The Ohio Department of Education and State Board of Education released a working draft of the state’s five-year strategic plan for education called EachChild=OurFuture.
According to the ODE website, the purpose of the plan is to help each child become successful thanks to the guidance and support of caring adults who are empowered by an effective system. The plan is a tool to inform policy development at the Ohio Statehouse and education practice in Ohio’s schools. More than 150 preK-12 educators, higher education representatives, parents and caregivers, employers, business leaders, philanthropic organizations worked collaboratively over the last six months to develop it.
The strategic plan is said “to lay out a vision and goal for education, along with 15 supporting strategies. It seeks to put Ohio on a path to prepare the next generation of innovators and influencers who will go on to change the world.”
The Board of Public Education Partners (PEP) recently met to talk about the draft Strategic Plan for Education in Ohio and sent the following letter to Supt. Paolo DeMaria and the State Board of Education:
Dear Members of the State Board of Education,
In case you aren’t familiar with our organization, PEP is a nonpartisan group that was formed to support publicly accountable Ohio schools for all students, to advocate for equitably funded public schools that offer a full and rich curriculum to all children, and to connect public education advocacy groups throughout the state.
The Public Education Partners board members appreciate all of the hard work that went into this document, and we’re especially grateful that it’s a draft that’s not set in stone. The strategic plan has many good features, especially the four equally-valued Domains of Learning: Foundational Skills and Knowledge, Well-Rounded Content, Reasoning, and Social-Emotional to support the development of the whole child. The Guiding Principles that informed the development of the vision, goal and strategies have been very thoughtfully put together by the stakeholders and partners who worked diligently to develop this plan.
The strategies for reaching the goal are a little more vague, which may lead the governor and policy-makers to misinterpret what needs to be done. For example, Strategy 1 states that it’s not good that six state agencies (the Ohio Departments of Education, Job and Family Services, Medicaid, Developmental Disabilities, Health, and Mental Health & Addiction Services) use varying messages and approaches when serving Ohio’s children and families. PEP wouldn’t want that statement to give the go-ahead for making ODE a cabinet level agency like the other departments.
Strategy 8 says that each student must have access to personalized learning, which can be misconstrued to accelerate a longtime push for “test data-driven” education interventions. Though couched in pretty-sounding language about “personalized learning,” such a transformation will lead to continuous online standardized testing. This narrows and dumbs down instruction to what low-level tests can measure, depresses student engagement, and produces inaccurate indicators of learning.
Strategy 12 speaks of supporting districts to meet their own unique “human capital” needs, and Strategy 13 and 14 recommend that Ohio increase its supply of highly effective teachers and leaders through Teach for America (TFA) and Bright New Leaders (TFA for principals), two programs with questionable backgrounds and motives. Any “teacher shortage” we may have was created by design through poorly written education policies and can be corrected through legislative changes at the Statehouse.
The PEP Board was encouraged to see the Strategic Plan prioritize that the State Board of Education must promote policies and practices that ensure an abundant supply of teachers, leaders, and other personnel, such as psychologists, counselors, support staff, etc. – those educators whose positions were eliminated after the 2015 State BOE voted to get rid of the 5 of 8 Rule of minimum staffing standards in Ohio schools. Perhaps now would be a good time to revisit and repeal that unfortunate decision.
As was most assuredly pointed out in your regional stakeholder meetings, this promising plan cannot be accomplished without many policy changes from the governor and the state legislature. Ohio needs a complete overhaul of the test-and-punish system of school accountability measures for the 4 Equal Domains to truly be equivalent. Charter schools and vouchers for private schools need to be either eliminated or funded in such a way as not to take away any public school district funds and other resources.
And last, but not least, Ohio’s funding of public education must be completely revamped to meet the Ohio Constitution’s requirement to provide for a thorough and efficient system of public school districts throughout the state. Only then can this statewide vision and goal for preK-12 education in Ohio become a reality.
March For Our Lives is created by, inspired by, and led by students across the country who will no longer risk their lives waiting for someone else to take action to stop the epidemic of mass school shootings that has become all too familiar.
In Ohio: On March 24, the kids and families will take to the streets of Washington, DC, Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and throughout Ohio and the whole nation to demand that their lives and safety become a priority. The collective voices of the March For Our Lives movement will be heard. More information on the March around the country is here: https://www.marchforourlives.com/
No special interest group, no political agenda is more critical than timely passage of legislation to effectively address the gun violence issues that are rampant in our country.
Every kid in this country now goes to school wondering if this day might be their last. It doesn’t have to be this way. Change is coming. And it starts now, inspired by and led by the kids who are our hope for the future.
Something beautiful happened at the Ohio Statehouse recently. Public Education in Ohio was celebrated. It was as if a balmy breeze washed away the criticism and blame cast over our public schools during the past decade. Instead of “from Sea to Shining Sea,” it was from “the Great Lakes to the Ohio River,” as elementary and high school students, teachers and principals shared their expertise and passion for teaching and learning in the grandeur of the Statehouse atrium. Invited by Public Education Partners (PEP) during PUBLIC EDUCATION WEEK in Ohio, students and their teachers made history in the first “Celebrate Public Education” ceremony on January 23.
Imagine being welcomed to your seats by the powerful, melodic sounds of Brecksville-Broadsview Heights High School Jazz Ensemble, as twenty high school musicians confidently and proudly played their hearts out for the audience. Mr. Jason Wyse, Director of Bands for BBHHS, articulated his belief in the impact of teaching and value of public education; “Educating and inspiring students through the art of music, to study and perform this universal language and positively impact the lives of so many young people is celebrating public education!”
