As you likely read on any number of local or national news outlets, House Bill 68 did not go quietly into the night for the close of 2023. With the Ohio Senate quickly passing the measure through committee and out of the chamber in the first half of December, it headed to Gov. Mike DeWine for a signature…or veto. The bill bans gender affirming care and participation of transgender girls in sports. OSPA was engaged as an association as part of a coalition of health care providers to oppose the legislation.
Gov. DeWine delayed his action until the last possible day – Dec. 29. Had he taken no action, the bill would have become law. During the 10-day window in which he had to sign, the governor visited children’s hospitals, talked to parents and talked to transgender individuals. In the end he opted to veto the measure and announced plans to quickly institute administrative rules that would ban surgeries for minors experiencing gender dysphoria, collect data, and crack down on any rogue clinics providing substandard care to transgender individuals.
Republicans in the statehouse were not satisfied with the promise of new rules and House members quickly mobilized the weekend before New Year’s to whip votes for a veto override, presently planned for Jan. 10. At the moment, it does appear an override is likely. There is some hope that an alternative route could be taken – pass the standalone HB 6, which covers the transgender girls in sports issue. This bill is out of House committee and could receive a full chamber vote at any time. Advocates have been hitting the phones to try to persuade House members to vote against an override.
As you have read in other updates, OSPA has been working on HB 206, which would expand expulsion authority for students who have made a threat of violence or committed a violent act at school. The bill would allow a school board to adopt a policy granting the superintendent authority to expel a student for 180 school days – the equivalent of a school year – for a violent act or credible threat of violence. It also allows the superintendent to extend that expulsion for up to 90 days at a time in perpetuity should the student fail to meet criteria the superintendent sets. Among the requirements for return to school would be an assessment conducted by a school psychologist, psychologist or psychiatrist to determine if the student is a threat to students or staff. OSPA President-Elect Jennifer Glenn, OSPA Legislative Chair Melissa Bestgen and Executive Director Rachel Chilton attended a meeting with co-sponsor Rep. Monica Robb-Blasdel to discuss our concerns with the measure. Board member Erich Merkle provided substantial input prior to and following the meeting. We discussed the following topics:
- Requested an indemnification provision for school psychologists and others who would be making a call about whether a student is safe to return to school;
- Emphasized that the threat assessments that exist are only reliable at the acute time of the threat, not many months later, and that such assessments are more an art than a science;
- Requested that the existing multidisciplinary teams established by the SAFE Act of four years ago be the party responsible for deciding whether return-to-school criteria are met;
- Pushed the likelihood this bill would disproportionately impact students from minoritized backgrounds and students with disabilities.
The committee adopted a substitute bill that allows the superintendent to still make the final call but requires him or her to consult with a multidisciplinary team when doing so. A later amendment added indemnification language protecting the school psychologist, psychologist or psychiatrist who conducted the assessment from civil action. Ms. Chilton also received outreach from stakeholders at DEW, Disability Rights Ohio and the Ohio Poverty Law Center all seeking to know details of our concerns during the process. The bill did pass out of committee before winter break. We will continue to express concerns as it goes through the Senate.
Department of Education & Workforce
The Department of Education & Workforce got off to a rocky start. Although the budget’s provision to alter the makeup of the state education agency was slated to take effect Oct. 3, several members of the State Board of Education sued the state to block implementation of the change. The move from ODE to DEW includes the removal of most of the duties and powers of the State Board of Education. A judge issued a temporary restraining order to prevent implementation of DEW, but it was later lifted while the case continues through the process. Meanwhile, Gov. Mike DeWine appointed a temporary director of the new agency: Jessica Voltolini, the State Board of Education’s chief of staff. Ms. Voltolini has been with the department on and off going back to the mid 2000s. In October, State Board of Education President Paul LaRue issued a notice postponing its meeting; however, most members of the body met anyway. It was not streamed online and was primarily attended by reporters. Board Member and OSPA member Dr. Antoinette Miranda was among those in attendance.
