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OSPA LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
6-15-12
The General Assembly wrapped up a busy legislative session with the passage of both the education mid-budget review bill (SB 316) and the Cleveland school reform bills (HB 525/SB 335). All passed the week of June 11, 2012.
Sub. SB 316, Education MBR bill summary:
1) Third grade reading guarantee retention provisions:
* Beginning with students entering third grade in the 2013-2014 school year,
(2) promote the student to fourth generally prohibits school districts and community schools from promoting to fourth grade a student scoring below a cut score determined by the State Board of Education on the third grade reading achievement assessment, but makes several exceptions (see below).
* Requires the State Board of Education to determine the "cut" score, progressively adjusting it upwards until the retention requirements apply to students who do not receive at least a "proficient" score. Prohibits the State Board from designating a level lower than "limited." Not later than December 31, 2013, requires the State Board to submit to the General Assembly recommended changes to the scoring ranges of the state achievement assessments necessary for the successful implementation of the common core curriculum and assessments in the 2014-2015 school year.
*Exempts from retention the following:
(1) Limited English proficient students who have been enrolled in U.S. schools for less than two full school years and have had less than two years of instruction in an English as a second language program;
(2)(a) Special education students whose IEPs exempt them from retention under the third-grade guarantee, and (b) special education students whose IEPs or 504 Plans show that they have received intensive remediation in reading for two school years, and who have previously been retained in any grades K to 3, but who still demonstrate a deficiency in reading.
(3) Students who, as determined by the Department of Education, demonstrate an acceptable level of performance on an alternative standardized reading assessment. Does not include an exception for demonstration of mastery through a student portfolio.
(4) Students who received intensive remediation in reading for two school years but still demonstrate a deficiency in reading, and were previously retained in any of grades K to 3, as long as the student continues to receive intensive reading instruction in fourth grade. That instruction must include an altered instructional day that includes specialized diagnostic information and specific research-based reading strategies that have been successful in improving reading among low- performing readers.
* Requires school districts and community schools to provide all retained third-graders with instruction in a specific academic field that is commensurate with student
achievement levels.
2) Third grade reading guarantee assessment and interventions provisions:
* Requires each district and community school beginning in the 2012-2013 school year to assess the reading skills of each student in grades K to 3 by September 30 of each school year and identify students reading below grade level. Requires that they administer the state-developed diagnostic assessments in English language arts, or a comparable tool approved by the Department of Education, to all students.
* Maintains current law requiring the district or community school to notify the parent or guardian of each student identified as reading below grade level.
Specifies that the notice must inform the parent or guardian that the student has been identified as having a substantial reading deficiency, describe the current services provided to the student, describe the proposed supplemental services and supports to be provided, and explain that the student may be retained in third grade if the student scores below the State Board's cut score on the third grade
reading achievement assessment.
* Maintains current law requiring school districts and community schools to provide intervention services to each student reading below grade level, Specifies that intensive reading instruction must be provided immediately following identification of a reading deficiency, and must include (1) "intensive, explicit, and systematic instruction," (2) research- based reading strategies that have been shown to be successful in improving reading among low- performing readers, and (3) instruction targeted at the student's identified reading deficiencies.
* Requires the district or community school to develop a reading improvement and monitoring plan for each student identified as reading below grade level. The plan must (1) identify the student's specific reading deficiencies, (2) describe the additional instructional services and support that will be provided to remediate the student's deficiencies, (3) include opportunities for parental involvement in those services and support, (4) specify a process for monitoring the student's receipt of the services and support, and (5) state that the student may be retained in third grade for failure to pass the third-grade reading achievement assessment. Requires each plan to provide a reading curriculum during regular school hours that a)provides scientifically based and reliable assessment, and (b) provides initial and ongoing analysis of each student's reading progress.
* Requires the district or community school to report to the Department of Education any information requested by the Department about the reading improvement and monitoring plans.
* Requires the district or community school to assign each student who has a reading improvement and monitoring plan, and who enters third grade in the 2013-2014 school year or later, to a teacher who either (1) has received a passing score on a rigorous test of principles of scientifically based reading instruction or (2) has a reading endorsement on the teacher's license.
* For each student retained in third grade, requires each district or community school, to do the following:
(1) Provide intense remediation services until the student is able to read at grade level. Specifies that the services must include intensive interventions in reading that address the areas of deficiencies, including not less than 90 minutes of reading daily, and optional strategies such as uninterrupted, research-based reading instruction and other strategies such as small group instruction, reduced student-teacher ratios, or extended school day, week, or year;
(2) Provide a high-performing teacher, as determined by the teacher's student performance data, only when it is available, and performance reviews.
(3) Offer the option to receive services from one or more providers other than the district or community schools. Requires the district, community school, or Department to screen any other service provider.
(4) Establish a policy for mid-year promotion if the student demonstrates that the student is reading at or above grade level, and promote the student to fourth grade if the student demonstrates reading proficiency in accordance with standards adopted by the Department.
* Includes summer reading camps as an option for services offered to retained third-graders. Does not mandate summer services, but likewise eliminates the requirement of current law that summer remediation be provided in a school or community center and not on an at-home basis.
* Repeals the general prohibition against requiring school districts and community schools to report students' results on diagnostic assessments to the Department or State Board of Education or making the results available to the public. Requires districts to submit the results of the K-3 diagnostic assessments in English language arts and math to the Department. Allows the Department to issue a report on the data collected.
* Reverses current law by specifying that blank copies of diagnostic assessments are not public records.
* Requires each district and community school annually to report to the Department on its implementation of and compliance with the bill's third- grade guarantee requirements.
*Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction annually to report to the Governor and General Assembly the number and percentage of students in grades K-4 reading below grade level, types of intervention service provided, and an evaluation, if available, on the efficacy of those services, all aggregated by school building as well as by school district.
3) Third grade reading guarantee report on federal funding provision:
* Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Governor's Director of 21st Century Education to report to the Governor and the General Assembly, by December 31, 2012, on the ability of the Department of Education to reprioritize state and federal funds, in order to identify additional funds that may be used to support the assessments and interventions associated with the third-grade reading guarantee. The Superintendent and Director must examine all available sources of funding, including Title I federal funds for disadvantaged students, Title II(D) federal funds for educational technology, and Title III federal funds for limited English proficient students.
4) Legislative recommendations regarding reading readiness provision:
Requires the State Board of Education and the Early Childhood Advisory Council jointly to develop legislative recommendations on the state's policies on literacy education of children from birth to third grade. The joint recommendations are due to the Governor and members of the General Assembly not later than February 28, 2013.
5) District and building academic performance ratings ; The provisions were removed from the final version, the Governor and the House and Senate Republican leadership stated that this issue will be introduced in a separate bill later this year.
6) Joint vocational school district rankings and report cards provision:
Requires the State Board of Education, in consultation with the Chancellor of the Board of Regents and the Governor's Office of Workforce Development and the Ohio Association of Career and Technical Education and the Ohio Association of Career and Technical Superintendents Ohio Association of City-Career Technical Schools to develop a report card for joint vocational school districts and for career-technical planning districts separate from those for city, exempted village, and local school districts, and to begin issuing the report card for the 2012-2013 school year.
7) School report cards during admissions process:
Requires the Department of Education to present to the State Board of Education standards for determining and comparing district and school operating expenditures for classroom instructional purposes with those for nonclassroom purposes. The State Board of Education must adopt the standards by December 31, 2012. They must be aligned with the expenditure categories required for reporting to the USDOE, under federal law.
8) Legislative presentation of academic standards and model curricula:
Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to present updated academic standards and model curricula in English language arts, math, science, and social studies to the House and Senate education committees at least 45 days before their adoption by the State Board of Education.
9) Teacher evaluations provisions:
* Specifies that the public school teachers who are subject to the requirement of current law to undergo evaluation by their employers are those who are employed under a teacher license and spend at least 50% of their time employed providing student instruction. Exempts substitute teachers from the evaluation requirement.
* When calculating student academic growth for the purpose of teacher evaluations, excludes students with 60 or more unexcused absences for the school year .
* Authorizes to conduct teacher evaluations (1) persons designated by an agreement entered into by the teacher's employer and (2) persons employed by an entity hired by the employer to conduct evaluations and who are licensed as a superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal, vocational director, or supervisor and (3) administrative specialists if they work for t he teachers employer or for a third party hired by the employer to conduct evaluations and (4) qualified persons who are not licensed as a superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal, vocational director, administrative specialist, or supervisor, if they work for a third party hired by the district to conduct evaluations. Teacher evaluations may also be conducted by persons designated in a peer review agreement entered into by an employer and its teachers.
* Requires all authorized evaluators to obtain a credential established by the Department of Education before doing teacher evaluations.
* Requires only one annual evaluation of teachers on limited or extended limited contracts. (Under current law, employers must conduct two evaluations of those teachers in any year the employer is considering not rehiring the teacher.)
*Requires at least three classroom observations (instead of two, as currently required) of teachers on limited or extended limited contracts and who are under consideration for nonrenewal, as part of the evaluation process.
* Permits an employer to require only one classroom observation (instead of two, as currently required) of a teacher rated as "accomplished" on the teacher's most recent evaluation, if the teacher completes a project approved by the employer to demonstrate continued growth and practice at the accomplished level.
* Extends from April 1 to May 1 the deadline for employers to completeteacher evaluations.
* Specifies that the statutory requirements regarding teacher evaluations prevail over collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after the bill's effective date.
* Specifically authorizes the State Board of Education to periodically Update through a resolution its state framework for evaluating public school teachers.
* Directs the State Board to develop, by June 30, 2013, a standards-based teacher evaluation framework for state agencies, and requires each state agency that employs teachers to adopt a teacher evaluation policy that conforms to the framework.
10) Assistant principal evaluations
Requires each school district's evaluation procedures for assistant principals (required under continuing law) to be based on principles comparable to the district's teacher
evaluation policy, but tailored to the duties and responsibilities of assistant principals.
11) Testing teachers
* Beginning in the 2015-2016 school year revises the circumstances triggering the requirement that teachers of core subject areas take exams to prove their knowledge, so that it applies to teachers employed by school districts and joint vocational districts when the teacher has been rated "ineffective" on evaluations for two of the three most recent years. (Retains the law applying the requirement to teachers employed by community schools and STEM schools when the teacher's building is ranked by performance index score in the lowest 10% of all public schools.)
* If a teacher employed by a school district passes the required exams, the teacher, at the teacher's own expense, must complete professional development targeted at the deficiencies identified in the teacher's evaluations. The district may terminate the teacher if the teacher (a) does not complete the professional development or (b)
receives an "ineffective" rating on the teacher's next evaluation after the professional development.
*Applies the exam requirement to teachers who are currently teaching a core subject when they become subject to the provision.
*Specifies that the exams the teachers must take are content knowledge exams selected by the Department of Education to determine expertise to teach the teacher's subject area and grade level (rather than content knowledge and pedagogy exams needed for licensure in that subject area and grade level, as in current law).
12) Teacher evaluation data:
* Requires the Chancellor of the Board of Regents annually, beginning in December 31, 2014,to report the number and percentage of graduates of each Ohio teacher preparation program who were rated at each of the four performance levels on evaluations conducted by their employers in the previous school year.
* Requires that districts and schools report the number of teachers receiving each evaluation rating, aggregated by the teacher preparation programs from which the
teachers graduated and graduation year. Requires the Department of Education to establish Education Management Information System (EMIS) guidelines for this report, and prohibits the guidelines from permitting or requiring the reporting of teachers' names or other personally identifiable information.
13) Nonrenewal of teacher and administrator contracts:
* Extends the deadlines for a school district or educational service center (ESC) to notify a teacher or administrator that the person's contract will not be renewed for the
following school year, as follows:
(1) From April 30 to June 1, in the case of teachers; and
(2) From March 31 to June 1, in the case of assistant superintendents, principals, assistant principals, business managers, supervisors, or other administrators. (To correspond with these changes, the amendment also extends from April 30 to June 1 the deadline by which a school district employee must be notified of nonrenewal in order for the employee to qualify for unemployment benefits. The amendment does not affect the date for notice of nonrenewal for superintendents and treasurers, which under continuing law is March 1.)