Imagine kindergarten students from Huy Elementary School in Columbus, using American Sign Language, sharing their artwork and favorite part of school each day. With help from their teacher and interpreter, these bright children, enrolled in the Columbus Hearing Impaired Program (CHIP), reached out smiling and grabbed the hearts of the audience with their strength and love for their school. “We are honored to serve hearing impaired children from the ages of 3 – 22; our teachers have a wealth of knowledge of Deaf Education and language development,” said Britt Mickley, Kindergarten teacher, and Denyse Woods, Principal. “We are honored to Celebrate Public Education and continue the hard work we put forth for our students each day!”
“I love Huy because I love math.” – Amari Rose
“I love Huy because I love cooking with my friends.” – Hope
“I love Huy because I love music class.” – Ani
“I love Huy because I love going to lunch with my friends.” – Carson
“I love Huy because I love Centers.” – Hibo
“I love Huy because I love computer lab.” – Kasidee
“I love Huy because I love all my friends.” – Braxten
The wide-eyed excitement of a group third graders from Eakin Elementary School was contagious. These captivating kids, who recently left homes behind in their native countries to move to America, courageously stood on stage and shared their hand-drawn artistic letters spelling out their belief in “PUBLIC SCHOOLS.” Kelly Montgomery, third grade teacher, is on a mission; “One of my missions is to keep experienced teachers in our urban public schools. I believe strong public schools are critical to providing learning opportunities for children from all around the world to understand and appreciate each other’s differences. My students from different countries and cultures bring their unique experiences and traditions into our classroom to grow together into a community, celebrating our learning together.”
Our PUBLIC SCHOOLS…by Ms. Montgomery’s 3rd Grade Class (Eakin Elementary School)
P … we believe that all PEOPLE
U … are UNIQUE
B … and have the right to BELONG
L … and LEARN
I … and be INSPIRED
C … within a COMMUNITY
S … these places should be SAFE
C … for all CHILDREN with no COST
H … they should be HAPPY places
O … and OUTSTANDING places
O … that are not OVERCROWDED
L … Children should LOVE to come to school
S … and be SUCCESSFUL!
These places are called PUBLIC SCHOOLS!
Ohio’s public schools are full of innovative teachers and learners! Bexley High School students brought thinking “outside the box” to life in the Statehouse through powerful poetry readings and articulate testimonials about the impact their school has had on their lives. In Bexley City Schools, teachers and students partner together in the innovative English Resource Center, which has hundreds of drop-ins, appointments and referrals during the school year for developing and enriching reading, research and writing skills. Peer-tutoring expands the reach of the ERC as a core team of thirty students travel to classrooms and present writing lessons to other students. As a career public school teacher in urban, rural and suburban districts, Rikki Santer, the Director of the ERC, shared her firm belief that “each and every child in our great democracy deserves equal access to the very best educational practices possible, and that’s why a healthy and robust public education system is fundamentally critical to the present and future of our country.” https://www.bexleyschools.org/domain/506
While the gifts of teaching and learning were shared front and center on the Statehouse stage, the extreme challenges children face in their lives were not. Opening doors to all children in our public schools brings a shared responsibility for teachers and principals to help students and families through increasingly tough times today. The vision of building bridges of help and hope between our public schools and neighborhood communities was shared on stage as part of the Celebrate Public Education event.
Theresa Eraybar, Principal of Eakin Elementary School of Columbus City Schools believes that by saving families, children can be saved; “Today’s students work to overcome obstacles which may be overt or covert. I believe it is through Public Education our students and families develop strong skills as they navigate the many challenges that face their community.”
Imagine if, in every single public school in your district, a community resource center existed housing social workers, medical clinics, after school programs and tutors to help parents earn their GEDs. This bold vision has turned into a concrete reality with Cincinnati Public School’s nationally recognized Community Learning Centers program. Julie Doppel and Ife Bell, CLS coordinators, stressed the importance of communities investing in their public schools: “Students at CPS start here and go far – with a strong public education supporting them. We’re accomplishing this because of the strong support and investment our community is making in public schools. Our enrollment is increasing, we’re expanding innovative programs at the preschool, elementary and high school levels, and over 700 partners are contributing to the ongoing success of our nationally recognized Community Learning Centers.” To learn more about Community Learning Centers, watch this video from the Coalition for Community Schools’ 2012 Study Tour of CPS’s Community Learning Centers: https://vimeo.com/55401554
“Standing Up for Public Education” literally “lit up” the screen at the Statehouse as Kenston and Logan Public High School students shared their award -winning videos showing how public schools have made a difference in their lives. As Ryan Novak, Multi-media/Journalism teacher at Kenston High School so eloquently expressed, having fun and working hard are not mutually exclusive in school: “There are so many opportunities made available to students through public education. Regardless of a student’s interests, there is some sort of class, club, activity or sport made available to help him or her grow. Thanks to the support of our school board, administrative team, staff and community, students like these have a great opportunity to learn in an environment that meets their needs.” Celebrating the screening of these “Stand Up for Public Education” videos with these student writers, actors and directors as they blended history, journalism, free press and multimedia skills delivered the message to the public that their “Public Schools Matter!”
Kenston Local (Geauga) Schools:
Logan-Hocking Local (Hocking) Schools:
Public Education Partners would like to give a huge shout out and thank you to all the teachers and students for “Celebrating Public Education” with us! You brought your hard work and joy through teaching and learning to the Statehouse and back home again to your schools across the state of Ohio. From the “Great Lakes to the Ohio River,” you showed us that your PUBLIC SCHOOLS are the heartbeat of your communities. Cincinnati Public Schools and Eakin Elementary School, thank you for spreading the vision of investing in our public schools with community learning centers, building bridges of help and hope for students and their families facing complex challenges in their lives.
Let’s take a lesson from all the students who traveled to the Statehouse to share their love of learning and passion for their public schools. Let’s follow the lead of the amazing “Stand Up for Public Education” videos by investing in widespread resources for schools with a full curriculum, including music, art, drama and technology. Let’s begin the conversation back home, in our school communities by asking, “Why not create Community Learning Centers in school districts across the state to connect each school and community as the way forward for our children to learn, thrive and have fun in school each day?”
