June 25, 2012

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The State Board of Education, Debe Terhar president, met on June 11 and 12, 2012 at the Ohio School for the Deaf, 500 Morse Road in Columbus, Ohio.

MEETING ON MONDAY, June 11, 2012

The State Board held a 119 Hearing on Rule 3301-51-08, Parentally Placed Nonpublic School Children. The Rule was amended to include changes as result of recently adopted legislation creating the Jon Peterson Scholarship Program, which provides vouchers for qualifying students with special needs to use at qualifying private schools and service providers. No one testified about the Rule changes.

The Executive Committee
The Executive Committee, chaired by President Terhar, announced that the State Board had received a letter of resignation from Dennis Reardon effective June 8, 2012. The committee also discussed the evaluation of the Superintendent, and requested that Board members return the evaluation form as soon as possible.

The last item for discussion was the development of the State Board of Education's goals and action plan. According to the Ohio Revised Code, the State Board is required to develop goals every two years and report the goals and plan for achieving the goals to the governor and Ohio General Assembly. Over the next few months the Board will be working on the goals, to be completed by July 2013. Currently, the State Board is making efforts to achieve five goals outlined in Ohio's Race to the Top grant. These goals state that Ohio's schools will:

• Increase the state's on-time graduation rate by 0.5 percent each year.
• Reduce graduation rate gaps by 50 percent by 2014.
• Reduce performance gaps by 50 percent.
• Reduce the gap between Ohio and the best performing states in the nation by 50 percent.
• More than double college enrollment for 18 and 19 year olds.

Achievement Committee
The Achievement Committee, chaired by Angela Thi Bennett, discussed the revision of the Early Learning Standards. The revised standards have been posted on the ODE website. There have been over 600 comments, and so far the responses have been positive.

The committee also discussed some proposed changes for the assessment rules, Chapter 3301-13. The changes basically align the rules with current ODE procedures. However, the changes are only temporary, because when the new assessments are implemented in 2014-15 the rules will need to be updated again.

The committee received an update on the new online assessments being developed through Ohio's work with the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC). The update included information about PARCC's technology readiness tool, assessment procurement status, and implementation, supports, and resources.

The committee also received an update on the proposed operating standards for internet-based community schools. The State Board is not required to take any action on these standards, which were developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction with the Governor's Office of 21st Century Education. According to HB153, the standards are to be submitted to the General Assembly by July 1, 2012.

Jeff Hardin made a presentation on the Third Grade Guarantee, and showed how many students in Ohio are in need of early reading intervention. According to his data, about 80 percent of students do not need reading intervention, but the remaining twenty percent need added assistance to become proficient readers on grade level.

Capacity Committee
The Capacity Committee, chaired by Tom Gunlock, considered the following items:

Dropout Prevention and Recovery Performance Measures for Community Schools: The committee approved Dropout Prevention and Recovery Performance Measures for Community Schools, which, once approved by the full Board, will be sent to the General Assembly as required by HB153.

Chairman Gunlock reviewed the history of the development of these standards, saying that they were added and then removed from SB316 (Lehner) Mid Biennium Review - Education, obligating the State Board of Education to comply with current law and adopt them by July 1, 2012. The next steps for the ODE include 1) collecting data on the measures and 2) developing benchmarks for the measures.

Since the Capacity Committee had deliberated on a draft of these standards before the introduction of SB316, there are three "report only" measures that the committee needed to discuss: graduation rate; achievement as evidenced by the passage of the high assessments; and student progress or growth. The committee also recommended attendance rate, post-secondary credits earned, industrial credits earned, military enlistment, job placement, and other student outcome data as report-only measures. Currently, data on some of these measures are not being collected by the ODE.

According to Mr. Gunlock, the goal of the State Board is to assist the General Assembly in making a fair accountability system for dropout recovery schools. Although student growth and progress is important, the goal of these schools should be for the students to graduate, and dropout recovery schools that are not helping students graduate should close.

SEED Foundation Early College Preparatory Boarding School Contract. Bill Zelei, ODE Associate Superintendent, Division of Accountability and Quality Schools, and Jessica Spears, ODE Division of Accountability and Quality Schools, provided the committee with an update about the contract negotiations with the SEED Foundation to operate an Early College Preparatory Boarding School in Cincinnati, Ohio. The committee has scheduled an extra meeting on June 26, 2012 to review the contract with the SEED Foundation. The full Board is expected to consider the contract at the July 2012 Board meeting.

Expenditure Standards: The committee adopted an intent to adopt resolution to approve and also rescind expenditure standards following a discussion led by Dr. Zelei, and Eric Bode, Executive Director, Quality School Choice and Funding. The standards are required by HB153 (Amstutz), which directs the State Board of Education to adopt the standards by June 30, 2012. However, the General Assembly is expected to make changes in the law through SB316, which would necessitate that the expenditure standards be rescinded, and possibly amended, based on the changes in the law.