* Extends from June 1 to June 15 the deadline for a teacher or administrator to notify a school district or ESC that the person is declining reemployment, in cases where the person is automatically reemployed due to the district's or ESC's failure to comply with the statutory nonrenewal procedures.
14) Gifted educator coordinators
Retained current law allowing for principals or other employees assigned to a school district to also serve as the school districts gifted education coordinator, if qualified to do so under the State Board of Education's rules.
15) Regional charter schools serving gifted students: The provision authorizing 16 regional charter schools to serve gifted students was removed for the final version of the bill.
16) Ed Choice eligibility
*Specifies that, in the case of a child placed in the custody of either a government agency or a person other than the child's parent, the school district that includes the child in its average daily membership, for funding purposes, is the district from which Ed Choice scholarship payments must be deducted.
* Requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules establishing procedures for awarding Ed Choice scholarships to students already attending a nonpublic school when
the school receives its charter. The scholarships must be awarded to eligible students beginning in the following school year after the school is chartered. The State Board's
procedures must provide special application periods for students enrolled at the time the school's charter is granted, if necessary, and provide notice to the students' resident school districts. A student who is already enrolled in the nonpublic school when it receives its charter qualifies for a scholarship if either:
(1) The student currently would be assigned to a school district building whose students qualify for Ed Choice, provided that the student either (a) has always been enrolled in
that particular nonpublic school, or (b) was enrolled in a school operated by the student's resident district or in a community school prior to enrolling in the nonpublic school; or
(2) At the end of the last school year before the student enrolled in the nonpublic school, the student either (a) was enrolled in a school district building whose students qualified for Ed Choice or (b) was enrolled in a community school but otherwise would have been assigned to such a school district building.
*Requires the Department of Education to open a second application period for the 2012-2013 school year for eligible students who attended a nonpublic school in 2011-
2012 when the school received its charter.
17) Achievement assessment scores for 2012-2013:
* For the 2012-2013 school year, extends from 60 to 75 days after administration of the state achievement assessments the deadline to report individual scores to school districts. However, retains current law's ultimate deadline of June 15 by specifying that scores may not be reported later than June 15, 2013.
18) Assessment data for scholarship students:
*Requires the Department of Education, when publishing achievement assessment data for students participating in the Ed Choice or Cleveland scholarship program, to disaggregate that data by grade (instead of by age, under current law).
19) Autism scholarship and Jon Peterson Special Needs scholarship programs:
* Requires that, each time a school district completes an evaluation for a child with a disability or undertakes the development, review, or revision of the child's individualized education program (IEP), the district send by letter or electronic means a notice to the child's parent about the scholarship programs. The notice must include a prescribed statement indicating that the child might be eligible for a scholarship to attend a special education program operated by an alternative public provider or a registered private provider instead of that operated by the district. The notice must include the telephone
number of the office of the Department of Education responsible for administering the scholarship programs and the location of scholarship information on the Department's web site.
20) Eye exams for disabled students
*Requires the Department of Education, by December 31, 2013, to issue a report to the Governor and General Assembly on the compliance of school districts and community
schools with the requirement of current law to have students with disabilities undergo a comprehensive eye exam within three months after beginning to receive special
education and related services.
Specifies that the report must include data from the 2012-2013 school year, and that data must be collected annually thereafter.
Requires the Department annually to notify each school district and community school of the requirement of current law to have students with disabilities undergo a comprehensive eye exam.
21) Educational service center agreements:
* Eliminates the annual July 1 deadline by which a fee-for-service agreement between an educational service center and a school district must be filed with the Department of Education.
* Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, permits a school district with more than 16,000 students that enters into an agreement with an educational service center for services for which the state provides per-pupil funding, to opt out of receiving supervisory services (such as supervisors for the district's teachers). If a district opts out of those services, it is not required to pay for them through the deduction of supervisory units from the district's state aid account
*Permits an educational service center providing services for a child in the custody of a county or district juvenile detention facility to submit the bill directly to the school district responsible for paying the cost of educating that child (generally the district where the child's parent resides), instead of first billing the district in which the facility is located.
*Requires the district responsible for paying the cost of educating the child to include the child in its "average daily membership" (student count for state operating funding) and prohibits any other district from including the child in that count.
22) Early admission to kindergarten or first grade:
* Permits a school district or community school to admit to kindergarten or first grade a child who is not yet the required age, if the child is recommended for early admission in accordance with the district's or school's acceleration policy. (Generally, under current law, a child must be five years old to enter kindergarten, or six years old to enter first grade, by September 30 of the school year of admission. However, a school district or community school may adopt August 1 as the date by which the child must have attained the required age.)
Requires a school district to evaluate a child for early admission upon referral by (1) an educator employed by the district or school, (2) a preschool educator who knows the child, (3) a pediatrician or
psychologist who knows the child or (4) the parent of the child.
Repeals provisions of current law that:
(1) Require a child to be issued a waiver by a pupil personnel services committee in order to be admitted to first grade without completing kindergarten; and
(2) Authorize early admission for children who meet established standards on standardized tests. (However, meeting testing standards still could be part of a district's or school's acceleration policy.)
*Specifies that a community school may admit a child younger than age five in accordance with these procedures.
* Prohibits a school district from denying a transferring student admission, based on the student's age, if the student had been admitted to kindergarten by another school district or a chartered nonpublic
school.
23) Body mass index screening program provisions:
* Removes the bill's acknowledgement of the Governor's veto of the repeal of the body mass index screening program. Instead, makes schools' (district schools, community schools, STEM schools, and chartered nonpublic schools) implementation of the body mass index (BMI) screenings optional, thereby eliminating the need to obtain a state waiver.
24) Sale of beverages in schools
*Repeals the requirement that at least 50% of beverages available for sale from school food service programs, vending machines, or school stores consist of water or other beverages .
25) Employment of persons with developmental disabilities:
* Declares it to be the state's policy that employment services for individuals with developmental disabilities be directed at placement in the community in positions in which these individuals are integrated with other workers.
*Requires state agencies that provide employment services to individuals with developmental disabilities to implement the employment policy and the Department of Developmental Disabilities to coordinate implementation.
*Requires that starting at age 14, the individualized education program (IEP) for a child with a disability include goals related to employment in a competitive environment in which workers are integrated regardless of disability.
Other provisions such as those addressing community school issues, preschool and child day care provisions can be viewed at this link:
http://www.lsc.state.oh.us/analyses129/s0316-rrh-129.pdf
HB 525 Cleveland School Plan Summary
After weeks of negotiations between the legislative leadership , charter school groups and Cleveland city leaders, a final bill was agreed to. The bill allows the Cleveland Municipal School District to manage their educational reform initiatives based on recommendations from the Cleveland city leadership partnership. These areas encompass significant changes to current law in several areas including teacher contracts, evaluations, teacher building assignments, and school improvement initiatives. The following general summary comes from the Legislative Service Commission (LSC) Analysis, to view the entire analysis for the details of the proposal go to: http://www.lsc.state.oh.us/analyses129/h0525-rh-129.pdf
BILL SUMMARY
Teacher contracts
Requires a teacher who is employed by a municipal school district and who meets the tenure requirements in current law to provide notice of the teacher's eligibility by September 15 of the year the teacher becomes eligible.
Lowers from five years to two years the maximum length of an initial limited contract for employment entered into between a municipal school district and a teacher on or after the bill's effective date.
Revises the procedures for a municipal school district to grant an extended limited contract to a teacher who is eligible for tenure.
Exempts municipal school districts from the requirement to enter into supplemental contracts with teachers who teach courses for high school credit outside the normal school day.
Assigning teachers to school buildings
Prescribes procedures for assigning teachers to school buildings of a municipal school district, whereby the decisions of the district CEO or designee are guided by the recommendations of building-level interview teams.
Prescribes credential factors that a building-level interview team must consider in making its recommendations to the CEO or designee.
Teacher evaluations
Requires a municipal school district to include review of a teacher's work samples as part of the teacher evaluations mandated by current law and specifies that (1) the required observations may be announced or unannounced and (2) "multiple measures" must be used in determining student academic growth.
Requires a municipal school district to conduct one annual evaluation (instead of two, as in current law) for a teacher whom the district is considering not reemploying.
Changes the deadline for a municipal school district to complete teacher evaluations from April 1 to June 1.
Requires evaluators in a municipal school district to be trained in accordance with criteria developed by the district CEO and teachers' union.
Requires a municipal school district to use evaluations in decisions about compensation and layoffs (in addition to promotion and retention decisions, as in current law).
Specifies that teachers in a municipal school district may use the collective bargaining agreement's grievance procedure to challenge violations of the evaluation procedures, but limits the violations that may be corrected to those that cause "substantive harm" to the teacher.
Teacher salaries
Requires a municipal school district to adopt a performance-based salary schedule for teachers, in the same manner required by current law for school districts that receive federal Race to the Top funds.
Requires a municipal school district to place newly hired teachers on the salary schedule based on years of experience, area of licensure, and other factors determined by the district.
Requires a municipal school district to initially place veteran teachers on the salary schedule so that their salary is comparable to their pay under the previous salary schedule.
Requires a municipal school district to consider specialized training and experience in the assigned position (in addition to the performance metrics in current law) when measuring a teacher's performance.
Adds teaching in a school with an extended school day or school year to the duties for which a municipal school district may provide additional compensation.
Allows a municipal school district to decrease a teacher's salary during the term of the employment contract if the teacher will perform fewer or different duties.
Nonrenewal of teacher contracts
Extends from April 30 to June 1 the deadline for a municipal school district to notify teachers that their contracts will not be renewed for the following school year.
Revises the procedures for holding a hearing on the nonrenewal of a teacher's contract in a municipal school district.
Exempts a municipal school district from most provisions requiring the automatic reemployment of a teacher when the district fails to comply with nonrenewal procedures.
Specifies that the decision of a municipal school district to not renew a teacher's contract is not subject to appeal.
Exempts a municipal school district from the requirement to notify employees by April 30 that their contracts will not be renewed in order for the employees to qualify for unemployment benefits.
Teacher terminations and disciplinary suspensions
Permits a municipal school district to place a teacher on an unpaid disciplinary suspension for a definite period of time for "good and just cause."
Specifies that "good and just cause" for a municipal school district to terminate a teacher's contract includes receiving an evaluation rating of "ineffective" for two consecutive years.
Establishes new due process procedures, including a fact-finding hearing, for teacher terminations and disciplinary suspensions in municipal school districts.
Prohibits an arbitrator from overturning the termination or disciplinary suspension of a teacher by a municipal school district for failure of the district to comply with the procedures of the bill or a collective bargaining agreement, unless the failure results in "substantive harm" to the teacher.
Teacher layoffs
Modifies the reasons for which a municipal school district may lay off teachers by (1) omitting suspension of schools as a reason and (2) allowing layoffs for academic reasons resulting in the consolidation of teaching positions, duties, or functions or in changes in educational programs.
Requires a municipal school district to lay off teachers in order of their evaluation ratings, starting with teachers with the lowest rating, and to lay off nontenured teachers before tenured teachers within each group of teachers with the same rating.
Requires a municipal school district to make decisions regarding the recall of laid-off teachers in the reverse order of the tenure status and composite evaluation rating categories used in the layoff decisions.
Specifies that the municipal district board and the teachers' union "shall negotiate" how specialized training and experience will be factored into layoff and recall decisions.
Specifies that laid-off tenured and nontenured teachers of a municipal school district have the right of restoration only to positions for which they qualify within three years after the date their contracts were suspended.
Requires a municipal school district to give teachers preference in contract renewals, layoffs, or rehiring based on seniority or tenure, only when deciding between teachers with the same evaluation rating and tenure status.
Collective bargaining
Specifies that the bill's requirements regarding teacher employment in municipal school districts, including requirements related to (1) contracts, (2) building assignments, (3) evaluations, (4) salaries, (5) contract nonrenewals, (6) terminations and disciplinary suspensions, and (7) layoffs, generally prevail over collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after the bill's effective date.
Employment of principals
Requires a municipal school district to pay principals based on performance, generally in the same manner required by the bill for the district's teachers.
Makes procedural changes to the requirement for a municipal school district to notify a principal before taking action to renew or not renew the principal's contract.