Why not send the message to our children that their daily lives, futures and Ohio’s public schools matter?”
‘Tis the season for gift-giving! Public education advocates should celebrate the season by presenting their state lawmakers with copies of one of the most forward-thinking children’s books ever written, Hooray for DiffendooferDay. This thought-provoking picture book was primarily written by the great American philosopher, Theodor Seuss Geisel, but he died before he finished it. Adding to Dr. Seuss’s original notes, bits of verses, and rough sketches, author Jack Prelutsky and illustrator Lane Smith finished the fable in 1991.
Hooray for DiffendooferDay is about an outside-of-the-box kind of school staffed by appropriately named workers, such as the nurse, Miss Clotte, the custodian, Mr. Plunger, and three cooks named McMunch. Diffendoofer School teachers provide knowledge-based lessons mingled with some important skills not found on any list of standards:
Miss Bobble teaches listening, Miss Wobble teaches smelling, Miss Fribble teaches laughing, and Miss Quibble teaches yelling.
The quirkiest teacher of all is the main character in the book:
My teacher is Miss Bonkers, she’s as bouncy as a flea. I’m not certain what she teaches, but I’m glad she teaches me. Of all the teachers in our school, I like Miss Bonkers best. Our teachers are all different, but she’s different-er than the rest.
One day, Diffendoofer’s worried little principal, Mr. Lowe, makes a special announcement:
All schools for miles and miles around must take a special test, To see who’s learning such and such- to see which school’s the best. If our small school does not do well, then it will be torn down, And you will have to go to school in dreary Flobbertown.
Like most of the children in Ohio’s public schools, Diffendoofer students are immediately stressed at the thought of taking such a high-stakes test, and they fret about the prospect of being removed from their beloved school and forced to attend monotonous Flobbertown, where “everyone does everything the same.” They continue to agonize over the test, until Miss Bonkers reminds them:
“Don’t fret,” she said, “you’ve learned the things you need To pass that test and many more- I’m certain you’ll succeed. We’ve taught you that the earth is round, that red and white make pink, And something else that matters more- we’ve taught you how to think.”
Of course, Miss Bonkers is right, and the students get “the very highest score” and pass the dreaded test using background knowledge, combined with the critical and creative thinking skills they acquired through a variety of innovative activities at Diffendoofer School.
The Ohio Legislature’s over-reliance on high-stakes testing for its public schools has forced many districts to re-focus their precious economic resources on hard copy and digital curricula that will aid them in teaching for the test. Could it be merely a coincidence that the same educational companies, that produce the tests and sell those testing resources, also contribute to the campaign coffers of some of the legislators who sponsor the “school reform” laws? One can only speculate.
In this test-driven era, Art, Music, and Physical Education programs have been slashed in many school districts. Field trips are no longer considered affordable. Schools are cutting way back on recess as well, hoping it will “give the students more time to learn what’s needed to pass the tests.”
It’s sad to see the demise of activities that round out our students’ knowledge-based learning with important critical and creative thinking, yet these are desperate times for many of our public schools, and they’re trying to get the most test-score bang for their bucks. Unfortunately, the continuation of this kind of programming will eventually lead to more schools like dreary Flobbertown, where everyone does everything the same.
Some of Ohio’s state education leaders understand what Dr. Seuss figured out more than two decades ago – continued high-stakes testing is taking its toll on our children, as well as on the institution of public education. The state school board has asked the Ohio legislature to wipe out three items that add a testing burden to teachers and students – the high school English I exam, WorkKeys tests for some career training students, and requirements that some tests be given just to evaluate teachers. http://s.cleveland.com/aPNVmbD
Many teachers and parents have urged the state to scale back state-mandated testing to the federal government’s minimum requirements, but State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria and state legislators have been reluctant to trim that far.
Judging by the lack of parent and teacher input incorporated into Ohio’s educational policy-making, the idea of cutting test-taking back to federal minimums may be no more than another children’s fable.
Public Education Partners (PEP) is a statewide nonprofit that was created to connect and unite advocates that support public school districts and the children and families they serve. The Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding (OCEASF) was organized to challenge the constitutionality of the Ohio school funding system and to secure high quality educational opportunities for all Ohio school children.
Public Education Partners and the Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding respectfully request that all Ohioans consider joining state, county, city, and school district leaders across the state in officially recognizing January 21-27, 2018 as PUBLIC EDUCATION WEEK.
Issuing proclamations provides an opportunity for all to shine a positive spotlight on the K-12 public education available for children and families in Ohio. Participants should then GO PUBLIC, and proclaim this celebration of public education with the traditional, as well as social, media!
For everyone’s convenience, PEP and OCEASF have provided some suggested proclamation language found below.
Sincerely,
Public Education Partners and the Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding
GO PUBLIC, and share the following template with state, county, city, and school district leaders:
Public Education Week
WHEREAS, traditional public school districts in Ohio serve more than 1.8 million students and employ more than 245,000 Ohioans full time; and
WHEREAS, all children in Ohio should have access to the highest-quality education possible; and
WHEREAS, Ohio citizens recognize the important role that an effective education plays in preparing all students to be successful adults; and
WHEREAS, quality education is critically important to the economic vitality of the Buckeye State; and
WHEREAS, public education not only helps to diversify our economy, but also enhances the vibrancy of our community; and
WHEREAS, Ohio has many high-quality teaching professionals who are committed to educating our children; and
WHEREAS, public education is celebrated across the country by millions of students, parents, educators, schools and organizations to raise awareness of the need for effective public schools;
THEREFORE, I (or WE), ______________, do hereby recognize January 21-27, 2018 as PUBLIC EDUCATION WEEK and call this observance to the attention of all Ohioans.
