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FYI: The revised letter to legislators does fit into the e-mail word limitation on the House members website email contact space. PLEASE USE THIS SAMPLE LETTER AND SEND TO YOUR HOUSE MEMBER ASAP- THEY NEED TO HEAR FROM SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS ON THIS IMPORTANT ISSUE IF WE ARE TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN HAVING THE RATIO RESTORED. ALL HOUSE MEMBERS SHOULD BE CONTACTED!
FROM: Ann Brennan
LEGISLATIVE ALERT: SEND LETTERS ASKING FOR RESTORATION OF THE SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY RATIO
Please use the following REVISED draft letter, and add your name and contact information, as well as any personal experiences, and mail or e-mail to your Representative.
HB 59, is currently being considered in the House Finance Education Subcommittee, comprised of the following House members: Republicans: Representative Bill Hayes R- 72, Coshocton (Chair), Ron Magg R- 62, Lebanon and Gerald Stebleton R- 77, Lancaster. Democrats: Matt Lundy D-55, Elyria and Debbie Phillips D-94, Albany. This subcommittee will recommend amendments to the bill, so it is essential for OSPA MEMBERS IN THESE DISTRICTS TO SEND LETTERS TO THESE HOUSE MEMBERS ASAP.
Please use this draft sample letter (also attached) and remember to add your name and contact information . GO TO www.ohiohouse.gov where you can click on your Representative's name and be directed to an e-mail or an address. If you do not know your Representative you can use the zip code prompt to locate.
THANK YOU
Dear Representative___________________:
I am a school psychologist serving in the ______________ School District and I am writing to ask your support of restoring the school psychologist ratio (0RC 3317.15 (F)) in HB 59.
School psychologists provide a variety of essential services to students and staff. Some of the most significant services provided by school psychologists include: assisting teachers in designing academic and behavioral interventions for students with disabilities and other students at risk for school failure; evaluating students to determine eligibility for special education and gifted education services; providing school based mental health services to students; and serving on school district academic improvement teams.
School psychologists also evaluate students who may attend community schools and chartered non-public schools. In order for students to obtain a Jon Peterson scholarship they must first be evaluated and identified as a student with a disability. The school psychologist in the public school district where the child resides is an essential evaluation team member, and frequently responsible for seeing that the evaluation is completed.
Keeping the ratio assures that enough students will continue to enter graduate programs to both keep the university programs stable and accessible and provide enough school psychologists to school districts to serve all students at risk for academic failure and for mental health problems. This will become even more important as more currently employed school psychologists approach retirement.
At a time when our students are facing serious academic and mental health barriers to school success, school psychologists are needed more than ever. Please consider restoring this minimum standard, which clearly impacts on the safety and well being of Ohio’s students.
Thank you for your consideration,
Name
Contact Information
FROM: Ann Brennan
FYI: Includes important summary of education components of state budget bill, HB 59. NOTE: The bill deletes the school psychologist 1-2500 ADM ratio, as well as the speech pathologist ADM ratio (ORC 3317.15 (F) ). These were easy targets as they are one of the few ratios in law, the remaining personnel ratios, for teachers and other related service staff are included in the general Operating Standards, and the Operating Standards for Students with Disabilities, the budget bill directs the State Board of Education to review all Operating Standards and make recommendations to the legislature. OSPA will testify in the House Finance Education Subcommittee and ask that the ratio be restored, and I have already begun meetings with key House aides.
The intern program is funded at current levels.
I'll keep you posted.
Ohio Alliance for Arts Education
Arts on Line Education Update
February 18, 2013
Joan Platz
1) Ohio News
•State of the State Address: The House and Senate will meet in joint session on Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 6:30 PM at the Veterans Memorial Civic Center, 7 Town Square, Lima, Ohio to receive the State of the State Address presented by Governor John Kasich. This is the second time recently that the State of the State Address has been presented outside of the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. Last year’s address was held in Steubenville.
•Report Cards to be Released: The State Board of Education approved the release of the 2011-12 Local Report Card after Auditor of State David Yost presented the results of his investigation into attendance data irregularities. The report cards for some schools still under investigation will be “water-marked” as preliminary, until the Ohio Department of Education has determined the effect of the data irregularities on school and school district ratings. The report cards are expected to be released before the end of this month.
2) This Week at the Statehouse
The House and Senate will hold hearings and sessions this week.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
•The House Finance and Appropriations Committee, chaired by Representative Amstutz, will meet on Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 9:00 AM in room 313. The committee will receive testimony on the Transportation Budget HB35 (McGregor) and the Ohio Turnpike Commission HB51 (McGregor, Patmon).
•The House and Senate will meet in joint session in Lima, Ohio to receive the State of the State Address at 6:30 PM.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
•The House Finance and Appropriations Committee, chaired by Representative Amstutz, will meet on Wednesday, February 20, 2013 at 9:00 AM in room 313. The committee will receive testimony on the Transportation Budget HB35 (McGregor) and the Ohio Turnpike Commission HB51 (McGregor, Patmon).
•The Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Lehner, will meet at 10:00 AM in the South Hearing Room. The committee will receive a presentation from Acting Superintendent Michael Sawyers on the Third Grade Reading Guarantee, Common Core State Standards, assessments, and teacher and principal evaluations. The committee will then receive testimony on Senate Bill 21 (Lehner) Third Grade Reading Guarantee, which would revise the requirements for reading teachers under the Third Grade Reading Guarantee.
•The House Higher Education Subcommittee, chaired by Representative Rosenberger, will meet on Wednesday, February 20, 2013 at 3:00 PM in Hearing Room 311. The subcommittee will receive a briefing on higher education funding and HB59 (Amstutz) Biennial Budget.
•The House Primary and Secondary Education Subcommittee, chaired by Representative Hayes, will meet on Wednesday, February 20, 2013 at 5:00 PM in Hearing Room 017. The subcommittee will receive testimony on the budgets of several agencies included in HB59 (Amstutz) Biennial Budget.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
•The House Primary and Secondary Education Subcommittee, chaired by Representative Hayes, will meet on Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 8:30 AM in Hearing Room 017. The subcommittee will receive testimony on the budgets of several agencies included in HB59 (Amstutz) Biennial Budget.
•The House Higher Education Subcommittee, chaired by Representative Rosenberger, will meet on Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 9:00 AM in Hearing Room 311. The subcommittee will receive testimony on the budgets of several agencies, including the Ohio Arts Council, included in HB59 (Amstutz) Biennial.
2) State of the Union Impact on Education: President Barack Obama highlighted several education initiatives in the State of the Union Address on February 12, 2013. Continuing to emphasize past themes, the President focused again on creating quality early learning opportunities; lowering the cost of higher education; and creating high schools that better prepare students for jobs in technology, engineering, mathematics, and science. These along with other initiatives, such as increasing the minimum wage, are included in his Plan for a Strong Middle Class and A Strong America.
According to the address the President proposes to work with states to ensure that all children have access to high quality preschool. The plan, the details of which were released later in the week by the U.S. Department of Education, includes the following:
-Developing a cost-sharing partnership with all states to extend federal funds to reach all four year old children from families whose incomes are at or below 200 percent of the poverty level
-Expanding Head Start and the number of child care providers that meet high standards of quality
-Expanding voluntary home visiting programs to connect families with services that support children.
He also proposed ways to improve high schools. He called upon Congress to fund a STEM Master Teacher Corps; reward schools that develop partnerships with colleges and employers; and create more courses that focus on science, technology, engineering, and math.
To hold colleges more accountable, the President will ask Congress to include in the Higher Education Act measures of affordability and value for every college, so that parents can compare colleges and find the best fit for their children.
He also proposed to partner with private interests to rebuild schools through the Partnership to Rebuild America initiative.
The State of the State Uinon is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/
3) Impact of Sequestration on Education: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan addressed on February 14, 2013 the Senate Appropriations Committee on the possible impact of sequestration on K-12 federal education programs. Automatic across the board reductions in federal spending, known as sequestration, are scheduled to take effect on March 1, 2013 unless Congress acts.
In the State of the State Union on February 12, 2013 the President noted that these “harsh, arbitrary cuts” would jeopardize the military, devastate priorities for education, energy, and medical research, and slow the economic recovery. He recommended instead “....a balanced approach to deficit reduction, with spending cuts and revenue, and with everybody doing their fair share.”
In his remarks to the Senate committee, Secretary Duncan said that “Education is the last place to be reducing our investment as the Nation continues to climb out of the recent recession.”
The impact of the cuts in federal programs, if enacted in March 2013, would be felt first by school districts that qualify for Impact Aid, which provides support for school districts with high concentrations of students of military families and children living on tribal lands. Impact Aid programs would be cut by $60 million. Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants would also lose $160 million. These funds are used to train individuals with disabilities for jobs.
The federal programs that are forward-funded would lose funds in the 2013-14 school year, but school districts would start making decisions to cut jobs in April or May of 2013. As a result of the budget cuts, schools can expect larger class sizes, fewer course offerings, less tutoring and services for students, reductions in counseling, and higher unemployment across states as teachers and staff are laid off.
The impact would be felt the most on the neediest students, including those in poverty and students with disabilities. Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act would be cut by some $725 million and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act would be cut by $598 million. Over 7,200 jobs would be affected by the cuts.
Additional information about the pending cuts in education is available at
http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/testimony-secretary-arne-duncan-senate-appropriations-committee-possible-impact-seques
4) State Board of Education Meeting, February 2013
Included below is a summary of the Report and Recommendations of the State Board of Education’s February meeting on February 12, 2013. Due to the length of this Education Update, additional information about the State Board’s February meeting will be included in the Education Update for next week.
The State Board took action on the following items at their February 2013 meeting:
#8 Approved a Resolution of Intent to Adopt Rule 3301-102-09 of the Administrative Code Entitled Approving Applications for New Internet - or Computer-Based Community Schools.
Emergency consideration was granted.
#9 Approved a Resolution to Approve the Recommendation of the Hearing Officer and to Deny the Transfer of School District Territory for 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.
#17 Approved a Resolution of Appointment of Dustin Miller to the Educator Standards Board.
#18 Approved a Motion Regarding 2013-14 State Board Meeting Dates.
#19 Approved a Resolution to Approve Proposed Legislative Recommendations Regarding Ohioʻs Policies on Literacy Education of Individuals from Birth through Third Grade, and to Authorize the State Board of Education Members on the Third Grade Reading Guarantee Workgroup to Effectuate the Final Recommendations.
#20 Approved a Motion Recommended by the Acting Superintendent of Public Instruction to Release the Local Report Cards for the FY11-12 School Year. Emergency consideration was granted. The PDFs of the report cards will released by the end of February 2013.