Exempts a municipal school district from the requirement to automatically reemploy a principal for a specified period of time when the district fails to comply with nonrenewal procedures.
Specifies that, in a municipal school district, the failure of a principal's building to meet academic performance standards established by the district CEO is grounds for termination.
Requires the CEO of a municipal school district to give a principal a copy of the principal's evaluation at least five days before the CEO recommends the principal's termination to the school board.
Academic performance plan
Requires that the district CEO's academic performance plan include provisions requiring parents or guardians of students in the district's schools to attend, prior to December 15 each year, at least one parent-teacher conference or similar event.
Adds adjustment of the length of the school year or school day to the items that may be included in the corrective actions specified in the plan.
Prescribes procedures for development of the CEO's "corrective plan" for a particular school, whereby the CEO and labor union presiding officer must appoint corrective action teams to make recommendations regarding implementation of the plan.
Specifies that the content and implementation of a corrective plan and any actions taken to implement the plan prevail over collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after the bill's effective date.
Additional accountability measures
Requires the board of education of an existing municipal school district to develop, subject to approval by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, an array of measures to evaluate the academic performance of the district, and to use those measures to report annually to the General Assembly, Governor, and state Superintendent.
Requires the state Superintendent, by November 15, 2017, to evaluate the district's performance based on the district board's approved array of measures and to issue a report to the General Assembly and Governor.
Student advisory committees
Requires a municipal school district and each of its partnering community schools to establish a student advisory committee at each of their schools offering grades 9 to 12 to make regular (at least semiannual) recommendations for improving the academic performance of the school.
School calendars
Declares that the board of a municipal school district "has final authority" to establish a school calendar for the district's school buildings that provides for additional student days or hours beyond the state minimum.
Specifies that the school calendar adopted by the board prevails over collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after the bill's effective date, but requires the board and the teachers' union to negotiate regarding any additionalcompensation for working an extended school day or school year.
Municipal School District Transformation Alliance
Allows the mayor of the city containing the greatest portion of a municipal school district to initiate the establishment of and appoint the board of directors of a Municipal School District Transformation Alliance as a nonprofit corporation under R.C. Chapter 1702.
Requires the Alliance, if created, to (1) confirm and monitor a "transformation alliance education plan" prepared by the mayor, (2) suggest national education models for and provide input in the development of new district schools and partnering community schools, (3) report annually on the performance of all municipal school district schools and all community schools located in the district, and (4) make recommendations to the Department on the approval of sponsors of new community schools located in the district.
Sunsets the authority to create an Alliance on January 1, 2018, and terminates any Alliance created under the bill on that date.
Exempts the Alliance and its directors, officers, and employees, from the state Public Ethics Law, Open Meetings Act, Public Records Law, Civil Service Law, Public Employees Retirement System Law, and Public Employee Collective Bargaining Law, but stipulates that board meetings must be open to the public, that records must be maintained as though they were public records, and that the board must establish a conflicts of interest policy.
Specifies that membership on the Alliance board does not constitute an incompatible holding of public office.
Expands the offense of bribery, a third degree felony, to include (1) promising, offering, or giving any valuable thing or valuable benefit, with purpose to corrupt or improperly influence, to a director, officer, or employee of the Alliance, or (2) knowingly soliciting or accepting for self or another, by a director, officer, or employee of the Alliance, any valuable thing or valuable benefit to corrupt or improperly influence the discharge of duties.
Framework to assess district and community schools
Requires the Department of Education, the Transformation Alliance, if created, and a statewide nonprofit community school sponsor organization, by April 30, 2013, jointly to establish a framework to assess the efficacy of district schools and community schools located in the municipal school district.
Criteria for community school sponsorship in a municipal school district
Requires the Department of Education, the Transformation Alliance, if created, and a statewide nonprofit community school sponsor organization, by December 31, 2012, jointly to establish criteria for both (1) sponsors to use to determine if they will sponsor new community schools in the municipal school district, and (2) the Department and the Alliance to use in assessing the ability of a sponsor to successfully sponsor schools in the district.
Use of standards by community school sponsors
Beginning with any community school that opens after July 1, 2013, requires each sponsor to use the criteria developed jointly by the Alliance, Department, and statewide sponsor organization to determine whether it will sponsor a new community school in the municipal school district.
Combining community school and district report card data
Authorizes a municipal school district, with the approval of the community school governing authority, to elect to have the student performance data of a community school located in the district combined with the district's data on the district's annual state report card, if the district either sponsors the community school or has entered into an agreement with the school to endorse each other's programs.
Authorizes a municipal school district, at its own discretion, to elect to have the number of students enrolled in a community school located in the district noted separately on the district's report card, if the district either sponsors the community school or has entered into an agreement with the school to endorse each other's programs.
Requires the district, by October 1 each year, to submit documentation to the Department of Education indicating eligibility for the election to include a community school's data on its report card.
Deposit of proceeds from the sale of real property
Permits a municipal school district that sells any parcel of real property to deposit the proceeds into the district's general fund, as long as (1) the district has owned property for at least ten years, (2) any securities or other obligations issued to pay for the real property or improvements to it are no longer outstanding at the time of the sale, and (3) the deposit is not prohibited by any agreements the district has with the School Facilities Commission (rather than deposit those proceeds into the sinking fund, the bond retirement fund, or a special fund for the construction or acquisition of permanent improvements as otherwise required under current law).
Tax levy
Authorizes the school board of a municipal school district to propose a levy for current operating expenses, a portion of which would be allocated to "partnering" community schools and distributed among those schools on a per-pupil basis.
Other
Specifically authorizes the board of education of a municipal school district to request exemptions from education-related statutes and administrative rules through an existing law that permits any district to request such exemptions for an innovative education pilot program.
Ohio Alliance for Arts Education
Education Update June 11, 2012
Joan Platz
1) 129th Ohio General Assembly: The Ohio House and Senate will hold
committee hearings and sessions this week to complete work on some
major bills that lawmakers were unable to finish before the Memorial
Day recess.
Most action will take place in the House and Senate education
committees, which are working on two bills, SB316 (Lehner) Mid
Biennial Review -- Education and HB525 (Amstutz/Williams) and SB335
(Lehner/Turner) the Cleveland Plan. Substitute bills and or
amendments are expected to be considered by the committees this week
on these bills. The House Education Committee, chaired by
Representative Stebelton, will meet on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at 9:00
AM in hearing room 313. The Senate Education Committee, chaired by
Senator Lehner, will meet on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at 10:30 AM in
the South Hearing Room. In addition to SB335 the Senate Education
Committee will also receive testimony on HB377 (Duffey/Stinziano)
Student Members of Trustees, Voting Powers, and SB15 (Turner)
Education Performance Standards for Dropout Recovery Programs.
The Ohio House informally approved SB316 on May 24, 2012 after making
several changes in the Senate passed version of the bill regarding
the third-grade reading guarantee, the Local Report Card -- state
accountability system, teacher evaluations, gifted education, etc.
Over the past two weeks House and Senate lawmakers have been working
to resolve issues between the House and Senate versions of the bill,
and are expected to introduce another substitute bill that both House
and Senate Republicans can support.
The House Education Committee is also expected to approve an amended
version of HB525 the Cleveland Plan, which, once approved by the full
House, will be heard in the Senate Education Committee, which has
been holding hearings on a companion bill, SB335 (Lehner/Turner).
Changes for HB525 were announced by House Speaker Batchelder a few
weeks ago and address the proposed Transformation Alliance's role in
approving charter school partners and how local tax dollars are
shared with partnering community schools. The full Senate is expected
to take action on HB525 by the end of this week.
2) FYI: HB386 (Blessing) Casino Tax Revenues for Education: The House
and Senate approved on May 24, 2012 HB386 (Blessing) which makes
changes to the law regarding video lottery terminals, casino gaming,
and horse racing, and how tax revenue from casinos will be
distributed to schools. The bill was sent to Governor Kasich on May
31, 2012, but the Governor has not signed the bill into law as yet.
The constitutional amendment that was approved by Ohio voters in
November 2009 (Issue 3) and authorizes Ohio's casinos, directs that
K-12 public schools in Ohio receive 34 percent of taxes on gross
casino revenue. Schools are expected to start receiving this revenue
from the Ohio Department of Taxation in January 2013.
School districts and political subdivisions will also be affected as
a result of the casinos, because horse racing tracks in Grove City
and Toledo are expected to move to other cities (Youngstown and
Dayton) to avoid competition from the casinos. Schools and
communities will lose or gain real property tax revenue when horse
racing tracks relocate from one community to another.
The bill does the following:
-Establishes the Racetrack Facility Community Economic Redevelopment
Fund and appropriates $12 million to re-purpose or demolish
horse-racing facilities or reinvest in the area that loses a race
track.
-Provides additional funds to municipal corporations and townships
through the Casino Operator Settlement Fund to be used for
infrastructure or capital improvements and through the Racetrack
Relocation Fund.
-Directs the Tax Commissioner to provide payments of casino tax
revenue for counties, municipal corporations and school districts.
Each county will receive a proportional share of the Gross Casino
Revenue County School Fund twice yearly beginning in 2013 based on
the number of students in the county enrolled in school districts,
joint vocational school districts, certain STEM schools, community
schools, college preparatory boarding schools, and programs for
preschool children with disabilities.
-Requires the Department of Education to report to the Department of
Taxation twice yearly student enrollment in public schools and
preschool programs.
For information about the bill please visit
http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=129_HB_386.
3) 2012 Edition of Diplomas Count Released: Education Week and
Editorial Project in Education (EPE) Research Center released on June
7, 2012 the 2012 edition of "Diplomas Count-Trailing Behind, Moving
Forward: Latino Students in U.S. Schools". The report tracks
graduation patterns and policies for all 50 states and the District
of Columbia for 2009, the most recent year for which data is
available. It also includes additional information about the
challenges facing Latino Students and identifies promising strategies
from several school districts that are improving graduation rates.
According to the report, the nation's graduation rate at 73.4 percent
has increased for the past two years, and is the highest since the
late 1970s. The graduation rate for Latino students has also
increased 5.5 percent to a high of 63 percent.
However, 1.1 million students in the Class of 2009 still failed to
earn diplomas, and a drop in the graduation rate was recorded for
Asian-American and Native American students. The graduation rates for
white students remained the same (78.8 percent). The national
graduation rate for African-American students was 58.7 percent. On
average 70 percent of male students and 76 percent of female students
graduated in 2009.
Forty-four states posted gains in graduation rates for 2009. Ten
states, Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, New
York, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, increased their
graduation rates by double-digits. States with the highest graduation
rates (over 80 percent) are Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey, North
Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The District of Columbia,
Nevada, and New Mexico reported lower graduation rates of less than
60 percent. Detroit had the lowest rate of 42.4 percent and
Montgomery County in Maryland had the highest rate of 87.6 percent.
The report also includes graduation briefs for the 50 states and the
District of Columbia, interactive tools, and EdWeek Maps, an online
database that includes graduation information for every school system
in the nation.
According to the report, the graduation rate for Ohio for 2009 was
76.4 percent, higher than the national average. White students
graduated at a much higher rate (83.2 percent) than African-American
students (51.3 percent) and Latino students (50.5 percent).
The report calculates the graduation rate using the Cumulative
Promotion Index (CPI), which captures students who meet three grade
to grade promotions (9 to 10; 10 to 11; and 11 to 12), and students
who earn a standard high school diploma in grade 12. The CPI differs
from the Federal Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate, which
states and the District of Columbia are now required to use to
determine graduation rates.
To read the report please visit
http://www.edweek.org/media/diplomascount2012_presspacket_final.pdf.
4) State Board of Education to Meet: The State Board of Education,
Debe Terhar president, will meet on June 11 and 12, 2012 at the Ohio
School for the Deaf, 500 Morse Road in Columbus, Ohio.
MONDAY, June 11, 2012
The Board will hold a 119 Hearing on Rules 3301-51-08, Parentally
Placed Nonpublic School Children at 8:30 AM.
The Executive Committee, chaired by Debe Terhar, will meet at 9:00
AM. The Committee will discuss the July Retreat and the goals of the
State Board.
