News       June 2000-December 2004 News Archive

The Plain Dealer also said the task force, without voting, reached a consensus that poor school districts need more money to educate students.

Read the Plain Dealer article. Click: School finance panel has suggestions, no solution 

Current School Finance Litigation in the United States

The Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools (CORAS) has 131 active members for the 2004-05 school year. Seventeen of the 29 Ohio Appalachian counties have 100% membership in the Coalition. These counties are Brown, Pike, Gallia, Hocking, Vinton, Perry, Meigs, Morgan, Washington, Noble, Monroe, Muskingum, Guernsey, Coshocton, Holmes, Jefferson and Harrison. Two counties, Athens and Jackson, are just one school district short of having 100% membership. Seven new members, not active in CORAS last year, have joined the Coalition this year.

"Decades have gone by with school district administrators trying to make ends meet and keep their districts out of debt. Cuts have been made by attrition, or not replacing employees who have retired. Buildings have been consolidated, making districts -- taxpayers -- holders of real estate they don't need or want, but must pay to upkeep. Health insurance rates have skyrocketed for everyone, including districts trying to attract quality teachers. And, since the Ohio Supreme Court washed its hands of DeRolph v. State of Ohio, the issue of school funding has nearly gone all the way back to square one. Lawmakers have not been held accountable for the debacle which is the funding of primary and secondary education." ....from Chillicothe Gazette editorial, December 1, 2004 

"If the governor and lawmakers really believe that education is a key element in improving the state's economy and the state's future -- and they certainly should believe that -- then they should start working with educators instead of fighting them."  ...from an editorial in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette, November 20, 2004.

 

The Governor's Task Force On Financing Student Success will meet this morning to finalize its recommendations. The Columbus Dispatch said the "49-page draft report doesn’t include a magic number and doesn’t promise a quick fix..." but has ".....some significant recommendations aimed at easing the financial burdens on school districts."

The recommendations referred to by the Dispatch would allow real-estate tax revenues generated in school districts to increase, within limits, as property values grow;  would eliminate "phantom revenue;" would provide districts with large numbers of students living in poverty more state aid for all-day kindergarten and smaller class sizes; and  would provide all school districts with more money for professional development, student intervention and the building of databases to evaluate students’ performance. The cost would be about $400 million more a year, according to the Dispatch.

Some panel members say the draft report falls short of the court’s order for a complete, systematic overhaul, the Dispatch said. 

Read the Dispatch article. Click: Panel finalizing school-funding plan

According to a report released yesterday, "Average Isn't Enough: Advancing Working Families to Create an Outstanding Ohio Economy," one in five jobs in Ohio pays less than poverty-level wages. For a family of four, that was $18,392, or $8.84 an hour, according to 2002 census statistics that were used for the report. Education and job training programs are needed to help the state's neediest residents become self-sufficient, the study concludes.

The National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) has projected that Ohio's public school enrollment will decrease by 3.2 percent between the years 2001 and 2013. Only New York, North Dakota, Kentucky and West Virginia are projected to have a greater decrease. Nationwide, according to NCES, enrollment in public schools is expected to increase by 4 percent during that same period.

 

 

• What explicit communication strategies are used?
• What communication approaches are avoided?
• How does communication work to advance vision-setting and continuous improvement?
• How is the work of boards evaluated?
• What procedures are used to evaluate superintendents?
• How is the superintendent transition handled?

Nearly 42 percent of Ohio districts are on the ballot today seeking tax increases to support public schools.

• October 29, 2004- Growing Your Own Leadership

Education Week reports that voters in at least a dozen states will cast ballots November 2nd on whether to force their states to raise school funding, provide lottery or gambling revenues to schools, or restrict taxes that traditionally have raised money for education. The results could mean dramatic increases in K-12 spending in some states and, at the same time, the outcomes could shrink local money available for schools in other states, the article said.Education Week reports that voters in at least a dozen states will cast ballots November 2nd on whether to force their states to raise school funding, provide lottery or gambling revenues to schools, or restrict taxes that traditionally have raised money for education. The results could mean dramatic increases in K-12 spending in some states and, at the same time, the outcomes could shrink local money available for schools in other states, the article said.