The U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, is attempting to redefine the meaning and role of public education from what it has been for more than two centuries. She wants to privatize public education and call it “public.” She talks about getting rid of the labels—public, charter, private, parochial, vouchers—and redefine it as, education for the nation’s children being provided by someone, anyone. In this scenario, everyone would receive a government payment to redeem at any education establishment whether an established or startup private school, a charter, a traditional public school or at the feet of a beloved Uncle Hank who may have a degree from Hooterville Community Tech.
Wiping away labels is a clever way of winning the battle to privatize public education without firing a shot. No labels, few or no standards, and each student having a lunchbox full of cash for buying “education” or something else, if education is not a priority.
Secretary DeVos is performing at a strategic time for the advancement of the school choice/privatization movement. As a private citizen she, along with scores of others, has invested millions and millions of personal wealth in the movement. Now DeVos is on the national stage with a bully pulpit promoting the anti-public education agenda. Three decades ago a person of Betsy DeVos’ ilk could not have been confirmed as Secretary of Education. The privatization message would not have resonated, but the constant drumbeat has taken its toll against a favorable perception of the traditional school system.
In a speech at Veterans Memorial Hall in Columbus on November 25, 1991, President GHW Bush advocated that Ohio give a voucher to every student. At that time there was little support for that concept, but Ohio Governor Voinovich gave life to the proposal by goading the legislature into enacting the Cleveland voucher legislation. With the help of Akron Industrialist David Brennan and a bevy of parochial school providers, the voucher system was launched in Cleveland. And then came more voucher programs and the charter industry.
Ohio is well on the way to DeVos’ dream of giving students cash to buy education in the market place or wherever.
In context of the title of these remarks and what has already been said, further remarks could either go in the direction of pleading for meaningful involvement of the general public in traditional schools or in the direction of asking for help in defeating DeVos’ attempt to privatize public education. Of course, DeVos is now merely the face of the privatization campaign to further privatize the common school system. The emphasis of the remaining remarks will go in both directions.
To frame this discussion, we need to review the purpose of public education and the state responsibility for it. The founders of our republic seemed to have had a great appreciation for democracy. Jefferson said, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” Further he said, “I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion.” John Adams expressed how education should be provided: “The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves.”
The Land Ordinance of 1785 set aside the 16th section of each township for the support of schools. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 stated: “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”
Each state has one or more constitutional provisions requiring the state to establish and maintain a system of common schools. States were required to have a constitutional provision for public education to join the Union.
Ohio’s 1802 Constitution had two provisions that related to public education. The 1851 Constitution requires the state to secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools. The 1912 Constitutional provision for education requires the state to make provision by law for the organization, administration and control of the public school system. The 1953 amendment to the Constitution requires a State Board of Education and Superintendent of Public Instruction employed by the Board.
The common school system is the responsibility of the state and the task of delivering educational programs and services is the responsibility of elected boards of education as representatives of the school community. The only exceptions to this pattern is the Cleveland Municipal District in which the mayor appoints the board, and the Youngstown and Lorain school districts which are controlled by a CEO employed by an appointed Academic Distress Commission, pursuant to the “Youngstown Plan” legislation.
The Ohio Constitution requires the state to secure and fund the public common school system. Vouchers, charters and other privatization gimmicks are not part of the system. The common school system is a term of art. Vouchers and charters are privately-operated with no elected board of education. They are not community-oriented, have no property tax base or geographic boundaries and are not held to the same rules and standards applied to the common school. Hence, these choice gimmicks are not a part of the system required by the Ohio Constitution.
From the beginning of the common school in Ohio, governors, legislatures, local and state education leaders have collaborated to improve the common school system.
State elected officials, state education leaders and local education officials have established school survey commissions, state legislative and executive research committees and professional associations to improve educational opportunities via the common school system. The common school system was the focal point of all those study and research efforts. Secretary DeVos constantly chirps that the emphasis should be on the students, not the system. The system is critically important to ensure the education of all the children of all the people.
In the 1980s some state and federal officials began to question whether the common school system (as they would say the “government” system or the “government” monopoly) was the appropriate vehicle for education. President Reagan’s Commission on Education Excellence produced a flawed report–the 1983 Nation at Risk—that suggested the public school system was beyond repair.
When Reagan received the report he thanked the Commission for recommending, among other things, vouchers; however, the report did not even mention vouchers. Reagan seemed to buy into Milton Friedman’s voucher idea that he espoused as early as the 1950s.
Even though a late 1980s U.S. Department of Energy research report (Sandia) repudiated much the Nation at Risk report, President G.H.W. Bush used the Nation at Risk report to push the voucher agenda. The attack on public education was in full swing by the 1990s.
The federal government, historically, has provided supplemental funds and programs such as vocational education, National Defense Education Act (NDEA) funding for math and science, special education rules and funds and disadvantaged pupil program funds. Federal funds for vocational education began in the early 1900s.
By the turn of the 21st Century, vouchers and charter schools were being implemented across the nation as an alternative to the common school. The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation fueled the movement to the detriment of the common school. NCLB changed the federal role in education from providing supplemental support, to intrusion in every classroom in America. This federal policy essentially usurped the constitutions of the states. States bowed to the federal policy and local school district officials complied even though the federal policies, as enacted by states, were often harmful to students and distressing to local school personnel. The NCLB legislation incentivized the testing and technology industries. It also created the environment for the expansion of charter schools. Corporate America and entrepreneurs were attracted to the education industry in droves. Hence the charter industry was on a roll.
I have said for several years that NCLB legislation and the federal and state emphasis on charters and other forms of choice undermine the constitutions of every state. A forthcoming Cornell Law Review article by University of South Carolina Law Professor Derek Black identifies two limitations that state constitutional rights to education place on choice policy: 1) states cannot preference private choice over public education, and 2) the practical effect of choice cannot impede educational opportunities in public schools. The abstract of Black’s article follows.