The Achievement, Capacity, and Select Urban committees will meet at 9:30 AM.
The Achievement Committee, chaired by Angela Thi Bennett, will
discuss the following:
-Proposed legislative recommendations for operating standards for
internet-based community schools
-An update on revisions to the Early Learning Standards
-Proposed changes to the assessment rules.
The Capacity Committee, chaired by Tom Gunlock, will discuss the following:
-College-Preparatory Boarding Schools- SEED contract
-Dropout Prevention and Recovery School Performance Measures
-New Expenditure Standards Required by HB153
-An update on the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System Pilot Program
-HB116 and updates to the Anti-Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying
(HIB) Model Policy
The Select Committee on Urban Education, chaired by Joe Farmer, will
discuss possible policy and legislative recommendations to improve
urban district performance and close the achievement gap among groups
of students.
The full Board will then convene at 11:15 AM to recognize 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
the Ohio Valley School District (Adams County).
Following lunch at 1:00 PM the full board will participate in a
policy discussion about the Fine Arts and World Language Standards
and the Standards for Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship and
Business Education Standards.
At 2:00 PM the Board will receive updates from the Executive,
Achievement, Capacity, and Select Urban committees, and then convene
into executive session. The Ohio State School for the Blind and Ohio
School for the Deaf Governance Task Force and the Policy and
Procedures Task Force will meet following the executive session.
The Board will then adjourn for the evening.
TUESDAY, June 12, 2012
The Legislative and Budget Committee, chaired by C. Todd Jones, will
meet at 8:00 AM and discuss special education; the Mid-Biennium
Budget Review bills; and receive legislative updates on pending
legislation.
At 9:00 AM the full Board will receive a presentation regarding the
Superintendent's proposed FY14-15 budget.
The Board will reconvene its business meeting at 10:45 AM. The Board
will receive reports from several committees, public participation on
agenda items, the report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
and take action on the resolutions included below.
The Board will then discuss old business, new business, and
miscellaneous business, and receive public participation on
non-agenda items at 1:00 PM, and adjourn.
Resolutions To Be Considered by the State Board of Education on June 12, 2012:
#4 Approve a Resolution of Intent to Amend Rule 3301-24-05 of the
Administrative Code Entitled Licensure.
#5 Approve a Resolution Regarding Public Participation at the July
2012 State Board of Education Business Meeting in July 2012.
#6 Approve 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 Approve 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 Approve a Resolution of Intent to Consider the Proposed Transfer
of School District Territory from the Highland Local School District,
Medina County, to the Medina City School District, Medina County,
Pursuant to Section 3311.24 of the Ohio Revised Code.
#9 Approve 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 Approve 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 Approve a Resolution to Adopt Academic Content Standards for the
Fine Arts and World Languages.
#15 Approve a Resolution to Adopt Academic Content Standards in
Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship and Non Career Technical
Business.
#16 Approve a Resolution of Appointment to the Educator Standards Board.
#17 Approve 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 Approve 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.
To view the State Board of Education's schedule, please visit
http://education.ohio.gov/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&;TopicRelationID=576&ContentID=117915
5) Comprehensive Teacher Evaluation System Outlined: The Stanford
Center for Opportunity Policy in Education, with support from the
Ford Foundation and the Sandler Foundation, released in May 2012 a
report entitled "Creating a Comprehensive System for Evaluating and
Supporting Effective Teaching" by Linda Darling-Hammond with
assistance of Channa Cook, Ann Jaquith, and Madlene Hamilton.
The report outlines a comprehensive system for support and
professional learning for teachers at critical milestones in a
teaching career continuum: pre-service teacher education, initial
licensure, tenure, and professional license. The report distinguishes
between "teacher quality", those personal traits, skills, and
understandings that a teacher brings to teaching, and "teaching
quality", which, in addition to teacher quality, includes curriculum,
assessment, content, and teaching conditions. Policy makers must
recognize the importance of both aspects of quality if teaching is to
become more effective.
The report identifies the following criteria for a teacher evaluation system:
-Teacher evaluation should be based on professional teaching
standards and should be sophisticated enough to assess teaching
quality across the continuum of development from novice to expert
teacher.
-Evaluations should include multi-faceted evidence of teacher
practice, student learning, and professional contributions that are
considered in an integrated fashion, in relation to one another and
to the teaching context. Any assessments used to make judgments about
students' progress should be appropriate for the specific curriculum
and students the teacher teaches.
-Evaluators should be knowledgeable about instruction and well
trained in the evaluation system, including the process of how to
give productive feedback and how to support ongoing learning for
teachers. As often as possible, and always at critical
decision-making junctures (e.g., tenure or renewal), the evaluation
team should include experts in the specific teaching field.
-Evaluation should be accompanied by useful feedback, and connected
to professional development opportunities that are relevant to
teachers' goals and needs, including both formal learning
opportunities and peer collaboration, observation, and coaching.
-The evaluation system should value and encourage teacher
collaboration, both in the standards and criteria that are used to
assess teachers' work, and in the way results are used to shape
professional learning opportunities.
-Expert teachers should be part of the assistance and review process
for new teachers and for teachers needing extra assistance. They can
provide the additional subject-specific expertise and person-power
needed to ensure that intensive and effective assistance is offered
and that decisions about tenure and continuation are well grounded.
-Panels of teachers and administrators should oversee the evaluation
process to ensure that it is thorough and of high quality, as well as
fair and reliable. Such panels have been shown to facilitate more
timely and well-grounded personnel decisions that avoid grievances
and litigation. Teachers and school leaders should be involved in
developing, implementing, and monitoring the system to ensure that it
reflects good teaching, that it operates effectively, that it is tied
to useful learning opportunities for teachers, and that it produces
valid results.
The report supports including student learning measures in teacher
evaluations, but notes the limitations of using value added results
to measure teacher effectiveness. The problems with using value
added data include the instability of value-added results for
teachers from year to year; the effect of teaching different types of
students, those from low-income families or new English learners, on
teacher value added results; and the effects of non-school factors on
student learning gains.
According to the report, "The limitations of value-added analysis do
not mean that districts cannot include evidence of student learning
in the evaluation process. Some districts use a variety of other
measures of student learning in evaluations of teaching, such as
evidence drawn from classroom assessments and documentation like the
Developmental Reading Assessment; pre- and post-test measures of
student learning in specific courses or curriculum areas (developed
by individual teachers, departments, school faculty, or district
faculty or staff); evidence of student accomplishments in relation to
teaching activities, such as student science investigations, research
papers, or art projects. Some districts use evidence from teachers'
careful documentation of the learning of a set of diverse students
over time, like that included in NBPTS portfolios."
The report is available at
http://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/creating-comprehensive-system-evaluating-and-supporting-effective-teaching.pdf.
6) Louisiana Shifts More Public Money to Private Schools: According
to a Reuters article published on June 1, 2012, Louisiana has passed
legislation that will shift more money from public schools to
privately run schools through a new statewide voucher program.
("Louisiana's Bold Bid to Privatize Schools" by Stephanie Simon,
Reuters, June 1, 2012.) The legislation is called "Louisiana
Believes" and was proposed by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.
The vouchers will be available this year for students in families
with an income less than $57,625 a year for a family of four and who
attend a school in which 25 percent of students test below grade
level. Approximately 380,000 students in Louisiana will qualify for
the voucher, or more than half of the 700,000 students in the state.
In 2013 all students will be able to receive state support of up to
$1,300 to pay for tutoring, apprenticeships, or special classes not
available in their schools.
Private schools must register with the state to qualify to receive
the voucher payment. According to the article, 120 schools are
currently registered, including some small Bible schools. The
Louisiana Department of Education announced that it would be visiting
more private schools over the summer to assess their capacity.
Students using the voucher will have to take state tests starting
next year. The private schools must report the results to parents
and the aggregated results to the state, but there is no formal
consequence for schools that report poor results. The state
superintendent is required to develop an accountability system by
August 1, 2012.
Louisiana allocates about $3,5 billion a year for education. The
voucher amount (which can cover tuition and fees) can't exceed the
sum that the state would spend educating a child in public schools,
which is $8,800 a year.
To read the article please visit
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/01/us-education-vouchers-idUSL1E8H10AG20120601.
7) Bills Introduced
SB353 (Schaffer) Schools Occupational and Physical Therapists
Workloads: Requires the Department of Education to solicit from
school districts and educational service centers regular studies of
the time spent by occupational and physical therapists on certain
activities and to use the studies to determine appropriate workloads.
FYI ARTS
1) Report Shows How the Arts Support the Economy: Americans for the
Arts released on June 8, 2012 "Arts & Economic Prosperity IV", a
comprehensive study that documents how the nonprofit arts and culture
industry strengthen our nation's economy. According to Robert L.
Lynch, President and CEO for Americans for the Arts, "The findings
from Arts & Economic Prosperity IV send a clear and welcome message:
leaders who care about community and economic vitality can feel good
about choosing to invest in the arts."
"Arts & Economic Prosperity IV" includes economic impact findings in
2010 for 9,721 nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in 182
communities and regions representing all 50 states and the District
of Columbia. The study uses four economic measures to define economic
impact: full-time equivalent jobs, resident household income, and
revenue to local and state government. The study does not include
the for-profit arts and entertainment sector, such as Broadway or the
motion picture industry.
The report also includes how the arts industry fared during the most
recent recession in 2010, and reports that in spite of the recession.
"...the arts industry continued to produce new and exciting
work-performances and exhibitions and festivals that entertain,
inspire, and draw audiences. So as the economy rebounds in the coming
years, the arts are well poised for growth."
According to the report the arts and culture industry continue to
serve as an economic engine, by generating $135.2 billion dollars of
economic activity, including $61.1 billion in spending by nonprofit
arts and culture organizations and $74.1 billion in spending by their
audiences.
This economic activity had a significant impact on the nation's
economy, turning a combined $4 billion allocation for the arts into
4.1 million full-time jobs, and generating $22.3 billion in revenue
to local, state, and federal governments every year.
The report notes that during the recent recession (2010) expenditures
for the arts fell to $61.1 billion, which is three percent behind
their 2005 levels. The biggest effect of the recession was on
audience spending. The average event-related expenditure per person
in addition to the cost of admission fell from $27.79 per person per
event in 2005 to $24.60 in 2010.
As the economy rebounds, the arts are well situated for growth.
According to the press release, "Arts & Economic Prosperity IV
demonstrates that America's nonprofit arts industry is not only
resilient in times of economic uncertainty, but is also a key
component to the nation's economic recovery and future prosperity.
This study shows that the nonprofit arts and culture industry is an
economic driver in communities-an industry that supports jobs,
generates government revenue, and is the cornerstone of tourism. The
arts mean business!"
To read the report please visit
http://www.americansforthearts.org/pdf/information_services/research/services/economic_impact/aepiv/NationalStatisticalReport.pdf
Ohio Alliance for Arts Education
Education Update May 14, 2012
Joan Platz
1) 129th Ohio General Assembly: The Ohio House and Senate will hold
hearings and sessions this week.
*Ohio House is Back to 99 Members: Kevin Boyce, former State
Treasurer and Columbus City Council member, was sworn-in on May 9,
2012 to serve the current 27th House District, replacing
Representative Carlton Weddington, who resigned in March. With this
appointment the Ohio House is back to its full 99 members.
*Update on Pension Plans: Four bills have been introduced in the
Ohio Senate to change Ohio's pension systems. The bills are SB340
(Niehaus/Kearney), Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund; SB341
(Niehaus/Kearney), School Employees Retirement System; SB342
(Niehaus/Kearney), State Teachers Retirement System; and SB343
(Niehaus/Kearney), Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.
Discussions continue on the legislative changes in store for the
Highway Patrol Retirement System. Hearings on the bills are being
held in the Senate Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee, chaired
by Senator Kevin Bacon.
2) News from Washington, D.C.
*More Action on the National Budget: The U.S. House Committee on the
Budget, chaired by Representative Paul Ryan, reported HR4966 the
Sequester Replacement Act of 2012 on May 7, 2012. According to the
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, this bill and HCR112
(approved on March 29, 2012) stop across the board automatic federal
spending cuts that would go into effect in January 2013. The
automatic cuts, referred to as sequestration, were included in the
Budget Control Act (BCA) approved in August 2011, and go into effect
if Congress fails to reduce the federal budget by $1.2 trillion.
