Archives June 2000-December 2004

 

 News       June 2000-December 2004 News Archive

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Saturday that the Governor's Blue Task Force on Financing Student Success wrapped up 16 months of work on December 17th without figuring out how Ohio should equitably pay for public education.
 
"What the task force could not determine is how to pay for delivering education, no matter the wealth of the district," the Plain Dealer said. Then, the article went on to say,  the task force is preparing a report for Governor Taft with 15 recommendations. The report is due by the end of December and the Governor figures to use it to determine a budget for K-12 education.

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 

*   Average tuition at Ohio's state universities this academic year is just over $7,500, well above the national average of $5,132 reported this fall by the College Board. ....Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 20, 2004

*   Ohio’s starting teacher salaries fall short when compared with nearby states, according to an October report by the Legislative Office of Education Oversight. Ohio ranked last when compared with Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. ....Columbus Dispatch, December 20, 2004

*   The federal No Child Left Behind law will label thousands of Ohio special-education teachers, who have state licenses certifying they are trained to teach children with disabilities, as unqualified beginning this school year. And unless they take hours of classes or the law changes, many could lose their jobs by the end of the 2005-06 school year. NCLB requires that special-education teachers be rated as highly certified in up to four subjects, math, English, social studies and science. Most regular high-school teachers need to be certified in just one of those disciplines. ....Columbus Dispatch, December 19, 2004

*   The State Board of Education amended rules relating to Teacher Education and Licensure Standards. The amendments are in response to mandates in Senate Bill 2 and to provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Changes in the rules include the following: (1) Addition of a provision that would permit National Board Certified teachers to renew their licenses one time based on earning National Board certification; (2) Addition of a K-12 gifted endorsement; (3) Addition of the designation “ESEA Qualified” on the educational aide permits of paraprofessionals who meet the No Child Left Behind requirements for paraprofessionals; and (4) Incorporation of provisions to designate teacher-preparatory institutions as effective, conditional or low-performing. ....Ohio Department of Education, December 14, 2004

On Tuesday of this week the National Center for Education Statistics released the results on the performances of U.S. students from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). TIMSS, conducted every four years, is an assessment of fourth and eighth graders in mathematics and science. In 2003, the United States and 44 other countries participated in data collection at two grade levels. Twenty-five nations collected data on fourth-graders and 45 nations collected data on eighth-graders. TIMSS results are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000, with the international standard deviation set at 100.
 
U.S PERFORMANCE IN MATHEMATICS
 
2003 Performance at Grade Four
U.S. fourth-grade students scored 518 in mathematics, on average, exceeding the international average of 495. (25 nations)
 
2003 Performance at Grade Eight
U.S. eighth-grade students scored 504 in mathematics, on average, exceeding the international average of 466. (45 nations)
 
U.S. PERFORMANCE IN SCIENCE

2003 Performance at Grade Four
U.S. fourth-grade students scored 536 in science, on average, exceeding the international average of 489. (25 nations)

2003 Performance at Grade Eight
U.S. eighth-grade students scored 527 in science, on average, exceeding the international average of 473. (45 nations)

For more information click:  PDF version of the powerpoint presentation for TIMSS 2003

Current School Finance Litigation in the United States

School Finance Litigation
  

The Dayton Daily News said today that the State of Ohio must solve a shortfall of up to $5 billion as it develops a new two-year budget by June 30 of next year........and observers believe the legislature may cut the Local Government Fund by 50 percent over the biennium. The Daily News also reported that House Speaker-elect Jon Husted said local governments shouldn't budget to receive anything from the fund until after the state budget is prepared.

 
The Montgomery County Auditor said if the legislature were to eliminate the Local Government Fund, it would take up to 10.46 additional mills of local property taxes in his county to make up for the lost revenue. There is little doubt that similar results would occur in every Ohio county.
 
What are the implications for school funding? Cuts in state aid to schools? More school levies on the ballot? Increased reliance on local property taxes? More districts with fiscal emergencies? "Again, you're at the discretion of the voters," the Montgomery County Auditor told local school treasurers and government budget officials. "The idea that voters are going to put 10 more mills on themselves is doubtful."