Taking the school finance debate directly to voters has become increasingly popular in recent years, say political scientists. "They’re going to the ballot to get priority for education, which they can’t get from the state legislature," said a professor of education at Stanford University.  Advocates will continue to take such questions directly to voters, another expert said, for a simple reason: They often succeed.

Read the Education Week article. Click: Voters Weigh K-12 Finance at Ballot Box  

Jonathan Kozol, who has chronicled the effect of school funding inequities on children throughout the nation, was quoted in the Sunday Cleveland Plain Dealer. Speaking about Ohio's school-funding system, Kozol said, "Ohio is, perhaps, the most shameful example in the nation. The entire system is archaic, undemocratic and ultimately unfixable."

*  Ohio's state and local tax collections on corporate income were just $67 per capita, compared with the U.S. average of $124, a state tax-study committee reported last year.

*  More than 77 percent of tax changes added to the budget last year to address the state's chronic revenue shortfall were aimed at individuals, according to a report by the Center for Community Solutions in Cleveland.  

*  Ohio ranks almost dead last in jobs created since 2000 and accounts for nearly 20 percent of all American job losses since the start of the last recession. 

Read the Cleveland Plain Dealer article. Click:  • Ohio's tangled tax code

The Associated Press reported today that new Census data show Ohio's population of children under 5 years-of-age dropped 2 percent to 740,300 from 2000 to 2003. At the same time, according to AP, Ohio lost 79,011 people aged 20-44, a drop of nearly 2 percent. By contrast, the number of Ohioans, aged 80 to 84, increased to an estimated 234,043 in 2003, up 8 percent from 2000. Overall, the article said, Ohio had 11,435,798 people in 2003, a 0.06 percent increase.

“OHIO PUBLIC EDUCATION FUNDING: A PERSPECTIVE ON THE FUTURE”

 

Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force

 on Financing Student Success Report

&

Funding Ohio's Schools:

Responsibility and Opportunity

 

Presenter

Russ Harris

Government Services, Ohio Education Association

Member of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force

________________________________________________________________

 

 Three Weeks Until Election Day 2004 

How can educators help elect candidates favorable to public education? 

Presenter

Paul Folmer

Ohioans for Educational Justice  

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

The Escalating School Funding Crisis in Ohio

A Reality Check: What lies ahead for school funding in Ohio? What is the role of the E&A Coalition? 

  

Presenter

William L. Phillis, Executive Director

Jonathan Kozol, author of Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools, said that for more than a decade he has been following Ohio's struggle to change its system for paying for schools and that he remains stunned that elected leaders have failed to comply with four Ohio Supreme Court rulings that found the system unconstitutional because it relies too much on local property taxes.

 *  "It's the worst possible civics lesson a governor could teach children in public schools: If you don't like the decision of a court, disobey it. It's perhaps the most shameful example in the nation." ....Jonathan Kozol, Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 22, 2004

________________________________________

Judge William O’Neill, a candidate for the Ohio Supreme Court, said the General Assembly should be held in contempt of court for not fixing Ohio’s unconstitutional school-funding system.

* "The Supreme Court was dead wrong when they let the legislature off the hook in the school-funding case.  It’s time for the court to decide whether the General Assembly is in contempt. It is my opinion that they are. To say anything less would be to join in the betrayal of the schoolchildren of Ohio." .....Judge William O'Neill, Columbus Dispatch, September 22, 2004

The study, "Measuring Up 2004: The National Report Card on Higher Education," said that American high school students are generally better prepared for college than a decade ago. Teachers are more qualified, and more students are taking at least one upper-level math or science course.

But, according to the report, many states are providing less financing to help students pay for college, and in many states, fewer students are enrolling. The report was particularly scathing about the high cost of college; it gave 36 states, including Ohio, failing grades on affordability. Only three states received grades better than D or F: California (B), Utah (C) and Minnesota (C-).