Instead, HR4966 and HCR112 abandon the BCA plan in FY13 for defense
and non-defense discretionary funding; maintain sequestration for
Medicare and some mandatory programs; and reduce discretionary
funding by $19 billion, which brings the total funding cap to $1.049
trillion, the amount set in HCR112. The bills also increase funding
for defense by $8 billion above the existing cap, but lower funding
for non-defense discretionary funding by $27 billion below the
existing cap. To make up for the increases in defense, a separate
bill was approved by the House Budget Committee to reduce funding by
$309 billion over ten years for a number of federal programs that
support children and low-income families, including food stamps,
Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and social service
programs for children and the elderly.
HR4966 must still be approved by the U.S. House and Senate. President
Obama has already stated that he would veto the bill in its current
form.
To read more about the cuts, please visit
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&;id=3767.
*SOS (Save Our Schools) Convention this Summer: Save Our Schools
(SOS) is holding a "People's Platform Convention" August 3-5, 2012 at
the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington D.C. Save Our Schools
is a coalition of individuals and groups that came together last year
in Washington, D.C. to support public education. The coalition
developed the following four guiding principles to support their work:
-Equitable funding across all public school communities
-An end to high stakes testing used for the purpose student, teacher,
and school evaluations
-Teacher, family, and community leadership in forming public education policies
-Curriculum developed for and by local school communities
This year the coalition is coming together to develop a legislative
plank that will address public school reforms that are not focused on
standardized testing and privatization of public schools.
Information about how to attend the convention in August is available
at http://saveourschoolsmarch.com/
3) Legislative Update
*HB521 (Dovilla) Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit: The Ohio House
approved on May 9, 2012 HB521, which increases the maximum total
amount of tax credits allowed per year for completion of motion
pictures certified as tax credit-eligible productions. The vote was
94 to 3.
*SB295 (Coley) Repeal HB194: The Ohio House approved SB292 (Coley)
on May 8, 2012 by a vote of 54 to 42. SB295 repeals HB194
(Blessing/Mecklenborg) Election Reform, but it does not return
election law to pre-HB194 status. For example, provisions regarding
early voting, which were part of Ohio law pre HB194, are not
reinstated in SB295.
HB194 is facing a referendum in November 2012 backed by Fair
Elections Ohio. There isn't any precedent in Ohio for the legislature
to repeal a law also facing a referendum. Secretary of State Jon
Husted issued a statement on May 8, 2012 saying that with its repeal,
there isn't any reason to keep the referendum of HB194 on the
November ballot. However, Fair Elections Ohio, according to their
web site, wants the early voting provision to be put back into law,
and is considering all of their options regarding the pending
referendum.
For more information please visit the Secretary of State's website at
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/mediaCenter/2012/2012-05-08-a.aspx and
Fair Elections Ohio at http://www.fairelectionsohio.com/
4) This Week at the Statehouse
TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2012
*Senate Education, Senator Lehner chair
The Senate Education Committee will meet at 9:30 AM in the South
Hearing Room. The committee will receive testimony on the following
bills:
-HB375 (Butler) Property Sale by School Districts, which would allow
school districts to sell real property to private, nonprofit
institutions of higher education.
-HB437 (Roegner) School Board Vehicles: Increases the number of
miles a school district board may authorize its motor vehicles for
out-of-state travel.
-SB335 (Turner/Lehner) Municipal School Districts/Community Schools,
which would revise the management of school districts and community
schools located within municipal school districts.
*House State Government and Elections Committee, Representative Maag, chair.
The House State Government and Elections Committee will meet at 1:30
PM in Hearing Room 116. Among the bills that the committee will
consider is SCR14 (Jones) the World Choir Games, which would
recognize the 2012 World Choir Games in Cincinnati, Ohio, as a global
event of cultural significance to Ohio and the U.S. and expressing
support by designating the month of July 2012 as "World Choir Games
Month." A vote is expected.
*House Education Committee, Representative Stebelton, chair
The House Education Committee will meet at 5:00 PM in Hearing Room
313. The committee will receive sponsor testimony on SB316 (Lehner)
Mid-biennium review -- Education/Early Education/Workforce, pending
referral.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012
*House Education Committee, Representative Stebelton chair.
The House Education Committee will meet at 5:00 PM in Hearing Room
313. The committee will receive testimony on HB525
(Williams/Amstutz) Municipal School Districts-Community Schools, and
SB316 (Lehner) Mid-biennium review -- Education/Early
Education/Workforce.
THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2012
*House Education Committee, Representative Stebelton chair.
The House Education Committee will meet at 10:00 AM in Hearing Room
313. The committee will receive testimony on HB525
(Williams/Amstutz) Municipal School Districts-Community Schools, and
SB316 (Lehner) Mid-biennium review -- Education/Early
Education/Workforce.
5) State Board of Education to Meet:
The State Board of Education, Debe Terhar president, will meet on May
14 and 15, 2012 at the Ohio School for the Deaf.
MONDAY, MAY 14, 2012
The Executive Committee, chaired by Debe Terhar, will meet at 9:00
AM. The Committee will discuss the July Retreat and the annual
evaluation of the State Superintendent,
The Achievement, Capacity, and Select Urban committees will meet at 9:30 AM.
The Achievement Committee, chaired by Angela Thi Bennett, will
discuss the following:
-Approve a resolution of intent to adopt the revised standards for
fine arts and world languages
-Approve a resolution of intent to adopt the standards for financial
literacy, entrepreneurship, and business education
-Receive an update on revisions to the Early Learning Standards
-Receive an update on standards for social studies relative to SB165
(Obhof) to include content on specified historical documents in the
state academic standards and in the high school American history and
government curriculum.
The Capacity Committee, chaired by Tom Gunlock, will discuss
College-Preparatory Boarding Schools- Recommendation for Selection of
School Operator under Chapter 3328 of the Revised Code; HB 116
updates to the Anti-Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB) Model
Policy; OAC Rule 3301-24-05, Licensure; Compulsory Attendance and
Truancy Laws
The Select Committee on Urban Education, chaired by Joe Farmer, will
receive an overview of special education services and the needs of
students with disabilities in Ohio's urban areas presented by the
Office of Exceptional Children and Columbus City Schools; discuss a
parent and advocate perspective on students with disabilities with
Mrs. Margaret Burley, Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children
with Disabilities; discuss the April 23 visit to the Cleveland
Metropolitan School District
The Board will recognize Title 1 Schools at 11:15 AM and then recess for lunch.
Following lunch at 1:00 PM the full board will participate in
required annual ethics training from the Ohio Ethics Commission.
At 3:15 PM the Board will receive updates from the Achievement,
Capacity, and Select Committee on Urban Education committees, and
then convene into an executive session. Following the executive
session the Legislative and Budget Committee, chaired by C. Todd
Jones, will discuss the Mid-Biennium Budget Review Bills; receive an
update on the Cleveland Plan legislation; discuss Special Education;
and receive legislative updates on House Bills 462 and 437
The Board will then adjourn for the evening.
TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2012
The Policy and Procedures Committee, chaired by Rob Hovis and Ohio
State School for the Blind and Ohio School for the Deaf Governance
Task Force, chaired by Dannie Greene, will meet at 8:00 AM.
At 9:00 AM the full Board will receive a presentation about the
implementation of the Common Core standards.
The Board will reconvene its business meeting at 11:15 AM. The Board
will receive public participation on agenda items, the report of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, and take action on the
resolutions included below.
The Board will then discuss old business, new business, and
miscellaneous business, and receive public participation on
non-agenda items, at 1:00 PM, and adjourn.
Resolutions To Be Considered by the State Board of Education on May 15, 2012:
#6 Approve a Resolution of Intent to Adopt Academic Content Standards
for the Fine Arts and World Languages.
#7 Approve a Resolution of Intent to Adopt Academic Content Standards
in Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship and Business.
#11 Approve a Resolution of Appointment to the Educator Standards Board.
#12 Approve a Resolution of Intent to Adopt the State Board of
Education's Diversity Strategies for Successful Schools Policy.
#13 Approve a Resolution to Select the SEED Foundation as the
Operator for the SEED School of Cincinnati, pursuant to Ohio Revised
Code 3328.11.
#14 Approve a Resolution to Delegate to the Superintendent of Public
Instruction the Responsibility for Negotiating and Entering into an
Operator Contract with the SEED Foundation for the Operation of the
SEED School of Cincinnati.
#15 Approve a Resolution to Approve the Plan of the Governing Board
for the North Central Ohio Educational Service Center to Appoint
Additional Members to the Board, pursuant to Section 3311.056 of the
Ohio Revised Code.
To view the State Board of Education's schedule, please visit
http://education.ohio.gov/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&;TopicRelationID=576&ContentID=117915
6) Policy Matters Ohio Weighs-in on MBR: Wendy Patton, Senior
Project Director, Policy Matters Ohio, presented testimony on the
Governor Kasich's legislative package referred to as the Mid-Biennium
Review (MBR) before the Senate Finance Committee on May 9, 2012. The
testimony summarized the legislative changes in HB487 and the other
MBR bills as more cuts to services; more "unscrutinized" tax breaks
that leave Ohio with "inadequate revenue to make necessary
investments" for the future; more unfunded or underfunded mandates;
and more privatization.
The testimony notes, for example, that the third-grade guarantee
(included in SB316 - Lehner) would cost hundreds of millions of
dollars spanning preK-3rd grade, and no funds are allocated to
support the plan for early child care programs to implement the Step
Up to Quality (tiered rating system) criteria.
The MBR bills expand privatization in several areas, such as the sale
and leaseback of state and local public buildings; weights and
measures; and public health inspections. According to Ms. Patton,
when the public loses oversight of services, there is less
transparency, and the public loses the ability to keep tabs on how
public money is spent, or not spent.
Several cuts in services are proposed, including those for the
Department of Youth Services, nutrition, the Department of Aging, and
disease prevention.
The proposed changes in tax policies for financial institutions would
close some tax loopholes, but then the tax revenue saved is given
back to the banks, when Ohio needs additional tax revenue to restore
state and local services that have been cut. And, Ohio is failing to
capitalize on the state's mineral wealth as lawmakers fail to take
action on the governor's proposal to increase the severance tax on
shale oil/gas extraction, which was removed from HB487 as introduced.
Lawmakers should also oppose the governor's ill advised income tax
cut, which mostly benefits high income individuals and is attached to
the severance tax increase.
The testimony concludes with the following statement, "Tax cuts
eliminate the revenue we need to provide schools with uniform quality
across the state that helps kids graduate and community services that
keep families' assets intact. The Mid-Biennium Review fails to review
what's really wrong with the biennial budget and the corrections bill
doesn't correct the problem."
The testimony is available at
http://www.policymattersohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/MBR_Testimony-may2012.pdf.
7) Update on SB316 (Lehner): SB316 is shaping up as a major
education reform bill. Last week the Senate approved an amended
version of the bill by a vote of 30 to 2.
The bill as amended makes changes in a variety of education
provisions including the following topics: Third Grade Reading
Guarantee, Assessment and Intervention, and Grants; Legislative
Recommendations Regarding Reading Readiness: Promotion and Retention
Policies; School and District Accountability; Joint Vocational
Schools District Rankings and Report; Performance Indicators for
Dropout Prevention Programs; School Report Cards for Parents; Reports
of District and School Spending; Presentation of Academic Standards
and Model Curricula to the House and Senate Education Committees;
Model Curricula for Career Connections Learning Strategies; Parent
Trigger/School Restructuring; Teacher Evaluations; Assistant
Principal Evaluations; Testing Teachers; Teacher Evaluation Data;
Nonrenewal of Teacher and Administrator Contracts; School District
Business Manager Functions; Digital and Blended Learning; OhioLearns
Gateway: Ed Choice Eligibility; Assessment Data for Scholarship
Students; Autism Scholarship and Jon Peterson Special Needs
Scholarship Program; Calamity Days; Community School Sponsor
Rankings; Additional Measures to Rank Community School Sponsors; ESC
Sponsor Community Schools; New Sponsor for Community Schools;
Community School Sponsor Definition; Combining Community School and
District Data; Community School Governing Authority Membership;
Single Sex Community Schools; Community School Contracts on the ODE
Website; Community School Enrollment Verification; Community School
Mandate Review Panel; Access to School District Property; College
Preparatory Boarding School Governance; STEM Schools; Educational
Service Center Agreements; Direct Billing for Educational Service
Center Services; Graduation Credit for the Study of History and
Government; Admission of Transferring Students; Licensing of
Preschool and Latchkey Programs; Reporting Data of Young Children;
Definition of State Education Aid; School Facilities Programs; Study
of Licensure Requirements for Media Specialists; Body Mass Index
Clarification; Sale of Beverages in Schools; Tiered Quality Rating
System; Child Day-care Center Administrator Qualifications; Licensure
of Type B Family Day-Day Homes; In-Home Aides; Employment of Persons
with Developmental Disabilities; State Workforce Policy Board;
Registered Apprenticeships; Workers' Compensation Learn to Earn; and
Office of Workforce Transformation Web Site.