#21 Approved a Resolution to Affirm KidsCount of Dayton Termination of Sponsorship of Scholars Preparatory and Career Center for Children (ScholArts).
#22 Approved a Certificate Thanking the Ohio School for the Deaf for Hosting the State Board of Education. Superintendent Corbin of the Ohio School for the Deaf, accepted the certificate.
5) More details about the Executive Budget: The FY14-15 budget was introduced last week as House Bill 59 sponsored by Representative Amstutz, chairman of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee. The education sections of the bill, Sections 3301.07 through 3328, include the changes that Governor Kasich is proposing for Ohio’s system of funding primary and secondary schools and education policy.
What have we learned from the actual budget language?
Included in the bill, which is over 4000 pages, are thirty-some education-related provisions that are repealed, mostly in Section 3317, which includes the laws that determine and allocate state aid. Even more new sections of law are added or amended, including provisions that define the new formulas, which are now available for researchers to analyze.
Funding and policy changes have also been proposed to revamp career-technical education, educational service centers, early childhood education, and job training for students with disabilities.
For example, according to the bill, the purpose of educational service centers would include providing services to nonpublic schools and local governments.
The bill expands the EdChoice voucher program, but pays for it differently, and expands the parent trigger law to eligible schools in all school districts. The parent trigger currently is a pilot program in the Columbus City Schools.
HB59 also changes the way schools and colleges work together to provide higher-education opportunities for high school students, and changes the “secondary enrollment options program” to “college credit plus” program.
The budget bill also takes up a provision that defines minimum instruction in hours per year per grade level, rather than 182 days of instruction per year. This provision has been introduced in the legislature several times in the past, but has not passed.
To improve accountability HB59 would require clearer financial reports from school districts, STEM schools, educational service centers, and community schools. These reports would be posted on the Ohio Department of Education’s web site.
In addition, many technical changes have also been made in the bill to address the merger of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services; the repeal of the eTech Commission; and the merger of the Rehabilitation Services Commission with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities Agency and commission.
The following is a summary of the sections related to primary and secondary education in HB59. In future updates more information will be provided about the changes for the Ohio Board of Regents and the provisions that are included in temporary law in HB59, including policy changes for early childhood education and funding levels for certain programs.
Summary of Some of the Provisions Related to Primary and Secondary Education Included in House Bill 59 (Amstutz) Biennial Budget FY14-15.
Amends ORC Section 3301.07 Operating Standards
(B)(2) Requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to develop a standard of financial reporting. Requires boards of education of school districts, each governing board of an educational service center, each governing authority of a community school, each governing body of a STEM school, and each board of trustees of a college-preparatory boarding school to make its financial information and annual budgets for each school building under its control available to the public in a format understandable by the average citizen. The report shall show the source of revenue at the district and school levels and expenditures for classroom and nonclassroom purposes; in the aggregate and for each subgroup of students. The ODE shall post these reports on its web site.
(D)(2) Replaces “requiring” with “providing” in the statement, “The state board shall formulate and prescribe minimum standards to be applied to all elementary and secondary schools in this state for the purpose of (requiring) providing children access to a general education of high quality.”
Removes the word “adequately” from the statement, “Such standards shall provide (adequately) for: the licensing of teachers, administrators, and other professional personnel.”
Removes from the standards requirements for a high quality education, such as training and qualifications of personnel; efficient and effective instructional materials and equipment, including library facilities; administration and supervision; and statement of policies and objectives for each school.
Adds “the provision of safe” buildings to the standards.
Requires the state board to base any standards governing the promotion of students or requirements for graduation on the ability of students, at any grade level, to earn credits or advance upon demonstration of mastery of knowledge and skills through competency-based learning models.
States that credits of grade level advancement shall not require a minimum number of days or hours in a classroom.
States that, “The state board shall base any standards governing the assignment of staff on ensuring each school has a sufficient number of teachers to ensure a student has an appropriate level of interaction to meet each student’s personal learning goals.”
Removes the following: “In the formulation and administration of such standards as they relate to instructional materials and equipment in public schools, including library materials, the board shall require that the material and equipment be aligned with and promote skills expected under the statewide academic standards adopted under section 3301.079 of the Revised Code.”
(D)(3) Removes references to the following: learning communities; focus on the personalized and individualized needs of each needs of each student; utilizing technological tools and emphasis on inter disciplinary project-based experiences; shared responsibilities among administrators and teachers; and school building leadership team.
(M) Requires the SBE to prescribe standards (removes the word minimum) for teaching reading in grades K-3. Removes from training programs the “use of phonics as a technique” in the teaching of reading.
Amends ORC Section 3301.0715. Diagnostic Assessments
(A)(3)(b) Changes the timeline for the administration of the language and reading skills diagnostic assessments for kindergarten after July 1, 2014 to September 30th.
NEW ORC Section 3301.41: eTech Ohio Commission.
Allows employees who were members of a bargaining unit when they were employed by the eTech Commission, which has been eliminated, to continue to be included in the bargaining unit as employees of the Ohio Department of Education (ODE). However, new employees hired to do the same work shall be exempt from Chapter ORC Section 4117, and shall not be public employees.
Amends ORC Section 3302.042. Parent Trigger.
Expands the parent trigger options to any school of a city, exempted village, or local school district ranked in the lowest five per cent of all public school buildings statewide for three or more consecutive school years according to their performance index score. Currently the Columbus City Schools is piloting the parent trigger, which allows parents to initiate school reform options after meeting certain criteria.
Amends ORC Section 3302.22 Recognition Program
Requires the ODE to consult with the Governor’s Office of 21st Century Education regarding the recognition of effective and efficient schools and states that the standards for recognition for each type of school might vary.
NEW ORC Section 3302.26 Measures of Expenditure Per Equivalent Pupils
Requires the ODE to create a performance management section on the department’s public web site. The performance management section shall include information on academic and financial performance metrics for each school district to assist schools and districts in providing an effective and efficient delivery of educational services. The section shall include a graph that illustrates the relationship between a district’s academic performance, as measured by the performance index score, and its expenditure per equivalent pupils as compared to similar districts. The section shall include statistics of academic and financial performance measures for each school district to allow for a comparison and benchmarking between districts.
The “expenditure per equivalent pupils”, is the total operating expenditures of a school district divided by the measure of equivalent pupils.
“Measure of equivalent pupils” is the total number of students in a school district adjusted for the relative differences in costs associated with the unique characteristics and needs of each category of pupil.”
This provision does not apply to community schools.
Amends ORC Section 3303.41; 3304.11-3304.14; 3304.16-3304.18; 3304.182; 3304.21-28; and 3304.41. Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities Agency and Commission. Replaces references to the Rehabilitation Services Commission with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities Agency and Commission, which is created. Establishes membership, terms of office, responsibilities, and updates language.
Amends ORC Section 3307.51. State Teachers’ Retirement Board
Requires the State Teachers’ Retirement Board to submit an annual report to the director of budget and management in addition to the Ohio House of Representatives and Senate.
Amends ORC Section 3309.21. School Employees Retirement Board
Requires the School Employees Retirement Board to submit an annual report to the director of budget and management in addition to the House of Representatives and Senate.
Amends ORC Section 3310.01, 3301.02, 3301.03, 3310.08, 3310.05, 3310.06, and New Section 3310.032. Expands the EdChoice Scholarship Program. Adjusts the definition of “eligibility” for voucher programs to align with the proposed expansion of the EdChoice Scholarship Program to kindergarten students in FY14 and first grade students in FY15 based on the income level of parents. States that student are eligible if their family income is at or below two hundred percent of the federal poverty guidelines (New Section 3300.032).
Expands the program also to students in school buildings that don’t meet “improving literacy in grades kindergarten through three”. (Section 3310.03 (D)). This provision also states that first time vouchers will not be awarded to schools that eventually meet the literacy standard, but students who have received the vouchers in the past will remain eligible even if the resident school improves.
Amends ORC Section 3310.56 Jon Peterson Scholarship Program
Aligns the amount of vouchers provided to eligible students under the Jon Peterson Scholarship Program with the new funding categories for special education in Sections 3317.013 and 3317.022.
Amends ORC Section 3311.05 Educational Service Centers
Eliminates the current definition of Educational Service Centers (ESC). States that, “An educational service center is a regional public entity that provides services to public and nonpublic schools and local governments with whom they enter into an agreement to provide those services.” (Italics added for emphasis.)
NEW ORC Section 3311.051 Educational Service Centers.
Changes the governance structure, of educational service centers. Educational service center clients include any local government, local, city, or exempted village school district, STEM school, community school, or chartered nonpublic school.
States that, the “management and control of an educational service center shall be vested in a governing board that shall consist of one or more persons who are appointed by the governing authority of the clients that have entered into agreements to receive services from the service center under sections 3313.843 to 3313.846 of the Revised Code.” Currently the members of the governing authority are elected.
“(B) Subject to division (A) of this section, the number and terms of office of members of an educational service center governing board, the allocation of members to each of the participating clients, and the general governing structure of an educational service center shall be determined by a majority of the clients that have entered into an agreement with that educational service center under sections 3313.843 to 3313.846 of the Revised Code as memorialized in an educational service center governance plan. Each service center’s plan shall be filed with the state board of education.”
(C) The members of the governing board with a plan in effect under this section may revise or rescind the plan. The revision or rescission of a plan shall be submitted to the state board.
(D) Nothing in this section prohibits members of an educational service center governing board from serving on a joint vocational school district board of education as set forth in section 3311.19 of the Revised Code.
Amends ORC Section 3311.053 Merger of Educational Service Centers and Section 3311.0510
Adjusts current law to reflect the changes proposed for educational service centers to appoint, rather than elect, governing boards of educational service centers.
Amends ORC Section 3311.19. Joint Vocational School Districts
Adjusts the membership on joint vocational boards of education.
Amends ORC Section 3311.22 and Section 3311.38
Removes a provision that canceled any indebtedness that a former district incurred as a result of a loan made under Section 3317.64 of the Revised Code, if the school district transfers to a different educational service center.
Amends ORC Section 3311.78 Differentiated Pay Schedules
Changes the effective date for establishing a differentiated teacher pay scale based on performance for teachers and principals hired on or after October 1, 2012. Maintains current law regarding the performance categories and additional compensation for teachers and principals.
Amends ORC Section 3313.11 Board Vacancy
States that a vacancy in the governing board of an educational service center shall be filled according to the terms of the plan developed by the client governing board and filed with the ODE.