The standards determine how to calculate a total "classroom" instructional expenditure and a total "non-classroom" instructional expenditure for each school district annually. The calculations will enable the ODE to rank school districts by expenditure per student, within groupings of like districts, and then rank school districts by classroom and non-classroom expenditures. The information about rank will be included on each local report card.

Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES) Pilot Program Update: Lori Lofton, ODE Senior Executive Director, Center for the Teaching Profession; Jim Herrholz, Association Superintendent, Division of Learning; and Kathy Harper, ODE Office of Equity and Talent, presented information about the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System Pilot Program and information about the May 25, 2012 Educator Evaluator Symposium, in which over 2500 educators participated.

The committee received information about feedback collected throughout the year regarding the OTES model, which school districts can choose to use to implement teacher evaluation systems aligned to the OTES Framework. The feedback has been used to revise the model. Currently 138 local education associations are participating in the pilot program and MGT of America has been contracted by the ODE to collect data about the pilot, including survey results and case study findings. The ODE will also enlist the Ohio Educational Research Center in an external evaluation of the student growth component and the overall OTES model.

According to the presenters, the next steps include training over 15,000 people over the next two years to be credentialed evaluators of teachers. In May 2012 60 individuals were selected and trained to be statewide trainers. There is no cost for training, which takes three days and requires successful passage of an online assessment to be credentialed as an evaluator. The training allows participants to gain a better understanding of OTES, practice skills such as scripting, evidence analysis/categorizing and coaching, and share resources and best practices. By the end of September 2012, the ODE expects to have trained 5,050 individuals to be evaluators.

According to the presentation how to use student growth measures in the teacher evaluation process continues to be an issue for schools/districts. For the most part school districts are piloting teacher evaluation models this year, and are working out the issues. The ODE is developing a guide-book and scoring information for using the Student Learning Objectives (SLOs).

Lori Lofton stated that she is requesting to leverage some of the Race to the Top funds to support experts in the field to provide technical assistance to school districts and assist the ODE as districts/schools implement their OTES models. These experts will be trained at the ESCs.

The ODE is also developing exemplars for the student learning objectives (SLOs). Sixteen regional groups comprised of teachers from the arts and other subjects without state assessments and teachers at grade levels without state assessments, have been formed to develop student learning objective exemplars this summer using ODE tools available on the web through the SLO process. The SLOs will be vetted by an advisory committee headed by Matt Cohen, ODE Executive Director Education Reform and Strategic Planning. In addition, the ODE, as part of the work to develop the guide-books, is working with other states to develop exemplars for the SLOs. These exemplars will be available by September 2012.

Five Year Update of OAC 3301-24-01 Glossary/Definitions for Chapter 3301-24 (Licensing and Education Programs). The committee approved a resolution to adopt a revision to Rule 3301-24-01 following a presentation by Jennifer Kangas, ODE Director, Office of Educator License, who reviewed the rule changes with the committee. This rule defines certain terms that are used throughout Chapter 3301-24 regarding Licensing and Education Programs. The proposed changes bring the rule up to date to align with current statute.

Anti-Harassment and Intimidation Policy: Krista Allison, ODE Executive Director, Office of Family and Community, led the discussion about the changes to the Anti-Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) Model Policy (HIB) as a result of the passage of HB116, the Jessica Logan Act. The committee approved a resolution to amend the policy, which includes harassment, intimidation, and bullying on a school bus and through electronic means; recommending the possible suspension of students for cyber-bullying; allowing anonymous reports; disciplinary procedures for students who make false reports; and strategies for protecting other victims or other persons from harassment and retaliation. The revised policy also includes a process for educating students about anti-bullying, and the seriousness about cyber-bullying. It also requires notification of parents about a bullying incident, and providing training for all teachers and school personnel. The full Board will consider the resolution in September 2012.

Committee on Urban Education
Joe Farmer provided an update about the work of the committee, which now reports to the full board rather than the Executive Committee. The committee discussed replacing its liaison with the ODE, Adrian Allison, who recently resigned from the ODE, and stated that Melissa Thompson will serve as an interim liaison.

The committee discussed some draft policies and recommendations to improve urban schools, and reviewed appendix A & B of the budget recommendations and how to incorporate those recommendations in their work. The committee will focus on early childhood and how the budget impacts student achievement. The committee is expected to make its recommendations to the Legislative and Budget Committee.

Board Recognitions
The full Board recognized the Middle Schools to Watch and national Green Ribbon Schools. The 2012 Ohio Schools to Watch include Coventry Middle School in Coventry Local Schools (Summit County), Dodge Intermediate School in Twinsburg City Schools (Summit County), and Kings Junior High School in Kings Local School District (Warren County).

Ohio's Green Ribbon Schools include Loveland High School in Loveland City School District (Hamilton County), and North Adams Elementary in Ohio Valley School District (Adams County).

Presentation on New and Revised Standards
The full board participated in a policy discussion about the Fine Arts and World Language standards and the standards for Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship, and Non-Career Tech Business Education.