OHIO's HIGHER EDUCATION REPORT CARD          

 

2004 REPORT CARD

Preparation Participation Affordability Completion Benefits Learning

  Download OHIO Report

Source: National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education

 

Among the findings of the poll: 

*  At least two in three adults oppose the way test scores in reading and math are used to judge school performance under federal law. Yet almost as many people said schools give the right emphasis to tests or don’t emphasize them enough.

*  A majority  said the test scores of disabled children should not be counted in determining whether a school made enough progress to satisfy the federal law. 

*  Most of those polled opposed reporting test scores for all major groups of students, such as poor, minority, disabled or limited-English students. Yet it is those scores that reveal the achievement gap, the same problem deemed important by most of those polled.

*  Overall, 68 percent of people said they knew nothing or very little about the No Child Left Behind law, and 55 percent said they didn’t know enough to form an opinion of it. Those numbers of uninformed people, although high, did drop since 2003. 

*  Private-school vouchers continue to lack majority support. Asked if they favor or oppose allowing students and parents to choose a private school to attend at public expense, 54 percent opposed the idea; 42 percent favored it.

*  47 percent of people said they would give public schools in their community an A or a B. Only 26 percent said they would give those grades to the nation’s schools.

*  21 percent said lack of money is the biggest problem their schools face. That was the most common answer, with lack of school discipline and school overcrowding coming in next.

*  42 percent said the Democratic Party is more interested than the Republican Party in improving public education; 35 percent gave the edge to the Republican Party, which has gained ground on that issue since 1996, when 27 percent said the GOP was more interested.

The results of the poll are based on a random phone survey of 1,003 adults in May and June 2004. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

To read the Phi Delta Kappa report, click: 36TH ANNUAL PDK/GALLUP POLL

In  May 2004 the  Dayton Daily News ran a series, Flunking the Tests. The newspaper examined the Ohio Graduation Test in detail. According to the Daily News report, the results showed that more than three out of four sophomores statewide failed a trial version of the OGT's math exam in 2003; even after the Ohio Department of Education shortened the test and lowered the passing score to 41 percent, nearly a third still failed this year. All five subject areas of the exam will be given to sophomores in March 2005. 

Every year, 440,000 public school buses travel 4.3 billion miles to transport 23.5 million students to from school and school-related activities in the United States, according to the National School Transportation Association.

The Associated Press reported today that rising food, labor and transportation costs have forced schools nationwide to increase the price of breakfast and lunch, in some cases for the first time in more than a decade and by as much as $1.00. AP said that typical annual food inflation is about 3 percent. However, dairy prices in June 2004 were up 27 percent from a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Meat and cheese were up 11 percent, and poultry 9 percent. According to the report, the increases will not affect the nearly 17 million children who get free or reduced price lunches. Free and reduced price lunches accounted for more than half of the 29 million children served by the National School Lunch Program during the 2003-04 school year.

In a report issued in July 2004, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) said, "Exemplary (or high-quality) teacher preparation is necessary for all early childhood educators. Every child from birth to 3 years deserves a teacher with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. Every child between 4 and 8 years of age deserves a teacher with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, and certification in the early childhood field. 

PERCENT OF PRESCHOOL TEACHERS CURRENTLY HOLDING A BACHELOR'S DEGREE OR HIGHER

Public preschool.........................  87%

For-profit programs.................  39%

Head Start..................................  30%

The AACTE president is calling for greater public investment in early childhood education.  According to the National Center for Education Statistics, only 35% of public elementary schools in the United States offered per-kindergarten classes last year. Private programs and Head Start took up much of the slack.

Read the AACTE report. Click:  The Early Childhood Challenge: Preparing High Quality Teachers for a Changing Society

Sources: American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, National Center for Education Statistics and USA Today.

