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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To: LWVO
From: Joan Platz
Education Update for December 4, 2006
By Joan Platz

1) 126th General Assembly: 
The Ohio House and Senate will hold sessions and committee hearings this week.  Lawmakers are completing work on legislation before this General Assembly session ends on December 31, 2006.  Some of their priorities include a capital budget for FY07-08; the Ohio Core Graduation Requirements; implementation of the minimum wage ballot issue approved in November 2006; mental health parity; and changes in gun laws.

*The House Finance and Appropriations Committee chaired by Representative Calvert will meet on December 5, 2006 at 1:30 PM; December 6, 2006 at 9:30 PM, and December 7, 2006 at 9:30 PM. Committee members will hear testimony on HB689 (Trakas) - high quality higher education in North East Ohio; and HB695 (Calvert) -establish Science, Tech., Engineering, Mathematics School System. Tim Keen, Director of the Office of Budget and Management, is also scheduled on December 5, 2006 to present an overview of the Capital Bill, which has not been introduced yet.

*The House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Setzer, will meet on Tuesday, December 5, 2006 and Wednesday, December 6, 2006 at 3:30 PM in room 116.  The committee will hear proponent and opponent testimony on HB 671 (Webster) regarding school district and educational service center treasurers; HB 431 (Peterson) - Special Education Vouchers; and Sub. HB 565 (Setzer) Ohio Core Graduation Requirements.  A substitute bill will be introduced for HB431 (Peterson).

*The Committees of the Ohio Educator Standards Board will meet on December 4, 2006 at 6:00 PM at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 2700 Corporate Exchange Drive, Columbus, OH.

*The Ohio Educator Standards Board will meet on December 5, 2006 at 9:00 AM at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 2700 Corporate Exchange Drive, Ballroom A, Columbus, OH.

2)  Leadership Chosen: 
Last week the Senate Republican and Democratic caucuses and the House Democratic Caucus elected their leadership teams for the 127th Ohio General Assembly.  The selections will become official when the 127th Ohio General Assembly convenes on January 2, 2007.

The Senate Republican Caucus elected Senator Bill Harris as Senate President; Senator Jeff Jacobson as Assistant President Pro Tempore; Senator Randy Gardner as Majority Leader; Senator Robert Spada as Assistant Majority Leader; and Senator Steve Austria (Beavercreek) as Majority Whip.

The Senate Democratic Caucus elected Senator Teresa Fedor as Minority Leader; Senator Tom Roberts Assistant Minority Leader; Senator Ray Miller Minority Whip; and Senator-elect Lance Mason (D-Cleveland), Assistant Minority Whip.

The Democratic Caucus also selected Capri Cafaro to complete the term of Senator Marc Dann (32nd Senate District), who was elected in November as Ohio Attorney General, and selected Jason Wilson to complete the term of Senator Charles Wilson (30th Senate District), who was elected to Congress.

In the Ohio House the Democratic Caucus elected Representatives Joyce Beatty, Minority Leader; Todd Book, Asst. Minority Leader; Steve Driehaus, Minority Whip; and Fred Strahorn, Asst. Minority Whip for its Leadership Team in the 127th Ohio General Assembly,

3) Hearings Held on Governor Taft's Core Proposal: 
Last week members of the House and Senate education committees heard testimony on Governor Taft's Ohio Core Curriculum proposal (Sub. SB 311 - Gardner and Sub. HB 565 - Setzer) from a number of witnesses, including several who requested amendments to the bills.  The Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Joy Padgett, held two meetings last week on November 28 & 29, 2006, and the House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Setzer, met on November 28, 2006.

Both bills, if passed, would increase the rigor of graduation requirements for high school students and admission requirements for some colleges and universities in Ohio.  These changes are part of Governor Taft's Ohio Core proposal to increase the number of high school students who attend and graduate from colleges and universities.

Included in the list of witnesses were representatives from higher education, the business community, career-technology education, foreign languages, the arts, Family and Consumer Sciences/Financial Education, science, and the Ohio Education Association and the Ohio Federation of Teachers.

Several witnesses from higher education institutions testified in favor of the bills, including President Lloyd Jacobs of the University of Toledo, who told committee members that the Ohio Core proposal was a fair curriculum that would help students succeed in today's world, and provide students a pathway for further education.

