Wednesday February 13, 2008 Volume 6, Issue 3
WHAT’S UP WITH SCHOOL FUNDING
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1. OHIO FAIR SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN UPDATE
2. LEVIES ON THE MARCH 4 BALLOT
3. STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS
4. MORE ABOUT PROPOSED STATE DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION
5. PUBLIC EDUCATION SUCCESS STORY: TYLER WILEY
6. SENATOR SCHURING’S PROPOSAL (SJR4) GETS SUPPORT FROM OSBA
7. A SHORT VIDEO BY ED IN ‘08
8. PROPERTY TAX RELIEF IN OTHER STATES
9. FAITH BASED NCLB RESOURCES
10. COSTING OUT PRESCHOOL IN NEW JERSEY
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1. OHIO FAIR SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN UPDATE
Mark your calendar; our next statewide meeting is this Thursday, February 14 from 11-2 at the AFL-CIO in Columbus. The AFL-CIO is located at 395 E. Broad Street. Paolo DeMaria, from the Ohio Department of Education, will be attending to provide an update on the work of the State Board of Education school funding subcommittee. Please join us!
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. LEVIES ON THE MARCH 4 BALLOT
According to the Ohio Secretary of State website, there are 191 school issues to be decided on the March 4 primary ballot. They include 34 bond issues, 137 property tax issues and 20 income tax issues. A county-by-county rundown of issues in PDF format is available on the Ohio Secretary of State website: http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/ElectionsVoter/Results2007.aspx?Section=2952
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3. STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS
Governor Ted Strickland presented his second State of the State Address, to a joint session of Ohio House and Senate on February 6, 2008. In his address the Governor focused on the accomplishments of his administration in 2007, the challenges Ohio is facing, and proposed initiatives to complete work on the energy bill, serve veterans, create jobs, rebuild infrastructure, expand higher education opportunities, take authority for primary and secondary education, and more. The details of the proposed initiatives need to be worked out, but it is assumed that changes in law will be necessary to implement several of the proposed initiatives. Lawmakers could include these changes in separate legislation or through a budget corrections bill and/or a capital budget. A summary of some of the proposed initiatives follows:
*Propose a ballot initiative to support the "Building Ohio Jobs" program, a $1.7 billion jobs stimulus package.
*Include in the ten-year plan for the University System of Ohio a guarantee that students can complete an associate's and bachelor's degree within thirty miles of their homes.
*Create the "Seniors to Sophomores Program", which will enable a twelfth grade student who meets the academic requirements a choice of spending their senior year in their home high school, or spending it on a University System of Ohio campus -- starting the upcoming school year.
*Create the position of director of the Department of Education, appointed by the governor with the approval of the Senate. The director would have oversight over all Department of Education efforts.
The text of the State of the State speech is available at http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/ElectionsVoter/Results2008.aspx?Section=3335
Summary excerpted from the February 11 LWVO Education Update by Joan Platz. To read the full Education Update, visit: http://ohiofairschools.org/learn/Ed_Updates.htm
To read related articles, visit:
2/10 Cincinnati Enquirer
Changing thinking about education
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080210/EDIT01/802100322/1090/EDIT
2/8 Mansfield News Journal
Ohio high school educators await details on early college proposal
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080208/UPDATES01/80208009
2/7 The Plain Dealer
State economic stimulus plan requires borrowing
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1202376695234210.xml&coll=2
2/7 The Newark Advocate
State of State proposals have some excited; some hesitant
http://www.newarkadvocate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080207/NEWS01/802070332/1002
2/7 The Youngstown Vindicator
Strickland’s proposals could benefit the Valley
http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/feb/07/strickland8217s-proposals-could-benefit-the/
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4. MORE ABOUT PROPOSED STATE DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION
During his State of the State, Governor Strickland called for the creation of a new position: the director of the Department of Education.
Two days later, Jennifer Sheets, President of the State Board of Education, issued a letter to Governor Strickland responding to the Governor's proposal to create a Director of Education and turn the State Board and Superintendent of Public Instruction into advisors. In the letter President Sheets outlines the following reasons for supporting the current structure of the State Board of Education and Superintendency, and why changing the structure would limit participation by the public in education decisions:
-The people of Ohio included in the Ohio Constitution an independent structure for State Board of Education and Superintendency to insulate decisions regarding education from politics;
-The current structure of the State Board ensures that the geographic, rural, and urban diversity of the state are represented through eleven Board members who are directly elected by voters, and eight members who are appointed by the Governor;
-Decisions regarding education are debated and made at public meetings ensuring transparency;
-The structure of the Board ensures that changes in the political makeup of the Ohio General Assembly or Governor's Office do not disrupt the operations and programs that the State Board oversees; and
-The State Board of Education is ready to work in partnership with the Governor's Office to "bring new ideas to the table", but cannot support "...any proposal that would reduce the importance of the board and state superintendent and thus take the "public" out of public education."