• Results by District

• 5-Year History

• Last Five August Elections

• Close Issues

• JVS Results

• Income Tax Results 

               August 5, 2004- Teacher Candidates File Suit Against ETS

 

The Associated Press reported today that two teacher candidates, one from Ohio and the other from Louisiana,  filed a lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court claiming that Educational Testing Service (ETS) violates federal antitrust laws. According to the complaint, ETS, based in Princeton, N.J., is the only company that administers the test of teaching skills and general knowledge that prospective educators must pass to get a teachers license. The lawsuit seeks to stop the alleged monopoly abuse, and the teachers are asking for unspecified monetary damages. The Plaintiffs are asking the Judge to certify the suit as a class action representing about 4,100 people in 19 states affected by incorrect grading. At least four other lawsuits have been filed against ETS over test grading mistakes, but this suit is the first to make the monopoly argument, according to the attorney representing the two teacher candidates.

Almost 1.1 million students were home-schooled in the United States last year. The estimated number of students taught at home has grown 29 percent since 1999, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The 1.1 million home-schooled students accounts for 2.2 percent of the school-age population (aged 5 through 17) in the nation.Almost 1.1 million students were home-schooled in the United States last year. The estimated number of students taught at home has grown 29 percent since 1999, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The 1.1 million home-schooled students accounts for 2.2 percent of the school-age population (aged 5 through 17) in the nation.

The Associated Press reported that parent surveys offered two main reasons for choosing home-schooling: 31 percent cited concerns about the environment of regular schools, and 30 percent wanted the flexibility to teach religious or moral lessons. Third, at 16 percent, was dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools.

                                  August 4, 2004- School Ballot Issues

According election results posted on 10 WBNS-TV website, over 70 percent of the school issues on the August 3rd ballot failed. The website showed over 70 of the 103 school issues as not passing. These results were hand counted from the website and are therefore strictly unofficial. But it would appear that yesterday was not a very good day at the polls for Ohio schools.  More official results should be available later today.

*  Jennifer Stewart, representing more than a third (11) of the Ohio Appalachian counties on the State Board of Education, has been elected to the National Association of State Boards of Education’s (NASBE) board of directors.  She will begin her two-year term in January 2005. Mrs. Stewart has attended many CORAS meetings since her election to the state board.

*  Nationally, the number of year-round schools grew 680 percent from 1987 to 2003, from 408 in 14 states to 3,181 in 46 states, according to the National Association for Year-Round Education. About 2.3 million students were in year-round schools last year.

*  It was announced in July that Ted Sanders, former Superintendent of Public Instruction in Ohio, has resigned as the president of the   Education Commission of the States effective in January 2005.

*  Special Note: Mark Tuesday,  September 14, 2004 on your calendar. CORAS will sponsor the program, Ohio School Funding Learning Maps, presented by Ohio Public School Dialogue and Edventures, Inc. The meeting will be held at the Olde Dutch Restaurant in Logan. Registration materials will be mailed to CORAS members in mid-August.

"There's no justification for factories down the street from a school resulting in students having more resources, teachers getting more rewards and taxpayers having less of a burden. Unfortunately, that's what happens in the unfair system that currently exists." ...editorial in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette, July 29, 2004

FACT SHEET ON UNEXPENDED EDUCATION FUNDS

Once again the Bush Administration and House Republicans are trying to mislead Americans about the insufficient funding they have provided for key education programs such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and vocational education.  The Republican rationale for their shortfall rests largely on an inaccurate charge that states have not spent the education funds that Congress has already provided.  In addition to being flat out wrong, this charge is disingenuous for the following reasons:

2003 End-of-Year Balances

Agency                         Un-obligated Funds             (in billions of dollars)

Defense..................................52.2

Transportation..........................  9.3

Agriculture..............................  8.2
Homeland Security......................  7.7

Education................................  4.9
Veterans Affairs.......................  4.3      

Unexpended funds are not unusual for federal agencies.  According to an OMB list of un-obligated balances, the Department of Education - with $4.9 billion -  is not alone.  Even the Bush White House still has $330 million, and the GOP-led Legislative Branch has yet to spend $1.5 billion.  In fact, every federal agency or organization listed by OMB has some un-obligated funds.