Richard D. Rosen, VP Corporate Business Relations at Battelle Institute testified that all students need to take the Ohio Core regardless of their career paths.

George Tombaugh, Superintendent of the Westerville City School District, also testified in support of the Ohio Core proposal.  When asked by Senator Padgett if students should also be required to meet a graduation requirement in the arts Superintendent Tombaugh replied that many of the students in his district already do, and that it was an "excellent idea".

Advocates for arts education, James Dowdy, Julie S. Henahan, Roger A. Hall, James H. Sanders III, and Camille Nasbe, requested that SB 311 be amended to include a one unit high school graduation requirement in the fine arts.

James Dowdy, president elect of the Ohio Music Education Association, told the panel that as a former music teacher in the Worthington School District he found through research that the average SAT scores for students in Worthington high schools enrolled in music courses was 100 points higher than the average SAT score for the district.

According to Julie S. Henahan, Executive Director of the Ohio Arts Council, "A review of research on learning and creativity conducted by the Ohio Arts Council finds that the set of skills most required by today's knowledge-based economy includes a combination of creative thinking, problem-solving, individual responsibility, sociability, and self-esteem.  These and other aspects of cognitive growth are nurtured through an education in the arts."

The testimony of Roger A. Hall, Executive Director of the Ohio Music Education Association, focused on the attributes of arts education. "The arts value self-expression, creative thinking, problem solving, design, communication, collaboration and understanding cultures around the world.  The arts allow students to be evaluated and valued for who they ARE rather than who they might become."

James H. Sanders III, Assistant Professor, The Ohio State University, explained how the arts help students to apply what they have learned in other content areas.  "The arts in short, can give form to concepts that otherwise may seem abstract or disconnected from a child's life.  The arts challenge students to not only to master technical skills, but to apply key concepts in math, science and communication arts--giving knowledge form and substance that may be shaped in ways that speak to the student's vision and imagination."

Camille Nasbe, Superintendent of  the Winton Woods School District, quoted from "The World is Flat" by Thomas Freidman.  High school students today need to be collaborators and orchestrators, adapters and versatilists, and synthesizers.  "What does more to promote this new thinking than training in the arts?  Where do students learn to collaborate and create a new product from disparate parts better than through the arts?"

Sarah Shackelford, Susan Colville-Hall, Martha Pero, and Jane Rauschenberg testified in support of the two credit graduation requirement in foreign languages, which was in SB 311 and HB 565 as introduced.  The substitute bills include foreign languages as a choice, rather than as required courses for graduation.  The substitute bills allow students to earn five of the twenty minimum graduation credits in foreign languages, the arts, career-technology, technology, and/or business.  Senator Gardner responded that the bills support foreign language and include an advisory council to study how to incorporate foreign language instruction throughout Ohio schools. Advocates told committee members that a council was not needed, because they already had a study for implementing foreign language instruction in Ohio over a ten year time period.

Family and Consumer Sciences advocates Nancy Hudson, Susan Shockey, and Stephen Bruns recommended that Family and Consumer Sciences be included as a subject area identified to teach financial literacy, especially as a "stand alone" required course, and that Family and Consumer Sciences be added as an elective unit in both the Ohio Core and opt out graduation requirements.  The substitute bills require schools to integrate the study of economics and financial literacy into one or more existing social studies credits or as a stand-alone required course.

Nancy Hudson, a representative for the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) High School Financial Planning Program, told the committee that, "Family and Consumer Sciences teachers are certified/licensed to teach economics and financial literacy concepts."

Susan Shockey told the committee that the Family and Consumer Sciences subject matter should be included as a curricular provider of personal finance education.  "The FCS teacher education Personal Finance curriculum incudes economics, personal/family financial management, and consumer-related concepts.  FCS professionals have on-going support and in-service education for teaching financial literacy through their professional in-services."

Stephen Bruns, State President for the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), also spoke in favor of requiring economics and financial literacy education.  "The current FCS state curriculum document -- the Work and Family Life ITAC (Integrated Technical Academic Competencies) --- includes financial literacy in two specific classes:  Resource Management and Life Planning."

Several witnesses also testified on Sub. SB 311 (Gardner) on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 before the Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Padgett.  Speaking in favor of the bill was Daniel Hilson, Ohio Association of Joint Vocational Schools; Superintendent Teresa Purses of Canton Local Schools; President Charlotte Hatfield of Washington State Community College; Lawrence Johnson, dean of the College of Education's Criminal Justice and Human Services at University of Cincinnati and CEO of UC's Teacher Quality Partnership; President Kelly Schubert of the Ohio School Counselor Association; and Rita Hollenbacher, supervisor of instruction for Upper Valley Joint Vocational School.