According to a recent article in Education Week, some school choice advocates are worried about Margaret Spellings’ nomination to succeed U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige. They fear their cause will get crowded out in President Bush’s second term by a heightened focus on test-based accountability.

Today's Cleveland Plain Dealer published an article highlighting former State Representative Bryan Flannery's school-funding initiative petition.

 
The Plain Dealer said the Flannery proposal would:

*   Establish a commission that would determine what constitutes an adequate education for all children - special needs, vocational, gifted, poor - and what it would cost. The legislature would be required to pay for all of that cost, minus local property taxes equal to 20 mills (or $20 for every $1,000 of property value.) The makeup of the commission is not outlined in the proposal.

*   Discontinue all local school property taxes over 20 mills, and prohibit districts from going to the ballot to seek tax hikes for operating expenses. For high-wealth districts that lose revenue as a result, the state would be required to make up the difference. Flannery estimates local property taxes would be cut by at least $1.7 billion.

*   More than double Homestead Exemption benefits for elderly and disabled people.

*   Prohibit the state from raising sales, income or other taxes to pay for the commission's recommendation.  

There are only eight days left.Your help is needed to make this happen.

Download petition and instructions from www.flanneryforohio.com and collect signatures. Petitions must be sent to Bryan Flannery, 20169 Bradgate Lane, Strongsville, OH  44149 as soon as possible. The signed petitions must be filed with the state no later than December 21, 2004.      

 
Read the Cleveland Plain Dealer article. Click: New front in school funding battle
The Columbus Dispatch said the Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Financing Student Success failed again yesterday to reach a consensus. Controversy over the proposed task force recommendations intensified last month when a draft report was made public. Now, according to the Dispatch, Governor Taft is to meet privately with several educators on the Blue Ribbon Task Force. A spokesperson for the Governor said, "The governor wants to hear their thoughts on the recommendations before the report comes out."
 
The task force is supposed to finish its work December 17th, the Dispatch article said. 
According to a Los Angeles Times article, a provision that has been inserted into a federal spending bill that would require schools to devote at least part of a day each year to teaching about the U.S. Constitution. Schools receiving federal funding would be required to teach about the Constitution on September 17, the anniversary of the document's signing in 1787. The provision would apply to all schools, elementary through college, that receive federal aid.
 
The L.A. Times said education groups are concerned that the provision could be the "opening wedge in a campaign by Washington to influence what schools teach." A spokesperson for American Association of School Administrators (AASA) said, "We think it's great that Congress really wants to make sure that every child understands the Constitution. But we hope that members of Congress will remember the Constitution itself when they make policy. And the 10th Amendment clearly states that education is a state's right."
 
Source: "Mission to Mandate Teaching of Constitution Inserted Into Bill," Los Angeles Times, December 4, 2004

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.

  Garfield Elementary School, Steubenville City School District, is one of the 14 Ohio schools nominated by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to be considered for the U.S. Department of Education’s 2005 No Child Left Behind—Blue Ribbon Schools award. Garfield was the only school nominated from the 29 county Ohio Appalachian region.  ...Ohio Department of Education, December 3, 2004
 
*   The Ohio Department of Education reported yesterday that 54.5 percent of the 127,737 third-graders who took the Third-Grade Reading Achievement Test in October 2004 passed. Last October (2003), 46.3 percent passed. By the end of the 2003-04 school year, the passage rate had improved to 78 percent.  ...Associated Press, December 7, 2004

The nation's 15-year-olds make a poor showing on a newly released international test of practical math applications, ranking 24th out of 29 industrialized nations, behind South Korea, Japan and most of Europe. U.S. students' scores were comparable to those in Poland, Hungary and Spain. Results of the test, known as the Program for International Student Assessment, were released Monday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of industrialized nations. ...USA Today, December 7, 2004

  The topic for discussion at the Tuesday, January 25, 2005 CORAS meeting at the Olde Dutch Restaurant in Logan will be FUNDING OHIO'S SCHOOLS: WHAT'S BEING PROPOSED FOR THE NEXT BIENNIUM (FY 2006-2007) AND BEYOND? , The program will include Susan Tavakolian, Executive Director, Office of Budget and Planning, Ohio Department of Education; Paul Marshall, Executive Director, Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Financing Student Success; Bryan Flannery, Former State Representative and sponsor of the Flannery Education Initiative Petition; and John Brandt, Executive Director, Ohio School Boards Association. Registration materials will be mailed to CORAS members in early January. Mark this date on your calendar.
 