States are following the timeframe allowed by law.  Federal law allows states 27 months to obligate most federal K-12 education dollars, and up to 48 months after that to actually pay bills.  This allows for long-term planning and takes into account the fact that states are prohibited from spending funds until after the Department of Education has issued regulations for the operation of each program.  The Department of Education has been slow in issuing NLCB regulations, hampering the ability of states local school districts to spend funds.

States don't get lump-sum payments from the government; they get reimbursed - usually on a monthly basis - for costs they have already incurred for teacher salaries, school books, etc.  States pay-as-they-go, so necessary money for expenses such as teacher salaries often sit in their accounts for many months before the checks are actually written. 

The Republican calculations are misleading because they are blending two issues:  (1) obligated funds that have not yet been spent - but will be, and (2) funds that are cancelled and returned to the Treasury.   The fact is that very little of the money Congress allocates for education goes unspent.  For FY98, only about one-half of one percent (0.5%) of education funds were returned to the Treasury.  In other words, 99.5 percent of the money Congress allocated to education was spent.  This was $155 million dollars (of $30 billion) - a far cry from the $5.75 billion that the Republicans say states are now "sitting on."  In fact, Administration data indicate that states actually are spending K-12 education funds slightly faster than expected.

The Administration is using a bookkeeping gimmick to justify billions of dollars in education under-funding.  Counting unexpended balances as available money is no different than counting all the money in your checkbook on payday - money committed to mortgages, rent, food, medical care, and clothing - as un-obligated.

President Bush has consistently failed to invest in education by:

                      

- Under-funding NCLB by $9.4 billion next year, for a total funding shortfall of $27 billion;

- Failing to even put us on the path to fully funding special education; and
- Proposing to cut vocational education programs by more than $300 million.

Recently the State of Ohio announced there was an extra $10 million in lottery profits available for schools in FY 2004. According to the Ohio School Boards Association, a news release left the impression this was going to be a "shot-in-the-arm" for school districts. OSBA said the "extra" lottery profits provides just 3 cents per day for each of Ohio's 1.8 million school children.

According to the Education Commission of the States, 48 states have met or are partially on track to meeting 75% of the No Child Left Behind requirements — a 109% increase over 2003. All 50 states have met or are "partially on track" to meeting half of the 40 requirements. Five states — Connecticut, Kentucky, New York, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania — have met or are partially on track to meeting all 40.

• Shawn Jackson, public school teacher, Yellow Springs Exempted Village School District, South Charleston;
• * Jayne Burger, public school teacher, Gallipolis City School District, Gallipolis;
• Julia Simmerer, public school teacher, Brunswick City School District, Medina;
• Mary Villarreal, public school teacher, Fairfield City School District, Liberty Township;
• Mary Sebenoler, public school teacher, Columbus Public School District, Westerville;
• William Shriver, public school teacher, Mount Vernon City School District, Mount Vernon;
• Della Goodwin-Sebron, public school teacher, Cincinnati Public School District, Cincinnati;
• Eric Eye, public school teacher, Jackson Milton Local School District, Berlin Center;
• Kathleen Costello, chartered nonpublic school teacher, Diocese of Columbus, Holy Spirit School, Columbus;
• David Axner, school administrator, Chagrin Falls Exempted Village School District, Solon;
• Jay Parks, school administrator, Linwood Academy, Cincinnati;
• Douglas Lowery, school administrator, Hilliard Memorial Middle School, Grove City;
• Maureen Yoder, school administrator, Bellefontaine High School, Bellefontaine;
• James Uphoff, school board member, Wright State University, Dayton;
• * Sue DeWine, higher education, Marietta College, Marietta;
• Lawrence Johnson, higher education, University of Cincinnati, Loveland;
• Karen Wells, higher education, Lorain County Community College, Lorain

While salaries made slight gains, the cost of health insurance benefits increased an astounding 13 percent, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report.

