To: LWVO
From: Joan Platz
Education Update for November 30, 2009
1) 128th Ohio General Assembly: The Ohio House has scheduled session this week on Tuesday, while the Ohio Senate has scheduled "if needed" sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both the House and Senate will hold committee hearings this week. Lawmakers are expected to continue work on HB318 (Sykes) Income Tax Freeze, which is before the Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee.
This Week at the Statehouse:
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2009
*The Senate Health and Human Services and Aging Committee, chaired by Senator Coughlin, will meet on December 1, 2009 at 11:00 AM in the North Hearing Room. The committee will hear testimony on a number of bills including SB210 (Coughlin) Nutritional Standards for Schools.
SB210 would do the following:
-establish nutritional standards for certain foods and beverages sold in public and nonpublic schools; -require 30 minutes of physical activity daily for public school students; -require schools to align curriculum for physical education to Ohio's academic content standards for physical education; -require the ODE to establish a clearing house for best practices for nutrition, body mass screenings, physical fitness, etc; -require the ODE to issue an annual report on the level of compliance of public schools with the provisions set forth in the bill; -increase the physical education graduation requirements for students to 240 hours of instruction. (The current requirement is 120 hours of instruction); -increase state graduation requirements by .5 to 20.5 units; -require that physical education classes be taught by teachers licensed in physical education; -require the State Board of Education to establish a performance indicator that is based on student success in meeting the benchmarks contained in the physical education standards and on compliance in meeting the local wellness polices prescribed by the federal "Child Nutrition Act of 1966"; -utilize the performance indicator to rate schools on the Local Report Card in physical education; -include on the local report card the percentage of students in a school who are underweight, healthy weight, overweight, or obese; -require that students be screened at intervals to determine their body mass index and weight category and report the aggregated results to EMIS; -establish the Healthy Choices for Healthy Children Council appointed by the Governor and the Ohio General Assembly, and chaired by the Business Roundtable, to shape school-based solutions to childhood obesity; -provide an "opt-out" provision for parents who do not want their children screened for body mass.
*The House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Williams, will meet on December 1, 2009 at 2:00 PM in hearing room 17. The committee will hear testimony on the following bills:
-HB353 (Huffman) School Bus Ad, which authorizes school districts to sell commercial advertising space on school buses.
-HB316 (Slesnick) Sex Education, which establishes statutory standards for comprehensive sexual health education and HIV/AIDS prevention education in public schools.
-HB305 (Newcomb) GED Testing, which requires the Department of Education to waive fees for certain Ohio residents taking the GED test.
-HB370 (Garrison) Computer-Based Community Schools, which lifts the moratorium on computer-based community schools; requires the State Board of Education to adopt by rule its recommended standards for those schools and other electronic educational courses; permits the Department of Education and the Chancellor of the Board of Regents to establish a longitudinal student data system, and declares an emergency.
*The Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee, chaired by Senator Carey, will meet on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 2:30 PM (or after session) in the Senate Finance hearing room. The committee will hear testimony on the following bills:
-SB153 (Patton) Instant Bingo, which changes the definition of "instant bingo ticket dispenser" and authorizes a charitable organization to purchase, lease, and use instant bingo ticket dispensers.
-SB175 (Cates) School Facilities Director, which would transfer appointment of the executive director of the Ohio School Facilities Commission from the Commission to the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.
-SB194 (Kearney) Direct Deposit Income Tax Refunds, which permits individual taxpayers to direct the state to transmit an income tax refund directly to the taxpayer's savings or tax-qualified retirement account.
-HB318 (Sykes) Income Tax Freeze, which postpones for two years the last of five scheduled income tax rate reductions, to reduce salaries of General Assembly members by five per cent, and to make conforming amendments.
*The Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Cates, will meet on December 1, 2009 at 4:00 PM in the North Hearing Room. The Committee will hear testimony on the following bills:
-SB180 (Husted) E-Schools, Teach for America, Value Added-Licenses:
Allows new Internet-or computer-based community schools to open under certain conditions; requires the use of student performance data in evaluating teachers and principals for licensure, and qualifies Teach for America for license in Ohio.