*   On Tuesday, March 15, 2005 the Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools and the Southeast Region of the  Ohio School Boards Association will co-sponsor the program SUPERINTENDENTS AND SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS: AREN'T WE IN THIS THING TOGETHER?  OSBA Director of School Board Development, Rob Delane, will speak on the topic, "Aren't We In This Thing Together?" A panel of superintendents and school board members will conduct a follow-up discussion. The location for this meeting will be announced later. Mark this date on your calendar.
 
*   Planning is currently underway for the Thursday, April 28, 2005 (tentative) Samuel I. Hick Executive-In-Residence program sponsored jointly by CORAS and Ohio University College of Education. The annual CORAS summer meeting and golf outing is set for Tuesday, June 14, 2005 at EagleSticks Golf Club and Inn, Zanesville. Mark these dates on your calendar.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported yesterday that nearly 130 Ohio school districts could be removed from the "needs Improvement" list  under a bill adopting new standards for applying the New Child Left Behind Act. The Ohio Senate approved the bill Wednesday and it now shifts to the House of Representatives where a vote is expected later this month.
 
The Plain Dealer said that current law breaks students into grading groups to track standardized test results. If just one of those groups fails in reading or math, the entire district could be placed into a "needs improvement" category and subjected to sanctions.  The bill that passed the Senate Wednesday states that a failing-grade group, as long as others have shown academic progress over the previous year, will no longer drop a district into the lower category.

"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 

From the Bryan Flannery web site.
 
There are three weeks left to make this happen.  Download petitions and instructions. Help change Ohio for the better!

The Ohio Supreme Court issued four DeRolph decisions.  The third decision was reconsidered and thus set aside.  The fourth decision admonished the legislature to give the school funding system a complete systematic overhaul in accordance with the terms of DeRolph I & II

DeRolph I & II clearly stipulated that the system of school funding must undergo a complete systematic overhaul.  Among the factors the Court found that contributed to the unworkability of the system and must be eliminated are:

v     The operation of the school foundation program (no relationship between the level of funding and the actual cost of an adequate education)

v     Emphasis on property tax

v     “Phantom” revenue

v     Unfunded mandates

v     Lack of strict academic standards (which include input standards or standards of opportunity) 

The initiative petition developed by Bryan Flannery, a former State Representative, responds directly to the flaws the Court found in the system.  It requires that the costs for the various categories of students—regular, special education, vocational, gifted, disadvantaged and other special needs—be based on essential learning resources inherent in a thorough and efficient system. 

The petition makes public K-12 education an entitlement that requires the state to fully fund education with the local involvement of 20 mills on property.  The provisions in the Flannery Initiative Petition effectively and succinctly respond to the flaws enumerated in the DeRolph decisions. 

Download the petition from www.flanneryforohio.com and collect signatures at basketball games and other school events.  Petitions must be sent to Bryan Flannery, 20169 Bradgate Lane, Strongsville, OH  44149 by December 15.  

Violent school crime has been cut in half over the past 10 years, according to a report released Monday by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Center for Education Statistics. This annual report examines crime occurring in school as well as on the way to and from school. The report said violent crime against students in schools fell by 50% between 1992 and 2002, with young people more often targeted for violence away from school.
 
The report also said:
 
• In 2003, 22% of students in grades 9-12 reported using marijuana during the preceding 30 days. That compares with 18% in 1993 and 27% in 1999.

• About 45% of high school students in 2003 said they had at least one alcoholic drink in the 30 days before they were surveyed, about the same as in 1993 and down from a recent high of 52% in 1995.