Earlier in the week the Senate Education Committee, chaired by
Senator Lehner, made significant changes (over 40) by adopting an
omnibus amendment and an amendment that requires schools/school
districts to provide parents with the latest report card of a school
during the admissions process offered by Senator Schiavoni before
reporting the bill.
In summary, the bill now delays implementation of the third-grade
reading guarantee until 2013-14 and lowers the qualifying test score
from "proficient" to "limited" for students to be promoted to fourth
grade; provides $13 million to implement the reading guarantee;
delays implementation of the A-F report card rating system until
2012-13 school year and establishes a task force to recommend changes
in the state's accountability system; changes the teacher re-testing
provision; excludes certain students, such as "habitual truants" from
the calculations of teacher evaluations; extends the date in which
teachers and administrators must be notified about the status of
their contract; makes the Body Mass Index optional; and more.
During the Senate debate on the bill several amendments were tabled,
including amendments that would have required teachers in charter
schools to participate in the state's new teacher evaluation system;
removed the third party evaluators from the bill; removed the
expenditure ranking system from current law; and an amendment that
would have provided more flexibility to school districts regarding
teacher evaluations. The bill now moves to the Ohio House for
consideration.
For a comparative synopsis of SB316, please visit
http://www.lsc.state.oh.us/analyses129/s0316-rs-129.pdf.
8) School Funding Presentations Continue: Paolo DeMaria, a principal
at Education First, concluded on May 8, 2012 his overview of Ohio's
system for funding schools before the House Finance and
Appropriations Committee, chaired by Representative Amstutz. Mr.
DeMaria's remarks focused on how local revenue is raised and the
challenges that state and school leaders must overcome in Ohio to
implement a school funding system.
According to the presentation, Ohio's school districts in 2010
received 44.6 percent of their revenue from local sources through the
income tax ($331 million) and a variety of property taxing options
($8.6 billion).
A map of school district valuations per pupil by quintile for the
2011-12 school year shows that many school districts in the southern
and northwest part of the state could generate only $90,591 or less
per pupil in local revenue, while wealthier school districts could
generate $178,846 or more per pupil through local taxes.
To make Ohio's tax structure even more complicated, there are
adjustments in law that affect the amount of local revenue that can
be raised. These adjustments include rollbacks, the homestead
exemption, other exemptions, and House Bill 920, which became law in
1976 and adjusts the tax rate (creating an effective tax rate) to
ensure that school districts (and other local taxing authorities)
only raise the amount of revenue specified in the original levy,
except for new construction.
Mr. DeMaria explained how boards of education calculate the benefits
of all the taxing options relative to House Bill 920. Currently 302
school districts have chosen to operate at the twenty mill floor,
which means that their effective tax rate for one or more classes of
property has dropped below 20 mills, and as a result, these school
districts receive some growth in their local taxes. Other school
districts have combined the 20 mill floor growth with an income tax
to raise additional revenue.
Mr. DeMaria also opined that to the public it appears that boards of
education ask for more mills for a levy than they really need. This
is because school districts must raise enough local revenue in the
beginning of a levy to balance income and expenses over several years
of the levy. In terms of ballot frequency, from 1995-2005 207 school
districts were on the ballot up to 2 times; 154 districts 3-4 times;
124 districts 5-6 times; and 130 districts 7-15 times.
Under "Challenges and Emerging Issues" Mr. DeMaria talked about
charter school funding, special education, gifted education, money
following the child, human capital management, technology,
inequities, return on investment/efficiencies, and more. Mr. DeMaria
said that the overall question that policy makers should consider is,
"How can fiscal policy support other reforms-- and improve student
achievement?"
Chairman Amstutz announced that a web site is being developed and
will include additional resources about school funding.
If you are interested in receiving copies of Mr. DeMaria's testimony,
please contact jplatz@chemistry.ohio-state.edu">jplatz@chemistry.ohio-state.edu.
9) Bills Introduced
HB536 (Gerberry) Business Property Tax Exemption: Allows a board of
township trustees to reduce the percentage or term of a property tax
exemption granted to a business under a tax increment financing
agreement if the business fails to create the number of new jobs the
business agreed to create.
HB543 (Anielski) Youth Suicide Awareness and Prevention: Enacts the
"Jason Flatt Act" to require public schools to train staff in youth
suicide awareness and prevention.
SB340 (Niehaus/Kearney) Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund: Revises
the law governing the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund.
SB341 (Niehaus/Kearney) School Employees Retirement System: Revises
the law governing the School Employees Retirement System.
SB342 (Niehaus/Kearney) State Teachers Retirement System: Revises
the law governing the State Teachers Retirement System.
SB343 (Niehaus/Kearney) Public Employees Retirement System: Revises
the law governing the Public Employees Retirement System.
FYI ARTS
1) New Report on the Status of Arts Education in New Jersey: The
New Jersey Arts Education Census Project released on May 10, 2012
"Keeping the Promise-Arts Education for Every Child: The Distance
Traveled -- The Journey Remaining" an update of a previous report
released in 2006 on the status of arts education programs in New
Jersey. The report was prepared by Bob Morrison of Quadrant Arts
Education Research and is supported through a public-private
partnership that includes the New Jersey State Council on the
Arts/Department of State, New Jersey Department of Education,
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the New Jersey Arts Education
Partnership, ArtPride New Jersey Foundation, and Quadrant Arts
Education Research.
According to the report "...New Jersey has made great strides in
achieving equal access to arts education for all students in the
state but there is still work to do".
The number of students who have access to arts education has
increased to 97 percent, with music and visual art nearly universally
available, but according to Bob Morrison "more remains to be done."
He writes, "Two key findings include the need for better
accountability for arts education. Great policies with uneven
accountability mean many students who should participate in arts
programs are not given the opportunity. Secondly, there are great
arts programs across all economic categories in New Jersey, but for
the first time we are seeing a connection between the affluence of a
community and the level of arts education."
The report is available at http://www.artsednj.org/.
2) P. Buckley Moss Foundation: The P. Buckley Moss Foundation for
Children's Education promotes the integration of the arts into all
educational programs, with a special focus on children who learn in
different ways. The Foundation makes grants for new or evolving
programs that integrate the arts into educational programming in
grades K-12. The purpose is to aid and support teachers who wish to
establish an effective learning tool using the arts. The maximum
award is $1,000. The deadline is September 30, 2012.
For more information please visit http://www.mossfoundation.org/.
3) Guitars in the Classroom Program: The Guitars in the Classroom
program (GITC) trains, supports, and encourages teachers who want to
integrate music-making in their lessons and daily school activities.
The program was started in 1998 by Jessica Baron in California, and
now has spread to thousands of classrooms. GITC is free to teachers
and provides a guitar, instruction, and singing and leading simple
songs. The program is sponsored by by NAMM, The International Music
Products Association, and GAMA, the Guitars and Accessories Marketing
Association. For more information please visit
http://www.guitarsintheclassroom.org/in_the_news.php
Ohio Alliance for Arts Education
Education Update May 21, 2012
Joan Platz
1) 129th Ohio General Assembly: The Ohio House and Senate will hold sessions and hearings this week.
*HB194 Repealed: Governor Kasich signed into law on May 15, 2012 SB295 (Coley), which repeals HB194 (Blessing/Mecklenborg), a controversial elections reform bill signed into law July 1, 2011. A referendum on HB194 is currently on the November 2012 ballot, sponsored by Fair Elections Ohio. Last week Secretary of State Jon Husted issued a statement saying that the referendum was no longer needed. However, SB295 does not return election law to pre-HB194 status, because other changes were made through another law HB224 (Dovilla/Stinziano), and so Fair Elections Ohio is considering its options. Stay tuned for further developments.
For more information please visit:
The Secretary of State's website at http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/mediaCenter/2012/2012-05-08-a.aspx
Fair Elections Ohio at http://www.fairelectionsohio.com/
*Update on HB487 (Amstutz) MBR: The Ohio Senate approved on May 16, 2012 by a vote of 25 to 8 Am. Sub. HB487 (Amstutz) Mid-Biennial Review (MBR). A number of provisions were removed/added before the bill was approved. The following are some of the changes:
-Removed a controversial testing plan for participants in the Ohio Works First program.
-Removed a provision that would have required General Assembly approval of transfers by the Office of Budget and Management of funds from the General Revenue Fund to the Budget Stabilization Fund (rainy day fund).
-Changed the deadline for a report of the Legislative Task Force on Redistricting from June 30, 2012 to December 15, 2012.
-Deletes House changes that abolished the eTech Commission and increases the appropriation authority of line item 935402 by $300,000 in FY13.
-Creates a STEM agriculture schools and directs the ODE to find $600,000 to support it from unencumbered and un-obligated funds.
-Clarifies that the net tuition amount of the Cleveland Scholarship Pilot Program factors-into any financial aid, discounts, and adjustments.
-Deletes changes to the Ohio School Facilities Commission's Expedited Local Partnership Program.
The Ohio House rejected on May 16, 2012 Senate amendments to Am. Sub. HB487, which sets up a conference committee on the bill. The members of the conference committee are Representatives Ron Amstutz , Jeffrey McClain, and Vern Sykes, and Senators Chris Widener, Shannon Jones, and Tom Sawyer.
*Pension Bills Pass Senate: The Ohio Senate approved changes to Ohio's pension systems on May 16, 2012. The changes have been debated over several years by the pension systems' governing boards.
The changes address contributions, retirement eligibility, the benefit calculation, final average salary, cost of living adjustments, credit for part time work, purchase of service credit, deferred retirement option plans, disability benefits, health care coverage, and inter-system transfers. The changes are included in the following bills:
-SB340 (Niehaus/Kearney) Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund;
-SB341 (Niehaus/Kearney) School Employees Retirement System;
-SB342 (Niehaus/Kearney) State Teachers Retirement System
-SB343 (Niehaus/Kearney) Public Employees Retirement System
*Film Tax Credit Added to Tax MBR: The Senate Ways and Means and Economic Development Committee, chaired by Senator Schaffer, reported HB508 (Beck) Mid Biennium Review -- Tax Changes on May 17, 2012. The bill was amended to include SB331 (Patton) film tax credit. Two separate bills dealing with the film tax credit, SB331 (Patton) and HB521 (Dovilla), have been approved by their respective chambers.
The Committee also removed from HB508 a provision that would have changed how the Ohio School Facilities Commission calculated a school district's local share to participate in the Expedited Local Partnership Program, if the district's tangible personal property valuation (not including public utility personal property) made up 18 percent or more of its total taxable value for tax year 2005.
2) News from Washington, D.C.
*RESPECT Project: Several documents have been posted on the U.S. Department of Education website outlining the vision and goals of The RESPECT Project: Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence, and Collaborative Teaching.
The project's goal is to transform the teaching profession by recruiting top students; increasing the potential earnings of teachers; creating career and leadership opportunities; linking compensation to the quality and the scope of professional responsibilities of teachers; and ensuring that teachers are supported by principals and work in a positive school culture that values their expertise.
To accomplish the goal, the U.S. DOE has been engaging educators-teachers, school and district leaders, teachers' associations and unions, and state and national education organizations in conversations about how to transform teaching for the 21st century.