Rapidly expanding charter and voucher programs are establishing a new education paradigm in which access to traditional public schools is no longer guaranteed. In some areas, charter and voucher programs are on a trajectory to phase out traditional public schools altogether. This Article argues that this trend and its effects violate the constitutional right to public education embedded in all fifty state constitutions.
Importantly, this Article departs from past constitutional arguments against charter and voucher programs. Past arguments have attempted to prohibit such programs entirely and have assumed, with little evidentiary support, that they endanger statewide education systems. Unsurprisingly, litigation and scholarship based on a flawed premise have thus far failed to slow the growth of charter and voucher programs. Without a reframed theory, several recently filed lawsuits are likely to suffer the same fate.
This Article does not challenge the general constitutionality of choice programs. Instead, the Article identifies two limitations that state constitutional rights to education place on choice policy. The first limitation is that states cannot preference private choice programs over public education. This conclusion flows from the fact that most state constitutions mandate public education as a first-order right for their citizens. Thus, while states may establish choice programs, they cannot systematically advantage choice programs over public education. This Article demonstrates that some states have crossed this line.
The second limitation that state constitutions place on choice programs is that their practical effect cannot impede educational opportunities in public schools. Education clauses in state constitutions obligate the state to provide adequate and equitable public schools. Any state policy that deprives students of access to those opportunities is therefore unconstitutional. Often-overlooked district level data reveals that choice programs are reducing public education funding, stratifying opportunity, and intensifying segregation in large urban centers. Each of these effects represents a distinct constitutional violation.
Charters, vouchers, tuition tax credits, education savings plans and other privatization gimmicks have, at least, these harmful effects:
Reduction of funding and thus educational opportunities in the traditional public system
Segregation of students
Inefficiencies inherent in operating multiple systems
Less educational opportunities for a major portion of students in alternative school programming
Diversion of funds from classrooms to for-profit companies
Fraud, corruption and generally low performance inherent in the charter industry
Undermining of constitutional provisions for education
Etc.
So, what is the solution, the recipe, for restoring the education landscape to the constitutional provisions?
First and foremost we, as a public education community, must determine if we want to change the trajectory of privatization. From my very small corner of the world, I don’t sense any widespread concern. The resistance to the privatization schemes from the public education community is, with few exceptions, scant and weak. The fraud and corruption, the monetization of education, the illegal confiscation of local tax funds for charters, the horrific ECOT scandal, the pronouncements by corporate leaders that boards of education are a relic of the past, etc., seem to concern only a few in the public school community.
But for those who are concerned, the recipe for returning the education landscape to the constitutional framework, the following recommendations as proffered.
Local school leaders must assume their fiduciary responsibility to all taxpayers and students. Each student should expect public school leaders to provide the best set of educational opportunities possible. Students who are enrolled in ECOT, for example, should be coaxed back to the public system.
A new organization—Real Choice Ohio (RCO)—is up and running to help districts recover students from the charter industry. Some local school leaders have been heard to say they don’t want some of the students to come back from charters. But guess what? Charter kids can and do come back to districts whether they are invited or not. Hence, it is incumbent on school leaders to tailor programs and services to meet the needs of the disenfranchised students.
Local education leaders must shed timidity and resist the state policies and practices that harm school children. The public school community has a responsibility to challenge all state officials, including state public education officials who hand down edicts and policies that negatively affect the education of children.
Collectively boards of education represent the same citizens as the governor. Boards tend to have more credibility and influence with communities than state officials; and thus should act accordingly. Please never underestimate the power of your local board office in state education policy issues.
Mobilize local citizens to lobby on behalf of improved state and federal educational policies. There should be a public education advocacy commission/committee in every school district. This will likely not happen unless school leaders provide the leadership.
One Ohio school district has a public education advocacy coalition of 900 members.
Put public education advocacy strategies on every board agenda. We are in a battle to preserve public education. We need to engage our school patrons in this battle. Give the media information regarding the privatization movement.
Pass board resolutions which state the board’s position on various state policy issues and engage the media in the process.
For the past several years, the school choice tail has been wagging the dog. 90 percent of American children attend traditional public schools. However, those who represent the other 10 percent have a stranglehold on federal and state education policy. Traditional schools have suffered as a result.
Public school leaders and advocates have begun to reinsert themselves into the education policy arena. Now is the time to stand strong for real public education.
~William L. Phillis, Executive Director – Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding, gave this presentation at the OSBA Capital Conference on November 14, 2017.
A new book, Empire of Deceit, shows a nationwide pattern of abuses at schools linked to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. It’s available online here: http://empireofdeceit.com/
Abuses at the chain’s Ohio-based schools, which operate here under the names Horizon Science Academy or Noble Academy, have been well documented over the past 4 years. Education allies and journalists have uncovered everything from visa abuses to test tampering to a school so out of control that its own Dean of Students wrote a memo complaining of condoms in the hallway and sex in the in-school suspension lab.
The new book highlights those problems but also offers new details of abuses with school building leases.
The chain commonly pays inordinately high rent to companies owned by, or affiliated with, the charter operator. Gulen’s for-profit real estate company, Breeze, Inc., buys properties for the charter network. New Plan Learning was created later and now acts as the non-profit umbrella organization for Breeze and several others. New Plan Learning and its subsidiaries have made an estimated $18.75 million in profits, according to the book.
In his blog, Bill Phillis explains how the scheme has worked:
In 2005, the founder of Breeze Inc. purchased property and three parcels of land for $1.25 million. In 2005, the founder of Breeze Inc. and Concept Schools Management Company signed the lease with Breeze Inc. on behalf of Horizon Science Academy Cincinnati. Science 2005, the charter school has paid $3.6 million for rental fees for only one of the three parcels purchased for the original price of $1.25 million.
This money-making or laundering scheme is squarely on the backs of school district pupils whose districts are forced to pay for the charters.