-SB190 (Schaffer) Junior ROTC, which includes Junior ROTC as a permitted elective within the Ohio Core Curriculum.
-SB207 (Sawyer) Computer-Based Community Schools, which lifts the moratorium on computer-based community schools; requires the State Board of Education to adopt by rule its recommended standards for those schools and other electronic educational courses; permits the Department of Education and the Chancellor of the Board of Regents to establish a longitudinal student data system, and declares an emergency.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2009
*The Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee, chaired by Senator Carey, will meet (if needed) on December 2, 2009 at 9:30 AM in the Senate Finance Hearing Room, to consider HB318 (Sykes) Income Tax Freeze.
*The House Health Committee, chaired by Representative Boyd, will meet on December 2, 2009 at 10:00 AM in hearing room 116. The committee will hear testimony on a number of bills including HB373
(Carney) Nutritional Standards for Schools, which is similar to SB210 (Coughlin). (Please see the summary of SB210, which is being considered by the Senate Health and Human Services and Aging Committee).
2) Federal Update on Education:
*Representative George Miller and seven colleagues introduced on November 19, 2009 the Graduation for All Act (HR 4122). The proposed law provides $2 billion in competitive grant programs to improve student achievement, increase graduation, and promote college enrollment for students attending the nation's lowest-performing high schools and feeder middle schools. The bill includes guidelines and strategies for school districts to implement to address the dropout rate among high school students. For information please visit http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2009/11/the-graduation-for-all-act-of.shtml.
*President Barack Obama announced on November 23, 2009 a $100 million Time Warner STEM initiative called "Connect a Million Minds" to emphasize science, technology, engineering, and math afterschool opportunities and resources. The President also announced the formation of a nonprofit organization to foster business support for STEM initiatives in communities. The nonprofit business initiative will be led by Glenn Britt from Time Warner, Xerox CEO Ursula Burns, former astronaut Sally Ride, and former INTEL CEO Craig Barrett, and will be supported by the Carnegie Foundation and the Gates Foundation.
Partnering with Time Warner will be the Coalition for Science After School (CSAS) and FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). These organizations will create data bases about opportunities in communities for students to participate in STEM programs, and provide information for volunteers and mentors to become involved.
Ohio is targeted to receive approximately $11 million. The goal of the initiative is to connect one million children to STEM opportunities in their communities by 2014. Time Warner launched a website in April 2009 http://www.connectamillionminds.com to provide information about the initiative.
3) Harvard Report on Improving Equity: The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard University's School of Law released a report on November 18, 2009 entitled "Boundary Crossing for Diversity, Equity, and Achievement: Inter-District School Desegregation and Educational Opportunity" by Amy Stuart Wells, Bianca J. Baldridge, Jacquelyn Duran, Courtney Grzesikowski, Ridard Lofton, Allison Roda, Miya Warner, and Terrenda White.
The report provides an overview of the educational and social benefits of eight inter-district school desegregation programs and how they have been "....more successful than recent choice and accountability policies at closing the achievement gaps and offering meaningful school choices."
The eight desegregated programs included in the study are East Palo Alto (1986), Minneapolis (2001), Milwaukee (1976), Rochester (1965), Boston (1966), Hartford (1966), Indianapolis (1981), and St. Louis (1983).
The report notes the impact of the 1974 U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Milliken v. Bradley (1974) on school desegregation plans. That decision all but prevented federal judges from ordering desegregation remedies that included suburban/urban student transfers without certain evidence, so most school district desegregation plans were limited to student reassignment within school districts.
The debate on equity issues then shifted in the 1990s to adequate school funding, rigorous standards, testing, and accountability systems.
However, researchers have now shown that racial and socio-economic segregation has increased over the past twenty years in spite of school choice policies that have marketed themselves as ways to provide more options for at-risk students. And, there is less support overall for states and school district boards of education to support race conscious policies.
According to the report, "Now, 35 years after the Supreme Court's Milliken ruling, the ever-popular accountability and school choice strategies for improving public education and boosting student achievement have not demonstrated the results their supporters promised. Further, the recent increased focus on closing the achievement gap amid rampant racial and socio-economic segregation has not led to any marked progress in equalizing education opportunities; in fact, inequity has grown in many states over the past two decades."
