To: LWVO
From: Joan Platz
Education Update for March 27, 2006
1) 126th General Assembly:
The Ohio House and Senate will hold hearings and committee meetings this week.
Several legislative committees are even meeting on Monday, as lawmakers work
to complete several pieces of legislation before the General Assembly takes
its spring break in April. On the priority list for approval are HB 530
(Calvert) budget reconciliation/capital reappropriations, SB 185 (Padgett) predatory
lending, and legislation regarding mandatory sentencing for sex offenders.
Roderick G. Chu resigned last week from his position as Chancellor of the Ohio
Board of Regents effective May 12, 2006. Chancellor Chu has accepted a
position with the Ralph Regula School of Computational Science, which is a new
initiative that will analyze multiple data sets and provide information regarding
education and economic
development. The Board of Regents appointed as interim chancellor Vice
Chancellor E. Garrison Walters, and announced that it would begin a process
to choose the next chancellor.
2) The Ohio House voted 91-1 to approve HB530 (Calvert), budget reconciliations
and capital reappropriations, and the Ohio Senate is expected to vote on the
bill this week.
The bill includes several changes in law regarding education, including changes
addressing school district indebtedness, vouchers, community schools, the school
employees health care board, student attendance, tuition payments, TIF agreements,
and more.
One of the major school funding changes in the bill is a proposal that would
authorized school districts, with voter approval, to levy a property tax that
would raise an amount of revenue approximately equal to reductions in base state
funding caused by the tax reduction factor's effect on school district wealth.
The bill also postpones a controversial provision included in the biennial budget
bill, HB 66 (Calvert), that requires districts to conduct a second enrollment
count to certify average daily membership (ADM), which is used to calculate
state aid. HB530 changes the timing of the second count to the first full
week in February to avoid February holidays, and delays its implementation until
FY2007.
Another controversial provision in the bill expands the Educational Choice Scholarship
Program to students who not only attend schools in academic emergency, but also
those who attend schools that are in academic watch for three consecutive years.
This will increase the number of students eligible for the voucher by adding
50 additional schools and 14 school districts to the program.
The bill includes several changes in law related to community schools.
One provision delays until the 2007-2008 school year the mandate for certain
community schools to administer fall and spring reading and math assessments,
and meet an "expected gain" which would be determined by the State Board of
Education. This provision was included in the biennial budget, HB66 (Calvert),
as an additional accountability measure for community schools to meet.
Community schools that did not meet the expected gain target in three years
could be closed.
Stakeholders complained about the lack of data to determine the "expected gain"
that students should meet when the Ohio Department of Education developed a
recommendation for expected gain last fall as part of the rule making process.
They asked for a delay in the implementation while the Department of Education
gathers more data.
Another provision related to community schools brings community schools into
compliance with Ohio Ethics Law. It eliminates the authority for a member
of a community school governing board to be an employee of the school or have
an interest in a contract entered into by the governing authority.
3) This Week at the Statehouse
TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2006
*The Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee, chaired by Senator
Carey, will meet on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 8:30 AM in the Finance hearing
room. The committee will hear testimony on HB530 (Calvert) capital reappropriations
and budget reconciliation. A vote is possible.
*The House Education Committee chaired by Representative Setzer will meet on
Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 3:30 PM in room 018. The committee will hear
testimony on HB422 (Hughes) school safety plans, and HB431 (Peterson) Special
Education Scholarships.
THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2006
*The Higher Education Funding Study Council, chaired by Representative Shawn
Webster, will meet on Thursday, March 30, 2006 at 9:00 AM on the 12th floor
of the Riffe Center.
4) 2005 State Preschool Yearbook Released:
The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) released on March
23, 2006, "The State of Preschool: 2005 State Preschool Yearbook", with
profiles and rankings of state-funded prekindergarten programs in the US. This
is the third year that this report has been published. A baseline was established
in 2001-2002, which is now used to measure progress over four years and
track trends in state support for prekindergarten programs. The report
includes 1) a summary of the data and describes national trends; 2)
a profile for each state related to access, quality standards, and resources
for the 2004-2005 program year; and 3) appendices with survey data and
other information.