Despite mounting evidence of problems at the schools, state regulators have a pattern of looking the other way – and even occasionally advancing the schools’ abuses.
In 2006, a Dayton school put a convicted felon in charge of student discipline.
And the Dean of Students at a Cleveland school had “no educational certifications or experience,” according to a federal judge.
In 2010, the Ohio Department of Education gave Muhammet “Matt” Yildiz a principal’s license to run a Gulen middle school in Columbus even though in 2002, state regulators refused him a teaching license after learning that he left his 1-year-old in a car while he went shopping.
In 2014, teachers who used to work at a Gulen-affiliated school in Dayton gave explosive testimony before the state school board and said they witnessed test tampering, an in-class groping game and Turkish teachers who called black students “dogs” or “monkeys.’’
The Ohio Department of Education’s response to the testimony evolved over time. Initially, they asked prosecutors to investigate the teachers. In a tweet, ODE’s spokesman advised departmental critics to “take a break from muckraking’’ and added …. Maybe you can get laid.’’
After furor from those responses died down, ODE did a sham investigation into the teachers’ testimony and said their information was too old or too vague to verify. Investigators ignored newer, more detailed information.
Time will tell whether ODE will ignore the book.
~Anonymous
Where are the Gulen Charter Schools in Ohio?
Horizon Science Academy – Columbus (high school)
Horizon Science Academy – Cincinnati
Horizon Science Academy – Cleveland (high school)
Horizon Science Academy – Cleveland Middle School
Horizon Science Academy – Columbus Middle School
Horizon Science Academy – Dayton (elementary)
Horizon Science Academy – Dayton Downtown
Horizon Science Academy – Dayton High School
Horizon Science Academy – Denison Elementary School
Horizon Science Academy – Denison Middle School
Horizon Science Academy – Elementary School (Northeast Columbus)
Getting Involved: If you’ve returned to school with a renewed desire to get involved in education issues, but aren’t sure where to begin, check out the OEA’s Educator-Activist To-Do List here. Most of the suggestions are informational, and/or fairly simple in nature.
Ohio Graduation Requirement: As a part of the Budget Bill, the Ohio Legislature provided additional pathways to graduation for the class of 2018. It is important to understand that the addition is only for this graduating class and does not provide for a long term solution.
The additional paths to graduate involve students retaking each of their 7 assessments (at least once) on which they’ve scored a 1 or 2. In addition, they must satisfy two other components from a list created by the Superintendent’s Graduation Workgroup. The easiest two options are maintaining a 93% attendance rate in their senior year, and maintaining a 2.5 GPA during their senior year.
The problem, as admitted by some legislators, is that the two aforementioned options are difficult to satisfy for Ohio’s most vulnerable students, impoverished kids in urban areas. In a bit of cruel irony, these are the students most in need of additional paths to graduation as standardized assessment scores have historically, most accurately, reflected a student’s economic background.
The state has undertaken no statistical analysis to determine how many students will be helped by the new paths to graduation, and no permanent solution has, as yet, been introduced. Consider writing a letter to the editor advocating for a long-term solution to the graduation problem, and contact your legislator frequently to that end.
Issues with the 3rd Grade Guarantee: In July, the Ohio School Board had the opportunity to act, and did nothing, having been informed of some serious issues by the school districts of Akron, Canton, and Columbus. Apparently, mistakes in setting the cut scores on some alternative assessments were likely to cause hundreds, if not thousands of students to be held back in 3rd grade for little justifiable reason. No recent information has been published regarding the outcome of the issue.
The Difference Between Public, Charter and Private Schools is Marketing: Here is an excerpt from the new book “Beyond Test Scores: A Better Way to Measure School Quality” by Jack Schneider (Harvard University Press, August 2017) on how the public’s views of educational institutions have more to do with perception than tangible evidence.
ECOT: While still on the hook to pay back funds earned from the state through fraudulent enrollment practices, the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow is seeking to change its status to become a dropout recovery school. This change would immediately boost their failing report card, and help to keep them in business. A dropout recovery school only needs an 8% four year graduation rate to earn a C.
RESA: Due to changes in the Resident Educator Program for 2017-2018, there will be a new RESA website and guidebook established September 15. For questions or concerns contact REProgram@education.ohio.gov.
Overview of Existing Legislation
HB 14 Sponsor: Rep. Clyde
Would require that eligible persons in certain government and school databases be automatically registered to vote or have their registrations updated automatically unless those persons decline and to expand how a voter may register or update their registration through the online voter registration system.
Referred to the Government Accountability and Oversight Committee 2/8/17
HB 87 Sponsor: Rep. Roegner
Allow for public moneys to be returned to the state as a result of a finding for recovery issued pursuant to an audit of a community school.
Referred to the Government Accountability and Oversight Committee 2/28/17
HB 102 Sponsor: Rep. Brenner
To replace locally levied school district property taxes with a statewide property tax and require recipients of certain tax exemptions to reimburse the state for such levy revenue lost due to those exemptions; to increase the state sales and use tax rates and allocate additional revenue to state education purposes; to repeal school district income taxes; to require the Treasurer of State to issue general obligation bonds to refund certain school district debt obligations; to create a new system of funding schools where the state pays a specified amount per student that each student may use to attend the public or chartered nonpublic school of the student’s choice, without the requirement of a local contribution; to eliminate the School Facilities Commission; to eliminate the Educational Choice Scholarship Pilot Program, Pilot Project Scholarship Program, Autism Scholarship Program, and Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program; to eliminate interdistrict open enrollment; to require educational service centers to transport students on a countywide basis; and to permit school districts to enter into a memoranda of understanding for one district to manage another.
