The mission of the Ohio Fair Schools Campaign is to organize and advocate for high quality public education opportunities for all Ohio children wherever they live, whatever their race and whatever their family background.
To:      LWVO
From:      Joan Platz
Education Update for October 22, 2007

1)  127th Ohio General Assembly: 
The Ohio House and Senate will hold committee hearings and sessions this week.  Lawmakers are focusing on several issues, including energy policies/electric price regulation (SB 221 - Schuler); gambling (HB 177 - Blessing); foreclosures and consumer credit (SB 6 - Niehaus); and access to public records.

*The House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Setzer, will meet on October 23, 2007 at 3:00 PM and October 24, 2007 at 2:00 PM (or after session) in the Finance Committee Hearing Room - 313. The committee will hold hearings on how Ohio laws and rules address teacher misconduct, and what provisions are needed, through the enactment of new laws or through better implementation of current rules and law, to ensure that all teachers meet conduct standards. These hearings are in response to a series of articles published last week by the Columbus Dispatch.

*The Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Padgett, will not meet this week.

*The Senate Health, Human Services, and Aging Committee, chaired by Senator Coughlin, will meet on October 24, 2007 at 2:30 PM in the South Hearing Room.  The committee will hear testimony on SB232 (Stivers) Child Care - Revises the law governing child care.

2)  Update on Legislative Hearings:
*The Senate and House Education committees met last week.  The Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Padgett, had two bills on their agenda, SCR 18 (Padgett) Academic Accountability, and HB 190 (Hite) Administrative Dates for the Elementary Achievement Tests.  No testimony was presented on either bill.

SCR 18 (Padgett) includes a recommendation of the Ohio Department of Education to change Ohio's accountability system for public schools. It allows districts and schools to apply a growth model of targeted proficiency to the standards for meeting federal adequate yearly progress (AYP), and establishes a standard minimum subgroup of 30 students for calculating the proficiency rate component of AYP.

HB 190 (Hite) changes dates for the administration of achievement tests at the elementary level.  A substitute bill is being drafted. Discussions continue on two issues:  tuition payments for all-day kindergarten, and changes in how schools are rated under Ohio's accountability system.

*The House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Setzer, heard sponsor testimony on the following three bills:

-HB348 (Peterson) Special Education Scholarship Pilot Program:  HB 348 creates the Special Education Scholarship Pilot Program, which would allow students in special education programs (those students with an established IEP) to receive special education services through another school district or entity using scholarships or vouchers funded with public dollars.  The scholarships would be capped at $20,000.  This program was included in Am. Sub. HB 119 (Dolan), but was vetoed by Governor Strickland.

-HB347 (Setzer) Professional Educators' License:  HB 347 changes the requirements for those seeking an educator's license in Ohio, by replacing the Praxis III assessment of teaching skills with a district/school developed, two - year structured entry year and mentoring program, aligned with the standards for the teaching profession recommended by the Ohio Education Standards Board. Currently only two states, Ohio and Arkansas, use the Praxis III to assess classroom teaching skills.  The bill includes up to $4.2 million in FY09 from the Educator Training appropriation line item in the ODE budget to support the new program for entry year teachers.

-HB326 (Gerberry) Higher Education:  HB 326 requires students attending public colleges and universities in Ohio to successfully complete at least six semester hours or the equivalent in government and political science courses, with an emphasis on the U.S. Constitution, in order to graduate.  The bill is in response to studies that show how college and university graduates lack knowledge in civic literacy, including American history, government, economics, and international studies.

3)  110th Congress:
*Appropriations:  The deadline for Congress to approve appropriations for FY08 was September 30, 2007.  Congress approved and President Bush signed a temporary continuing resolution to fund government departments and agencies at current levels until November 16, 2007. The U.S. House has approved all of the twelve appropriations measures for FY08, but the Senate has approved only five.  Work on the Senate version of appropriations for Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHSE) continued last week in committee, and a vote is possible this week.  The Senate LHHSE bill (S. 1710), provides less funding overall for education than the House version (H.R. 3043).

*SCHIP Veto Holds:  The U.S. House of Representatives failed on October 18, 2007 to override President Bush's veto of H.R. 976 - the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).  286 votes, two-thirds, were needed to override President Bush's veto, but the override failed by 13 votes.  President Bush vetoed H.R. 976 on October 3, 2007, saying that the legislation expanded its original intent.  SCHIP was created ten years ago as a bi-partisan state-federal partnership to provide health care coverage for children from low-income families not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid.  6.6 million children are currently being served.  The SCHIP reauthorization, as approved by the U.S. House and Senate, would have increased annual funding for SCHIP from about $5 billion to $12 billion for the next five years, by increasing taxes on cigarettes.  This increase would help the program serve four million more children.  Funding for the program at the current level will continue until the reauthorization legislation is approved and signed by the President.  Lawmakers are now working on compromise legislation.