Shasheen Phillips and Tom Rutan presented information about the process that was used to revise the academic content standards for the fine arts and world languages, and create the new standards for non-career tech business education, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. The ODE was tasked with updating the standards through 128-HB1, and all standards are web-based.

According to the presentation, the revision of the fine arts standards was informed by "all of the four disciplines" and arts education stakeholder groups. The key elements and components of the fine arts standards include standard expectations, what students should know and should be able to do in the four disciplines of the arts: dance, drama/theater, music, and visual art, and themes and content statements. The Fine Arts standards complement the standards in English Language Arts, mathematics, science, and social studies by supporting rigorous content and embracing the essential knowledge and skills of the 21st Century, such as innovation and creativity. A change was made in the final version of the standards as a result of public feedback. The process standard "creating" was added to "perceiving" "creating" in the standards for music.

The world language standards help students understand and appreciate different cultures and how to communicate effectively. They have been streamlined from five standards to two: communication and culture. The world language standards include content statements and grade band proficiency target statements, so that students progress from novice to intermediate to pre-advanced, and advanced levels. The presenters noted that the description of the proficiency levels in the beginning of the standards for world languages is cutting edge, because it also factors in the difficulty of the language. The world language standards "reinforce" the importance of immersing elementary students in world languages, because students might never reach the advanced level if they begin to learn a language in high school.

Business/Non-Career Technical Education Standards support business-related courses such as accounting, business management, business law, personal finance, business economics, etc. These are usually separate courses offered at a high school and not part of a career-pathway program through a Career-Tech school.

The Entrepreneurship Standards reinforce the skills that students need to become innovative and creative thinkers, and can be used by teachers to create separate courses or integrated with other courses, such as business-related courses.

The Financial Literacy Standards were developed to inform instruction in grades 9-12 so that all students have an understanding about personal finance and money management, investing, risk-management insurance, etc. These standards can be used to develop separate courses in financial literacy or integrated in social studies or other courses. Standards for financial literacy are also being developed at the elementary and middle school level, with the intent that these standards will be integrated into the social studies curriculum.

After reviewing the standards, Ms. Phillips said that after these standards are adopted by the State Board the ODE will provide training and professional development for teachers in the field in the 2012-13 school year and develop model curricula for the standards.

Following the presentation State Board members asked a variety of questions.

Mary Rose Oakar asked a question about the types of world languages that are offered in Ohio's schools. Ryan Wertz, ODE consultant for world languages, responded that 800,000 students are studying Spanish, followed by French (64,000), German (40,000), Latin, and American Sign Language. Fewer students study other languages including, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Pennsylvania Dutch, etc. There is a shortage of world language teachers in Ohio for some languages, and that prevents the language from being offered.

Ms. Oakar recommended that more schools offer world language at elementary level so that students are fluent; offer more non-European languages; and train more teachers in more languages.

Superintendent Heffner asked why standards in the Fine Arts do not include proficiency levels and grade band levels similar to the world language standards? Nancy Pistone, ODE consultant for the Fine Arts, responded that it was important for the standards for the arts to include content statements for every grade so that students have sequential learning in the arts. The fine arts standards at the high school level, however, also include proficiency levels of beginning, intermediate, and advanced, because students in high school often start arts courses at different levels of proficiency.

Ms. Oakar responded that it is very disappointing that when school budgets are cut, the first courses to go are the arts. She suggested that students should be mandated to complete two credits in the arts in order to graduate, and that the State Board should recommend that schools not cut the arts.

Superintendent Heffner responded that students are required to complete one credit in the arts in grades 7-12, but that students in career-technical education programs are exempt.

Meetings of the other committees
The Board Policy and Procedures Task Force and the Ohio School for the Deaf and the Ohio School for the Blind Task Force also met.

The Board then adjourned for the evening.

MEETING ON TUESDAY, June 12, 2012

The Legislative and Budget Committee
The Legislative and Budget Committee, chaired by C. Todd Jones, discussed special education expenditures for FY12; the Mid-Biennium Budget Review bills; and received legislative updates on pending legislation.

Review of the 2012 Expenditures for Special Education
Sue Zake, director of the Office for Exceptional Children, and Tom Lather, associate director, presented an overview of the 2012 expenditures for special education.

According to the presentation the General Revenue Fund supported in FY12 the following special education programs:

• Home Instruction, over 200 LEAs served: $2.2 million
• Institutions and County Boards of Development Disabilities: $45.2 million
• Parent Mentors: $1.3 million (56 mentors are supported with GRF and 24 are supported with IDEA Funds. At least $25,000 per grant/award. There is a waiting list of districts to receive this funding.)
• School Psychologists Interns: $2.5 million supporting 92 interns.
• Catastrophic Special Education Funds: $10 million pool of funds that school districts can apply for. School districts were reimbursed less than $.17 per dollar in FY11. This program had been funded at $20 million in the past. Some Ohio districts are also participating in a shared risk pool to share special education costs. 

