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Wednesday October 31, 2007 Volume 5, Issue 22 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. OHIO FAIR SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN UPDATE 2. OHIO SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT INSTITUTE NOV. 15-16 3. SCHOOL LEVIES ON THE BALLOT 4. HEARINGS ON TEACHER MISCONDUCT 5. DAYTON CHARTER SCHOOL FORCED TO CLOSE 6. INTRA-DISTRICT SPENDING: REVIEWING THE RESEARCH 7. HELP PRESERVE RETIREE HEALTH CARE 8. STATE BUDGETING MATTERS: PAYING FOR K-12 EDUCATION 9. TIPS FOR PREPARING FOR THE OAT AND OGT 10. SCHOOL FUNDING: WHAT OTHER STATES ARE DOING? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. OHIO FAIR SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN UPDATE Mark your calendar; our next statewide meeting is on November 10 from 11-2 in Columbus, at the First Congregational Church, 444 E. Broad Street in Columbus. Do you shop at Kroger? If you do, they will donate 5% of what you spend to the Ohio Fair Schools Campaign. This is an easy way to help us out, and it doesn’t cost you anything. It’s simple. Purchase a $5 gift card from the Campaign and use it to purchase your groceries. The cards come with $5 already loaded to spend and you can add money to the card. It doesn’t cost you anything, and it can help support the work for high-quality public education opportunities for Ohio’s children. To get a card, please call the office (740) 592-2866 or e-mail Debbie: Debbie@ohiofairschools.org. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2. OHIO SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT INSTITUTE NOV. 15-16 The eighth annual Ohio School Improvement Institute will be held in Columbus, Ohio on November 15-16. This year the institute will focus on middle and high school transformation. Scheduled speakers include First Lady Frances Strickland; Susan Tave Zelman, Superintendent of Public Instruction; Eric Fingerhut, Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents; and representatives of the KnowledgeWorks and Hope Foundations. The institute will feature more than 60 breakout sessions and 30 roundtable discussions, including one with the Ohio Fair Schools Campaign. The registration deadline is November 2, 2007. For more information please visit the Ohio Department of Education's website: http://www.ode.state.oh.us and search Ohio School Improvement Institute. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3. SCHOOL LEVIES ON THE BALLOT The Ohio Secretary of State website has a list of school districts with tax issues on the November 6, 2007 ballot. There are 228 school issues to be decided. They include 38 bond issues, 154 property tax issues and 36 income tax issues. Including the 228 issues on the November ballot, a total of 443 local school tax issues will have been on Ohio ballots in 2007. In February 2007, 30 school tax issues were decided, with 30% passing. May 2007 saw 164 school tax issues on the ballot with 54.3% passing. In August 2007, voters approved only 14.3% of the 21 local tax issues for schools. The 228 school tax issues are the most on a November ballot since 2004. There were 206 school issues in November 2006, with 53.4% passing. To view a list of school districts voting on tax issues in November 2007, visit: http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/ElectionsVoter/Results2007.aspx?Section=2952 To read related articles, visit: 10/28 Akron Beacon Journal Teachers, buildings at risk http://www.ohio.com/news/10846826.html 10/28 Dayton Daily News School districts seeking levies on Nov 6 http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/10/27/DDN102807schoollevies.html 10/23 The Advertiser-Tribune Myths and facts regarding Tiffin City School’s levies http://www.advertiser-tribune.com/page/content.detail/id/500838.html 10/21 Canton Repository Schools, voters face tough choices http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=382405&Category=9&subCategoryID=0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4. HEARINGS ON TEACHER MISCONDUCT Last week, the House Education Committee heard testimony on teacher misconduct in response to articles published in the Columbus Dispatch. Testifying on the issue were Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Susan Tave Zelman, members of the State Board of Education, and representatives from the Ohio Department of Education, Ohio Education Association, Buckeye Association of School Administrators, Ohio Federation of Teachers, parents, and citizens. It is expected that legislation will be drafted to tighten current law regarding teacher misconduct. In his testimony before the Education Committee, Virgil Brown, member of the State Board of Education, requested that lawmakers revise current law in the following ways: - Automatically strip the licenses of educators convicted of serious crimes. - Immediately remove from the classroom teachers charged with murder, rape, or kidnapping. - Charge the Educator Standards Board with developing a "Code of Ethics for Ohio Educators". This code should be specific and used as a foundation for disciplinary actions. - Give the Education Department access to two specialized law-enforcement databases. One would notify the department when a licensed educator is arrested. The other would give a comprehensive arrest record and criminal history for any Ohio offenses. - Require all applicants for licensure to obtain both a state and federal fingerprint background check. - Require clerks of court and law enforcement agencies to report arrest and conviction information to the ODE. - Punish superintendents, prosecuting attorneys, law-enforcement agencies and Children Services if they fail to report allegations of teacher misconduct to the state. The Dispatch said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan T. Zelman vowed to give the public greater access to teachers' disciplinary records. Zelman told the committee that, as promised, an online database will launch November 1st that will give the public information about educators who have been disciplined by the state. The Columbus Dispatch has printed several articles about this issue, including coverage of the hearings. To read them, visit: 10/25 The Columbus Dispatch The ABC’s of Betrayal http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/teachers/index.