Meanwhile, I was informed about behind the scenes shifts happening at DEW. The original intel from another association suggested the changes would divide up staff currently in the Office for Exceptional Children and move them elsewhere. We and other associations who work with OEC are concerned about the changes and the potential this has to result in reduced services to students. OSPA leadership agreed to send a form letter that another association created to push back on the changes. In October, Ms. Chilton was invited with Disability Rights Ohio and the Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities to meet with then interim Director Jessica Voltolini about the changes. I invited Frank Sansosti, coordinator at Kent State, to join. The director explained that only 15 jobs were shifted from OEC to be placed in other areas to ensure they’re “breaking down silos among program offices.” OEC leadership we are accustomed to - JoHannah Ward and Joe Petrarca - will continue in their roles. Those in the meeting pushed her on why this was thought to be a good idea and why the changes were made without communication to associations and parents. The group emphasized that this could diminish the expertise related to IDEA and other federal laws if those higher up do not understand the work and the requirements. Director Voltolini later contacted Ms. Chilton and assured her the changes would have no impact to the administration of our intern program and its related grant money.
Statehouse
Back at the Statehouse, SB 83, the controversial higher ed bill that would have restricted diversity training at public colleges and universities, sat dormant for several weeks as the sponsor, Sen. Jerry Cirino, worked out additional changes. It was back for a hearing the week of Oct. 30 where many positive changes were adopted. OSPA had originally testified on this bill pushing against a provision that would have banned higher education institutions from requiring DEI coursework for any degree. The bill was later amended to allow for exceptions in cases where such classes are required for program accreditation, among other exceptions. This alleviated our primary concern since our programs must include diversity training as part of NASP accreditation. This language was even further softened so that programs seeking an exception no longer have to request such a waiver but can instead merely report that they have mandatory diversity training. Although the bill is still problematic, the latest iteration also removed language barring strikes by public college and university employees. At first these changes did not derive enough support to get the bill out of committee, but removal of the language on strikes did eventually sway Rep. Gayle Manning to switch her vote from a nay to a yea. SB 83 left committee Dec. 6 and could be up for a floor vote early this year.
Also seeing some movement this fall is a new anti-transgender bill: HB 183. This would require all people in a public school or university to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender assigned at birth. OSPA is watching this bill closely but has not yet decided whether to provide testimony. We submitted testimony on HB 8, the “Parents Bill of Rights,” which many worry would require school personnel to out students to their parents. We joined the National Association of Social Workers – Ohio in a press conference in November that more broadly spoke to standards of care and ethics in the face of such legislation.
Children who fail to meet expectations on the third grade reading test no longer have to repeat third grade.
After disagreement between the Ohio House and Senate, the budget bill walked away with language to eliminate required retention under the Third Grade Reading Guarantee. It also makes changes to the nature of the state education department.
Although the House - which has been strongly in favor of eliminating the requirement - put the bill in their budget, this provision was removed in the upper chamber where senators in high positions remain committed to retention. The compromise language allows a parent, in consultation with the teacher and principal, to permit their child to advance to fourth grade. It also calls for intervention services that align with the science of reading with high dosage tutoring for students who continue to test below grade level until the child achieves a proficient score on the reading test. It also includes safe harbor language for those students who were in third grade for the school year that just ended.
Meanwhile, the Department of Education is officially no more. Enactment of the biennial state budget has replaced it with the Department of Education and Workforce, effectively negating most powers of the State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction it appoints. We will all be waiting to hear who will become the newly minted agency's director, a role now named by the governor.
The change is a result of the Senate's decision to add SB 1 to the budget bill. Although the House had been slow to give its support to that bill, it ultimately acquiesced when it became part of the larger spending package in exchange for maintaining its more generous version of the school funding formula.
What the change in name, leadership and focus will actually mean for the state's education agency has yet to be seen. OSPA remains well connected to leaders in the Office for Exceptional Children and Office of Licensure and expects relationships to continue.
The last couple months have been marked by a flurry of legislative activity. If the heavy schedule of the state budget process were not enough, the House and Senate also devoted much time to long hearings on bills impacting the LGBTQ+ community and higher education.