4)  News from the ODE:
The October issue of "The Ides of ODE" published by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE), Offices of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, Judy Feil and Debbie Roshto, includes the following information:

*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

*State Arts Committee to Meet:  The Committee for the Arts and Innovative Thinking (CAIT) will meet on October 23, 2007 at the Columbus Museum of Art, 480 East Broad Street, Columbus from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM.  The purpose of the CAIT is to promote and advance the arts in the lives of all Ohio students through strategic actions, communications, and policy recommendations.  The meeting will include a welcome from Karen Gallagher, the Arts Education Partnership; a presentation from Mary Sheridan on building communities through the arts; a presentation on the state level focus on the arts; and a presentation on the global focus on the arts presented by Val Marmillion.

*The Foreign Language Advisory Council was created through SB 311 to propose a statewide P-16 foreign language implementation plan for the 2014-2015 school year.  Input is being sought on the draft recommendations that have been developed.  The proposed recommendations can be found at: http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&TopicRelationID=337&Content ID=37515&Content=37641

Please send comments by October 31, 2007, to Deborah Robinson at (614) 995-0232 or debbie.robinson@ode.state.oh.us or Ryan Wertz at (614) 728-4630 or ryan.wertz@ode.state.oh.us.

*Professional Development Opportunities in Fine Arts:   Professional development opportunities are available for visual and performing arts teachers through full- and half-day workshops, that are designed to respond to educational priorities and various time structures. For more information please contact Nancy Pistone, 614-466-7908, nancy.pistone@ode.state.oh.us or Amy Chivington, 614-387-0544, amy.chivington@ode.state.oh.us.

5) New EPRU Study Examines Buckeye Institute Report:
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 on October 17, 2007 a review of a study conducted by the Buckeye Institute called "Shortchanging Disadvantaged Students:  An Analysis of Intra-district Spending Patterns in Ohio" by Matthew Carr, Nathan Gray and Marc Holley. (Released on October 10, 2007 and available at http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/docs/Shortchanging_Disadvantaged_Students.pdf.)

According to the press release, the review, which was conducted by Bruce D. Baker and Kevin Welner, found no basis for the central assumption made in the report that school districts in Ohio are adequately funded, and that "....district-level policies are responsible for continued spending and achievement gaps."

The review also 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.

The review also includes an analysis by Dr. Bruce Baker of Ohio data, which demonstrates that the state's funding approach provides only modest poverty-based support across districts, and "...within-district equity and poverty supports to be no worse and no better than state efforts across districts."

To read this review please visit http://epsl.asu.edu/epru/ttreviews/EPSL-0710-245-EPRU.pdf.

6)  State Budgeting Matters: 
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.  The report is available at http://www.CommunitySolutions.com.

7)  Update from the SEHCB: 
The School Employees Health Care Board released on October 17, 2007 a plan and timeline for developing "value-based best practices" for purchasing health care based on access, cost-containment, and quality.  Stakeholder input and regional meetings are being planned to discuss the recommendations, which will be finalized in June 2008.   The twelve member board was created to study the feasibility of pooling health care coverage for public school employees.  However, after studying the data and issues, the Board recommended establishing best practice standards to improve health benefits for school employees and save money for school districts.  The Board works with an advisory committee, the Public Schools Health Care Advisory Committee, which includes experts and stakeholders.  For more information about the mission and work of the Board please visit http://sehcb.ohio.gov/

8)  Plans for New Statehouse Museum Released: 
Last week the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board (CSRAB), William Carleton Executive Director, approved the plans for a new Ohio Statehouse Museum.  The plan calls for the museum exhibits to be updated with DVD and flat screen projection systems, and include interactive hands-on exhibits that will recreate historical events.  Plans are also being made to complete the Ladies' Gallery, a room honoring Ohio's first female legislators, and the George Washington Williams Memorial Room, a room to pay tribute to Ohio's first African-American legislators.  The new Ohio Statehouse Museum is scheduled to open on March 1, 2009, Ohio Statehood Day.  For more information please visit http://www.ohiochannel.org/your_state/ohio_statehouse/education/ohio_statehouse_museum.cfm

9)  Changes in IRS Tax Exempt Stat us: 
Changes will soon occur in IRS Form 990 regarding tax exempt status.  The IRS Exempt Organizations office will be presenting a series of one-day workshops on basic tax compliance issues for small and mid-sized exempt organizations in selected cities around the country in late 2007 and early 2008. These workshops are designed for board members, officers, and staff of small and mid-sized tax-exempt organizations and the practitioners who work with them.  They will cover the procedures tax-exempt organizations must follow to maintain their tax-exempt status and comply with their tax obligations.  The events, held on three separate days at each location, will be conducted in the following cities:

Salt Lake City (11/13-11/15);
Columbia, SC (12/4-12/6);
Sacramento, CA (12/18-12/20); Arlington, VA (4/1-4/3);
Austin, TX (5/6-5/8); and
Columbus, OH (5/20-5/22). 
For more information please visit http://www.irsworkshops.eventsdesigner.com/
Ohio Fair Schools Campaign, 94 Columbus Road
Athens, Ohio 45701
Tel. (740)592-2866 Fax (740)593-5451