Amends ORC Section 3313.48 Instructional Day
Changes the requirement that school districts provide instruction to students based on a minimum of 182 days. Requires school districts to provide instruction based on a minimum number of hours:
Kindergarten - 455 hours, unless all day kindergarten
All day kindergarten and grades 1-6 - 910 hours
Grades 7-12 - 1001 hours.
Allows the equivalent of two school days per year, during which pupils are not required to attend, for parent/teacher conferences.
Allows up to the equivalent of two school days per year during which pupils are not required to attend, for professional meetings of teachers.
Allows morning and afternoon recess periods of not more than fifteen minutes duration per period for pupils in grades kindergarten through six.
Requires that boards of education consider the schedule of the joint vocational school districts, community schools, and nonpublic schools when setting the hours and days of instruction for their jurisdictions, but states that the State Board of Education cannot require the same consideration from nonchartered schools.
NEW ORC Section 3313.481 Required Instruction
States that, “Wherever in Title XXXIII of the Revised Code the term “school day” is used, unless otherwise specified, that term shall be construed to mean the time during a calendar day that a school is open for instruction pursuant to the schedule adopted by the board of education of the school district or the governing authority of the chartered nonpublic school in accordance with section 3313.48 of the Revised Code.”
Amends ORC Section 3313.6013 Advanced Standing Program
Defines “dual enrollment” programs as “advanced standing program”, which means “....a program that enables a student to earn credit toward a degree from an institution of higher education while enrolled in high school, or that enables a student to complete coursework while enrolled in high school that may earn credit toward a degree from an institution of higher education upon the student’s attainment of a specified score on an examination covering the coursework.” Advanced programs may include college credit plus (formerly secondary enrollment options established under ORC Chapter 3365), advanced placement, and International Baccalaureate program credits.
Continues the requirement that each city, local, exempted village, and joint vocational school district and each chartered nonpublic high school provide students enrolled in grades nine through twelve with the opportunity to participate in a dual enrollment and advanced standing program.
Removes references to the post-secondary options program.
Amends ORC Section 3313.62. School Year
Maintains the current definition of a school year, which begins on the first day of July and ends on June 30th, but eliminates references to a school week consisting of five days and a school month four school weeks.
States that, “A chartered nonpublic school may be open for instruction with pupils in attendance on any day of the week, including Saturday or Sunday.”
Amends ORC Section 3313.82 Business Advisory Councils
Continues to require that schools districts and the governing authority of educational service centers appoint a business advisory, but adds that school districts that have agreements with educational service centers don’t have to appoint an advisory council if the educational service center already has one.
Amends ORC Section 3313.843, 3313.845 Educational Service Center Agreements
States that the boards of education shall reimburse the governing boards of educational service centers pursuant to the terms specified in the agreements entered into and filed with the DOE. Eliminates a provision regarding supervisory services.
Amends ORC Section 3313.981 Career Technical Education Reimbursements
Changes the formula for reimbursing school districts for students enrolled in career technological education programs and joint vocational school districts. Requires the ODE to subtract from payments made to districts $5,704 per pupil for students multiplied by an amount based on the respective career-technical category.
Amends ORC Section 3314.015 Community School Sponsors
Requires the SBE to develop rules for temporary limits on sponsors of community schools. States that temporary limits (Part F) can be used instead of revoking a sponsor’s authority to sponsor community schools.
NEW ORC Section 3314.042 Community Schools Financial Reporting
States that “The governing authority of each community school shall comply with the standards for financial reporting adopted under division (B)(2) of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code.”
Amends ORC Section 3314.08 Community School Payments
Establishes the formula for distributing the new Core Opportunity Grants to community schools. States that the amount deducted for community schools may come from school district state aid and state payments under sections 321.24 (Tax Settlements) and 323.156 (Homestead Exemptions) if necessary.
Community schools also receive targeted assistance funds and additional state aid for categories of students, such as students in all day or half-day kindergarten programs, special education, gifted, English language learners, early childhood education, and students from low-income families. Funding for the categories of students is based on different formulas.
-Special Education - Six categories as set in ORC Section 3317.013
-Kindergarten - Early Child Access Funds Amount for the student’s resident district as determined by the ODE multiplied by the full-time equivalency of the student
-Economically disadvantaged students - $500 multiplied by the resident district’s economically disadvantage index.
-English Language Learners - Based on four categories
-Gifted Students - $50 for each enrolled student
States that state funding for internet or computer-based community schools will include Core Opportunity Grants; and funding for special education, gifted, English Language Learners; and students from economically disadvantaged families.
Allows the ODE to prorate funding for community schools if the deduction for community schools is more that amount of state aid and revenue received under sections 321.24 (Tax Settlements) and 323.156 (Homestead Exemptions).
Deducts 15 percent from special education funding for the newly created exceptional special education cost fund, which community schools can apply for to support eligible high cost special education students.
NEW ORC Section 3314.082 Community School
States that a community school shall be considered a school district for the purpose of applying to any state or federal agency for grants.
NEW ORC Section 3314.085 Community Schools/Career Technical Planning Districts
States that the ODE shall pay to each community school the amount approved for that school under section 3317.162 of the Revised Code by the lead district of the career-technical planning district to which the community school has been assigned.
Amends ORC Section 3314.087 Community School Career Technical Payments
Makes changes in the formula for allocating payments to community schools for career technical education based on five categories.
NEW ORC Section 3314.092 Community School Transportation
Requires the governing authority of a community school to consult with each school district’s board of education when making any changes in the hours or days in which the community school is open for instruction and requires changes in the schedule of transportation of students.
Amends ORC Section 3317.01 School Funding
Removes a provision for school districts to obtain waivers from meeting the minimum number of days of student attendance because of calamities. This aligns with the new provision to switch from days to hours of instruction.
Amends ORC Section 3317.013 School Funding
Establishes the per student amounts for each of six special education categories of special needs students.
NEW ORC Section 3317.014 School Funding Career-Technical Education Categories
Establishes the additional per student amounts for each of the categories for career-technical education services.
-An amount of $2,900 for each student enrolled in environmental and agricultural systems, construction technologies, engineering and science technologies, finance, health science, information technology, and manufacturing technologies.
-An amount of $2,600 for each student enrolled in business and administration, hospitality and tourism, human services, law and public safety, and transportation systems.
-An amount of $1,650 for students enrolled in workforce development career-based intervention programs.
-An amount of $1,200 for students enrolled in workforce development programs in arts and communications, education and training, marketing, workforce development academics, and career development.
-An amount of $900 for students enrolled in family and consumer science programs.
NEW ORC Section 3317.016 School Funding Limited English Proficiency
Establishes state aid amounts for limited English proficiency students.
-An amount of $1,500 for each student who has been enrolled in schools in the United States for 180 school days or less and was not previously exempted from taking the spring administration of either of the state’s English language arts assessments in reading or writing.
-An amount of $1,125 for each student who has been enrolled in schools in the United States for more than 180 school days or was previously exempted from taking the spring administration of either of the state’s English language arts assessments in reading or writing.
-An amount of $750 for each student who does not qualify for inclusion under division (A) or (B) of this section and is in a trial-mainstream period, as defined by the department.
-An amount of $375 for each student who does not qualify for inclusion under division (A), (B), or (C) of this section and for whom the main language spoken at home is not English, as defined by the department.
NEW ORC Section 3317.02 School Funding Definitions
Defines the different components of the new school funding formula, including the funding categories for special education, English language learners, early childhood access, students from low income families, and gifted education,
-The early childhood access count for a school district means the quotient obtained by dividing that district’s kindergarten count by the number of publicly funded preschool providers in the district or, if the number of providers in a district is equal to zero, the quotient obtained by dividing the kindergarten count for the county the district is principally located in by the number of publicly funded preschool providers in that county.
-“Early childhood access index for a school district” means the quotient obtained by dividing the district’s early childhood access count by the statewide early childhood access count.”
-“Economically disadvantaged index for a school district” means the quotient of that district’s percentage of students in its total ADM who are identified as economically disadvantaged as defined by the department of education, divided by the statewide percentage of students identified as economically disadvantaged.”
-“Formula ADM” means, for a city, local, or exempted village school district, the average daily membership described in division (A) of section 3317.03 of the Revised Code, as verified by the superintendent of public instruction and adjusted if so ordered under division (K) of that section, and as further adjusted by counting only twenty per cent of the number of joint vocational school district students counted under division (A)(3) of section 3317.03 of the Revised Code.
-“Formula ADM” means, for a joint vocational school district, the final number verified by the superintendent of public instruction, based on the number reported pursuant to division (D) of section 3317.03 of the Revised Code, as adjusted, if so ordered, under division (K) of that section.
-“FTE basis” means a count of students based on full-time equivalency, in accordance with rules adopted by the ODE pursuant to section 3317.03 of the Revised Code. In adopting its rules under this division, the department shall provide for counting any student in category one, two, three, four, five, or six special education ADM or in category one, two, three, four, or five career technical education ADM in the same proportion the student is counted in formula ADM.”
-“Preschool scholarship ADM” means the number of preschool children with disabilities reported under division (B)(3)(h) of section 3317.03 of the Revised Code.
-”State share index” means the product of all of the following:
A school district’s valuation index; the difference between the maximum and minimum of the valuation indexes for all school districts with a total ADM greater than zero divided by 0.9; and 0.1.
If a school district’s state share index is less than 0.05, it shall be considered to be 0.05. If a school district’s state share index is greater than 0.95, it shall be considered to be 0.95.
-“Total ADM” means, for a city, local, or exempted village school district, the average daily membership described in division (A) of section 3317.03 of the Revised Code, as verified by the superintendent of public instruction and adjusted if so ordered under division (K) of that section.
-“Valuation index” means the quotient obtained by dividing the quotient of the statewide three-year average valuation for school districts with a total ADM greater than zero and the current year statewide total ADM by the quotient of a school district’s three-year average valuation and its current year total ADM.
NEW ORC Section 3317.022 School Funding - State Core Foundation Funding
Describes the components of the new school funding system as “state core foundation funding”, which includes opportunity grants and targeted assistance funds.
-The Opportunity Grant calculation: {$250,000 - [the district’s three-year average valuation /
(total ADM + preschool scholarship ADM)]} X 0.02 X (formula ADM + preschool scholarship ADM). If the result of a calculation for a school district under division (A)(1) of this section is less than zero, the district’s opportunity grant shall be zero.
-Targeted assistance funds calculated under section 3317.0217 of the Revised Code.
-Additional state aid for special education and related services provided under Chapter 3323.