For information about the project please visit http://www.ed.gov/teaching/national-conversation/vision.
*Science Standards Draft Released: The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has posted on its website a draft of the new science standards, referred to as the Next Generation Science Standards. Twenty-six states have participated in the development of the standards guided by Achieve, Inc. The standards are based on "A Framework for K-12 Science Education", issued by the National Research Council last year. The framework defines major practices, concepts, and core ideas that all students should be familiar with by the time they finish high school. According to NSTA, "A Framework for K-12 Science Education offers a new vision for K-12 education in science and engineering, and represents a significant shift in how these subjects are viewed and taught."
For more information and to comment about the draft standards, please visit http://www.nsta.org/about/standardsupdate/default.aspx.
3) This Week at the Statehouse
TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012
*House Education Committee, Representative Stebelton chair.
The House Education Committee will meet at 1:00 PM in Hearing Room 313. The committee will receive testimony on HB525 (Williams/Amstutz) Municipal School Districts-Community Schools and SB316 (Lehner) MBR-Mid Biennium Review - Education. A vote is possible on both bills.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012
*House State Government and Elections Committee, chaired by Representative Maag
The House State Government and Elections Committee will meet at 9:00 AM in Hearing Room 017, and receive testimony on SCR14 (Jones) World Choir Games, which would recognize the 2012 World Choir Games in Cincinnati, Ohio, as a global event of cultural significance to Ohio and the U.S. and expressing support by designating the month of July 2012 as "World Choir Games Month."
*If Needed: House Education Committee, Representative Stebelton chair.
The House Education Committee will meet at 9:30 AM in Hearing Room 313. The committee will receive testimony on HB525 (Williams/Amstutz) Municipal School Districts-Community Schools and SB316 (Lehner) MBR-Mid Biennium Review - Education. A vote is possible on both bills.
*Senate Education Committee, Senator Lehner chair.
The Senate Education Committee will meet at 9:30 AM in the South Hearing Room. There will be an informal hearing on HB525 (Amstutz/Williams) Cleveland Plan/Municipal School District, and the committee will receive testimony on HB437 (Roegner) School Board Vehicles-Out of State Travel.
THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2012
*Senate Education Committee, Senator Lehner chair.
The Senate Education Committee will meet at 11:30 AM in the Senate Finance Hearing Room. The committee will receive testimony on HB525 (Amstutz/Williams) Cleveland Plan/Municipal School District. A vote is possible.
4) More Changes in Store for SB316 (Lehner) MBR: The House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Stebelton, met three times last week to receive testimony on SB316 (Lehner) Mid Biennium Review - Education. The committee also accepted on May 16, 2012, a substitute bill that removed a number of provisions added or amended by the Senate Education Committee a week earlier.
State Board of Education member C. Todd Jones testified before the House Education Committee on May 17, 2012 about the changes that have been made in the SB316 concerning Ohio's Local Report Card for schools/districts, and how those changes affect a waiver proposal submitted to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) in February 2012 by the Ohio Department of Education.
The waiver proposal requests flexibility regarding certain provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In return, the ODE proposed more rigorous accountability standards for schools/districts and a new ranking system for the Local Report Cards using letter grades, A-D, and F.
As introduced, SB316 included provisions that reflected the changes for the accountability system proposed by the DOE, but the Senate passed version of SB316 created a task force to make legislative recommendations for a new accountability and rating system by October 2012. The new system would be implemented in 2012-13.
The House Education Committee's substitute version of SB316 removes the Senate changes for the Local Report Card and rating system, with the intent that a new rating system will be worked-out in separate legislation.
This action means that a significant provision in Ohio's ESEA waiver request will not be implemented this school year. Mr. Jones said in his testimony that Ohio could still obtain a "conditional" one year waiver from the U.S. DOE even without the proposed changes for the school/district rating system, as long as the General Assembly and the governor indicate that a more rigorous A-F system will be adopted.
The Committee will meet this week to hear more testimony on the SB316. To read C. Todd Jones' testimony please visit http://education.ohio.gov/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&;TopicRelationID=1871&ContentID=102836&Content=125839
5) The State Board of Education, Debe Terhar president, met on May 14 and 15, 2012 at the Ohio School for the Deaf.
State Board of Education Meeting on MONDAY, MAY 14, 2012
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee, chaired by Debe Terhar, discussed the July 2012 Retreat and the annual evaluation of the State Superintendent. The committee agreed to invite Kathy LaSota, director of School Board Services at the Ohio School Boards Association, to facilitate the meeting. The retreat will be held at the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio.
*Achievement Committee, chaired by Angela Thi Bennett,
The Achievement Committee received an update from Tom Rutan, Associate Director Office of Curriculum and Instruction, about the revised standards for the fine arts and world languages, and the development of standards for financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and non career-tech business education, as mandated by 128-Am. Sub. HB1.
According to Mr. Rutan, the standards for fine arts and world languages have undergone a comprehensive review and revision by the writing teams and through public comment and feedback over the past year and a half. He reported that in response to a question at the April meeting about the inclusion of Media Arts in the fine arts standards as a fifth arts discipline, Nancy Pistone, ODE fine arts consultant, had contacted the group developing the national standards. They reported that there are some "second thoughts" about writing separate standards for media arts.
Writing teams were assembled to create the standards for financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and non career-tech business education. These teams and advisory groups included content area specialists and representatives from the public and private sectors, and higher education professionals. The new standards have been posted online for public comments and feedback.
Final adoption of all of these standards is scheduled for June 2012.
During the discussion about the standards, State Board member Jeff Hardin again raised a question that he asked in April: why the creative and cognitive processes for fine arts standards include "perceiving" rather than "creating", especially for music? He acknowledged that the creative and cognitive process for drama/theater had changed "perceiving" to "creating", but he stated that he couldn't support an intent resolution until some changes were made in response to the comments that he has received from music educators. After some explanation and discussion, the committee, including Mr. Hardin, agreed to add "creating/perceiving" to the creative and cognitive processes for music. The committee then approved an "Intent to Adopt" resolution for each of the content areas.
Stephanie Siddons, Director, Office of Early Learning & School Readiness Ohio Department of Education and Linda Norton Smith, consultant, Office of Early Learning, presented information to the committee about the revisions for the Early Learning Standards. As part of its Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant, the ODE is required to expand its Early Learning Standards from birth to Kindergarten in five areas: Language and Literacy, Cognitive Development, Approaches Toward Learning, Social and Emotional Development, and Physical Well-Being and Motor Development.
Ms. Siddons said that a draft of the revised standards had been posted online for public comment. After reviewing the comments and incorporating the feedback, the Achievement Committee will be asked to consider a resolution of intent to adopt the revised standards at their June 2012 meeting, with final adoption scheduled for September 2012.
Tom Rutan shared with the committee a document comparing the new requirements for social studies through SB165 and existing legislation and rules. The new law and rules require the teaching of American history and American government based on the Founding Documents in grades 4-12; one half credit of American history and one half credit of American government, including the study of the U.S. and Ohio Constitutions, and allows students to demonstrate "mastery" of the content.
To conform with the new law, changes will need to be made in the current social studies requirements and in the graduation requirements for the diploma with honors. The three required units of social studies for graduation will need to change to two social studies units and one half unit of American History and one half unit of American Government. No changes will be needed in teacher licensure, since social studies teachers can also teach history. The Ohio Graduation Test in social studies is being phased out, and new end of course exams in American History and American Government will be developed. Twenty percent of the assessment for American Government will be based on the Founding Documents. Mr. Rutan also reported that as part of Ohio's participation in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), several schools in Ohio will be participating in an online assessment pilot project for 8th grade social studies in May.
*Capacity Committee, chaired by Tom Gunlock
The Capacity Committee discussed the College-Preparatory Boarding Schools-Recommendation for Selection of School Operator under Chapter 3328 of the Revised Code. Bill Zelei, ODE Associate Superintendent for the Division of Accountability and Quality Schools and P.R. Casey, ODE Chief Legal Counsel, provided an overview of the requirements in law to select an operator for the new boarding school. The SEED Foundation has been recommended by the ODE, contingent upon certain conditions being met. The committee approved the ODE's authority to negotiate a contract with the SEED Foundation to operate the school, and requested that any other issues be reviewed by the Committee at their June meeting.
The Committee also discussed the changes to the ODE's Anti-Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB) Model Policy made through HB116, the Jessica Logan Act. ODE's HIB Model Policy was adopted in 2007 and changes were made to it again in 2010. The policy changes to be made by November 4, 2012 include adding language that addresses violence within a dating relationship; prohibiting harassment, intimidation and bullying incidents on a school bus, requiring districts to provide a means to make anonymous reports of incidents, and establishing a process to notify and educate students and parents about these policies. Discussions about the policies will continue in June.
The committee then discussed the process the ODE is using to update OAC Rule 3301-24-05, Licensure, to bring it up to date with current statutes for initial teacher licenses and the resident educator license. Similar rules regarding the principal license are also being updated. The committee approved the proposed rule changes.
The committee also received information about the policies in other states regarding compulsory attendance and truancy laws.
*Select Committee chaired by Joe Farmer
The Select Committee on Urban Education received an overview about special education services and the needs of students with disabilities in Ohio's urban areas presented by Mary Ey, chief officer of Student Support Services for the Columbus City Schools, Margaret Burley, Executive Director of the Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities, and Sue Zake, Director of the Office of Exceptional Children at the Ohio Department of Education (ODE).
Ms. Zake presented a number of alarming statistics about the number of children with learning and other disabilities in Ohio and in Ohio's urban 21 school districts. According to her presentation,
-21.3 percent of students in the urban 21 school districts have been identified with disabilities and that number has been increasing
-14.8 percent of students statewide are identified as needing special education services, but the percentage is as high as 20 percent in some schools/districts
-Ohio is slightly ahead of the nation in the percent of students identified with disabilities
-Most students are identified in the "Specific Learning Disabilities" (SLD) category of disabilities
-African Americans are three times more likely to be identified with disabilities than their peers
-Where students with disabilities attend school makes a difference in their academic achievement. (Based on 4th grade achievement in math and reading.) 42 percent of students with disabilities in urban areas are achieving the proficient level in reading compared to 60 percent of students with disabilities in non-urban districts.
-There is a significant learning gap between students with disabilities and those without disabilities
Ms. Zake shared some observations about serving students with disabilities from her experiences working in the Toledo area and Toledo Public Schools. She said that some of the concerns and issues for special education students in the urban 21 districts are around how the problem is framed. She believes that the students are not the problem. The challenge is how adults and educators honor the culture, ethnicity, and diversity of students with disabilities while challenging them, providing them with rigorous curriculum, instruction, and raising expectations.
Another challenge is how to help teachers understand that there are different ways to deliver instruction and it is up to all adults to ensure that students have hope for a future and experience success.
In looking at the resources available Ms. Zake said that educators should be asking if the resources that they have are getting the best results.
Another challenge is how to design and implement high quality professional development to make it systematic and systemic.
She also noted that the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs is looking at changing how they monitor states, which will have an impact within Ohio. The monitoring will move from a focus on meeting compliance indicators to a focus on impact and results.
*Recognition of Title 1 Schools
The State Board of Education recognized Lincoln Elementary (Seneca County) and Maplewood Middle School (Trumbull County) as 2011 National Title 1 Distinguished Schools.
*Legislative and Budget Committee, chaired by C. Todd Jones
Kelly Weir, Jennifer Hogue, and Emily Gephart led the Legislative and Budget Committee in discussions about the timeline for the State Board to approve its budget and legislative recommendations and pending legislation, including the Mid-Biennium Budget Review Bills and legislation to implement the Cleveland Plan: HB525 (Amstutz/Williams) and SB335 (Lehner/Turner).
The committee discussed the timeline for the State Board to receive information about the Superintendent's budget and policy recommendations for FY14-15. Packets about the proposed budget will be sent to Board members in early June. The Board will have opportunities to discuss the budget in June and at the July retreat, and additional meetings in August could be planned if necessary. The proposal will not include the funding recommendations for basic aid, but will include principles that could guide the development of a new state school funding system for schools/districts. The timeline calls for the Board to adopt the budget recommendations in September to conform with the Office of Budget and Management's timetable for state departments and agencies to submit their budget requests. Governor Kasich will introduce his FY14-15 budget in late January 2013.