Referred to the Finance Committee 3/7/17
HB 176 Sponsor: Rep. Thompson
Will eliminate Common Core and replace it with pre-2010 Massachusetts standards; prohibits use of any assessments created by PARCC, Smarter Balanced, or any other assessments based on CCSS (pre-2010 Iowa tests will be administered instead); reduces testing to federal minimums; establishes subcommittees for adoption and review of content standards; extends safe harbor from overall letter grade on state report card for districts and for students who opt out of state testing through the 2019-2020 school year; eliminates OTES and OPES but retains requirement for Cleveland; eliminates the Resident Educator Summative Assessment by prohibiting the Ohio Teacher Residency Program from requiring an entry-level classroom teacher to pass or take such an assessment during the residency program; eliminates the retention provision for students who fail to attain a passing score on the third-grade English arts assessment; eliminates the requirement to administer any diagnostic assessment to students in grades kindergarten through three, and instead authorizes districts and schools to administer such assessments; eliminates the requirement for students to complete a graduation pathway as a condition of receiving a high school diploma (maintains the requirement for the students to complete the school’s curriculum);establishes certain restrictions on use of personally identifiable data with regards to reports to DoE and grant recipients; removes the words “and such other factors as the Board finds necessary” from the provision that enumerates categories for which the State Board must adopt minimum standards for schools; makes permissive, instead of mandatory as under current law, the requirement to adopt a policy on career advising, which includes a plan to provide students with grade-level examples that link schoolwork to career fields, provide interventions and career advising for at risk students, and identify courses that can award students both traditional academic and career-technical credit, among other items.
Referred to the Education and Career Readiness Committee 5/1/17
HB 181 Sponsor: Rep Hood, Rep Brinkman
Eliminates Common Core; eliminates the separate academic standards review committees for core content areas; prohibits the State Board from adopting any model curricula; requires new state elementary and high school achievement assessments to be administered beginning in the 2018-2019 school year, and specifies the entities that are involved in identifying, reviewing, recommending, and approving the new state assessments; changes criteria for student retention in third grade (from those scoring “basic” to those scoring “limited”); permits parents to request in writing that student not be retained (school must provide remediation services); eliminates Fall administration of 3rd grade ELA test; eliminates a provision authorizing a school district to retain a student who does not take a state assessment; repeals a provision requiring the Department of Education to assign a weight of zero to the assessment score of a student who does not take a state achievement assessment; requires the State Board to establish a “percentile range” in which a student must perform in order to satisfy completion of the high school assessment graduation pathway; extends through the 2018-2019 school year, the safe harbor provisions for students, school districts, and other public schools related to the state achievement assessment score results and report card ratings, currently in effect for the 2016-2017 school year; Requires, for teacher evaluations, each district, school, or educational service center to adopt a teacher evaluation policy with the teachers and the teachers’ labor organization; requires, for principal evaluations, requires each board to adopt procedures for the evaluation of its principals and to evaluate those employees in accordance with those procedures (except for Cleveland; current evaluation systems will be maintained); several other miscellaneous changes to testing, data, and state report cards.
Referred to the Education and Career Readiness Committee 5/1/17
HB 200 Sponsor: Rep. Koehler (companion bill to SB 85)
Would eliminate the Educational Choice Scholarship Pilot Program and Pilot Project (Cleveland) Scholarship Program and to create the Opportunity Scholarship Program; would increase the amount per student given to families; further increases in amounts awarded when state school funding formula amounts increase; would be funded directly through the state, not through districts; establishes a student savings account for any student whose scholarship exceeds tuition and fees (can only be used for specific things including college tuition and textbooks for colleges in Ohio.)
Referred to the Education and Career Readiness Committee 5/9/17
HB 220 Sponsor: Rep. Leland
States that funds that the Department of Education pays to a community school or nonpublic school are public funds and are subject to the same requirements related to permissible expenditures and audit by the Auditor of State as public funds allocated to school districts; specifies that, if a community school uses public funds to pay for the services of an entity to manage the daily operations of that school or to provide programmatic oversight and support to that school, those funds maintain their status as public funds upon transfer.
Referred to the Education and Career Readiness Committee 5/23/17
HB 242 Sponsor: Rep. Carfagna
Permits, rather than requires, the School Employees Retirement Board to grant annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to retirement allowance, disability benefit, and survivor benefit recipients under the School Employees Retirement System (SERS). If the SERS Board grants a COLA, changes the annual COLA amount to any percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index, not exceeding 2.5% (from an automatic 3%). Authorizes the SERS Board, before granting an increase, to adjust the COLA percentage if the Board’s actuary determines, in its annual actuarial valuation or in other evaluations, that an adjustment does not materially impair the retirement system’s fiscal integrity or is necessary to preserve its fiscal integrity.
Referred to the Aging and Long Term Care Committee 6/6/17
SB 39 Sponsor: Senator Schiavoni
Requires e-schools to keep an accurate record of the number of hours each individual student actively participates in coursework each day ( information must be reported to the ODE on a monthly basis and be made available on the Department’s website); if a student fails to log in for 10 consecutive days, the e-school must notify ODE, the student’s parent/guardian, and the district of residence; requires student participation logs to be checked for accuracy on a monthly basis by a qualified teacher (a qualified teacher will be licensed by ODE and therefore subject to the Licensure Code of Professional Conduct for Ohio Educators); increases transparency and accountability by requiring that e-school governing board meetings be live-streamed over the internet so parents and the public can watch the meetings (must be proper advance notice of each meeting in every community newspaper from which the e-schools enroll students); specifies that if a student is enrolled in an e-school for more than 90 days and then transfers back to a traditional public school before spring assessment tests, the test results must be reflected on the report card for the e-school and not the public school; requires that, for every advertisement used by an e-school (paid for by public funds), the e-school must include a disclaimer showing their most recent state report card grades; specifies that when the Auditor issues a Finding for Recovery from an audit of a community school, that money is returned to the school district.
