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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.
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Wednesday January 16, 2008 Volume 6, Issue 1
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1. OHIO FAIR SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN UPDATE
2. OHIOANS FOR HEALTHY FAMILIES LOBBY DAY
3. ANTI-LEVY GROUP FOUND GUILTY OF LYING TO THE PUBLIC
4. 2007 SUMMARY OF EDUCATION BILLS
5. WHAT DOES THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION DO?
6. CONSOLIDATION OR COLLABORATION
7. COURT REVIVES LAWSUIT CHARGING NCLB AN UNFUNDED MANDATE
8. PUBLIC EDUCATION RESOURCES FROM THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
9. NEW REPORT ON TEACHER QUALITY
10. GRANTS AND RESOURCES
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1. OHIO FAIR SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN UPDATE
Mark your calendar; our next statewide meeting is on Thursday, January 10 from 11-2 in Columbus, at the First Congregational Church, 444 E. Broad Street in Columbus.
Thank you to everyone who has already started using your Kroger cards. If you haven’t signed up yet, it’s easy! If you choose to help, it costs you nothing, but you will be contributing to help fix school funding in Ohio. Kroger will donate 5% of all of your purchases, including gasoline, to the Ohio Fair Schools Campaign. All you have to do is purchase a Kroger Gift Card from us for $5 (it will have $5 credit on the card) and use this card every time you shop at Kroger. You can use it at any Kroger store. You pay nothing extra for your items.
If 100 people spend an average of $200 per month at Kroger, the Ohio Fair Schools Campaign will receive $1,000 each month. This would help to sustain our work throughout Ohio. Please order your card today! To get started with your card, please call the office (740) 592-2866 or e-mail Debbie: Debbie@ohiofairschools.org
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2. OHIOANS FOR HEALTHY FAMILIES LOBBY DAY
The Ohioans for Healthy Families Coalition will hold a Lobby Day in Columbus on January 17th from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm. A brief training session will be held at the Crown Plaza Hotel North in Columbus, and then everyone will travel as a group to the Statehouse. Afterwards, a reception from 6:30 - 8:30 pm will be held at the Crown Plaza Hotel.
If you have any questions or you wish to RSVP for the event, please contact Brian Dunn, Campaign Manager for Ohioans for Healthy Families. Phone: 866.530.SICK. Cell: 614.286.7763. E-mail: brian@sickdaysohio.org . Visit http://www.sickdaysohio.org for more info about Ohioans for Healthy Families.
To read a related article, visit:
1/5 Columbus Dispatch
Step taken on sick days
http://www.dispatch.com/livecontent/local_news/stories/2008/01/05/SICK_DAYS.ART_ART_01-05-08_B1_4V8VIDU.html?sid=101
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3. ANTI-LEVY GROUP FOUND GUILTY OF LYING TO THE PUBLIC
Citizens for Accountability, an anti-levy group in the Three Rivers Local School District has been found guilty of multiple counts of violating election laws by the Ohio Elections Commission. The Commission found that Citizens for Accountability broke state laws by including false and misleading information on signs and in their literature during the May 2007 levy campaign. When the earned income tax on the May 2007 ballot failed, Citizens for Three Rivers, a pro-levy group, filed a complaint against Citizens for Accountability.
To read related articles, visit:
1/5 Community Press
State to reprimand Three Rivers' anti-tax group
http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080105/NEWS01/801050316/1067/RSS1103
12/24 Cincinnati Enquirer
Anti-tax group gets reprimand from state
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071224/NEWS0102/712240364/-1/all
(Thanks to Sharon Budke for letting us know about this news story)
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4. 2007 SUMMARY OF EDUCATION BILLS
In her December 30 League of Women Voters Education Update, Joan Platz gives a summary of the status of education related bills introduced in the first half of the 127th General Assembly. Approximately seventy-six bills related to education that were introduced in the first half of the 127th Ohio General Assembly. Of those bills four became law, including HB 119 (Dolan), the FY08-09 budget bill, which includes major policy changes for education, and was signed into law in June 2007. In some cases education provisions from certain stand-alone bills have been combined with other education legislation, and have then become law.
To read Joan’s summary, visit: http://www.ohiofairschools.org/learn/Ed_Updates/12_30_07.htm
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5. WHAT DOES THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION DO?
There are 19 State Board members, eleven elected to represent districts and eight appointed by the governor. Terms are staggered so the entire board is never new and all are limited to two four-year terms. In a recent Chillicothe Gazette article, Jane Sonenshein 10th District Representative of the State Board of Education, answers the question; “What does the State Board do?”