Federal funds supported the following programs:

• State Personnel Development Grant: $1.9 million. This is the fifth year of this grant. This grant has been used to assist districts in the school improvement process to improve instruction for students with special needs.
• IDEA: $530 million. Includes two grants and allows spending over 27 months. $435 million is the closer to the amount that Ohio receives. $391 million flows directly to schools through a specific formula. 1065 entities received IDEA funds.
• IDEA Federal Stimulus Funds ARRA: $40 million. FY12 is the last year of this appropriation.

The policy principles that drive the programs include 1) raise expectations for students with disabilities and 2) close the achievement gap between students with disabilities and their peers. Other policy goals focus on training new teachers, eliminating a shortage of skilled teachers, increasing statewide capacity to implement Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, and shifting from monitoring compliance to performance-based accountability.

Following the presentation, members of the State Board asked the following questions:

• Rob Hovis asked about the special education teacher shortage. Ohio has a shortage of special education teachers in southeast Ohio. Tom Lather responded that there is also a shortage of paraprofessionals in southeast Ohio, and in some school districts the paraprofessionals are being asked to provide educational services, which they are not qualified to do.
• Jeff Hardin reported that school district administrators have told him that there is a problem of recruiting qualified special education teachers in southeast Ohio. Tom Lather said that the ODE provided some seed money to Youngstown State and Shawnee State to prepare special education teachers to work in southeast Ohio, and this project has been successful.
• Mike Collins reported that the Southeast Consortium, led by Renee Middleton (Dean, Ohio University), reported that the gap in training special education teachers in southeast Ohio is closing.

Legislative Update
Kelly Weir, ODE Executive Director of the Office of Legislative Services and Budgetary Planning and Jennifer Hogue, ODE Office of Legislative Services, also updated the State Board about HB487, SB316, and HB525. (Please note: These bills have been passed by the House and Senate. Summaries about them were included in the June 18, 2012 Education Update.

Mary Rose Oakar requested information about what cuts have been made to schools, such as Cleveland; the impact of cuts on the variety of schools in Ohio; and the differences between the EdChoice and the Cleveland Scholarship program. She also asked if the state plans to provide schools/districts with additional revenue as a result of the anticipated state budget surplus for this fiscal year.

Ms. Weir replied that no school/district received more than an 8 percent cut in funding compared to FY11 levels, because federal stimulus dollars were helping to support schools/districts in FY11, and the State was required to maintain a minimum level of funding for schools as part of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Regarding the differences between the EdChoice and Cleveland Scholarship, Ms. Weir responded that HB487 better aligns the scholarship/vouchers programs, but there are still some differences. She said that she will provide some additional information to the State Board about those differences.

Ms. Weir also said that even though there could be a budget surplus for this fiscal year, she did not anticipate that the Office of Budget and Management would provide additional funding for schools. The current budget has a $500 million gap as a result of the inability of the OBM to transfer certain liquor control funds to support JobsOhio, due to a lawsuit that was just settled. She also said that she would provide a summary of year-end status of funding for schools/districts to the State Board.

Mike Collins also requested information about the status of schools/districts funding, including state funding and cuts in tangible personal property and utility tax cuts.

Jennifer Hogue also presented an update about HB375 (Butler) Non-Public Higher Institutions of Higher Education Allowed to Purchase School Property and HB437 (Roegner) School Buses Out of State Travel.

Mike Collins expressed concern over the role of the State Board in the revised Cleveland Plan (HB525) regarding closing community schools and selecting community school partners.

Superintendent Heffner replied that it was the decision of the negotiators of these provisions in HB525 that the State Board of Education would be the best arbitrator to hear the appeals of community schools, if the situation arises.

Presentation to the State Board of Education
Superintendent of Public and Instruction's proposed Legislative and Budget Recommendations for FY14-15

Kelly Weir, ODE Executive Director of the Office of Legislative Services and Budgetary Planning, presented the proposed FY14-15 budget recommendations to the State Board for their consideration. The timeline calls for the State Board of Education to adopt the budget by September 2012, when it is due at the Office of Budget and Management. Governor Kasich will submit his next state budget for FY14-15 in February 2013.

The State Board is required by Section 3301.07 of the Ohio Revised Code to prepare "a report on the status, needs, and major problems of the public schools of the state, with recommendation for necessary legislative action." According to the presentation, this proposed budget targets scare resources so that all students "Start Ready, Graduate Ready", and meets other policy goals to continue the reforms underway in the Race to the Top grant and HB153.

Total recommendations for the General Revenue Fund and the Lottery Profits Education

Fund are $7.23 billion in FY 2014 and $7.24 billion in FY 2015. This reflects a $12.4 million (0.2%) increase in FY 2014 over FY 2013 funding levels and an $11.7 million (0.2%) increase in FY 2015 over FY 2014. These figures do not include the rollback and homestead reimbursement, which will be determined by the Department of Taxation.