* Students who took only the minimum college preparatory had lower retention (86%) and significantly higher rates of remediation (32%).

* Students who took less than the minimum core had even lower retention (78%) and much higher remediation rates (52%).

Read the June 2004, THE ISSUE. Click:    Read this month's issue.

The Columbus Dispatch reported today that one in four Ohio charter schools whose finances have been examined by state auditors since 2002 ended a fiscal year in the red. Ohio has 179 charter schools. State auditors have completed examinations of only 109. The Dispatch said 14 charter schools across the state have closed since the year 2000, often under financial duress.

• May 27, 2004- In The News

• May 26, 2004- Kansas School Funding Case

The Kansas Supreme Court has voided a May 11 lower-court ruling in a school-funding case that had ordered the state’s schools to shut down as of June 30, 2004.  The Court’s ruling, issued last Wednesday, reversed a County District Judge's order for the state to close its public school system and stop the flow of state aid to schools. The County District Judge declared  the Kansas school finance system to be unconstitutional.

• May 25, 2004- Compromise On Oversight Bill

According to the Associated Press, the Ohio House and Senate have worked out their differences over a proposal to increase oversight of the state's public employee retirement systems. The Governor is expected to sign the bill this week. The compromise would require the state's five public employee retirement systems to develop goals to increase the use of Ohio-based brokers and money managers, but the systems would not be required to set aside a specific amount of business for Ohio firms. AP also said the Ethics Commission ongoing investigation of the State Teachers Retirement System is expected to be completed this summer.

• May 24, 2004- HB 265

Current law protects school personnel if the use of force or physical restraint is reasonable and necessary in self-defense, if the purpose is to protect people and property, to stop a disturbance or to remove weapons and dangerous objects from a student. HB 265 expands the protection to include situations governed by the bill's provision regarding immunity in suits arising out of the discipline of a student. There is no immunity if the action is deemed excessive or carries a substantial risk of serious injury or is administered repeatedly or in a cruel manner. 

Read Bill Analyses, Click: HB 265 As Introduced

• May 21, 2004- Bogus Degrees

• May 20, 2004- "....A Two-Tiered Education System"

• May 19, 2004- CORAS Meeting & Golf Outing, June 15

• May 18, 2004- The GED Diploma

• May 17, 2004- Fifty Years Ago Today

"In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms." ....Excerpt from the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision of May 17, 1954 that ruled 'separate but equal' has no place in public education, as delivered by Chief Justice Earl Warren.

• May 14, 2004- Headlines: No End In Sight

• May 13, 2004- Superintendent Pay

• May 12, 2004- Website Lists Schools' Rankings

The Ohio Department of Education announced yesterday the availability of a new online tool that gives parents, educators and community leaders access to easy-to-understand information about their schools' performance. Every Ohio public school's performance, demographic data and analyses are now featured on a Web site, http://www.schoolresults.org/  The data comply with a requirement under the federal No Child Left Behind Act that information be publicly reported.

• May 11, 2004- In The News

• May 10, 2004- More On Value-Added Assessment

Interest in "value-added" assessment, the tracking academic progress of individual students over time, has been brought to the forefront in Ohio through the efforts of Jim Mahoney, Battelle for Kids and the research of Dr. William Sanders. In the last issue of Education Week, the article "Value Lessons" pointed out that a growing number of educators in England have been utilizing "value-added" since the early 1980s. Just this year, according to the EW report, the British government began producing "value-added" information and test results for all public schools schools in the country. Read the article in the May 5, 2004 Education Week. Click: Value Lessons

• May 7, 2004- Headlines: List Continues To Grow 

Cleveland public school administrators propose eliminating 873 employees - including more than 600 teachers - as part of the latest round of budget cuts. Slicing 618 teaching positions would save $61.5 million, with the other staff reductions adding to that total. The district faces a deficit of up to $100 million because of lower than expected tax collections and state funding.