-Early childhood access funds for each district with an economically disadvantaged index greater than 1.0 and an early childhood access index greater than 0.50, calculated under the following formula: 2 multiplied by the full-time equivalent number of kindergarten students as reported under section 3317.03 of the Revised Code multiplied by $600 multiplied by the district’s early childhood access index.
-The number of students who are economically disadvantaged as reported under division (B)(22) of section 3317.03 of the Revised Code multiplied by $500 multiplied by the district’s economically disadvantaged index.
-Limited English proficiency funds
-Gifted Funds
Amends ORC Section 3317.023 School Funding
States that the amounts paid to school districts shall be adjusted by the reimbursement of educational service centers based on the agreement between the school district and the ESCs, and other factors not changed in law.
Amends ORC Section 3317.0122 Transportation Formula
Enacts a formula to subsidize school districts for transporting students.
NEW ORC Section 3317.0213 State Aid for Preschool
Provides additional state aid to school districts to support special education preschool. The formula provides $4,000 multiplied by the number of preschool special education children in the district, plus the sum of the number of students in the six special education categories multiplied by the amount for each category. The district’s state share index multiplied by 0.50 is also applied for each special education category.
NEW ORC Section 3317.0214 and 3317.25 Special Education Exceptional Cost Fund
Creates the special education exceptional cost fund. The ODE is required to deposit 15 percent of all funds calculated for special education, but makes exceptions for special education funds transferred to community schools and STEM schools; funds transferred to parents participating in the autism scholarship program; and funds transferred to the parents of special education students participating in the Jon Peterson Scholarship program. Deductions are made in sections for community schools and STEM schools for this fund.
Special Education Exceptional Cost Fund: Permits school districts, community schools, and STEM schools to apply for funds from the special education exceptions cost fund according to criteria. Funds will be available for students in special education categories two through six. Describes the formula that will be used to calculate the funds. States that ODE shall pay for, only the costs of educational expenses and the related services provided to the student in accordance with the student’s individualized education program. Any legal fees, court costs, or other costs associated with any cause of action relating to the student shall not be included in the amount.
NEW ORC Section 3317.0217 Targeted Assistance Funds
Enacts a formula to distribute targeted assistance funds. In the calculation “net formula ADM” is used, which means formula ADM minus students who attend e-schools, community schools, and are participating in the voucher programs.
Amends ORC Section 3317.03 Average Daily Attendance
Makes changes in the law to align with the new provisions of the school funding formula.
Amends ORC Section 3317.05 Career Technical Education Units
Requires the ODE to pay an amount to each institution approved for career-technical education units. The amount for each unit shall be the sum of the minimum salary for the teacher of the unit, calculated on the basis of the teacher’s training level and years of experience plus fifteen per cent of that minimum salary amount, and nine thousand five hundred ten dollars. Each institution that receives unit funds under this division annually shall report to the department on the delivery of services and the performance of students, and any other information required by the department to evaluate the institution’s career-technical education program.
For each unit allocated to an institution the ODE shall pay a supplemental unit allowance of $7,227.
Amends ORC Section 3317.10 Ohio Works First
Removes a provision that required the ODE to use the number of children whose parents participated in the Ohio Works First program in the calculation of state aid.
Amends ORC Section 3317.12, 3317.14, and 3317.141 Salary Schedules
Requires boards of education to adopt annually salary schedules for teachers and nonteaching school employees. Makes several changes in the definitions of years of service. Requires boards of education that are participating in Race to the Top to adopt a salary schedule for teachers based on performance and other criteria.
Amends ORC Section 3317.15 Special Education
Removes a provision regarding the ratio of speech language pathologists per students and school psychological services per school.
NEW ORC Section 3317.16 and 3317.161 Vocational School Districts
Describes the formula for the distribution of state aid for joint vocational school districts. The new formula is [$10,000,000 - (the district’s three-year average valuation /the district’s formula ADM)] multiplied by 0.0005 multiplied by the district’s formula ADM.
In addition, joint vocational schools will receive targeted assistance funds and additional state aid for students in special education programs, economically disadvantaged students, students learning English, and gifted funds. Requires a deduct of 15 percent of the funds allocated to be used for the special education exceptional cost fund. The joint vocational school can apply for these funds if eligible. Describes the calculations for targeted assistance.
NEW ORC Section 3317.162 Career Technical Education.
Describes the formula for calculating state aid to support career technical education based on five categories. Requires the lead district of a career-technical planning district to review the career-technical education programs of each city, local, and exempted village school district, each community school, and each STEM school that is assigned to the career-technical planning district and determine whether to approve the plan.
States that “In any fiscal year, a lead district of a career-technical planning district that receives funds under this division shall spend those funds only for purposes that the department designates as approved for career-technical education and for associated services expenses.”
NEW ORC Section 3317.163 Career Technical Programs
States that in any fiscal year, a school district, community school, or STEM school receiving funds shall spend those funds only for the purposes that the department of education designates as approved for career-technical education expenses. Requires the ODE to monitor annually how the funds are spent.
Amends ORC Section 3317.19 Cooperative Education School District
Removes provisions to align with the new school funding formulas.
Amends ORC Section 3317.20 and 3317.201 County Board of Developmental Disabilities and Institutions
Aligns funding for students in special education programs in county boards of developmental disabilities and institutions with the new school funding formulas.
Amends ORC Section 3313.847. Changes Section 3313.847 to Section 3317.30 Juvenile Facilities
Describes the school funding formula for students in juvenile detention facilities.
NEW ORC Section 3317.40 Intention of the General Assembly: States the following:
“(B)It is the intent of the general assembly that funds provided under this chapter shall be used for the provision of a system of common schools and the advancement of the knowledge of all students. As such, school districts and schools shall be held accountable for those funds to ensure that all students are provided an opportunity to master a common knowledge base in order to graduate from high school prepared for a career or for post-secondary education.”
“(C) When funds are provided under this chapter specifically for services for a subgroup of students, the general assembly has determined that these students experience unique challenges requiring additional resources and intends that the funds so provided be used for services that will allow students in those subgroups to master the knowledge base required for high school graduation.”
“(D) If a district or school fails to show consistent progress for any subgroup of students based on performance measures reported or graded under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code, as determined by the department of education, the district or school shall partner with, and pay the funds provided for that subgroup as calculated by the department, to another organization that has demonstrated the ability to improve the educational outcome for that subgroup of students to provide services to those students.
The partner organization may be another school, district, or other education provider.”
“The department shall publish a list of schools, school districts, and other educational providers that have demonstrated an ability to serve each subgroup of students.”
Amends ORC Section 3317.50 & 3317.51 Telecommunity education funds and Distance Learning Funds
Delegates to the chancellor of the Ohio board of regents the administration of the telecommunity funds and the distance learning funds to finance technology grants to state-chartered elementary and secondary schools.
NEW ORC Section 3317.52 Straight A Program
Creates the program, which provides grants to city, local, exempted village, and joint vocational school districts, educational service centers, community schools, STEM schools established, individual school buildings, education consortia (which may represent a partnership with other school districts), institutions of higher education, and private entities for projects to advance student achievement, spending reduction, and utilization of a greater share of resources in the classroom.
A governing board consisting of seven members appointed by the governor, one member appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives, and one member appointed by the president of the senate, will administer the grants. The department of education, under the direction of the director of the governor’s office of 21st century education, shall provide administrative support to the board. Describes how the grants will be administered. Creates an advisory committee for the program.
Amends ORC Section 3318.011 Median District Income
Changes the definition of district median income, statewide median income, and income factors.
Amends ORC Section 3318.031 School Facilities
Replaces the reference to smaller class size in criteria for the design standards, with “Trends in educational delivery methods, including digital access and blended learning.”
NEW ORC Section 3319.031 Business Manager
Allows boards of education to assign the powers and duties of a business manager to other employees, and clarifies the duties if performed by a treasurer.
Amends ORC Section 3319.073 School Safety Training and Prevention
Adds information about human trafficking to the training in school safety and violence prevention.
Amends ORC Section 3321.05 All Day Kindergarten
Aligns the amount of instructional time for all-day kindergarten to hours per week rather than days.
Amends ORC Section 3321.14 and 3321.15 Attendance Officer
Requires every city, exempted village, or local school district to employ an attendance officer, or (new) obtain such services from the educational service center. Requires educational service centers to consult with contracted districts regarding the employment of an attendance officer.
Amends ORC Section 3323.021 Special Education
Requires school districts to annually report to the ODE any amounts of federal revenue received.
Amends ORC Section 3324.07 Gifted Education
Replaces “post-secondary enrollment options” with the term “college credit plus program” in the list of services that might be provided to students identified as gifted.
NEW ORC Section 3326.112 STEM Schools
Requires the governing body of each STEM school to comply with the standards for financial reporting adopted under division (B)(2) of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code.
Amends ORC Sections 3326.31, 3326.32, and 3326.33 STEM Schools
Aligns these sections with the new school funding formula.
NEW ORC Section 3326.34 STEM Schools
Requires a 15 percent deduction from state aid to support the special education exceptional cost fund, and allows STEM Schools that are qualified to apply for the funds.
NEW ORC Section 3326.39 STEM Schools
Allows the ODE to pay STEM schools amounts approved to support career-technical education.
Amends ORC Section 3327.02 Transportation
Removes a provision that required a board of education to receive from an educational service center concurrence on a resolution declaring the impracticality of transportation of a student.
NEW ORC Section 3328.27 College Preparatory Boarding School
Requires the board of trustees of college preparatory boarding schools to comply with standards for financial reporting.
Amends ORC Section 3328 College Preparatory Boarding School
Requires the ODE to reduce the amount of state support, that is not included in the per pupil boarding amount, to reflect payments made to colleges under Section 3365.07.
House Bill 59 is available at
http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=130_HB_59
Additional information about HB59, including the provisions in temporary law, will be included in the Education Update next week.
6) Bills Introduced
-HCR3 (Brenner) National School Choice Week: Designates the week of January 27 - February
3, 2013, as National School Choice Week.
-HB32 (Hayes) Minimum School Year: Establishes a minimum school year for school districts, STEM schools, and chartered nonpublic schools based on hours, rather than days, of instruction.
-HB58 (Gerberry) State Board of Education Membership: Changes the voting membership of the State Board of Education to consist of a member from each of several electoral districts with boundaries coinciding with the state’s Congressional districts and a president to be appointed by the Governor if there is an even number of such electoral districts.
-HB59 (Amstutz) Biennial Budget: Makes operating appropriations for the biennium beginning July 1, 2013, and ending June 30, 2015; provides authorization and conditions for the operation of state programs.
