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here to go back to the LWVO Education Update Main Page To: LWVO From: Joan Platz Education Update for February 5, 2007 1) 110th Congress: The U.S. House approved on January 31, 2007 H.J.Res. 20, a $463.5 billion appropriations measure to fund federal agencies and departments until this fiscal year ends on September 30, 2007. Leaders in the U.S. House and Senate agreed to the plan last week, and the Senate is expected to take up action on the resolution soon. The 109th Congress ended before most appropriations measures for FY07 were approved, and a continuing resolution to keep dollars flowing to federal departments and agencies will expire in mid February 2007. The $463.5 billion plan maintains funding levels for most programs at FY06 levels, adjusted for increased costs, but includes increases for some education programs, veterans' health care, and Department of Defense health programs. The resolution does not include many of the controversial earmarks for projects in lawmakers' districts that have been included in past appropriations bills. Previously earmarked funds will be diverted to provide increases for priority programs, such as Pell Grants, Title I K-12 grants for reading and math instruction, the Title I School Improvement Fund, IDEA state grants, and Head Start. On another note, President George W. Bush will submit his budget proposal for fiscal year 2008 on February 5, 2007. 2) Student Privacy/Military Recruiters: Representative Michael Honda of California is expected to introduce once again legislation that would allow parents to choose whether or not military recruiters can contact high school students. The legislation is called "The Student Privacy Protection Act" and would allow parents to decide if information about their high school student is provided to military recruiters. The current process, included in the "No Child Left Behind Act", requires parents to "opt out" of the provision allowing information about high school students to be sent to military recruiters. Similar "opt in" legislation was introduced in 2005, but was not approved. For more information please visit http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/ufpj/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1011 3) February 6, 2007 Special Election: According to the web site of Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, voters in 24 counties in Ohio will decide 52 issues on the ballot for the February 6, 2007 Special Election. This includes 16 bond issues, including 14 school bond issues; 31 tax issues, including 24 school issues; and five miscellaneous issues. For more information please visit http://www.sos.state.oh.us/ 4) 127th Ohio General Assembly: The Ohio House announced last week the committees and chairs for the 127th General Assembly. The House Ways and Means Committee will be chaired by Representative Bob Gibbs. The House Education Committee will be chaired again by Representative Arlene Setzer. The Finance and Appropriations Committee has a new chair, Representative Matthew Dolan, who is serving his second term in the Ohio House. Also named were several Finance Committee subcommittees, which play an important role in the biennial budget process, because testimony regarding the FY08-09 budget will be heard before these subcommittees. The Agriculture and Development Finance Subcommittee will be chaired by Representative Tony Core; the Higher Education Finance Subcommittee will be chaired by Representative Shawn Webster; the Human Services Finance Subcommittee will be chaired by Representative Jimmy Stewart; the Primary and Secondary Education Finance Subcommittee will be chaired by Representative John Schlichter; and the Transportation and Justice Finance Subcommittee will be chaired by Representative Tom Patton. For a complete list of the other House committees and chairs please visit http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/search.cfm#reps_zip, which provides links to the Ohio House and Ohio Senate. Senate President Bill Harris named Senate committees two weeks ago, and that information is also on the web site. 5) Do Management Companies Work?: The Rand Corporation Research for Action released last week a study of the effects of management companies on the academic achievement of schools in Philadelphia. The study is called "State Takeover, School Restructuring, Private Management, and Student Achievement in Philadelphia," was written by Brian Gill, Ron Zimmer, Jolley Christman, and Suzanne Blanc. The researchers looked at the achievement of students in schools managed by for-profit and nonprofit companies, restructured schools, and sweet 16 schools in the Philadelphia public school district, compared to other schools in the district. Private managers run 45 elementary and middle schools in Philadelphia. According to the report, "In sum, with four years of experience, we find no evidence of differential academic benefits that would support the additional expenditures on private managers. The private managers may be producing other benefits that are not measurable in terms of student achievement results in math and reading, but that question is beyond the scope of this study." The findings of this study have national implications for schools under the restructuring provision of the No Child Left Behind Act and are looking for research-based models for school improvement. The report is available at http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG533/ 6) State Budgeting Matters Focuses on Higher Education: The January 29, 2007 issue of "State Budgeting Matters" by Richard Sheridan from the Cleveland-based Center for Community Solutions focuses on the history and issues affecting financing higher education institutions in Ohio. According to the article, a biennial report by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education called "Measuring Up" rates state higher education systems on five critical factors. The 2006 issue of the report provides the following ratings for Ohio: preparation of students - B-; affordability - F; and completion rate for students - B. In the areas of participation rates and benefits for students, Ohio's institutions of higher education have improved very slightly over the years. Increases in state funds for higher education have not kept pace with actual costs, which has led to increased tuition and fees, making higher education more costly for students in Ohio. Institutions of higher education have also had to use limited state funds on capital projects, leaving fewer state dollars to support operating budgets. Sheridan writes in the report that one of main issues facing higher education in Ohio is the fact that Ohio really doesn't have a system of higher education. "...instead, it has a collection of independent fiefdoms loosely coordinated by a gubernatorial-appointed Board of Regents whose main job is to prepare a single state budget request for all of the state's institutions of higher learning." The following are some options identified in the article that the state lawmakers may include in the next higher education budget: *Allow the General Assembly to set tuition and fees for institutions of higher learning, which is already being done in other states, or make the release of some state funds dependent on rolling back existing tuition and fees. *Earmark state funds for higher education to support priorities such as STEM initiatives. *Require institutions of higher education to lapse unused state appropriations at the end of the biennium. Other state entities are required to do this, including K-12 education. *Incorporate unused 'working cash balances' maintained at each of the state's individual colleges and universities into the state's GRF. *Address the problem of academic tenure which permits "unproductive professors to earn inordinate amounts of money for doing little." *Address the problem of high-salaried faculty ".....who spend little or no time actually teaching." This report and other State Budgeting Matters reports are available at http://www.communitysolutions.com/ 7) PTA Reflections Program: The U.S. Department of Education will host a display of thirty works of art in Washington D.C. from students in public schools across the nation who have participated in the PTA Reflections Program this year. The exhibit is scheduled to open in February 2007 and will be on display through March 2007. The PTA Reflections Program is an adjudicated event held in each state and at the national level, and provides students from all grade levels and all arts disciplines an opportunity to compete for state and national awards and recognitions. For more information and an opportunity to see the work of the students, please visit http://www.pta.org/local_leadership_subprogram_1116958614281.html |
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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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