Matt Dotson from the Ohio Education Association testified that the mandated increases in graduation requirements constitute an unfunded mandate for school districts, although the intent of the bill to raise academic achievement is good.  If the General Assembly believes that students should have a more rigorous curriculum, an analysis should first be conducted to determine the cost of facilities, materials, properly trained teachers, and student intervention.

Tom Mooney, President of the Ohio Federation of Teachers outlined several components of the bill that his organization supports, but opposed the "blanket exemption" for dropout recovery programs in the substitute bill.  "It creates a gigantic escape hatch that allows students who are perfectly capable of meeting the standards to evade them, to their detriment."

4) Hearings Continue on Anti-Bullying Bill: 
Witnesses also testified on November 28, 2006 in the Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Padgett, on Sub. HB 276 (Stewart), which requires school districts to adopt policies prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or bullying.  The bill has had many hearings.  Discussions continue regarding the types of bullying and harassment that are included in the bill, and whether or not references to types of bullying and harassment should be inclusive or general.  Linda Harvey, representing Mission America, testified against the bill, saying that the bill was unnecessary, and will usher in special interests with their propaganda about life style choices such as homosexuality and bisexuality.  Kenneth Hawley, executive director of Operation Respect Ohio, testified in support of the bill, and said that it would start conversations about ways to stop and prevent bullying and violence in schools.

5)  U.S. Supreme Court to Hear School Assignment Cases: 
The U. S. Supreme Court on December 4, 2006 will hear arguments in two cases involving how public schools assign students to keep schools integrated and the constitutionality of these "controlled school choice programs".  These programs provide parents of students in public schools with a variety of school choices for their children to attend, but, at the same time, ensure that the schools are integrated.

The plaintiffs in these cases are parents from the Jefferson County School District in Kentucky and the Seattle, Washington School District.  Their children were denied access to a school of their choice as a result of their districts' "controlled school choice program", which considered race as a factor in student placement. The decision by the Supreme Court in these cases may determine whether or not public schools can use race as a factor in student assignment.  It may also have an impact on the No Child Left Behind Act, which requires data on student performance to be disaggregated based on race in order to determine how well schools are closing the achievement gaps among subgroups of students.

The cases are Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education and Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District. The plaintiffs in the cases argue that there is no compelling government interest in treating children differently because of their race.  The defendants argue that there is a valid reason to keep integrated schools, because research shows that minority students perform better in integrated schools.  The Bush administration is supporting the plaintiffs in these cases, saying that "controlled school choice programs", that use race as a consideration in student assignment violate the Fourteenth Amendment.

6)  Report on Integrated Schools Released:  
According to a recent report by Douglas N. Harris, Assistant Professor of Education and Economics at Florida State University and Affiliated Scholar at the Center for American Progress, minority students perform at higher levels in integrated schools. The report is called "Lost Learning, Forgotten Promises: A National Analysis of School Racial Segregation, Student Achievement, and "Controlled Choice" Plans" (November 29, 2006).  Using test score results required by the No Child Left Behind Act, researchers found the following:
· African American and Hispanic students learn more in integrated schools.
· Minorities attending integrated schools perform better in college attendance and employment later in life;
· Controlled choice and other forms of desegregation benefit minority students;
· Racial integration is a rare case where an educational policy appears to improve educational equity at little financial cost.
The report is available at The Center for American Progress web site at http://www.americanprogress.org/.

7)  Bills Introduced the Week of November 27, 2006:
*HB689 (Trakas) Higher Education:  Creates the North East Ohio Universities Collaboration and Innovation Study Commission to make recommendations on further collaborations among certain state institutions of higher education, and develops a more unified approach to the delivery of high quality higher education services in the North East Ohio area and to make an appropriation.

*HB690 (Seitz) Regarding the minimum wage ballot issue.  Repeals section 4111.08 of the Revised Code to implement Section 34a, Article II, of the Constitution of the State of Ohio and declares an emergency.

*HB695 (Calvert) Establishes the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics School System.
Ohio Fair Schools Campaign, 94 Columbus Road
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