-SB11 (Brown) Childhood Hunger & Nutrition: Requires school districts to allow alternative summer meal sponsors to use school facilities to provide food service for summer intervention services under certain conditions, allows the distribution and consumption of meals on a school bus, and creates a healthy food license for child day-care centers and school child programs.
-SB15 (Sawyer) Education Funding Plan: Prescribes a system and timeline for the General Assembly to deliberate and determine the components and cost of a high quality public primary and secondary education, makes property tax law changes to fund a high quality public primary and secondary education, and provides that the provisions of this act take effect only after being approved by the electors.
-SB21 (Lehner) Third-Grade Reading Guarantee: Revises the requirements for reading teachers under the Third-Grade Reading Guarantee.
-SB31 (Schaffer) Income Tax Credit - Teachers: Allows a credit against the personal income tax for amounts spent by teachers for instructional materials.
SB42 (Manning/Gardner) Property Taxes School Security: Authorizes school districts to levy a property tax exclusively for school safety and security purposes.
-SJR1 (Sawyer) Redistricting Process: Revises the redistricting process for General Assembly and Congressional districts.
-SJR2 (Sawyer) Education: Requires and funds a high quality education for each student enrolled in a public school.
FYI ARTS
1) 2013 Governor’s Awards for the Arts: The 2013 Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Ohio, the Arts Day Luncheon, and Arts Day activities will be held on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Columbus.
The Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Ohio and the Arts Day Luncheon are held in conjunction with Arts Day, sponsored by the Ohio Citizens for the Arts Foundation. The mission of Arts Day is to provide an opportunity for arts advocates to engage with the legislators in order to communicate the value of and need for adequate public funding for the arts and arts education. On this day every year the Ohio Citizens for the Arts Foundation presents a variety of arts advocacy opportunities, including an advocacy briefing, legislative visits, and student exhibitions. Arts Day activities are held in the Capitol Theatre, at the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts and are free and open to the public. The legislative briefing begins at 9:30 AM and legislative visits at 10:30 AM.
The Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Ohio and the Arts Day luncheon will be held at noon in the Columbus Athenaeum. Awards will be presented to Ohio individuals and organizations in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the arts statewide, regionally, and nationally in the following categories:
Arts Administration
Jill Snyder, Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, Cleveland
Arts Education
Stivers School for the Arts, Dayton
Arts Patron
Charlotte Kessler, New Albany
Dr. Benjamin and Mrs. Marian Schuster, Dayton
Business Support for the Arts
PNC Bank, Statewide
Community Development and Participation
Raymond Shepardson, Cleveland
Individual Artist
Jack Earl, Lakeview
Joseph O’Sickey, Kent
Individual tickets for the Luncheon are $50 and include lunch and a dessert reception. Registration closes April 15, 2013. Payment can be made online or checks may be sent to the Ohio Citizens for the Arts Foundation at 77 S. High Street, 2nd Floor, Columbus, Ohio 43215. Please be sure to include the names of all guests who are part of the registration. To register for the luncheon visit
http://oac.ohio.gov/Events/ViewPublicEvent.asp?ID=338
Information about table sponsorship is available at
http://www.oac.ohio.gov/Events/GovAwards/Default.asp?strStaticPage=TableSponsorship
Information about Arts Day is available from Ohio Citizens for the Arts at http://www.OhioCitizensForTheArts.org/
2) Art and the Common Core: Education Week will present a webinar on Tuesday, February 19, 2013, at 2:00 to 3:00 PM to explore the connections between the arts and the Common Core State Standards. The webinar will feature Susan Riley, an expert in arts integration, curriculum innovation, and resource development specialist, Anne Arundel County public schools, Md. and Lynne Munson, president and executive director, Common Core. The webinar will be moderated by Erik Robelen, assistant editor, Education Week. The panelists will discuss the potential of arts integration with the common core and provide practical examples of how to put the concept into practice.
To register please visit
http://www.edweek.org/ew/marketplace/webinars/webinars.html
3) Professional Opportunities Offered: The Ohio Department of Education has posted on its website information about professional development opportunities for arts educators offered in cooperation with Educational Service Centers, school districts, and arts organizations. The sessions are open to dance, drama/theatre, music, and visual art educators, and focus on the 2012 Arts Learning Standards and teacher evaluation. Facilitators include the ODE staff and art standards writing team teachers.
For information please visit
http://education.ohio.gov/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?Page=3&TopicRelationID=1700&Content=140405
4) Full STEAM Ahead: Americans for the Arts reports that Representative Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon and Representative Aaron Schock of Illinois will lead the STEAM Caucus, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math. The STEAM Caucus will promote the benefits of an education in the arts and sciences for individuals, communities, and the nation. Caucus members will work to increase awareness of the importance of STEAM education and explore new strategies to advocate for STEAM programs, and will work with the Congressional Arts Caucus.
For information please visit
https://www.magnetmail.net/actions/email_web_version.cfm?recipient_id=1021784113&message_id=2495694&user_id=ArtsUSA&group_id=0&jobid=13049959
Ohio Alliance for Arts Education
Arts on Line Education Update
February 11, 2013
Joan Platz
1) 130th Ohio General Assembly
•Executive Budget Introduced -- Legislation Expected Next Week: Governor Kasich held a news conference on February 4, 2013 to introduce his administrationʻs FY14-15 state operating budget. The Office of Budget and Management, Tim Keen director, also released the “Blue Books,” which provide more details about the total spending levels for state departments and agencies; program spending levels; revenue assumptions used to prepare the spending projections; and some information about the policy changes that are proposed in the budget. The Blue Books are available at http://obm.ohio.gov/.
Although the Blue Books provide more details about the Executive Budget, policy changes will become clearer once the budget bill is available and the Legislative Services Commission publishes another set of documents known as the Red Books. New information about the Executive Budget found in the Blue Books is included in #2 below.
•House Reviews More Budgets: The budgets for the Ohio Department of Transportation (HB35-McGregor); the Bureau of Workersʻ Compensation (HB34-Hackett); and the Industrial Commission (HB33-Hackett) were also introduced last week.
The House Finance and Appropriations Committee, chaired by Representative Amstutz, removed Governor Kasichʻs plan regarding the Ohio Turnpike from the FY14-15 Transportation Budget (HB35 - McGregor), and moved it to a separate bill, HB38 (McGregor). Both bills go next to the Transportation Subcommittee, chaired by Representative McGregor, for consideration. Chairman Amstutz has stated his intent to move these bills quickly through the House.
•Personnel Changes:
-Jim Petro, Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, retired last week marking thirty years of public service. Governor Kasich has selected Stephanie Davidson as interim chancellor.
-Dr. Susan Tave Zelman, former Superintendent of Public Instruction, will return to the Ohio Department of Education as an executive director. According to a press release, she will provide oversight over the school funding formula and resources for schools.
•Auditor to Release Report: State Auditor David Yost will release a statewide audit of school attendance data on Monday, February 11, 2013 at 2:00 PM, at the Auditor of Stateʻs Office, 88 E. Broad Street, 13th Floor.
2) Recap -- Executive Budget
The Finance and Appropriations Committee, chaired by Representative Amstutz, received testimony on February 5, 2013 from Tim Keen, Director of the Office of Budget and Management, and Mark Flanders, Director of the Legislative Services Commission. Director Keen led the committee through 58 pages of testimony that provided additional information about the main components of the Executive Budget, focusing on the major reform initiatives: Education Funding and Reform, Transforming Higher Education, Medicaid Transformation, Tax Cuts and Reform, Ohio Jobs and the Transportation Plan, and Continuing Review and Reform of State Government.
Governor Kasich is proposing a total budget of $63.3 billion for the biennium, which starts on July 1, 2013. The budget also includes a variety of policy changes, and a huge revenue surplus of over $1.7 billion for FY12-13 biennium.
The following is a summary of some of the provisions of the proposed budget. Please note: This summary was prepared from the documents provided by the Office of Budget and Management and the testimony of Tim Keen, Director of the Office of Budget and Management. More details will be available once the Executive Budget bill is introduced:
Proposed State Budget
Total GRF FY12 & 13 $55.7 billion (appropriated)
Total GRF FY14 - $30.6 billion (10.5 percent increase over est. FY13)
Total GRF FY15 - $32.7 billion (6.8 percent increase over FY14)
Total GRF FY14 & 15 $63.3 billion
An increase of $7.5 billion over FY12-13 levels!!!
Total All Funds FY12 & 13 $112.2 billion (appropriated)
Total All Funds FY14 - $63.7 billion (6.1 percent increase over FY13)
Total All Funds FY15 - $66.8 billion (4.8 percent increase over FY14)
Total All Funds FY14 & 15 $130.5 billion
Budget Stabilization Fund (Rainy Day Fund)
-Projects a GRF ending balance of $1.707 billion in June 2013.
-Transfers $978.7 million into the Budget Stabilization Fund.
-Transfers $415.9 million into the Income Tax Reduction Fund. This added money will provide a 4 percent reduction in income taxes in calendar year 2013.
-Establishes a $146.1 million carry-over fund.
-Sets aside $167 million for year-end transfers, and paying interest on the balance of the unemployment compensation funds borrowed from the federal government.
Medicaid
-Establishes Medicaid as a stand-alone cabinet agency. Spending for Medicaid is the largest program in the state budget.
-Expands Medicaid eligibility under the federal Affordable Care Act. Legislation will include a provision that will allow the state to withdraw from the program if the federal government does not cover the cost of the expansion of the program. Estimates are that about 275,000 individuals could be added to Medicaid. Total Medicaid GRF spending in the budget is projected to grow to $15.052 billion in FY14 and to $16.769 billion in FY15. The federal share of the program is about 64 percent.
-Merges the Ohio Department of Mental Health and the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug and Addiction Services.
Tax Plan
-Provides $1.4 billion in tax cuts over three years and shifts the tax burden from the income tax to the sales tax, which will become the largest source of revenue for the state.
-Phases in over three years a 20 percent reduction in personal income tax rates in all nine brackets. This includes a 7.5 percent cut in FY13; an additional cut of 7.5 percent in FY14, and an additional 5 percent cut in FY15.
-Reduces the state sale tax rate from 5.5 percent to 5 percent.
-Broadens the sales tax base to cover all services except those related to health care, education, and housing.
-Adjusts the sales tax receipts for local governments to cap the amount of additional revenue that will be raised with the expanded tax base.
-Increases the severance tax on natural gas to 1 percent and 4 percent for oil and liquids. This would raise $45 million in FY14 and $155 million in FY15. Revenue from this tax is expected to increase in future biennia to as much as $415 million in FY17.