Compared to the FY12 and FY13 total of $22.5 billion, the FY14-15 total for education will be $21.8 billion. This reflects reductions in federal aid and the phase-out of tangible property tax and other reimbursements to school districts. There could also be further cuts in federal education funding, if Congress and the President are unable to reach an agreement on the federal budget by January 2, 2013, and mandatory sequestration takes effect.

The FY14-15 budget recommendations include a placeholder amount of $6.860 billion each fiscal year for the Foundation Program until Governor Kasich completes work on a new school funding formula.

The Foundation Program is the main source of funding for school districts and includes funds that are transferred from school districts to support three voucher programs, community schools, some STEM schools, and the post secondary enrollment options program. (The Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program is included in a different program, because it is partially funded by the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.) Also included in the Foundation Program is funding for Joint Vocational School Districts and, in the future, funding for the College Preparatory Boarding School. (No specific amount was included for the Boarding School, but funding will need to be included in the future, when the school opens.)

The following is a summary of some of the Foundation Program funding levels, which are maintained at FY13 levels, until a new school funding system is recommended by Governor Kasich:

• Bridge Funding - $5.6 billion (The Bridge Funding plan was enacted in HB153-Amstutz)
• Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program - $30.6 million
• Educational Service Centers (ESCs) - $35.4 million
• School Improvement ESCs - $3.5 million
• Gifted Funding for ESCs - $8.1 million
• Institution/County Boards of Developmental Disabilities Special Education - $45.2 million
• Catastrophic Special Education - $10 million
• Preschool Special Education Units - $84.4 million
• Pupil Transportation - $375.1 million
• Payment in Lieu of Transportation - $5 million
• Special Education Transportation - $60.4 million

Accompanying the Foundation Program placeholder are General Foundation Program Policy Goals, Foundation Program Specific Policy Goals, and Non-Foundation Program Policy Goals.

The policy goals represent important concepts that should be considered when developing a school funding formula. The following are the General Foundation Program Policy Goals:

Stability and Predictability:

• Funding levels should be commensurate with the number of students served.
• A sound funding formula should minimize the need for a guarantee. Dollars spent through a funding formula should support specific academic policies and strategies. These policies and strategies cannot be achieved with dollars spent through a guarantee.
• With all other key factors of a formula held constant, a reasonable rate of growth from year to year should be built into the formula once a new funding formula is fully implemented. Students should be counted as simply as possible. The count method should incentivize attendance and performance throughout the school year. The count method should recognize the reality of costs driven by the number of students served and the educational entity's ability to adapt throughout the year.

Funding Alignment:

• Students should be counted where they are educated, as opposed to where they reside, for funding purposes.

Counting where educated increases transparency for how and where students are funded. Counting where educated increases collaboration between community schools and school districts, and open enrollment recipient and donor schools.
-Various school models (i.e., traditional school districts, community schools, STEM schools, college preparatory boarding schools, and joint vocational school districts) should be funded using similar parameters. Although models should be funded on similar parameters, the funding should recognize the different needs of different business models - i.e., brick-and-mortar schools to blended learning to e-schools.

State/Local Share:

• Funds should be distributed equitably to ensure student success regardless of location.
• Any assumed local contribution should be a realistic representation of the locality's capacity to raise revenue.

Consideration should be given to income, in addition to property wealth.
-Policies that discourage local revenue should be avoided.

Also included in the budget documents are the following education policy goals for specific Foundation Programs. The following are examples of these policy goals:

Academic Improvement: Provide support for Limited English Proficient (LEP) student through programs with a history of success. Specific funding for LEP students was included in the FY10-11 budget, but not separated out in the FY12-13 budgets.

Career-Technical Education: Recognize the additional costs of program delivery; address differing costs of various career-technical education delivery systems and programs; eliminate disincentives for districts in student participation in career-technical education.

Early Childhood Education: Support early childhood education, including all-day kindergarten and preschool special education. The Race to the Top Early Learning grant will provide more information to meet student needs.

General State Support: Increase participation in dual enrollment programs; make clear the manner by which funds transfer from school districts to ESCs and transparently identify the intended use of the funds.

Gifted Education: Provide pupil-based funding and, contingent upon such funding, require gifted students be identified and served; incentivize the use of gifted coordinators on a regional basis; recognize the varying costs of giftedness across a continuum of services and degrees of need; develop and encourage policies supporting instructional environments and supports that allow gifted students to excel.

School Choice: Consolidate scholarship/voucher programs into as few as possible; align funding for scholarship/voucher programs to funding for community schools and school districts on a per-pupil basis; encourage collaboration/cooperation between community schools and traditional school districts.

School Operations-Pupil Transportation: Incentivize regional collaboration to increase efficiency, accommodate special logistical circumstances; promote increased ridership and student safety; do not include transportation funding in the calculation of an overall funding guarantee.

Special Education: Provide pupil-based funding that recognizes the different costs of varying degrees of disability; provide that catastrophic special education costs are not born by single districts, but are addressed regionally; fully fund the state's share of special education costs; require a review of the funding model periodically by appropriate stakeholders.