Summary excerpted from the February 11 LWVO Education Update by Joan Platz. To read the full Education Update, visit: http://ohiofairschools.org/learn/Ed_Updates.htm
To read related articles, visit:
2/9 The Plain Dealer
Zelman, state superintendent, disagrees with Strickland's proposed shake-up
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1202549630323080.xml&coll=2
2/11 Mansfield News Journal
State school board to oppose governor's Cabinet-level education czar http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080211/UPDATES01/80211013/1002/NEWS01
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5. PUBLIC EDUCATION SUCCESS STORY: TYLER WILEY
A parent from Toledo sent us a story she wrote about her son Tyler’s inclusion success in the Toledo Public School District. The story was published in this months Toledo Parent, check it out : http://www.toledoparent.com/view_article.php?id=1516
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6. SENATOR SCHURING’S PROPOSAL (SJR4) GETS SUPPORT FROM OSBA
The Ohio School Boards Association submitted testimony in support of Sen. Kirk Schuring’s school funding proposal, SJR 4. The testimony states that OSBA supports “the basic concepts of this important proposal.” And “The Education Trust Fund will allow for the earmarking of funds for public education apart from the state’s General Revenue Fund. The Ohio Education Stabilization Fund will provide for stable funding during times of budgetary shortfalls in Ohio, and the earmarking of specific revenue streams will provide stability of state resources that school districts severely need.”
You can read the full testimony in PDF format on OSBA’s website: http://www.osba-ohio.org/files/SJR4testimony.pdf
Representatives of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation also testified in support of Schuring’s proposal.
To read a related article, visit:
2/6 Canton Repository
Chamber, others back school-funding proposal
http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=398214&Category=13&subCategoryID=
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7. A SHORT VIDEO BY ED IN ‘08
The ED in ‘08 Campaign is dedicated to making sure every candidate addresses how to improve America’s schools and to increasing dialogue about the state of education in the U.S. You can watch a short video on their website that calls for focus on strengthening k-12 education: http://www.edin08.com/voicefored/
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8. PROPERTY TAX RELIEF IN OTHER STATES
According to a fiscal analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures, there has been significant activity in property tax relief during the last three years in several states. Some recent property-tax initiatives include:
South Carolina - In 2006, South Carolina pushed through a 1-cent sales-tax increase in exchange for moving more school funding away from property-tax proceeds.
Florida - On January 29, 2008, voters approved a constitutional amendment that gives them a larger property-tax break and lets them carry over existing tax breaks when they buy new homes.
Indiana - The Governor is pushing a plan that would remove all of schools’ general operating costs from property-tax rolls in exchange for a 1-cent increase in the sales-tax rate.
New York - The Governor has called for a cap on school property taxes and created a commission to work out the details.
Georgia - The House Speaker wants to remove property taxes as a source of school funding and replace the money with a 4 percent sales tax on services and retail purchases.
Ohio - Beginning in 2007, senior citizens receive a $25,000 valuation exemption in property taxes on their homestead.
Summary courtesy of CORAS http://www.coras.org
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9. FAITH BASED NCLB RESOURCES
The National Council of Churches Committee on Public Education and Literacy has updated their resources on No Child Left Behind in an effort to lift up the need for significant reform of this federal law. The updated documents include:
- Ten Moral Concerns in the No Child Left Behind Act
- Talking Points: Redefining the Federal Role in Education as the No Child Left Behind Act is Reauthorized
-Questions on the No Child Left Behind Act for Candidates in the 2008 Federal Elections
These documents, as well as additional faith-based resources on justice concerns in the federal education law can be found at: http://www.ucc.org/justice/public-education/
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10. COSTING OUT PRESCHOOL IN NEW JERSEY
In December, Education Law Center (ELC) released “The Cost of High-Quality Preschool in New Jersey”, which documents the cost of delivering preschool under the rigorous quality standards already in place for children in New Jersey's urban districts.
ELC requested the study in anticipation of Governor Corzine’s school funding proposal late last year. The authors examined actual Abbott preschool budgets and classroom quality to calculate the cost of high-quality preschool, and concluded that $12,276 per-pupil is needed to do so in New Jersey.
In 1998, the New Jersey Supreme Court directed the State to provide high quality preschool programs in the poorest urban districts. All three- and four-year olds in these districts are eligible to enroll, and about 40,000 kids are currently being served. Consistently rated one of the top preschool programs in the country, the Abbott program is yielding positive results.
Summary excerpted from “Starting at 3” published by the Education Law Center. To read more about “Starting at 3” visit: http://www.startingat3.org/.
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