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5. DAYTON CHARTER SCHOOL FORCED TO CLOSE Colin Powell Leadership Academy will be closing its doors as of January 17. The Dayton charter school’s board of trustees has resigned, forcing the charter's sponsoring organization to close the school . According to the law the school cannot continue to operate without a governing board. Last month, Attorney General Marc Dann filed a lawsuit against, arguing that the school should be stripped of its funding because of its poor academic performance. And that it does not uphold its obligation, as a public trust to educate children. The school has about 200 students. To read a related article, visit: 10/26 Dayton Business Journal Local charter school to close http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2007/10/22/daily38.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6. INTRA-DISTRICT SPENDING: REVIEWING THE RESEARCH At the beginning of October The Buckeye Institute released a report called "Shortchanging Disadvantaged Students: An Analysis of Intra-district Spending Patterns in Ohio" by Matthew Carr, Nathan Gray and Marc Holley. The report charged that school districts in Ohio are adequately funded but that “district-level policies are responsible for continued spending and achievement gaps." Shortly after the Buckeye Institute report was released, The Think Tank Review Project, a collaboration of the Education Policy Research Unit (EPRU) at Arizona State University and the Education and Public Interest Center (EPIC) at University of Colorado at Boulder, released a review of the study. The review found that the authors of the Buckeye Institute report ignored existing research on the subject; failed to take into account the cost associated with education programs at different grade levels, such as elementary, middle, and high school; made conclusions based on small sample sizes; and ignored research regarding the problems with a weighted system for allocating funds, which the Buckeye Institute report cites as a solution to the problem. To read the review in PDF format, visit http://epsl.asu.edu/epru/ttreviews/EPSL-0710-245-EPRU.pdf To read the Buckeye Institute report "Shortchanging Disadvantaged Students: An Analysis of Intra-district Spending Patterns in Ohio" visit: http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/docs/Shortchanging_Disadvantaged_Students.pdf (Summary excerpted from the 10-22-07 LWVO Education Update, courtesy of Joan Platz) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7. HELP PRESERVE RETIREE HEALTH CARE In September, Representative Scott Oelslager (R-Canton) introduced House Bill 315. This legislation would create a dedicated revenue stream to help fund STRS health care benefits for current and future retired teachers. The bill is supported by OEA and other organizations that make up the Health Care Advocates for STRS. Current projections show that the STRS health care fund will run out of money in 2021. HB 315 provides long-term solvency for the STRS health care fund by creating a way for employees and their employers to pre-fund retiree health care benefits. The bill would increase employee contributions to STRS by 2.5 percent of their salary and the employer contribution by 2.5 percent of payroll. These increases would be phased in over a five-year period in 0.5 percent increments and could only be used to provide health care benefits. Members of STRS are encouraged to send a letter to their State Representative in support of HB 315. For a sample letter and a form that automatically sends your letter, please visit: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/strshealthcare/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8. STATE BUDGETING MATTERS: PAYING FOR K-12 EDUCATION The most recent issue of State Budgeting Matters by Richard Sheridan, Financial Consultant, The Center for Community Solutions, is entitled "Paying for K-12 Education, FY2008-FY2009 (October 15, 2007). The report examines appropriations for K-12 allocated through HB 119 (Dolan), the FY08-09 budget, including base cost; property tax reimbursements; early childhood education; nonpublic school support; decreased spending; state response to Ohio Supreme Court rulings, 1997-2007; and the impact of the No Child Left Behind. Click here to view the report in PDF format: http://www.communitysolutions.com/images/upload/resources/sbmv3n31.pdf ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 9. TIPS FOR PREPARING FOR THE OAT AND OGT The Ohio Department of Education, Office of Curriculum and Instruction is publishing a series of short articles that offer tips for preparing students to perform well on the OAT and OGT. These articles will include information about alignment of the exams with Ohio's Academic Content Standards, test taking strategies, understanding key concepts, and effective ways to use released test items for test preparation. The first article is entitled "Focusing instruction on key concepts in the benchmarks is critical to student success". It is available at https://ims.ode.state.oh.us/ODE/IMS/OATToolkit/default.asp ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10. SCHOOL FUNDING: WHAT OTHER STATES ARE DOING? A recent article in the Canton Repository takes a look at school funding in other states. The article includes short blurbs that compare Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania’s school funding systems. To read it, visit: 10/20 Canton Repository Wrestling with school funding http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=13&ID=382258&r=5&subCategoryID |
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Ohio Fair Schools Campaign, 94 Columbus Road Athens, Ohio 45701 Tel. (740)592-2866 Fax (740)593-5451 |
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