Students at Risk: Account for challenges associated with concentrations of poverty and mobility, account for the differences in addressing the challenges of poverty in urban settings and rural settings.

The State Board will receive a presentation about the Non-Foundation Recommendations at the July 2012 meeting. At this time there are no plans for the State Board to meet in August to discuss the budget recommendations.

Board members raised the following questions following the presentation:

Mike Collins and Deb Cain expressed concern about how the estimated $25,000 per pupil for room and board for students attending the College Preparatory Boarding School would be raised. They both said that they would not support additional funding to support the program from the ODE or school districts. The educational and transportation costs for students attending the boarding school will be deducted from the district of residence, but there is currently no funding source for the cost of room and board.

Mary Rose Oakar suggested that a level of funding for the College Preparatory Boarding School be included in the FY14-15 budget recommendations.

Jeff Mims suggested that there be a breakdown of the local share of the costs for the programs that are deducted from school district state funding.

Debe Terhar suggested that the State Board strongly support early childhood education programs.

Brian Williams questioned the policy recommendation about regionalizing the cost of catastrophic special education. He suggested that the state might assume the cost of high cost special education services. A shared risk pool for special education could also be established regionally or at the state level.

Angela Thi Bennett asked if community schools are allowed to provide early childcare programs supported by the ODE? Ms. Weir was not sure.

Rob Hovis suggested that the budget recommendations include more funding for early childcare programs, and that policy-makers should work to implement the recommendations that a State Board of Education task force developed several years ago.

Mary Rose Oakar stated that she also supports early childcare programs. She also asked if the Cleveland Metropolitan School District was considered a local control district, because so many policies are determined by the state. She suggested that some indication of local control for Cleveland should be noted in the budget.

Mike Collins suggested that Superintendent Heffner provide the Board with a framework for responding to the budget recommendations. He asked how the Board could participate in developing the budget recommendations. He said that he does not think that it is the role of the State Board to "maintain" the status quo and the current funding levels, but neither can the State Board ask for "pie in the sky".

Superintendent Heffner said that the comments made by Board members will be incorporated into budget recommendations, so that the FY14-15 budget recommendations truly reflect the policies and vision of the State Board.

Mike Collins also asked about regionalizing gifted coordinators. He said that he is concerned that school districts that use regional coordinators will think that they no longer have a responsibility to pay attention to and provide leadership for gifted education. He also said that when seeking information about special education and gifted education, that the ODE not just seek information from the associations for gifted and special education students, but also seek feedback from the field.

Mr. Collins also commented about the policies regarding school choice. He said that the recommendation/concept about aligning the scholarship/voucher programs is fine, but there will be consequences. For example, regarding the Peterson Scholarship, about 90 percent of the scholarships are at the maximum level, so that each scholarship amount, about $20,000, is being transferred from a school district to a private school or provider. (He referred to the ODE data as the source of this information.) So, if these programs are aligned, there won't be enough money for all recipients to receive $20,000. At some point school districts will run out of money. He is also concerned that the private schools receiving public funds do not have to comply with the same requirements. If there is alignment, there must be alignment of responsibility and accountability, and all schools that receive tax dollars should be required to meet the same standards and accountability system. He noted that doing that would "be a sweeping change".

Superintendent Heffner replied that the State Board should have more discussions about what gets reported, because what gets reported gets done.

Ann Jacobs commented that it is really important to realize and plan for the needs of career tech students, and to ensure accountability of the ESCs. She said that she is surprised that there hasn't been more attention to accountability for ESC funding.

Jeff Hardin also addressed JVSD funding, which has been kept at a flat level. He said that there is one unfunded JVSD in Adams County, and that the number of students attending JVSDs in his area have increased. The JVSDs have not received additional funding to educate these students. JVSD funding should be distributed on a per pupil basis.

Jeff Mims congratulated Ms. Weir for a great presentation and emphasize the importance of the process. He would like to make sure that as the State Board goes through the process, that the State Board receives some feedback from the field regarding the recommendations.

He also expressed a concern about separately operated career-tech schools. He supports offering technology or career tech programs in the traditional high school. These programs provide students with a variety of opportunities to learn skills that also support other course work. When students have to travel to a separate career tech school, the students who are left behind in the high school often do not have the opportunities to experience the practical applications of science and math.

C. Todd Jones responded to Mr. Collins about the accountability of public funds going to private schools through the special education scholarship/voucher programs . He said according to the federal law, a parent is allowed to place their student at the institution of choice when a school district does not offer a free and appropriate education program for students with special needs. That decision of the parent is not held accountable by any other standard than the choice of the parent. "The logic of the state special education plan in Ohio is a wise one, and is an extension of that, that a parent may have other qualitative and quantitative evaluative standards for placing their child, and we do not as a state need to hold accountable those who receive all forms of funding from our state for the education of their child as it relates to special education."

Mary Rose Oakar responded that Mr. Jones' remarks, were "right on target."