OSPA Executive Director Rachel Chilton was able to testify multiple times in the House and Senate on the state budget, specifically asking lawmakers to increase funding to our school psychology intern program. This money in the Department of Education budget provides the salary interns receive and is a long standing line item for which OSPA has advocated over the decades. The salary is meant to be based on the state teacher minimum salary schedule, but because of a legislative mistake six years ago, the teacher salary went up but the funding in our line stayed the same. This underfunding is what we sought to correct all along the way — ODE, governor's office, House and Senate — of the budget, but unfortunately did not prevail. The legislature even found compromise in a raise to the teacher minimum salary to $35,000, meaning our line item is now farther away from its intended level.
Controversial copycat legislation inspired by a Florida bill also saw addition to the state budget while in the Senate but was ultimately scrapped. SB 83, which bans employee strikes and restricts mandated diversity training at public colleges and universities, was added to the budget on the Senate floor, but during conference committee negotiations with the House, it was removed. OSPA and school psychologists testified against the measure months earlier because of a provision that would have forbidden university programs from requiring diversity training. Such a measure would have cost Ohio programs their NASP accreditation as such training is a requirement. Thankfully, an amendment early in the process modified that provision to make exceptions for programs that require diversity training as part of accreditation, licensure or federal law. It does, however, require programs to fill out paperwork seeking such an exception. The bill continued to be fought against by a variety of higher education stakeholders, including students. Nevertheless, the legislative majority has supported it as a means to ensure "intellectual diversity" on college campuses, where they say conservative views are being stymied. SB 83 will now continue hearings in the House, where it has seen support from majority members.
House updates to the biennial spending measure filtered more money into the school funding formula. The governor’s original proposal continued a gradual phase in of the formula but had based the formula on data from fiscal year 2018. The House opted to change the formula assumptions to more recent FY 2022 data. The Senate made additional tweaks to the formula that it argued improved the original Cupp-Patterson Funding plan, but during conference committee relinquished its stance in favor of the House version, which advocates have said puts more money in schools.
Additionally, both chambers increased voucher eligibility. The governor had proposed an increase to 400% of the federal poverty level, the House increased it to 450%, and the Senate made vouchers universally available but with means testing for families earning above 450% FPL.
The conference committee agreed to include a House bill to require school athletic coaches to undergo student mental health training.
For additional legislative updates on other bills, see the latest Legislative Lowdown in TOSP.
Yesterday the Ohio House passed the budget bill 17-19 with all but two democrats in support. The debate was a considerably short one compared to business as usual because of continued tensions between Speaker Jason Stephens and leadership rival Rep. Derrick Merrin. As a refresher, the start of the year marked one of infighting among republicans, most of whom backed farther right member Merrin for the speakership over Rep. Stephens. Rep. Stephens prevailed in the vote for House speaker only because he secured the support of all Democrats. That continued tension played out yesterday when Speaker Stephens refused to call on republican members in the Merrin camp who wanted to offer amendments to add to the budget things such as the transgender participation in sports ban (Save Women's Sports Act) and expanding school choice. Those bills remain out of the budget. Speaker Merrin allowed a motion to end debate that curtailed conversations and forced the vote.
We continue to struggle to gain support in the legislature for increasing funding to the School Psychology Intern line item. Despite submission of such an amendment by Republican Rep. Andrea White, no changes were made in the House and it remains flat funded at $3 million per year. Because this money is meant to provide a salary for interns at the minimum teacher salary schedule, the line is underfunded and has been for the last six years. The House included an amendment in this budget that would again increase the teacher minimum salary, which means our line will be even more underfunded if it continues to be ignored. I have a meeting with Sen. Andrew Brenner next week and will discuss this with him. I had previously also discussed this with Sen. Teresa Gavarrone.
I encourage you to flex your advocacy skills and reach out to your representative in the Senate. Be sure to contact the one who represents where you live as well as where you work, in case it's more than one senator. Give their office a call and ask for a conversation so you can explain what it is you do and why we need appropriate financial support for interns to ensure we can graduate more practitioners. Find your senator(s) here: https://ohiosenate.gov/members/district-map
The State Board of Education is in the process of adopting the latest version of the Praxis exam for school psychologists as a requirement for licensure in Ohio. Education Testing Service will retire the current Praxis version 5402 Aug. 31, and institute the new 5403. Because Ohio’s administrative code specifies the version that is accepted, the board must vote to adopt the last iteration.