If August levy fails, fall sports will pay the price, officials say

If district voters again defeat a school levy in August, Preble Shawnee High school will not play fall sports, district officials say.

And elsewhere:

AD Joan Dautell said that Fairborn will not cut any sports due to the defeat of a 9.9-mill, $5.6 million operating levy in March. But, students will face an increased price to participate.

Valley View will institute a $200 per-student per-activity fee beginning in the 2004-05 school year. Sherry Parr, superintendent of Valley View Local Schools, said that number could fall to $50 with a $100 cap per student if a levy passes in August. The sized of that levy have not been determined.

Washington schools seek 3.9-mill continuing levy
Aiming for the November ballot, the Washington Local Schools Board of Education last night voted unanimously to ask the Lucas County auditor to certify a new request for a 3.9-mill continuing levy.

Swanton parents raising money for school supplies
SWANTON - As Swanton Local School District officials continue efforts to offset a general operating fund deficit, parents and others in the community are rallying to pay for paper, pens, pencils, and other classroom supplies for the 2004-05 school year.

Henry Co. district to combine grade levels Patrick Henry's levy defeat leads to change
HAMLER, Ohio - Patrick Henry Superintendent Susan Miko called the March 2 ballot request a "status quo" levy, meaning things would stay pretty much the same if voters approved an additional 8.75-mills for the district. But the levy was defeated, and now things are not going to stay the same for the youngest members of the Henry County school district. Beginning this fall, all children in kindergarten, first, and second grades will be bused to Deshler Elementary, and all third and fourth graders will be transported to Malinta-Grelton Elementary.

Tight budgets squeeze more districts

3,000 Ohio Teachers to Lose Jobs

10 TV, WBNS Columbus, reported Thursday that the Ohio Education Association said 3,000 Ohio teachers will lose their teaching positions this year because of budget cutbacks.

 

*  State Senator Robert Gardner introduced SB 232 yesterday that requires the State Board of Education to establish the Ohio Regional Education Delivery System by July 1, 2007.

*  Legislators favoring video gambling have put together a plan for cities to vote on slot machines in Ohio's seven racetracks. According to the Columbus Dispatch, the plan was put together at a House Republican caucus on Tuesday. The proposal would give half the profits to college scholarship programs, 10 percent to early childhood initiatives such as Head Start and 40 percent for public school funding (about $107 per student statewide). The Associated Press reported that House Speaker Larry Householder said he believes cities would view the casino idea as a positive trade-off given that rural areas benefit from racetracks through the sale of grain for horses. Householder said, "So this is a way to allow the urban areas to also have a benefit." Editorial: More gimmickry and some strange reasoning.

To read the full article, click: Property Tax Feels Weight Of Demands

Source: Education Week...April 21, 2004

The Fair Taxation and Equal Education Task Force, based in Summit County, is sponsoring Project Chalkboard.  About a dozen large chalkboards will be moved to more than 100 locations in Ohio over a period of 7-10 days, arriving in Columbus for a Statehouse event on May 5, 2004.  Already more than 75 “chalkboard stops” have been identified.  At these stops, local school and community persons will conduct school funding information events and news conferences.  Rural Appalachian Ohio school districts need to be more active in this event. Add your school community to the "chalkboard stops." Complete information may be found on http://www.fixtheschools.org/.  You may also contact Mary Ann Isak at maisak@msn.com , 330-753-8552 or 330-697-0194.

State Senator Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, introduced a bill in the Ohio Senate yesterday that would place a two-year moratorium on the creation of new charter schools not affiliated with public school districts. During the two-year moratorium, a review would be conducted to examine the effectiveness of existing charter schools. In addition, the bill increases the fine from $100 to $1,000 for a charter school failing to report statistical data to the state. According to the Toledo Blade, State Representative Jon Husted, R-Kettering, said he doesn't believe the bill will make it to the Republican-controlled House.