measures must include student performance on the assessments prescribed under continuing law and the value‐added progress dimension prescribed under continuing law.(2) Each evaluation must consider the following additional factors, but the recommendations cannot designate the weight of any factor or prescribe a specific method of assessing any factor:(a) Quality of instructional practice, which can be determined by announced and unannounced classroom observations and examinations of samples of work, such as lesson plans or assessments designed by the teacher;(b) Communication and professionalism, including how well the teacher interacts with students, parents, other school employees, and members of the community;(c) Parent and student satisfaction, which may be measured by surveys, questionnaires, or other forms of soliciting feedback.

Also, no later than April 30, 2012, the Superintendent must develop and submit to the State Board recommendations for a framework for the evaluation of principals. The framework must require at least 50% of each evaluation to be based on measures of student academic growth specified by the Department. When applicable to the grade levels served by a principalʹs building, those measures must include student performance on specified assessments and value‐added progress dimension. The framework for the evaluation of principals must be based on principles comparable to the framework for the evaluation of teachers but must be tailored to the duties and responsibilities of principals and the environment in which principals work.

Reduction In Force

These are less identical than the other provisions but have considerable overlap and pertain to the same sections of ORC.

Budget:

Includes a provision that requires school districts, community schools, STEM schools, and ESCs to lay off teachers in order of their evaluation ratings, starting with teachers who receive "unsatisfactory" ratings first.

Includes a provision that prohibits giving preference in retention based on seniority.

Specifies that these provisions prevail over conflicting provisions of a collective bargaining agreement entered into on or after the provision's effective date.

Eliminates the requirement that, in rehiring tenured teachers when positions become available, the order of rehiring be based on seniority

SB5:

With regard to teaching and non-teaching employees, the bill removes the authority of school districts and school district financial planning and supervision commissions to give preference to those employees who have greater seniority.

Teachers and non-teachers with continuing contracts receive preference under continuing law.

The bill states that after giving preference to continuing contracts, the board of a city, exempted village, local, or joint vocational school district is required to consider the relative quality of performance the principal factor in determining the order of reductions.

With respect to teachers, the board is required to measure the quality of performance by considering the level of license that the teacher holds, whether the teacher is considered a ʺhighly qualified teacher,ʺ the value‐added measure the board uses to determine the performance of the students assigned to the teacher’s classroom, the results of the teacher’s performance evaluation, and any other criteria established by the board.

Teachers and non-teaching employees whose continuing contracts are suspended by a city, exempted village, local, or joint vocational school district, however, have the right under continuing law to be brought back in the order of seniority.

Forbids school district decisions on reduction in force to be inhibited by a collective bargaining agreement.