-Provides a deduction of 50 percent in annual pass-through income up to $750,000 for small businesses paying the income tax. The deduction is capped at $375,000.
-Increases GRF sales tax revenue by $1.322 billion in FY14 and $1.799 billion in FY15.
-Increases local sales tax revenue by an estimated $50 million in FY14 and $70 million in FY15.
Turnpike Bonds
-Authorizes the sale of $1.5 billion in turnpike toll-backed bonds to fund a variety of transportation projects. This provision was removed from the Transportation Budget, HB35 McGregor), and will be debated in HB38 (McGregor).
Primary and Secondary Education
-Provides a total of $7.734 billion in FY14 (6.9 percent increase) and $8.066 billion in FY15 (4.3 percent increase) in General Revenue and Lottery Profit funds for primary and secondary education. The sum of the increases represents $1.328 billion in “new” funding for education. The General Revenue portion is $6.893 billion in FY14 and $7.091 billion in FY15. The Lottery Profits portion is $841.0 million in FY14 and $974.5 million in FY15.
All funds total $10.4 billion in FY14 (6 percent above FY13 levels) and $10.7 billion in FY15 (2.7 percent above FY14 levels).
This total includes property tax replacement (Revenue Distribution), which adds $510 million in FY14 and $510 million in FY15. Another $1.13 billion in FY14 and $1.18 billion in FY15 in property tax relief is included in the budget of the Ohio Department of Taxation.
-State Lottery Profits: Includes $841.0 million in FY14 and $974.5 million in FY15 in Lottery Profits. In addition to funding general education programs Lottery Profits will be used to fund the Straight A Fund ($100 million in FY14 and $200 million in FY15), and to fund a pilot expansion of the Educational Choice Scholarship Program for students ($8.5 million in FY14 and $17 million in FY15). This is the first time that Lottery Profits will be used to fund programs for nonpublic schools.
-Core Opportunity Aid: Implements a new state aid school funding formula, for local, exempted village, and city school districts. The formula would provide enough state aid to make 20 mills equivalent to what can be raised with a per pupil tax base of $250,000.
Average Core Opportunity Aid is $5,000 per student, close to the state aid amount per pupil of $5,058 in 2004. (Recent Trends in K-12 Education Funding in Ohio by Howard Fleeter, Driscoll & Fleeter, Consultant to the Education Tax Policy Institute, December 2008.)
The governorʻs plan also limits increases in state aid to the lesser of 25 percent of the prior year’s aid or 10 percent of the district’s total resources.
Total GRF allocation: $3.835 billion in FY14 and $3.879 billion in FY15.
-Targeted Resources: Provides additional state aid to some school districts to equalize from 5-15 mills, in addition to the 20 mills, based on school district property and income wealth for school districts at or below the 80th percentile. (This provision is being compared to parity aid.)
Total allocation: $602.8 million in FY14 and $702.9 million in FY15.
-Pupil Transportation: More details are needed, but includes an overall amount of $442.1 million in FY14 and $442.1 million in FY15 to subsidize school districts for transporting students. The Governorʻs Office of 21st Century Schools is waiting for the Ohio Department of Education to provide certain information before it can release the amount of transportation funds per school district.
-Students with Disabilities: More details are needed about how the allocations were determined and how they will be distributed. The Executive Budget funds the special education categories identified by the Ohio Coalition for Students with Disabilities at 100 percent. The proposed budget provides a total of $1.3 billion in FY14 and $1.38 billion in FY15. This total includes funds to support Special Education Enhancements; support for special education through Foundation Funding; the new Exceptional Cost Reimbursement Fund ($111.5 million in FY14 and $119.5 million in FY15); and federal funds for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ($443 million in FY14 and $443 million in FY15.)
The new Exceptional Cost Reimbursement Fund will reimburse schools/districts for students with exceptionally high special education/services costs. Schools serving special needs students will be required to contribute a portion of their special education allocation under the foundation formula to create this fund, and must request reimbursements from the Ohio Department of Education.
-English Language Learners: More details are needed about this provision, which would provide an additional $1,500 per pupil for English language learners in their first year of school; 75 percent of that amount in the second year; and 50 percent of that amount in the third year. However, some resources would still be allocated for students whose parents do not speak English. GRF allocation through the Foundation Program is $21 million in FY14 and $22 million in FY15. Another $9.7 million in FY14 and $9.7 million in FY15 are included through the English Language Acquisition line item.
-Economically Disadvantaged Students: More details are needed about this provision, which provides between $20 - $1000 per pupil to school districts based on their concentration of poverty as reported on the Local Report Cards.
GRF Foundation Funding for at-risk students totals $579.1 million in FY14 and $579.1 million in FY15, a 3.3 percent decrease from the FY13 level, and includes foundation funding for districts with limited availability to early childhood access. Federal funding is also provided through ESEA Title 1A. Schools/districts would receive $560 million in FY14 and $560 million in FY15.
-Gifted Education: Again, more details are needed, but the governorʻs plan provides $50 per student for identification and services for gifted students. Total allocation: $85.19 million in FY14 and $85.19 million in FY15 through Foundation Funding (GRF 200-550). There are questions about how services for gifted students would be provided if changes are made in funding for Education Service Centers, and how accountable schools/districts would be for using the funds to provide services for gifted students.
-Early Childhood Education: The Executive Budget provides $23.2 million in FY14 and $25.2 million in FY15 for Early Childhood Education. The proposed budget also replaces the unit funding model for special education preschool with a formula based on the specific disabilities of the child, and the wealth of the district, and increases GRF support for Special Education Enhancements by 22 percent in FY14 to $103 million in FY14 and $104 million in FY15.
Support is also provided for Child Care Licensing, and $7 million in FY14 and $7 million in FY15 are provided from the federal Early Learning Challenge Grant.
The budget includes an additional $2 million in early learning funds in the second year of the biennium to increase the number of preschool students served by Ohioʻs highest performing preschools.
The total amount of funding for this area is $148 million in FY14 and $151.9 million in FY15. Support for early learning programs is also included in the budget of the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services.
-Career Technical Education: According to the Executive Budget proposal, a new funding formula would be implemented for joint vocational school districts, with supplemental funds for students who participate in career-technical education programs. These funds, provided to Career-Technical Planning Districts, direct additional funding to those career fields that are in high demand or require additional resources for instruction. Funding is also provided for Career-Technical Planning Districts offering the GED test to individuals to reimburse students for some of the cost of taking the GED, and for providing career planning and guidance.
This provision also maintains funding for the match required for federal Perkins administrative funding.
Total funding for the Career-Technical Education line item is $176.4 million in FY14 and $176.4 million in FY15.
-Transitional State Aid Guarantees: According to Governor Kasich, the guarantee is reluctantly continued in this budget to avoid the “chaos” which might occur if 397 school districts in FY14 and 382 school districts in FY15 lost over $800 million in state aid. However, the Governor urges educators and policy makers to find some way to eliminate the guarantee in future budgets.
Total allocation: $464.3 million in FY14 and $416.1 million in FY15.
-Non-Public Schools: Increases state support for non public schools to $193.2 million (5.5 percent increase) in FY14 and to $199.1 million (3 percent increase) in FY15. These funds support secular services and materials, and reimburse chartered non public schools for mandated administrative and clerical costs.
-Community School Facility Funding: Few details were provided about funding for community schools. It is assumed that community schools would continue to be funded as a deduct from school district state aid. Presumably community schools would receive $5000 per student and additional state based on the student's residential school district.
Governor Kasich is also recommending that community schools receive $100 per pupil for community schools to support facilities. This provision totals $7.5 million in FY14 and $7.5 million in FY15. This money would not be deducted from school district state aid. More information is needed about whether or not eschools would be eligible for the funds (since the students work from home), and whether or not for-profit charter school managers, that own their own school buildings, would be able to access this fund.
Other Categories of Funding for Primary and Secondary Education
-Creates the new Straight A Fund: The Executive Budget includes $100 million in FY14 and $200 million in FY15 to support a competitive grant program called the Straight A Fund. This fund would provide one-time grants for innovative programs that support student achievement, identify opportunities for cost savings, and help more resources flow to the classroom. The fund would be supported through the Lottery Profits Fund.
-Early College Credit: Supports a standard funding model for all dual enrollment in Ohio. Postsecondary and secondary entities receiving funds through their respective state funding formulas would be required to share the tuition fee based on the average college tuition for each of the regional campuses, community colleges, and four-year universities.
-Technology Infrastructure: Appropriates in FY14 a one-time investment of $10 million in technology infrastructure to connect information technology centers to the state broadband network and provide other connectivity upgrades to support on-line assessments, blended learning, and mobile computing initiatives in schools. The funding is included in Line Item 200-426, Ohio Education Computer Network.
-New Assessments/New Report Cards: Supports new assessments and a new report card and continues teacher value added reports.
Provides a total of $55.8 million in FY14 and $75.8 million in FY15 in GRF to support the new assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards being developed through Ohio’s participation in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career Consortium (PARCC).
Funding for the Local Report Cards is $3.5 million in FY14 and $3.75 million in FY15.
Higher Education
-Provides a total GRF appropriations of $2.3 billion in FY14 (.6 percent) and $2.4 billion in FY15 (2.3 percent).
-Increases the State Share of Instruction (SSI) by $33 million in FY14 and $34 million in FY15. Fifty percent of the total university funding within the State Share of Instruction will be determined by the number of students who actually complete a degree at the institution.
-Increases line items for The War Orphans Scholarship, National Guard Scholarship, Choose Ohio First Scholarship, and Ohio College Opportunity Grant.
-Caps undergraduate tuition and general fee increases to no more than the greater of 2 percent over what the institution charged in the previous academic year, or 2 percent of the statewide average cost, by sector.
3) This Week at the Statehouse
The House and Senate will hold hearings and sessions this week.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
•The House Finance and Appropriations Committee, chaired by Representative Amstutz, will meet on Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at 10:00 AM in room 313. The committee will receive testimony on the tax provisions included in the Executive Budget.
•The Joint Senate School Safety Committee will meet on Tuesday, February 12, 2013, at 7:00 PM in the Senate Finance Hearing Room.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
•The House Finance and Appropriations Committee, chaired by Representative Amstutz, will meet on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 9:00 AM in room 313. The committee will receive testimony from the Administration on the education provisions included in the Executive Budget.
•The House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Stebelton, will meet on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 5:00 PM in hearing room 313. The committee will receive a presentation from State Auditor David Yost on the school attendance data investigation.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
•The Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission will meet on Thursday, February 14, 2013. An education and orientation program will be held from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM at the Riffe Center, 31st Floor and the Commission will meet at 2:00 PM.