• A third of students in grades 9-12 said that someone had offered, given or sold them an illegal drug on school property in 2003. That number has essentially remained the same over the past decade.

Read the report. Click:  NEW! Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2004

*   In addition to their normal progression from elementary to middle school to high school, at least four in 10 students change schools one or more times by the time they are 17 years old. ....Associated Press, November 28, 2004
 
*   An investigation of Head Start agencies by the Columbus Dispatch found that nearly 70 percent of money intended for preschool education of poor children in Ohio is going unspent, and nearly 8,000 eligible children are not receiving help. ....Columbus Dispatch, November 28, 2004 

*   More than 26,500 limited English proficient students were enrolled in the state's elementary and secondary public schools during the 2003-2004 school year, according to the Ohio Department of Education. This represents a 33 percent increase over the number reported three years ago and a 110 percent increase over the number from 10 years ago. ....Dayton Daily News, November 29, 2004

*   In his column today, Lee Leonard said the current "school-funding system will remain for three basic reasons: (1) Ohioans won’t give up their constitutional right to vote on school taxes, (2) property taxes provide a stable source of revenue and (3) the Buckeye State is too diverse for a one-size-fits-all method of distributing the money." ....Columbus Dispatch, November 29, 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.

According to the Ohio Job & Family Services September 2004 Civilian Labor Force Estimates (the latest data by county available) 23 of the 29 Ohio Appalachian counties had unemployment rates above the national average. Unemployment rates in 21 Ohio Appalachian counties exceeded the state average. In six counties, including Coshocton, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum and Perry, the September unemployment rate was above 10 percent,  ranging from 10.3 percent  to 15.8 percent.
 
The Columbus Dispatch reported Saturday  that Ohio’s October 2004 jobless rate was 6.3 percent, almost a full percentage point higher than the U.S. average of 5.5 percent.
Congress has approved and sent to the President a bill updating special education requirements. The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) said the bill will:
 
   Broaden the ways for schools to identify special education pupils, allowing schools to reach children in earlier grades and reduce the relatively high share of minority children who are tracked toward special education. 
 
*   Give districts the flexibility to spend up to 15 percent of federal special education money on services to children who are not in special education, but who may need extra help to succeed in regular classrooms. 
 
*   Regarding the issue of classroom discipline, AASA said the bill maintains federal protections that require schools to show that a disabled child's misbehavior is not a result of a disability or of the school's failure to provide services that could have prevented the outburst. But if a review determines that the misconduct is unrelated to the disability, the school could expel the pupil.
 
The President is expected to sign the bill. 
The Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force On Financing Student Success met yesterday to finalize their report to the Governor. The task force recommended some changes to finance Ohio's public schools. But, according to newspaper reports, legislators instantly dismissed them. The Columbus Dispatch said the group could not reach agreement on even the most-basic issues. The Dispatch added, "The divisions among the 35 lawmakers, educators, and business and community leaders underscore the uncertainty surrounding any proposal."
 
Some published comments:
Senator Jacobson said, "I will work to defeat it." (Akron Beacon Journal and Cincinnati Enquirer) Senator Jacobson told colleagues on the panel that he will work against a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution that, if approved by voters, would allow real-estate tax revenues generated in school districts to increase, within limits, as property values grow. (Columbus Dispatch)
 
Senator C. J. Prentiss said, "We spent 16 months working on something that I frankly feel will fail." (Columbus Dispatch) and "I've been saying all along that we need a Plan B because what we are proposing is not going to pass the General Assembly." (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
 
House Minority Leader Chris Redfern said he doubts that many of his fellow Democrats would support the amendment. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
 
Paul Marshall, executive director of the task force, conceded that winning approval for the constitutional amendment wouldn't be easy. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
 
Since it appears the Governor's Task Force is struggling, there is another "game in town." Check out former State Representative Bryan Flannery's website.
 