Referred to the Education Committee 2/15/17
SB 82 Sponsor: Senator Williams, Senator Lehner
Requires each public school to place a telephone call within 60 minutes of the start of the school day to a parent whose child is absent without legitimate excuse.
Referred to the Education Committee 3/7/17
SB 85 Sponsor: Senator Huffman (companion bill to HB 200)
Would eliminate the Educational Choice Scholarship Pilot Program and Pilot Project (Cleveland) Scholarship Program and to create the Opportunity Scholarship Program; would increase the amount per student given to families; further increases in amounts awarded when state school funding formula amounts increase; would be funded directly through the state, not through districts; establishes a student savings account for any student whose scholarship exceeds tuition and fees (can only be used for specific things including college tuition and textbooks for colleges in Ohio.)
Referred to the Education Committee 3/7/17
SB 104 Sponsor: Senator Tavares
Would prohibit the use of seclusion on students in public schools.
Referred to the Education Committee 4/5/17
SB 133 Sponsor: Senator LaRose
Would require the Education Management Information System to include information regarding persons at whom a student’s violent behavior that resulted in discipline was directed and to require the Department of Education to submit a one-time report to the General Assembly regarding that information. The person or persons shall be identified by the respective classification at the district or school, such as student, teacher, or nonteaching employee, but shall not be identified by name.
Referred to the Education Committee 4/26/17
SB 140 Sponsor: Senator Schiavoni
To create the Public-Private Partnership Grant Program for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 to develop, enhance, and promote educational programs to address regional workforce needs; to create the Sector Partnership Grant Program for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 to identify and provide grants to industry partnerships; to support programs that improve access to workforce training opportunities for students; to support economic development and revitalization programs; and to make an appropriation.
Referred to the Finance Committee 5/13/17
SB 149 Sponsor: Senator LaRose
Requires that when a public school building is used as a polling place, the school district board of education must close the building to students for the day. Requires a board of elections to notify the appropriate district board of its plans to use schools as polling places during a given school year not later than January 1 before that school year begins.
Referred to the Government Oversight and Reform Committee 5/17/17
SB 151 Sponsor: Senator Hite
Permits, rather than requires, the School Employees Retirement Board to grant annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to recipients of retirement allowances, disability benefits, or survivor benefits from the School Employees Retirement System (SERS); if the SERS Board grants a COLA, changes the annual COLA amount to any percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index, not exceeding 2.5% (from the current automatic 3%.)
Referred to the Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee 5/24/17
SB 175 Sponsor: Senator Schiavoni
Public moneys returned to the state as a result of a finding for recovery issued pursuant to an audit of a community school would be returned to the district that they were deducted from.
Referred to the Government Oversight and Reform Committee 9/7/17
CHEERS for Lorain County’s Matt and Mandy Jablonski for compiling this comprehensive review of education legislation!
Public education advocates across the nation are awakening to the fact that traditional public education is under serious attack and thus are gearing up to fight privatization efforts. Traditional public school advocates can overcome well-connected privatizers when they join together and get involved.
District-level advocacy groups are indispensable. If there isn’t a school district-level advocacy group in your area, start one. Gather some friends and start your own public education group to focus on supporting students, teachers, and education professionals in your local public school district.
Here are five easy steps to get you started:
Find fellow organizers in your school district. Speak to your friends and family, professional colleagues, community leaders, and others who might be interested in joining you to help organize public education advocacy efforts for your school district.
Meet to decide on your group’s focus. Your group may want to show how the neighborhood schools are affected by things like the overuse of standardized tests or inequitable charter school funding. Most importantly, your team should extensively promote the schools in the district and the children and families they serve.
Become informed. Research and find out everything you can about the public schools in your district, and learn about current issues in Ohio public education. Check social media to see what other grassroots advocacy organizations (like Public Education Partners) are writing about public education, and consider attending activities that are presented locally or in other areas of the state.
Decide what you can do. Will your group members want to attend school board meetings? Speak to elected officials? Write letters to the editor of the local newspaper? Attend pro-public education meetings and rallies? Host public education documentary screenings and panel discussions in your community? Connect through social media, or have face-to-face conversations with members of your community? If you’re not sure, start small and see what works.
Create a Facebook page for your group, and start connecting with other people within your local school district community to learn more and share what you already know.
After you’ve figured it out, get involved and jump right in. Stay positive. Stay strong. Support your local public school district!
Some state officials claim that the students caught up in this problem may be “marginally” proficient and therefore could benefit from the additional intervention in the retention programs. They also argue that the mid-term promotion option will take care of most of the current misalignment problem. This reasoning, while largely true, fails to recognize the social and emotional impact on the individual students and their families.
The 3rd Grade Reading Guarantee is no guarantee at all. There is significant research that shows that for many students their performance on the 3rd Grade Reading Guarantee is not a valid predictor of their later academic success. Then there are many issues around the kinds of intervention practices that are employed to address reading deficiencies. There is no clear prescription for reading intervention, and many districts simply do not have the resources to provide what they believe is appropriate.
Just as there is no level playing field in school funding, there is not level field in a district’s capacity to provide the needed reading intervention.
What needs to happen? The Department of Education needs to immediately initiate a “linking” study with the test vendors. If there is evidence of a serious misalignment between the state reading test and the four state approved alternative tests, then a study to determine appropriate cut scores for the alternative tests should be completed as soon as possible.
There is ample anecdotal evidence that this is indeed a statewide problem that has ensnared thousands of third graders across Ohio. Columbus City Schools has over 500 third graders retained unfairly. The accountability heads of several of the largest urban districts in the state have compared student performance data and concluded that they are experiencing the same problem.
Please share this information with all parents and family members of students caught in this mess. They should contact both their legislators and members of the State Board of Education, as well as Ohio Education Supt. Paolo DeMaria, to express their frustration and disappointment – they also need to ask Supt. DeMaria what he plans to do to fix this major problem.