4) District State Aid Estimates Analyzed
•State Aid Estimates: The Office of Budget and Management, Tim Keen director, released on February 6, 2013 the preliminary state aid estimates for school districts for FY14 and FY15 based on the new school funding formula proposed by Governor Kasich last week.
The preliminary estimates do not include state allocations for transportation and career technical education, but do incorporate the “cap” on increases above the Core Opportunity component. The cap limits increases in state aid to no greater than 25 percent of FY13 levels or 10 percent of district total revenue.
The document includes FY13 state aid; estimated student count; three-year average valuation per pupil; Core Opportunity Aid; Targeted Aid; state funding to support students with disabilities, English language learner, students from disadvantaged backgrounds, early childhood education, students identified as gifted and talented; guaranteed funds; and total state aid for FY14 and FY15.
The document also does not show the funds that school districts would lose when students transfer to attend charter schools and private schools through Ohioʻs several voucher programs. There are over 100,000 students now attending charter schools, and over 22,000 students currently using vouchers. There is a concern that the amount of state aid transferred out of some school districts to support choice students might be more than the increases in state aid.
According to the document, out of 612 school districts, 397 school districts (64 percent) would not receive increases in state aid in FY14, and 382 would not receive increases state aid in FY15, because these districts are on the guarantee.
And, according to the document, while some suburban higher wealth schools districts, such as Dublin, Lordstown, Twinsburg, and Olentangy, are receiving increases in state aid, some of the school districts with the lowest average valuations per pupil (below $75,000 per pupil) are not. These include Dawson-Bryant Local, Crooksville Exempted Village, Trimble Local, Minford, etc. In fact, these low-wealth school districts are on the guarantee so that they do not lose state aid. Governor Kasich has suggested that policy makers think about ways to eliminate the guarantee, which would mean that in the future these lower wealth districts could lose even more state aid.
The school funding documents are available at
•State Aid by Typologies: Dr. Howard Fleeter, a consultant with the Education Tax Policy Institute (ETPI), released last week an analysis about how the new state aid formula proposed by Governor Kasich would affect school districts in FY14 according to their typology.
The Ohio Department of Education organizes school districts into seven typologies in order to provide a rational basis for making comparisons and examining equity among school districts. The typologies are based on variables such as total student enrollment, number of employees, geography, median income level, population density, educational attainment, percent of poverty, and percent of minority population.
The following typologies are used by the ODE:
Type 1: Rural/agricultural — high-poverty, low-median income: 97 school districts, approximate total average daily membership (ADM) = 160,000 students.
Type 2: Rural/agricultural — small student population, low poverty, low-to-moderate median income: 161 school districts, approximate total ADM = 220,000 students.
Type 3: Rural/small town — moderate-to-high median income: 81 school districts, approximate total ADM = 130,000 students.
Type 4: Urban — low median income, high poverty: 102 school districts, approximate total ADM = 290,000 students.
Type 5: Major urban — very high poverty: 15 school districts, approximate total ADM = 360,000 students.
Type 6: Urban/suburban — high median income: 107 school districts, approximate total ADM = 420,000 students.
Type 7: Type 7: Urban/suburban — very high median income, very low poverty: 46 school districts, approximate total ADM = 240,000 students.
School districts in typologies with lower property wealth, lower median income, and high levels of poverty would be expected to receive higher levels of state aid to improve equity among high and low-wealth school districts, based on the school funding formula proposed by Governor Kasich.
According to Dr. Fleeterʻs analysis, however, over 80 percent of lower wealth school districts in Types 1, 2, and 3 (rural, agricultural, small town) would not receive additional state aid through Governor Kasichʻs proposed state budget. On the other hand, about half of school districts in Types 6 and 7, suburban/wealthy, would receive increases in state aid.
Typology Analysis: The Number of Districts on the Guarantee by Typology Group.
Type 1. Poor Rural: Total number of school districts 97. 79 would be on the guarantee (81.4%).
Type 2. Rural: Total number of school districts 161. 137 would be on the guarantee (85.1%),
Type 3. Rural small town: Total number of school districts 81. 71 would be on the guarantee (87.7%).
Type 4. Urban: Total number of school districts 102. 27 would be on the guarantee (26.5%).
Type 5. Major Urban: Total number of school districts 15. Four would be on the guarantee. (26.7%).
Type 6. Suburban: Total number of school districts 107. 53 would be on the guarantee (49.5%).
Type 7. Wealthy Suburban: Total number of school districts 46. 22 would be on the guarantee. (47.8%)
5) Policy Brief Focuses on Tax Reforms: Policy Matters Ohio released on February 7, 2013 a policy brief about the tax reform proposals included in Governor Kasichʻs Executive Budget for FY14 and 15. (“Kasich tax proposal would further tilt tax system in favor of Ohioʻs affluent. Tax cuts would average more than $10,000 a year for top one percent.” Policy Matters Ohio, February 2013.)
The analysis of the tax provisions in the Executive Budget were conducted by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy for Policy Matters Ohio. The analysis does not include the governorʻs severance tax plan.
According to the brief, the combination of reductions in the income tax and broadening the sales tax base would affect Ohioans differently according to their income levels. Low and middle income Ohioans would be affected more by the changes in the sales tax, which could increase inequity in Ohio. The authors write, “The proposal would provide a $10,369 annual tax cut on average to taxpayers in the top 1 percent of the income spectrum, who made more than $335,000 in 2012. The bottom fifth of taxpayers, making less than $18,000 a year, would see an average increase of $63. Those in the middle fifth, making between $33,000 and $51,000 in 2012, would come out about even, averaging an annual tax increase of $8.”
The researchers also report that Ohioans would be paying more in federal income taxes, because currently Ohioans can deduct state income taxes from their federal taxes. And, extending the sales tax to additional services will hit lower-income Ohioans more, “...because they spend a greater share of their income.”
The policy brief recommends that if the sales tax is broadened, its impact should be offset for low and moderate income Ohioans through a refundable state Earned Income Tax Credit, sales tax credits, which are used in Hawaii and New Mexico, or excluding certain services from the tax. The authors conclude, however, that overall it would be better to “maintain and bolster” the stateʻs progressive income tax than “counteract” the effects of a broader sales tax on those who are least able to afford it.
The policy brief is available at
http://www.policymattersohio.org/
6) State Board of Education Meeting: The State Board of Education, Debe Terhar president, will meet on February 11 and 12, 2013 at the Ohio Department of Education and Ohio Board of Regents, 25 South Front Street in Columbus.
The State Board agreed last month to hold their monthly meetings in the renovated ODE building beginning in March, but decided to move the February meeting to the Conference Center anyway. Those who plan to attend the State Board meetings should factor in additional time to clear ODE security.
This month the State Board will discuss a draft agenda for the new meeting structure, Social Media, receive a presentation on the recommendations of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee Workgroup, receive a presentation regarding the FY14-15 Executive Budget, receive the report of the Acting Superintendent of Public Instruction, Michael Sawyers, and receive the report on the school attendance audit presented by Auditor of State David Yost. On Monday the Achievement, Capacity, and Urban committees will meet in the morning, and the Accountability Committee will meet in the afternoon.
The Achievement Committee, chaired by C. Todd Jones, will be discussing proposed changes for Operating Standards for Children with Disabilities, appropriate uses of Early Child Education Screening and Assessment Information, Career Connections, and Restraint and Seclusion guidance and components of training.
The Capacity Committee, chaired by Tim Gunlock, will discuss community school sponsorship rules, new rules to approve applicants of new internet or computer-based community schools, rules to measure sponsor compliance with applicable laws and rules, student growth measures, the SEED School of Cincinnati, and states with inadequate licensing standards.
The Urban Education Committee, chaired by Angela Thi Bennett, will discuss efforts to support low performing schools relative to HB555.
The Legislative and Budget Committee, chaired by Bryan Williams, will discuss the State Boardʻs recommendations for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Public participation on non agenda items is scheduled for Monday, February 11, 2013 at 9:00 AM. Public participation on agenda items is scheduled after 11:30 AM on Tuesday, February 12, 2013.
The State Board will take action on the following items at their February 2013 meeting:
#8 Approve a Resolution of Intent to Adopt Rule 3301-102-09 of the Administrative Code Entitled Approving Applications for New Internet - or Computer-Based Community Schools.
#9 Approve a Resolution to Approve the Recommendation of the Hearing Officer and to deny the Transfer of School District Territory for 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.
#17 Approve a Resolution of Appointment to the Educator Standards Board.
#18 Approve a Motion Regarding 2013-14 State Board Meeting Dates.
#19 Approve a Resolution to Approve Proposed Legislative Recommendations Regarding Ohioʻs Policies on Literacy Education of Individuals from Birth through Third Grade, and to Delegate Authority to the State Board of Education Members on the Third Grade Reading Guarantee Workgroup to Finalize the Recommendations.
FYI ARTS
ARTS EDUCATION ADVOCATES TAKE ACTION
Governor Kasich introduced last week his FY14-15 Executive Budget to the Ohio General Assembly, and this week the 1000 page plus budget bill is expected to be introduced.
The Ohio House Finance and Appropriations Committee chaired by Representative Ron Amstutz, is currently receiving testimony from Governor Kasich's Administration on various components of the budget, but soon the Finance Committee Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary Education, chaired by Representative Hayes, will debate the education provisions of the budget bill, and the Finance Committee Subcommittee on Higher Education, chaired by Representative Cliff Rosenberger, will review the budget for the Ohio Arts Council (OAC).
After the budget has been considered by the House, with its changes having been made, the budget will move to the Senate, probably sometime in April, and go through a similar process. In the Senate, the Finance Committee is chaired by Senator Scott Oelslager and the Education Subcommittee is chaired by Senator Randy Gardner.
Arts education advocates will have many opportunities to influence the legislative process over the next months. Please contact your representatives in the Ohio House and Senate and urge them to consider the legislative recommendations of the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education (OAAE) and Ohio Citizens for the Arts (OCA). If implemented these recommendations would increase student access to, and the quality of, arts education programs, and would increase state support for artists and community-based arts institutions and organizations that bring the arts to life for everyone.
For information about contacting members of the Ohio House and Senate please visit
http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/
Budget Recommendation of Ohio Citizens for the Arts
Ohio Citizens for the Arts is recommending that the budget of the Ohio Arts Council be increased to $22.4 million in FY14-15.