12/29 Chillicothe Gazette
So what does the state board of education actually do?
http://www.chillicothegazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071229/OPINION/712290312/1014
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6. CONSOLIDATION OR COLLABORATION
In Ohio, two school districts in Northeast Ohio will begin sharing a superintendent, as a cost-cutting measure for the districts to save money. The Orrville Superintendent will take on the additional role as Rittman schools superintendent. The districts in Wayne County already share a treasurer. Both school districts will retain their own budget and local board of education. In Maine, according to a recent article in Maine's Morning Sentinel, a proposal by three members of the state Legislature's Education Committee offers an alternative to a statewide mandate for small school districts to consolidate into larger districts. The plan would allow school districts to choose one of two different ways to regionalize school services, either consolidation or collaboration. Districts could still choose to merge into larger school systems, as current Maine law requires. Or, the school districts could instead choose to remain independent while sharing services regionally to cut costs. Such "collaboration" would allow communities to retain decision-making power through local school boards, the Sentinel article said.
To read related articles, visit:
1/2 Morning Sentinel
Another way to solve consolidation problems
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/view/columns/4611974.html
12/26 The Plain Dealer
Orrville, Rittman school districts share superintendent
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1198661529283900.xml&coll=2
(Summary courtesy of CORAS, http://www.coras.org)
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7. COURT REVIVES LAWSUIT CHARGING NCLB AN UNFUNDED MANDATE
On Monday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati revived a legal challenge to the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, saying that school districts have been justified in complaining that the law required them to pay for testing and other programs without providing sufficient federal money. The 2 to 1 ruling gave new life to a 2005 lawsuit and appeared to be a setback to the Bush administration, the New York Times said.
School districts in Michigan, Texas and Vermont joined with the National Education Association, in their 2005 lawsuit. They claimed the law violated the United States Constitution by requiring states and school districts to spend local money to administer standardized tests and to meet other federal requirements. The suit was built in part around a paragraph in the law that says no state or district can be forced to spend its money on expenses the federal government has not covered. A federal judge in Michigan dismissed the suit.
In sending the case back to the lower court, the Court of Appeals ruling said, “Because we conclude that NCLB fails to provide clear notice as to who bears the additional costs of compliance, we reverse the judgment of the district court.” It also noted that because the states had been required to spend state and local money to meet requirements of the federal law, their “injury has already occurred and is ongoing.”
To read the article, visit:
1/8 New York Times
Court Revives Lawsuit Against No Child Left Behind Law
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/education/08child.html?ref=us
(Summary courtesy of CORAS, http://www.coras.org)
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8. PUBLIC EDUCATION RESOURCES FROM THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has a long-standing commitment to quality public education. Their website includes a section on education with specific statements that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) has made on public education. It also includes action plans and other resources for people of faith. For more information, visit: http://www.pcusa.org/publiceducation.
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9. NEW REPORT ON TEACHER QUALITY
New teachers are more academically qualified today than just a decade ago, according to a new report released by Educational Testing Service (ETS) Policy Information Center. The study examines the relationship between improvements in the academic quality of America’s teachers and the policy focus on improving teacher quality in recent years.
The study found that college grades of prospective teachers have improved. About 40 percent of the prospective teachers taking the licensing tests from 2002 to 2005 had a grade point average of 3.5 or higher on the traditional 4-point scale during college, up from 26 percent in the 1990s, according to the report. The percentage of candidates earning lower than a 3.0 G.P.A. decreased to 20 percent from 32 percent. “By this measure, we are witnessing a dramatic improvement in the quality of the teacher pool,” the report said.
Education researchers debate, however, whether teachers with higher academic qualifications are more effective, as measured by higher student achievement. To read the report in PDF format, visit:
Teacher Quality in a Changing Policy Landscape: Improvements in the Teacher Pool http://www.ets.org/Media/Education_Topics/pdf/TQ_full_report.pdf
A press briefing slide presentation is also available: http://www.ets.org/Media/Education_Topics/pdf/TQ_Press_Briefing.pdf
(Summary courtesy of CORAS, http://www.coras.org)
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10. GRANTS AND RESOURCES
Funds for Children’s Music Education Programs
The Mockingbird Foundation offers grants to schools and nonprofit organizations that provide music education for children. The Foundation is particularly interested in projects that encourage creative expression in all musical forms, including composition, instrumentation, vocalization, and improvisation. The Foundation gives priority to projects serving children eighteen years or younger, but will also consider projects that benefit college students, teachers/instructors, or adult students, especially disenfranchised groups. Online letters of inquiry are due February 1 and August 1, annually. For more info, visit: http://www.mockingbirdfoundation.org/funding/
NAS Book Releases Book on Evolution
The U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a book on January 3, 2008 called "Science, Evolution, and Creationism". According to the web site the book is "designed to give the public a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of the current scientific understanding of evolution and its importance in the science classroom. The book also states, "As SCIENCE, EVOLUTION, AND CREATIONISM makes clear, the evidence for evolution can be fully compatible with religious faith. Science and religion are different ways of understanding the world. Needlessly placing them in opposition reduces the potential of each to contribute to a better future." The book is available at http://www.nationalacademies.org/
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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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