State Board of Education Business Meeting
The State Board of Education resumed its business meeting from June 11, 2012. After approving the minutes for the May meeting, President Terhar recognized Dannie Greene, who presented to the State Board eight recommendations from the Ohio School for the Deaf and Ohio School for the Blind Task Force. The Board discussed whether or not to accept the recommendations as an emergency resolution, and decided to hold an extra Executive Committee meeting to discuss the process. (At that meeting later in the day, the Executive Committee agreed to vote on the recommendations at the July 2012 meeting.)

The State Board then received from Stan Heffner the report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Superintendent Heffner brought two items to the Board's attention. He shared with the Board that three Ohio students will represent the USA in an international competition in Leipzig, Germany in July at the 2013 World Skills International Competition. The students will be competing against students from 53 other countries. The students are Antony Costantini and Jarrod Nichols, graduates of Clyde High School from Vanguard-Sentinel Career and Technology Center, and Christopher Kuhn, graduate of Brookside High School from Lorain County Joint Vocational School District. They are among 20 SkillsUSA national medalists from around the country traveling to the international games.

Superintendent Heffner also stated his intent to begin a policy discussion with the State Board about the "Schools of the Future". Superintendent Heffner said that he and the ODE staff will prepare demographic and economic information to inform the discussion about future trends that could affect educational policies, and the knowledge and skills that students will need in the future to succeed. Some of the questions that the Board will explore include,

• What will the student population be like in 2030, and where will they live?
• What will be the economy in Ohio? How will the shale oil industry affect Ohio? 
• What skills will students need in the future? 
• What is the relationship of school with the family?
• What will teaching look like in the future? 
• What about teacher preparation and licensure? 
• What will be the duties of teachers?

Following the Superintendent's report, Deb Cain asked Superintendent Heffner to comment about the capacity of school districts in Ohio to implement the online assessments that will be part of Ohio's new assessment system aligned to the Common Core standards. According to Ms. Cain, at a meeting in Stark County, superintendents raised questions about the bandwidth and technology needed to participate in the state's new assessment system in 2014. Schools/districts are currently being surveyed to get a better picture about their capacity to implement this new online system and determine what investments will be necessary. In some cases schools will need to be renovated to add more lines.

Superintendent Heffner said that he is discussing these issues with partnering states in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career, which has recently released the specs and devices needed for partnering states to participate in the new assessment system for schools. The Superintendent will update the Board next month on the status of the program.

Rob Hovis recommended that the students who are competing in the international competition be recognized at a future Board meeting.

The State Board of Education Board then resumed its business meeting, and took action on the resolutions listed below.

Resolutions Considered by the State Board of Education on June 12, 2012:

#4 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Amend Rule 3301-24-05 of the Administrative Code Entitled Licensure.

#5 Approved a Resolution Regarding Public Participation at the July 2012 State Board of Education Business Meeting in July 2012.

#6 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer of School District Territory from the Coventry Local School District, Summit County, to the Barberton City School District, Summit County, Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.

#7 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer of School District Territory from the Fairborn City School District, Greene County, to the Huber Heights City School District, Montgomery County, Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.

#8 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer of School District Territory from the Medina City School District, Medina County to the Highland Local School District, Medina County, Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.

#9 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer of School District Territory from the Northwestern Local School District, Wayne County, to the Norwayne Local School District, Wayne County, Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.

#10 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer of School District Territory from the Toledo City School District, Lucas County, to the Ottawa Hills City School District, Lucas County, Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.

#14 Approved a Resolution to Adopt Academic Content Standards for the Fine Arts and World Languages. Vote 17 to 0

#15 Approved a Resolution to Adopt Academic Content Standards in Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship and Non Career Technical Business.

#16 Approved a Resolution to Appoint Karie McCrate to the Educator Standards Board. During the discussion about this appointment, Dennis Shelton and President Terhar said that there has been a discussion about changing the law to require the Educator Standards Board to include someone who represents special needs students. Mr. Shelton will request the ODE draft a legislative recommendation, which will be presented to the State Board of Education's Legislative and Budget Committee.

#17 Approved a Resolution Regarding the Report and Recommendations of the Hearing Officer in the Matter of the Arts Academy West Community School Full-Time Equivalency Review Appeal. The recommendation states that the State Board of Education shall order the calculation of a final figure of overpayment, and that upon the finalization of this figure, that the ODE take such measures as are necessary to collect the overpayment (estimated to be over $118,000,000) from the Arts Academy West Community School.

#18 Moved to Postpone. A Resolution to Accept the Recommendation of the Hearing Officer and to Revoke the Registration of Rays of Hope as an Autism Scholarship Provider, Pursuant to Section 3310.41 of the Ohio Revised Code and Rule 3301-103-06(E) of the Ohio Administrative Code. The registration is being revoked based on information learned during an on-site investigation that the school failed to have a licensed or certified staff person providing oversight to the staff or managing progress toward meeting the IEP goals of students between September 2, 2010 and May 5, 2011; failed to document the amount of time students were served; failed to provide an appropriate fee schedule for the services provided; and failed to comply with Ohio statutes, rules, and guidelines. The postponement was approved until there is more understanding about how the ODE reconsiders service providers who have been revoked by the ODE after they have corrected their infractions.