Governor Kasichʻs Executive Budget recommends that funding for the OAC increase to $19,198,408 for FY14-15, which is an increase of 11.5 percent over the current biennium. The Governor recommends that the appropriation for subsidies (grants to arts organizations throughout Ohio) be increased by $2 million. In the current biennium (FY12-13) that category totaled $14 million for the two years. In the newly introduced Executive Budget recommendation, the total for subsidies is $16 million for the two years beginning July 1, 2013.
In December, 2012 at the Annual Meeting of Ohio Citizens for the Arts (OCA), through a unanimous vote of the membership, the OCA set a GOAL FOR THE OHIO ARTS COUNCIL BUDGET AT $22.4 MILLION. This would return the OAC to the most recent budget levels before a series of cuts were made starting in 2008.
The OCA appreciates Governor Kasich’s confidence in the arts. His proposed increase in the OAC’s budget recognizes the importance of the arts for Ohio’s economic recovery, and advantageously positions arts advocates to request additional funding for the OAC to expand even more arts programming and support for artists in Ohio.
OAAE's Legislative Changes Focuses on Students
The Ohio Alliance for Arts Education and its arts education partners have approved the following arts-education related legislative recommendations for the 130th Ohio General Assembly:
1) School Funding: The State of Ohio’s system for funding schools should provide sufficient funds so that all students have access to a high quality education, which includes the arts, pursuant to §3301.07 (2) and §3313.60 ORC. The arts are defined as dance, drama/theater, media arts, music, and visual art.
Background: Not all students in Ohio have access to the arts as part of a complete curriculum. Many school districts are struggling to balance their budgets and are eliminating courses in the arts, eliminating instruction in the arts at certain grade levels, and seeking waivers from laws and rules requiring instruction in the arts.
A report issued by Policy Matters Ohio in December 2011 found that two-thirds of school districts expected a budget shortfall in 2011-12, and twelve percent reported that they have or were anticipating cutting arts education programs to balance their budgets. (The State Budget and Ohio’s Schools: Big cuts, hard choices, local impacts by Wendy Patton, Piet van Lier and Elizabeth Ginther, 2011-2012.)
Ohio’s school funding system should ensure sufficient funds for public schools so that all students, no matter where they live, have access to sequential, standards-based learning opportunities in the arts in grades preK-12.
All Ohio students should be prepared with the knowledge and skills to pursue careers in the arts and/or higher education in the arts, if that is their choice, but also participate in the arts throughout their lives. Sufficient funds must be available for schools so that all students,
-experience the fine arts, including dance, drama/theater, media arts, music, and visual art
-study at least one art form in depth, and
-graduate with at least one high school credit in the arts.
2) Requirements for the Study of the Fine Arts and Music: Oppose laws and rules that weaken the requirement that school districts provide for the study of the fine arts and music.
Background: Boards of education are permitted in current law and rule to request from the Superintendent of Public Instruction a waiver from statute or rule of certain provisions in law, including the provision requiring the study of the fine arts and music. (Ohio Revised Code 3301.07 (O) and Ohio Administrative Code 3301-35-11(D)).
Although the OAAE is not aware of any school district that has been granted a waiver to eliminate or limit instruction in the arts, there is a concern that as school districts experience more financial problems, there will be more requests for waivers of laws and rules to eliminate programs, including those in the arts, to reduce district costs.
The State Board of Education is also reviewing operating standards (Standards for Ohio’s Schools and School Districts, Ohio Administrative Code 3301-35-01 to 3301-35-07 and 3301-35-12 to 3301-35-14) to see how schools/districts can be given more “flexibility” to free dollars and seat-time requirements.
Operating standards have been updated three times since the State Board of Education adopted them in 1983. (2001, 2007, small changes in 2010.) The 2001 update was a major revision, which aligned the standards to the Baldrige Model for high performing education systems, and that model is still evident in the July 2010 version of operating standards in use today.
Ohio, unlike other states, does not have specific laws or rules about what constitutes a quality preK-12 arts education program, and so operating standards have become a general guide by default. The current operating standards ensure that students have 1) access to the study of the fine arts and music taught by a credentialed teacher and aligned to standards; 2) access to sequential learning in the arts based on a school district’s courses of study in the arts; and 3) sufficient opportunity to learn the course of study objectives in the arts and earn credits for graduation.
There is a concern that any changes in Operating Standards made through this review could compromise the best practices for effective education systems currently outlined in operating standards.
3) Community Schools: Amend §3313.60(A) ORC to require community schools to provide for the study of the fine arts and music.
Background: According to an analysis of EMIS data for 2009-2010 conducted by the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Ohio Department of Education, 39 percent of community schools did not report enrollment of at least one student in one arts course. (Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, Status of Arts Education in Ohio’s Schools, 2011.)
The Ohio Constitution requires the state to provide for a “system of common schools”, yet traditional school districts are required to provide for the study of the fine arts and music, while community schools are not.
All Ohio students should have access to the arts as part of a complete curriculum. All Ohio students should be prepared with the knowledge and skills to pursue careers in the arts and/or higher education in the arts, if that is their choice, and participate in the arts throughout their lives. Students attending community schools should have access to the same curricular opportunities as students in traditional public schools.
4) Gifted Education:
•Amend §3324.03 ORC to require all boards of education and governing authorities of community schools to identify students who are gifted and talented and serve students identified as gifted and talented.
•Ohio’s system for funding schools should provide sufficient funds so that school districts and community schools can identify students who are gifted and serve them.
Background: Traditional public school districts are required by law to identify students who are gifted in grades K-12 based on specific criteria in law (§3324.03 ORC), and report annually the number of students screened, assessed, and identified as gifted.
However, a survey conducted by the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Ohio Department of Education for the 2009-2010 school year found that only 42 percent of schools reported that they identified students gifted and talented in the arts. (Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, Status of Arts Education in Ohio’s Schools, 2011.)
Ohio law does not require traditional public school districts to serve students who have been identified as gifted, and does not require community schools to even identify or serve students gifted in the arts. While the ODE reported that 19,771 students in 2009-2010 were identified as gifted in the visual and performing arts, only 1,048 of those students were served.
According to national studies, many gifted students “do not make it on their own” and need guidance and instructional support to maximize their abilities and talents, including those in the arts. The lack of a state mandate to identify and serve all gifted students means that many Ohio students are not receiving important information about their learning potential, and are missing instructional opportunities that could help them achieve at even higher levels.
5) Graduation Requirements: Amend §3313.603 ORC and require all students, without exceptions, to graduate with a minimum of one credit in the fine arts (120 hours of instruction or the equivalent) in grades 9-12, rather than two semesters in any grades 7-12. Students should be able to meet this graduation requirement in a variety of ways, such as through a demonstration of competency or mastery, end of course exams, project-based or performance-based assessment, etc. under the supervision of a licensed teacher in the arts.
Background: Current Ohio law sets a low graduation requirement for students in the arts and does not require all students to comply with it. Most students in traditional public schools are required to complete two semesters or the equivalent in the arts in any grades 7-12. Students who graduate from community schools, career-technical education programs, and dropout prevention programs are exempted from even this minimum requirement.
The two-semester requirement means that students can graduate without studying a more rigorous high school level curriculum in the arts or earn a high school credit in the arts in some cases.
There is also a concern that once some students meet the minimum requirement in 7th or 8th grades they might decide not to take additional arts courses in high school. This could decrease enrollment in the arts at the high school level and diminish the quality of arts education classes, such as band, choir, and orchestra, in which a minimum level of student participants is needed to present a quality performance. The impact of decreased enrollment in arts courses could ultimately affect the quality of the entire arts education program and opportunities available in the arts for all students.
All Ohio students should be required to complete a graduation requirement in the arts at the high school level so that they are prepared with the knowledge and skills to pursue careers in the arts and/or higher education in the arts, if that is their choice, and participate in the arts throughout their lives.
6) Assessment and accountability: Amend §3302 to include the arts in Ohio’s assessment and accountability system for schools.
-Require the State Board of Education, working with stakeholders, to develop or identify rigorous student assessments in the arts at designated grade levels or at the end of a course. Consider multiple ways to assess student achievement, including performance-based assessments, project-based assessments, end of course exams, portfolios, demonstration of competency or mastery, etc.
-Use the results of student assessments in the arts to develop standards of achievement in the arts
-Develop indicators for quality arts education programs for the Local Report Card based on the standards for student achievement in the arts or other measures of quality of school arts education programs.
Background: Ohio’s schools currently do not have a standardized way to assess student progress in the arts. A survey of schools and districts for the 2009-2010 school year found that 88 percent of schools reported using teacher-developed assessments in the arts to track student progress, but six percent of schools reported using no assessments in the arts. (Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, Status of Arts Education in Ohio’s Schools, 2011.)
Ohio law also requires that all teachers and principals be evaluated based on a framework that includes student academic progress as a criteria. The law allows teachers in areas without a standardized assessment of student achievement to use student-learning objectives (SLOs) to determine student progress. Arts educators in Ohio’s school districts are now developing SLOs to include in their evaluations, but the student progress component of the evaluation could be facilitated greatly if the state adopted standardized assessments in the arts.
The results of assessing students in the arts could provide important information for students, parents, arts educators, schools/districts, and the community about the following:
-Student achievement in the arts
-The quality of the arts education programs
-How arts education programs align with higher education requirements for the arts
-Strategies to improve instruction
-The types of professional development that should be made available for arts teachers
-The quality of teacher preparation programs in the arts
-The effectiveness and efficiency of arts education programs.
7) Count student grades in arts courses the same as other courses in which students earn credits for graduation: Establish a uniform state policy in law or rule to require schools to count student grades in arts courses, that meet for 120 hours of instruction, the same as grades in other courses when calculating student grade point averages for honor roll, class ranking, etc.
Background: According to a survey of schools and districts for the 2009-2010 school year, 16 percent of high schools reported that student grades in arts courses were not counted equally with other courses when calculating the grade point average of students. In some cases, for example, students did not receive 4 points for earning a “ A” grade in an arts course, even though the course met for 120 hours of instruction. The 16 percent of high schools represented approximately 14,000 students. (Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, Status of Arts Education in Ohio’s Schools, 2011.)
Counting student grades in arts courses differently than student grades in other courses creates inconsistent and unfair grading practices within and among schools. Such policies place students who take courses in the arts at a disadvantage when determining class rankings, college admissions, and competition for scholarships, and can harm students who excel in the arts, are pursuing higher education and careers in the arts, or are just interested in taking courses in the arts.
Counting grades in arts courses differently than other courses could also decrease enrollment in the arts and diminish the quality of arts courses in which a minimum level of student participants is needed to present a quality performance. The impact of decreased enrollment in arts courses could ultimately affect the quality of the entire arts education program and opportunities available in the arts for all students.