Participate in the school funding reform petition drive.  Click on http://www.flanneryforohio.com/ to download the official petition and instructions

 

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

*   The State Board of Education is considering a proposal that would allow students to graduate from high school even if they haven't passed the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT). A report by the Task Force on Quality High Schools for a Lifetime of Opportunity recommends an appeals process that would allow students to graduate if they could show in another way that they have learned the academic standards measured by the graduation test. It suggests using college entrance exams such as the SAT or ACT as an alternative to the OGT.  Any changes would require the approval of the Legislature. ....Associated Press, November 17, 2004

*   School Districts currently must show that students in each of three grade spans (grades K-4, 5-8 and 9-12) improve annually in math and reading, a major tenet of the No Child Left Behind law. A bill introduced in the Ohio Senate yesterday would allow districts to show progress in just one of those grade spans to avoid a series of sanctions. If passed, the bill would be implemented immediately, according to an Ohio Department of Education official. ....Columbus Dispatch, November 17, 2004

*   Ohio high schools need to be revamped, according to a report adopted yesterday by the State Board of Education. The report, by the Task Force on Quality High Schools for a Lifetime of Opportunity, recommends Ohio create smaller, more-personalized schools, offer challenging courses and provide students with more hands-on learning experiences such as internships. ....Columbus Dispatch, November 17, 2004

*   Ohio charter schools will receive more than $376 million in public money this year, based on the state's November payments compiled by the Coalition for Public Education. ....Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 17, 2004

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.

  Twenty school districts have reached fiscal watch or fiscal emergency status, according to the Ohio Auditor's office. ....Toledo Blade, November 15, 2004
 
*    "Many groups, including the Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of Schools, and the Coalition of Rural Appalachian Schools, which was formed in 1988, continue to fight for fairness in public school financing." ....Toledo Blade, November 14, 2004  
Read the article. Click: Effort to fix system is decade old 
 
*    Statewide (Ohio), just slightly more than 3,400 of the nearly 8,500 Head Start Plus slots are filled. Enrollment is down this year because of the new eligibility restrictions and a tedious approval process, Head Start Plus directors say.  ....Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 12, 2004 

*   Studies routinely cited as evidence that home-schooled students perform better than public school students don't prove anything because there are huge, untested segments of the home-school population that may be failing, according to many researchers.  ....Akron Beacon Journal, November 15, 2004  Read ABJ article. Click:  Claims of academic success rely on anecdotes, flawed data analysis

Nationally, between 347,000 and 544,000 students in grades 10 through 12 left school each year from 1990 through 2001, according to a national study completed last month, according to the Toledo Blade. The Blade said in the 34,000-student Toledo Public Schools, 3,464 pupils entered high school as freshmen in the fall of 1999. Four years later, there were only 1,532 students in the senior class.
 
On Tuesday, November 16, 2004 at 8:00 p.m. PBS television will broadcast a program highlighting successful dropout prevention efforts. Paint Valley Local School District (Ross County, and a CORAS member) is included in the TV program for their efforts in reducing high school dropouts, according to Superintendent Phil Satterfield. 

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.

  In 1999, the federal government estimated the number of students being home schooled to be around 850,000. By 2003, the number had jumped to somewhere between 1.7 and 2.1 million students, according to data from the National Home Education Research Institute. Some experts argue that home schooling is the fastest-growing form of education in the country.
 
*   A recent Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll shows that 42 percent of adults favor voucher initiatives while 56 percent oppose them. Government-supported voucher programs are in several states including Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Maine, and Vermont.
 
*   According to the Center for Education Reform, an organization that advocates for charter schools, there were nearly 3,000 charter schools in 37 states and the District of Columbia in January 2004. The schools enroll some 685,000 students.
 
*   Public school choice is gaining popularity according to Education Week’s Quality Counts 2004. The report found that 44 states (compared to 32 states the year before) have open-enrollment programs in place.
Did you know that nationwide between 1991-92 and 2001-02 school years there was a 13.4% increase in public school students and a 23.3% increase in the number of teachers?