Services for young children in the United States have been described as a "patchwork"
of programs operating under a variety of standards. According to the report,
the number of three and four year old children enrolled nationally in state-funded
preschool programs increased between 2002-2005 from 700,000 to 800,000, but
state spending for the programs actually decreased. Enrollment in prek
programs also declined in eleven states, and twelve states had no state-funded
preschool programs. The following are some of the results from the study:
Access
*38 states funded in 2005 one or more state prekindergarten initiatives. The
12 states without state-funded prekindergarten are Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi,
Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
*More than 800,000 children have been served in state initiatives during the
2005 school year, which is an increase of 110,000 children since 2002.
*Despite the overall pattern of growth, Pre-K enrollment actually declined in
11 states: Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,
New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon and Washington.
Quality Standards
*Arkansas was the only state that met all 10 of NIEER's quality benchmarks.
Pre-K initiatives in Alabama, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Tennessee,
met nine of the 10 benchmarks. Twenty-one state initiatives met five or fewer
benchmarks.
*Twenty-one states did not require all state preschool teachers to hold at least
a bachelor's degree.
*Twenty-six states required all state preschool programs to limit class sizes
to 20 or fewer children.
Resources
*State prekindergarten spending grew 7.5 percent from 2002 to 2005, after adjusting
for inflation, but enrollment outpaced the increases, leading to a 7.3 percent
decline in inflation-adjusted per-child spending.
Ohio ranks 27th out of 38 states in access for four year olds to preK programs;
13th out of 38 states in access for three year olds to preK programs; and fifth
out of 38 states in state expenditures per child enrolled in programs.
In addition, Ohio, like several other states, has more than one preK initiative.
These programs were also evaluated for quality. Ohio received a three
out of ten for the public school preschool programs and a seven out of ten for
state funded Head Start and the Head Start Plus Programs. The state profiles
are available at http://nieer.org/yearbook/pdf/yearbook.pdf#page=38
5) Bipartisan Commission to Study No Child Left Behind Act:
A bipartisan, independent commission headed by former Health and Human Services
Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and former Georgia Governor Roy E. Barnes met in
early March 2006 to begin review of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
Congress is expected to begin the reauthorization of NCLB in 2007, and this
Commission will provide Congress with an analysis of the law and its success
in raising student achievement nationally.
The Commission will hold its first hearing in Los Angeles, CA, which will focus
on Teacher Quality. Other meetings will focus on assessments, accountability,
interventions, and consequences. The final hearing of the commission will be
in September in Washington, DC.
The Commission invites the public to comment on the No Child Left Behind Act
through the web site of the Aspen Institute at http://www.aspeninstitute.org.
6) Bills Introduced
HB 539 (Latta) Imposes on a teacher a mandatory minimum prison term upon an
offender who commits a specified sex offense when the victim is a student.
7) Ohio Celebrates ARTS DAY - March 29, 2006!
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2006 Governor's Awards for the Arts.
The awards will be presented at a ceremony hosted by the Ohio Arts Council and
the Ohio Citizens for the Arts Foundation on March 29, 2006 at 3:30 PM in The
Capitol Theatre, Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts, Columbus, OH.
This ceremony is free and open to the public.
Winners will receive an original work of art by Sue Cavanaugh, best known for
her basket and vessel art quilts, and recipient of the Ruth Lantz Fiber Award
and the Janet Long Memorial Award for Excellence in Fiber from the Ohio Designer
Craftsmen. For more information about ARTS DAY, please call Ohio Citizens
for the Arts Foundation at 614.221.4064, or email info@OhioCitizensForTheArts.org.
Recipients of the 2006 Governor's Awards for the Arts
Arts in Education: Jack Louiso - Cincinnati
Community Development and Participation: Southern Ohio Museum and
Cultural Center - Portsmouth
Arts Administration: Nannette Maciejunes - Columbus
Arts Patron: David and Georgia Welles - Toledo
Individual Artist: Steven Bognar - Yellow Springs
Business Support of the Arts: Park National Bank - Newark
The Irma Lazarus Award: Erich Kunzel - Cincinnati