The report recommends that policy makers should break-down barriers that prevent disadvantaged students from attending more affluent school districts. It also highlights some of the issues and solutions that have been developed to support inter-district school desegregation programs in the eight school districts.
The report is available at
http://www.charleshamiltonhouston.org/Publications.aspx?year=2009
4) SBM Analyzes ARRA: The November 20, 2009 issue of State Budgeting Matters from the Center for Community Solutions is entitled "Recovery Act has Prevented Cuts and Protected Services in Ohio" by Emily Campbell.
The report provides an overview of how federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds have been used to support health and human service programs in FY09 in Ohio, and have prevented further cuts in those programs.
The report describes the decline in tax revenue in Ohio due to a combination of factors including tax changes enacted in 2005 and the impact of the recession. State tax receipts declined by 12 percent
($2.3 billion) in FY09 over FY08 levels. The Budget Stabilization Fund (rainy day fund) could not fill the gap, and so a series of budget cuts and other measures were enacted to keep the state budget balanced.
At the same time enrollment in Medicaid increased nearly 10 percent.
The report notes, "Around 1.9 million people, or one in six Ohioans, now rely on Medicaid for their health care."
According to the report, federal stimulus funds through the ARRA were used to support Medicaid, which was the largest recipient of funds in FY09, and other state programs in the departments of Aging, Development, and Transportation through FY09. ARRA funds were used to maintain services through three programs: Healthy Start, youth aging out of foster care, and Workers Disability Program.
However, ARRA funds have provided a temporary solution to Ohio's budget problems. State tax revenues are not expected to recover to
2008 levels until 2015. The report recommends that ARRA be extended to strengthen the economic recovery for Ohio and other states.
The report is available at
http://www.communitysolutions.com/images/upload/resources/sbmv5RW5.pdf
5) 23 Programs to Support Youth Evaluated: The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), Betsy Brand executive director, released in October
2009 a report called "Success at Every Step: How 23 Programs Support Youth on the Path to College and Beyond" by Sarah Hooker and Betsy Brand. The report includes a description of the programs and summaries of research/evaluation on programs that "...help diverse youth to improve their academic performance, identify career aspirations, build employer-desired skills, plan for postsecondary education, and develop the personal resources necessary to achieve their goals."
Some of the programs evaluated include AVID, Career Academies, Communities in Schools, Dual Enrollment (Florida and New York City), Early College High Schools, First Things First, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), National Guard Youth ChalleNGe, Project Graduate Really Achieves Dreams (GRAD), Talent Development High School, Upward Bound, etc.
According to the report the "themes" that contribute to the effectiveness of the programs can be grouped under "Programmatic Elements of Success" and "Structural and System-Focused Elements of Success". Programmatic Elements of Success include rigor and academic support, relationships, college knowledge and access, relevance, youth-centered programs, and effective instruction. Structural and System-Focused Elements of Success include partnerships and cross-systems collaboration, strategic use of time, leadership and autonomy, and effective assessment and use of data.
As a result of the evaluations of these programs, the American Youth Policy Forum recommends guidelines that policy makers can use to develop successful college and career-readiness policies. These guidelines include "...developing a continuum of services for all youth across the community; holding all providers accountable to shared outcomes; supporting collaboration among providers; promoting the attainment of a range of skills and competencies, including those that are valued by employers; supporting initiatives to use time differently; ensuring that youth who drop out have opportunities to reconnect to college and career pathways; building the capacity of the adults in the various systems; and collecting data to assess programs against long-term outcomes."
The report is available at
http://www.aypf.org/publications/SuccessAtEveryStep.htm.
6) Accountability for Higher Education Focus of Panel: The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) hosted on November 19, 2009 a panel discussion on increasing the accountability of the nation's higher education system. Ten research studies on higher education accountability were commissioned by Mark Schneider, visiting scholar at AEI and vice president at the American Institutes for Research, and Kevin Carey, policy director at Education Sector. Researchers and practitioners discussed the results of these studies, which focused on retention and graduation rates; the tenure system; transparency for consumers of higher education, such as students, parents and industry; data quality; and accreditation and student outcomes.