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

 

A new report by National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) shows that while progress was made during the 1970s and 1980s in reducing high school dropout rates and increasing high school completion rates, these rates have since stagnated. The report includes four rates to provide a broad picture of high school dropouts and completers in the United States: the event dropout rate, the status dropout rate, the status completion rate, and the 4-year completion rate. Each rate provides unique information about the state of high school education.
 
Read about each "rate" by clicking on the following.
Event Dropout Rates
Status Dropout Rates
Status Completion Rates
4-Year Completion Rates
Data Considerations
 
To read the full report, Click: NEW REPORT! Dropout Rates In the United States: 2001 
According to the Ohio Department of Education there were 286 school tax issues on the November 2nd ballot. Election results show 144 issues passing and 142 issues failing. The November 2004 passage rate was 50.35%. The five-year, 2000 through 2004, November passage rate is 59.28%.
 
                                    Tax Issues         Passage Rate
November 2004.............286.....................50.35%
November 2003.............221.....................47.96%
November 2002.............189.....................59.26%
November 2001.............162.....................66.67%
November 2000.............252.....................74.60%
 
To view the November 2004 results by school district, Click:  Results by District
The CORAS/COE Leadership & Research Committee met on October 19th to develop and refine their new research project. The primary purpose of the meeting was to assist the researchers in the design of the case study protocols dealing with board-superintendent relationshipsThe overarching research question to be answered is: What is the character of communication between boards and superintendents in school districts with different demographic characteristics?  Five school districts will be selected for case studies from among the highest and lowest socio-economic quartiles in urban, suburban-small town and rural locales in Ohio.
 
The committee agreed on six subordinate research questions, which would provide a beginning point for developing interview questions. Those research questions are:

 

  • 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?
CORAS members will updated periodically on the progress of the research project.
 
For more information on the Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools/College of Education research project,

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

The study, Funding Gap 2004,  by the Education Trust found that school districts in high-poverty areas in 25 states received less money from state and local sources than their wealthier counterparts. When adjusted to account for additional costs associated with an equal education for children from low-income families, 36 states were found to have funding gaps.

The Education Trust makes several recommendations to states for easing the funding gap:

• Increasing the share of state funding for education;

• Reducing reliance on local property taxes to pay for education;

• Targeting more aid toward children from low-income families; and

• Promoting budget practices that give schools within each district the same amount of per-pupil funding, with adjustments for students living in poverty.

The following message is from the American Association of School Administrators.
 
Inspired by the steps taken by Barrington Public School District in New Hampshire, AASA is starting a nationwide project to bring increased attention to the federal shortfall of funding special education.  AASA has created a template for every district to bill the federal government for their unpaid share of special education funding.
 
In 1975, Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA).  Recognizing that schools were being asked to provide more services, Congress promised to pay 40 percent of the Average per Pupil Expenditure for every student in special education.  Currently, Congress is barely at 19 percent instead of the 40 percent originally promised.  Despite recent increases in IDEA funding, at the rate of increases of $1 billion a year, Congress will never reach its 40 percent commitment.
 
By billing the federal government for their unpaid portion of special education, school districts across the country can send the message that the federal government is passing its burden onto local school districts.  The invoice would be best issued on your school district letterhead.  You can access a template for this invoice by clicking on http://www.aasa.org/government_relations/invoice_for_unpaid_federal_share.xls.  When you get the prompt, you can save the template as a document on your computer.  This prompt will show up when you click on the above link.
 
You will need three pieces of information to fill it out: how many students your district serves under IDEA, how much you received from the federal government for IDEA and how much your district spent in total on special education services.  Just plug them into the above spreadsheet and the outstanding balance will automatically pop up. Please send a copy of this invoice to all of the members of your Congressional Delegation.  You can find your members of Congress by clicking on http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=AASA Also please copy AASA (Attn: Mary Kusler) on what you send to your Congressional Delegations as AASA plans on tracking the efforts of its membership.