The committee also discussed the changes that affect education included in Am. Sub. HB487 (Amstutz) Mid-Biennium Review and SB316 (Lehner) Mid-Biennium Review -- Education.
Most of the discussion with Board members focused on the Senate changes to SB316 regarding the third grade reading guarantee and the A-D, F rating system for schools/districts, and the impact of the changes for the rating system on ODE's ESEA waiver request.
The committee approved a motion directing Mr. Jones to present testimony to the House Education Committee stating that the State Board of Education supports the new accountability system proposed by SB316 as introduced, and opposes any provision that might undermine the Superintendent's ability to achieve some flexibility from ESEA and implement a new A to F accountability system. Without the waiver, 90 percent of Ohio's schools will be identified as failing next school year and face costly consequences.
During discussions about the changes in the third grade guarantee most committee members expressed support for students to read at the proficient level in third grade. The Senate version of SB316 had reduced the level at which third grade students would be subject to retention to "limited".
Senator Lehner, who attended the meeting as an ex-officio member, said that many legislators are disappointed about lowering the reading level to "limited", but if the minimum standard for reading is set at the proficient level then 65 percent of students could fail the reading assessment in 2014, compared to 20 percent of students who could fail at the limited level.
Superintendent Heffner reminded the committee that the reading levels that Ohio uses now, limited, basic, proficient, etc. will likely change anyway, because Ohio is participating in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) with several other states, and the reading levels will be calibrated to the new assessments developed by PARCC.
Committee members agreed that to really address the reading crisis, students need to be enrolled in quality preK programs and all teachers need to be trained to teach reading.
State Board of Education Meeting on TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2012
James Herrholz, Assistant Superintendent, and Sasheen Phillips, Executive director of Curriculum and Assessment presented information about the communication plan and implementation plan for the Common Core standards entitled "Start Ready, Leave Ready, Ohio's College and Career Reading Standards Implementation Plan."
The first phase of the plan will build support and capacity for educators and begin outreach to the public. Phase 2 will continue development and support for educators and expand outreach and engagement with non-educators.
Methods of outreach include Tools for Teachers, Ed Connections, IDES of ODE, Social Media, Webinars/Webcasts, App/E-Reader, ODE-delivered presentations at educational organizations and conferences, Future Ready Project, Regional ESC meetings, and Regional SBOE meetings.
Different types of social media outreach will also be used, such as Twitter, Linked In, Facebook, etc.
A train the trainer model will be used to expand outreach with educators. Professional development opportunities for 2012-2013 include PARCC Educator Leader Cadres, regional targeted and differentiated professional development for teachers of SWD, ELL and Gifted, Online modules on Students with Disabilities, and Formative Instruction Content-Specific Modules.
Board members were asked to identify stakeholders and groups that should also be included in the communication plan and ways for Board members to assist the ODE to communicate the Common Core to various stakeholder groups.
A handout was distributed entitled "Are You Ready for 2014-2015?" with tips for how teachers, administrators, and school board members can become more knowledgeable about the Common Core standards.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION BUSINESS MEETING
The Board reconvened its business meeting and took action on the resolutions included below.
The Board then discussed old business, new business, and miscellaneous business. Three individuals presented during public participation on non-agenda items: Charlotte Andrist, President of the Central Office Branch of International Dyslexia Association and Sean Stevens spoke about dyslexia, and Eric Price, spoke to the Board about the importance of civics education.
Dr. Andrist's presentation explained the relationship between literacy and dyslexia. According to the presentation, dyslexia is the principal cause of reading difficulties and illiteracy in the U.S. "80-85 percent of students with an identified specific learning disability have a primary problem with reading and/or language consistent with dyslexia."
Dyslexia is often assumed to mean that students see letters backward when they are reading, but it actually is the inability to recognize, decode, and/or spell written words accurately and quickly, and difficulty with the phonological component of language. Dyslexia is a Greek word meaning "difficulty with letters". Between 5-15 percent of students or approximately 1 of every 10 students has dyslexia.
Dr. Andrist said that for many years students with dyslexia were not diagnosed and teachers are still not trained to identify or help students with dyslexia.
Students with dyslexia need systematic intensive instruction to become better readers. Several initiatives are underway in Ohio to address the dyslexia problem. In the fall pre-service teachers will be required to learn about dyslexia through several options, and some teachers will be able to receive a certificate as a dyslexia specialist.
The Board then adjourned.
Resolutions Considered by the State Board of Education on May 15, 2012:
#6 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Adopt Academic Content Standards for the Fine Arts and World Languages. The standards were amended by the Achievement Committee to include "creating" in the creative and cognitive processes for music.
#7 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Adopt Academic Content Standards in Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship and Business.
#11 Approved a Resolution to Appoint the following individuals to the Educator Standards Board: The following eight educators were elected to the Educator Standards Board:
Michael Tefs
Cynthia Ritter
Debra McDonald
Karen Winston
Thomas Rounds
Jerry Oberhaus
Heather N. Henkel
Bradford Dillman
#12 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Adopt the State Board of Education's Diversity Strategies for Successful Schools Policy.
#13 Approved a Resolution to Select the SEED Foundation as the Operator for the SEED School of Cincinnati, pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 3328.11.
Pulled #14 A Resolution to Delegate to the Superintendent of Public Instruction the Responsibility for Negotiating and Entering into an Operator Contract with the SEED Foundation for the Operation of the SEED School of Cincinnati.
#15 Approved a Resolution to Approve the Plan of the Governing Board for the North Central Ohio Educational Service Center to Appoint Additional Members to the Board, pursuant to Section 3311.056 of the Ohio Revised Code.
#16 Approved a motion to enter into a contract with Kathy LaSota, Director of Board Services for the Ohio School Boards Association, to facilitate the July Retreat of the State Board of Education.
#17 Approved a motion presented by Rose Mary Oakar to allow the State Board of Education to occasionally pass non-binding resolutions about significant issues, to inform the state legislature and governors office about the views of the State Board of Education.
#18 Approved a motion to direct C. Todd Jones to present testimony to the House Education Committee concerning the ODE's waiver request to the U.S. Department of Education for flexibility regarding the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the impact of the changes in Ohio's rating system for schools included in SB316 on the waiver request.
#19 Approved a motion in support of legislation to establish a minimum school year based on hours rather than days.
#20 Mrs. Cain requested that the State Board of Education send a letter congratulating former Superintendent of Public Instruction Deb Delisle on her new position as Assistant Secretary of Education at the U.S. Department of Education.
To view the State Board of Education's schedule, please visit http://education.ohio.gov/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&;TopicRelationID=576&ContentID=117915
6) Gifted Education: An article in Education Week on May 15, 2012 states that support for gifted education is lacking at the same time that the Obama administration is calling for more innovation to keep the U.S. globally competitive and turn the economy around. ("Gifted Programs Fight to Regain Their Toehold in the Federal Budget Efforts lack Obama administration's backing" by Nirvi Shah).
According to the article, funding for the 24-year old Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program, which is focused on serving underrepresented students in gifted and talented programs, was eliminated in FY11 leaving several ongoing research projects unfunded. The House approved "Setting New Priorities in Education Spending Act" also eliminates funding for the Javits program.
In a letter dated March 29, 2012 Senators Grassley, Blumenthal, Lieberman, Casey, and Mikulski requested that the Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, chaired by Senator Harkins, work to restore funding for the Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act in FY13, or require the Institute for Education Sciences to support research and development that directly supports gifted and talented students and a National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. A similar letter has been sent to the House committee overseeing education.
The U.S. Department of Education points to President Obama's College Pathways and Accelerated Learning program as a way to expand more opportunities for gifted and talented students. This program would provide college level courses in high-poverty middle and high schools, including Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses. However, advocates for gifted education note that President's plan does not mandate funds to serve gifted students.
Another proposal, the TALENT Act, would expand federal funding for gifted education through Title 1 programs for disadvantaged students. The TALENT Act was introduced in the House (H.R. 1674) and Senate (S.857) by Representatives Elton Gallegly and Donald Payne and Senators Chuck Grassley and Bob Casey. The Act, supported by the National Association for Gifted Children, would require states to make changes in assessment and accountability systems, classroom practices, focus on underserved populations, and emphasize research about gifted education. The intent of advocates for gifted education is to include the TALENT Act in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Overall advocates for gifted education want a national commitment to develop the talents and gifts of students.
The article is available at http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/05/16/31gifted.h31.html?print=1.
7) Bills Introduced
*HB553 (Phillips/Driehaus) Kids and Communities First Grant Program: Create Kids and Communities First Grant Program and makes an appropriation.
*HCR47 (Phillips/Stinziano) Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act: Urges the Congress of the United States to pass S. 2343, the Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act of 2012.
FYI ARTS
1) New Growth Theory Connects the Arts and Economic Development: The Brookings Institute and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) hosted on May 10, 2012 a symposium to discuss how the new growth theory could be used as a tool for assessing the impact of art and culture on the U.S. economy. The symposium featured papers jointly commissioned by the NEA Office of Research and Analysis and Michael Rushton, the co-editor of the Journal of Cultural Economics.
According to the highlights of the symposium, a new growth theory is now being used to explain how in advanced economies, "...economic growth stems less from the acquisition of additional capital and more from innovation and new ideas."
The symposium included five panels that discussed Creative Clustering, Economic Growth and Innovation, Capital Investment and Cultural Consumption, Case Studies on the Arts and Economic Development, and Arts and Economic Well-Being.
Ed Glaeser, Harvard economist and author of "Triumph of the City" (Penguin Press, 2011), gave the keynote remarks. Other speakers included Rocco Landesman, National Endowment for the Arts, Bruce Katz, vice president and co-director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, and economists and researchers from across the country.
The symposium's panels are available online at http://www.brookings.edu/events/2012/05/10-arts-development#ref-id=20120510_NEA_Panel_1
2) Juilliard launches E-Learning music program: The Juilliard Schools in New York City and Baltimore's Connections Education announced on May 16, 2012 a partnership to provide online music education to K-12 students called Juilliard eLearning. The partnership will begin in 2012-13 to develop online courses for K-12 educators and students, with distribution and implementation through Connections Education, which is a part of Pearson.
Juilliard eLearning will link Juilliard's expertise in performing arts education and Connections Education's expertise in high-quality online learning. The program will begin at Connections Academy virtual public schools, which nationally educates 40,000+ students in grades K-12, and will also be marketed to educational institutions and directly to K-12 students and adults.
The first courses to be offered by Juilliard eLearning in the 2012-2013 school year will include elementary, middle and high school music, aligned to the National Standards. In subsequent years, courses such as music theory, music history, drama history, or dance history, are being considered.
Juilliard eLearning courses and learning materials will feature exclusive music, video, animations, and other immersive content, plus synchronous and a-synchronous learning opportunities from both Juilliard's experts and Connections Education's certified teachers.
For more information about Juilliard eLearning, call 888-440-2890. A public website with more information will be available soon.
3) Program Takes Students to the Arts: An article published in the Huffington Post on May 15, 2012 describes the non-profit program "The Time In Children's Arts Initiative", a new program in New York City that provides young children with experiences in the arts. ("Innovative Educational Program 'HiArt!' Immerses Little Kids In High Art" by Priscilla Frank, The Huffington Post.)
The "Time In" program is an off-shoot of "HiArt!", a fifteen year old program in New York City founded and directed by Cyndie Bellen-Berthezene. The "Time In" program provides students in underserved schools in the New York City school district in grades preK-1 with a half day per week of instruction in dance, opera, theater, visual art, etc. at the program's studio, and at galleries, museums, etc.
According to the web site, "Time In" is about opening doors for kids in underserved schools and letting them know that the whole incredible world out there also belongs to them. That there is a way - through the arts - in which imagination and reality can work together - for them! So that before you know it, we will have created a whole a new generation of wonderful thinkers, arts lovers and young artists, each of whom will be poised to enrich the world around them with their unique insights and talents."
To read the article please visit http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/12/hi-art-art-education_n_1500671.html.
To learn more about "Time In" please visit http://www.hiartkids.com/fr_timein.htm.