#19 Approved a Resolution to Adopt Performance Standards for Community Schools that Operate Dropout Prevention and Recovery Programs.

#20 Approved a Resolution to Adopt Standards Regarding Operating Expenditures.

Under new business Rob Hovis said that he will bring to the State Board in September 2012 a resolution that would require the ODE to establish a separate course in Financial Literacy.

C. Todd Jones said that he will bring to the State Board in July/September some ideas to re-structure the State Board of Education meetings to maximize the amount of work and provide greater emphasis on policy-making. Following a discussion about this concept, Superintendent Heffner recommended that Mr. Jones work with ODE staff to integrate this proposal into the July Board Retreat.

Tom Gunlock said that in July he will bring to the State Board a resolution in support of the A-F Rating System for Ohio's Schools. Following a discussion about this concept, Superintendent Heffner recommended that Mr. Gunlock work with ODE staff to develop some guidance or framework about this resolution.

In recognition of his service to the State Board of Education, President Terhar read for the record a certificate of commendation for Dennis Reardon, who resigned from the Board effective June 8, 2012.

The State Board of Education then adjourned.

View the State Board of Education's schedule.

OAGC Seeking Artwork for Auction: The Ohio Association for Gifted Children is seeking artwork from grades 9-12 and regions 3, 7, 10, and 12 for their annual conference. An annual art auction is held each year in honor of Susan Faulkner, advocate for the arts and gifted children.

The Susan Faulkner Fine Arts Exhibition and Auction will be featured during the OAGC Conference, to be held on October 14-16, 2012. This is a silent art auction of student artwork from all across Ohio. Conference participants will bid on the artwork during the conference, and the artwork will be sold to the highest bidder. The artwork that is selected for the auction will also be judged during the conference, and the top artists will be awarded scholarships.

Details for how to submit artwork can be found on the OAGC Art Auction nomination form.

Article Recaps Founding Fathers Support for the Arts: An article in the Huffington Post by Nicholas Ferroni on June 22, 2012 describes our nation's founding fathers' passion for the arts and questions current decisions by local boards of education to eliminate arts programs in schools. The article is most timely with the Fourth of July celebrations approaching, and shows that America's early leaders were specific in their support of the arts as part of our young nation's vision. ("By Eliminating the Arts We Are Undermining Our Founders Vision of America by Nicholas Ferroni, Huffington Post, Posted: 06/22/2012 12:29 PM.)

As a historian and educator, the author recounts examples of support for the arts among our nation's early leaders, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Sam Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, and others. Their writings and actions demonstrate a "love, respect and passion for philosophy, art and music, three subjects that are the basis for all humanities courses." Several of our early leaders became the trustees of universities that encouraged equally the study of the arts with the sciences and humanities, because "they believed the arts were as important to the development and growth of an enlightened country as science and philosophy."

The author wonders what our nation's Founding Fathers would think today when so many schools are cutting the arts to save money or to promote the study of math and science.

The author writes, "By eliminating the arts, we are eliminating the most unique and successful characteristic that has separated Americans from the rest of the world since our founding, which is why the founding fathers immediately attempted to make the arts the foundation of their creative experiment."

The article is available.

House Appropriations Committee to Take Action on NEA Budget: The U.S House of Representatives Appropriations Interior Subcommittee passed on June 20, 2012 an initial FY13 funding legislation, which proposes a cut of $14 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to $132 million. The NEA budget for this year is $146.3 million. President Obama in his budget request proposed an increase of $8 million over the current NEA appropriation to $154.2 million for FY13.

The proposed budget for the National Endowment for the Humanities is also cut to $132 million. The National Gallery of Art would be funded at $126 million, a decrease of $2.6 million below last year's level.

The proposed budget for the Department of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies is $28 billion, a cut of $1.2 billion below last year's level and $1.7 billion below the President's budget request.

The full House Appropriations Committee will be considering this recommendation on June 27, 2012.

For more information please contact Americans for the Arts.

A draft of the proposed budget for the Department of the Interior is available.

Join The Ohio Alliance for Arts Education on Facebook. Click to "like" us but don't stop there - post your support for the OAAE and arts education on your profile, and ask your friends and colleagues to 'like' us too.

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This update is written weekly by Joan Platz, Research and Knowledge Director for the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education.  The purpose of the update is to keep arts education advocates informed about issues dealing with the arts, education, policy, research, and opportunities.  The distribution of this information is made possible through the generous support of the Ohio Music Education Association (www.omea-ohio.org), Ohio Art Education Association (www.oaea.org), Ohio Educational Theatre Association (www.Ohioedta.org); OhioDance (www.ohiodance.org), and the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education (www.OAAE.net).