If you have any questions or concerns, contact Mary Kusler at mkusler@aasa.org or 703-875-0733. 
Will you be attending the OSBA Capital Conference? The Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools and the Ohio University College of Education have recently completed a series of studies titled, “Who Will Lead Our Schools?” The results of this study will be discussed at the OSBA Conference in November. The session will be held from 9:00 - 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, November 10th at the Columbus Convention Center.  The presentation focuses on “growing your own leadership" — what boards and administrators can do. The CORAS/OU presenters are Aimee Howley, Max Evans, Larry Burgess and Jerry Vinci. Mark this date/time on your calendar! (Pass this information on to members of your Board of Education.)
A member of the U. S. House Education Committee has called for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation of two U.S. Department of Education grants. The grants were awarded to the Arkansas education department for an online learning project it set up with K12 Inc. and to the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE), a project of the Education Leaders Council (ELC). The grants total almost $45 million, according to Education Week.

EW said the grant involving K12 Inc. was awarded even though the project did not meet U.S. Education Department grant criteria and peer reviewers had ranked at least one other project higher. K12 Inc., based in McLean, Virginia, was founded by William J. Bennett.

The letter calling for the investigation said the ABCTE award disregarded two out of three reviewers’ rejections of the project. Deputy Secretary of Education Eugene W. Hickok was a founding member of the ELC, the Education Week article said.

Twenty-five education, civil rights, and other groups are forming a coalition to propose changing how the No Child Left Behind law measures academic progress, reducing the amount of testing required, and replacing “sanctions that do not have a consistent record of success” with interventions that enable schools to improve student achievement. The American Association of School Administrators, the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders, and the National Education Association are among the organizations signing on to the statement.
The groups emphasize their support for the NCLB objectives of strong academic achievement for all children and elimination of achievement gaps, and support for an accountability system that helps achieve such aims. But they call for “significant corrections” to the law.

Another group called the Achievement Alliance, which includes the Education Trust and the Business Roundtable,  formed a few weeks ago to support the No Child Left Behind law and promote a better understanding of its provisions.

Read the Education Week article. Click: Groups Offer Changes for School Law

The New York Times said yesterday that charter schools "has become one of the most contentious issues in education."  The Times pointed to the following challenges to charter schools.

*   Washington state passed a law in March to allow charter schools, but is now facing a referendum on the November 2nd  ballot that seeks to repeal it. 

*   A Chicago plan to close 100 failing schools and replace some with charter schools has provoked protests.

*   In Detroit, an entrepreneur offered $200 million to create 15 charter schools, but the teachers union and some parents persuaded the State Legislature to block the proposal.

  In Massachusetts and Ohio, school budget problems aggravated by the loss of money to charter schools have touched off a movement against them.

*   Florida and California are tightening regulations after corruption scandals.

Today, there are 3,000  publicly financed, privately managed charter schools operating in 40 states, according to the NY Times. 

Twenty-three Ohio Appalachian counties will be selecting a representative to the State Board of Education on November 2nd. The candidates from District 9, containing 11 Appalachian counties (Perry, Hocking, Muskingum, Coshocton, Morgan, Athens, Meigs, Guernsey, Noble, Monroe and Washington), are: David Daubenmire, 50 Woody Knoll Drive, Thornville,  William E. Moore, 14 1/2 Maple Avenue, Woodsfield, and Jennifer Stewart, 2775 Martin Road, Zanesville.
Colleen D. Grady, 18782 South Inlet Drive, Strongsville, Robin C. Hovis, 188 North Washington Street, Millersburg, and Ed Lepisto, 1842 Fishermans Trail, Madison, are candidates seeking a seat on the state board from District 5. Holmes County is the only Appalachian county in District 5.
Jane Sonenshein, 6143 Kilrenny Drive, Loveland, is the only candidate listed from District 10 with eleven Appalachian counties (Adams, Brown, Clermont, Gallia, Highland, Jackson, Lawrence, Pike, Ross, Scioto, and Vinton).