One member of the board, Diana Fessler, the District 1 elected member from Bellefontaine, told the board that several years ago she had raised questions about certain examinations the board was asked to approve and had been allowed to take the exams to gauge their content. She described the questions as being at an 8th grade level. She therefore declared she would vote against this school psychology licensure exam because she is unable to review the test questions.
District 6 elected board member Antoinette Miranda, a school psychologist, responded to Ms. Fessler’s concerns, saying the test is “directly related to training and it’s directly related to coming out of a school psych program with no experience and what you should know.”
“The people that make up the test with ETS are school psychologists, they’re trainers…. The cut score generally, it’s not too low,” Dr. Miranda said. “This test is directly related to the training that students get.”
Member Fessler said she would still vote against the adoption of the new Praxis based on her own negative experience.
Meryl Johnson, the District 11 member from Cleveland, asked if the 5403 version is more challenging, to which Yenetta Harper, director of ODE’s Office of Educator Effectiveness, said the latest version is aligned to the current standards set by NASP, which is what programs are aligned to.
The board is expected to hold a committee vote in May and then will take up full board consideration in June.
A separate committee of the board voted out the rules associated with the new law to expand the developmental delay identification from ages 3-6 to 3-9, which was passed by the legislature late last year. The rules received no public comments, nor did any board members engage in discussion of the changes. As a result the rules were voted unanimously out of committee. They will head to the full board in May for approval.
During day two of the meeting, the board voted on a resolution offered jointly by bipartisan pair Brendan Shea (District 5-London) and Dr. Christina Collins (District 7-Medina) to discourage the legislature from passing a bill (SB 1) to strip the state board of the majority of its duties and convert ODE into the Department of Workforce and Education led by a governor’s appointee. The bill also demotes the superintendent of public instruction role down to one of board secretary.
The so-titled “Resolution to Preserve Transparency and Public Participation in Ohio K-12 Education” can be found HERE.
And as for the superintendent search, the board again voted to postpone awarding a contract to a search firm to start that process. Meanwhile Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction Stephanie Siddens earlier in the week announced she would be accepting the role of assistant superintendent at Upper Arlington City Schools in central Ohio effective in July.
The State Board of Education on Tuesday elected Paul LaRue as its president by a vote of 11-7. The DeWine appointee from Washington Court House bested elected Democratic member Christina Collins. His election also brought to a close the presidency of Charlotte McGuire, who was not nominated for the post.
The board also voted to reappoint Martha Manchester as board vice president. Also put up for role were Dr. Collins, who came in second, and member Brendan Shea. Mr. Shea in his bid for the role notably highlighted the attempted legislation to strip the board of most of its duties that failed to see completion in the statehouse last month. He also lamented the operation of the board and department and the lack of a regular budget committee of the panel.
Board member Shea in nominating Mr. LaRue for president highlighted the various teacher of the year awards Mr. LaRue has received for his time as a history teacher. He was also a finalist for Ohio Teacher of the Year. He said Mr. LaRue is well versed in literacy, which the board last fall identified as its top priority area in its budget proposal. He serves at the State School for the Blind and State School for the Deaf and on various workgroups of the board.
“I believe Paul’s background, expertise…and track record make him the right person to lead this board,” Mr. Shea said.
Mr. LaRue briefly pointed to his 29 years in the classroom in a rural community. He emphasized that what matters are children and collaboration. “Good things happen when positive people work together.” He said he would bring positive energy.
Board Member Michelle Newman when nominating Dr. Collins said the board would be best poised for success with Dr. Collins leading it. Dr. Collins has been in education for 15 years either in the classroom or as an administrator. She has also served as a literacy specialist and has focused on “relevant and impactful outcomes” to make education better in Ohio, Ms. Newman said.
Dr. Collins, a 10-year curriculum director from Medina, said she originally joined the board to ensure the board does meaningful work that moves Ohio forward in a way that is based in research and data. She highlighted the resolutions she offered and were adopted by the board. Among them were resolutions to waive consequences from report card data during the pandemic and to urge the legislature to repeal the retention element of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee. She also said workforce development is another subject that she works on outside of the board.