*   Moyer and Connally also clashed over the role of the court. Connally, saying she believes the Constitution is a living document, referred to school funding and said the court must enforce its rulings. ....Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 22, 2004

*   Warren Appeals Court Judge William O’Neill broke ranks with the three other associate justice candidates by blasting the state legislature for not fixing school-funding problems.  The Ohio Supreme Court, in four rulings, has found the system of financing public schools unconstitutional.  "I believe the Ohio General Assembly is in contempt of court,’’ O’Neill said. " When the state legislature encroaches on the Constitution," he said, "They are entitled to no deference. They are on forbidden ground."....Columbus Dispatch, October 22, 2004
Average undergraduate tuition at Ohio's four-year public universities was $4,973 in 2001-02, climbing to $6,822 last year. ....Akron Beacon Journal, October 22, 2004

*   More than eight years after they were launched as a bold experiment in education, Texas' charter schools as a whole are performing well below other public schools on state tests, according to a new review of data. ....Dallas Morning News, October 21, 2004

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  

The Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools (CORAS) held meetings on September 14, 2004 and October 12, 2004 focusing on school funding and candidates seeking statewide offices in the November election. Nearly 90 people attended the two meetings.

The September meeting in Logan offered participants an opportunity to experience the School Funding in Ohio Learning Maps developed by Edventures, Inc. and Ohio Public School Dialogue. Dan Romano, Edventures, Inc. , presented the learning maps. Table coaches were Dick Murray, Keith Richards, Forest Yocum, Paul Mock, Barb Hansen, Rosemary Tolliver, and Barbara Spragg. Ron Bickert and Max Evans represented the Ohio Public School Dialogue.
Presentations at the October meeting in Zanesville included an update on the Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Financing Student Success, by Russ Harris, OEA Government Services, a discussion of candidates favorable to public education, led by Paul Folmer, Ohioans for Educational Justice, and a look at the escalating school funding crisis in Ohio, by William L. Phillis, Executive Director, E&A Coalition.
The next CORAS meeting is set for Tuesday, January 25, 2005. The program and location will be announced soon.
The following is an excerpt from an article published Sunday, October 17, 2004, in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Among other things, the article discusses the school-funding issue of equity or adequacy.
The Plain Dealer said:
Lawsuits remain active in 27 states, including Texas, New York and Kansas. Nine states including Ohio have funding systems in place that have been ruled unconstitutional.  The first wave of those lawsuits, which started in California in 1971, focused almost entirely on equity. That shifted in the late 1980s when reformers started to challenge the adequacy of the finance systems. What's the difference? Policy analyst Andrew Rotherham likens equity to Kurt Vonnegut's 1962 story "Harrison Bergeron." The story describes a society in which everyone is equal. Fleet people wear weights to slow them down. Attractive people wear masks. Intelligent people wear devices in their ears that pipe in distracting noise. The point? "Equity" equalizes funding levels in an arbitrary way. "Adequacy," on the other hand, provides the resources children need to meet demanding new academic standards. "I'd argue that adequacy is the best way to ensure equity," said Rotherham,  director of the 21st Century Schools Project at the Progressive Policy Institute. 
Some might question Rotherham's analogy, but whether it be equity or adequacy, the Ohio General Assembly and the Governor may not "deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws," according to the Fourteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution.

Read the full article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Click:  • Educators, lawmakers struggle to find formula that passes test

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."

American high school students are no better prepared for college today than they were 10 years ago, according to a new study released yesterday by ACT. The New York Times said the ACT study found that the proportion of students taking a minimum core of college preparatory courses, four years of English and three years each of mathematics, science and social studies, had risen only slightly in 10 years: to 56 percent in 2004, from 54 percent in 1994.
Kati Haycock, director of the Education Trust, said the ACT report was useful in focusing attention on the need to improve high schools. Haycock said, "There has been a belief that if we got kids off to a better start, the problems in high school would fix themselves. That has not happened. What we're learning is that education is not like an inoculation, where if you do it once, you are set for life. It is more like nutrition, where you have to do it right and then keep doing it right."
Read the New York Times Report. Click:  Study of College Readiness Finds No Progress in Decade
Reprinted form the October, 2004 Teachers Magazine.
All responses except the first one are drawn from an annual survey of 800 registered voters conducted by Lake Snell Perry & Associates for Education Week and the Public Education Network. The first question is from a CBS News poll.