Teacher pay rules are off the chopping block for the Ohio House

COLUMBUS, Ohio - House leaders have dropped a plan to kill the minimum pay scale for teachers across Ohio.

Provisions in House Bill 343 would have eliminated a state requirement that teachers be paid a minimum amount based on their education level and years of experience.

But House leaders this morning removed those provisions, sending HB 343 to the full House without any reference to the pay schedule. The adjusted bill - described on the House floor as a "clean-up bill" that makes many small changes to previous laws - passed, with nobody raising any objections.

(Read more at the Plain Dealer)

Education News for 06-05-2013

State Education News

• Senate, House school funding plans incomparable (Akron Beacon Journal)

Ohio senators on Tuesday released more details about their proposed budget for school funding…Read more...

• Ohio could get millions in early-education funds (Columbus Dispatch)

Ohio would receive $103 million in federal funding during the first year of President Barack Obama’s plan to provide preschool for every 4-year-old child in the country…Read more...

• Lawmakers applaud plan to fix Columbus schools (Columbus Dispatch)

A Senate committee vetting a bill meant to help fix financial and ethical problems within Columbus City Schools praised local leaders yesterday who testified in support of the legislation…Read more...

• Ohio lawmakers push voucher expansion (Dayton Daily News)

Ohio GOP senators proposed several changes to state education funding in the latest round of revisions to the state two-year budget bill…Read more...

Local Education News

• City schools still target of deception lawsuit (Columbus Dispatch)

The civil lawsuit that accuses the Columbus school district of deceiving the public about schools’ true academic standing appears to be moving forward…Read more...

• Fairfield County school districts that shared superintendent going their own ways (Columbus Dispatch)

Two rural school districts in Fairfield County that currently share a superintendent are hiring separate leaders…Read more...

• Gee’s sudden departure confounds interim superintendent plans for Columbus schools (Columbus Dispatch)

The Columbus Board of Education was hours away yesterday from hiring Ohio State University Provost Joseph Alutto to a one-year contract as an interim superintendent that would have cost the district…Read more...

• TPS revised audit projects fewer possible savings than draft report (Toledo Blade)

A revised performance audit of Toledo Public Schools recommends changes that could save the district $91 million over five years, $10 million less in savings than a draft version projected…Read more...

• 4 speak at Supt. Hathorn's hearing (Youngstown Vindicator)

Just four people spoke at a public hearing on a request by Superintendent Dr. Connie Hathorn to retire and then be rehired by the school district…Read more...

• Niles schools need funding help from state (Youngstown Vindicator)

Frank Danso, interim superintendent of Niles schools, hopes a funding bill that passed the Ohio House will help his financially strained district overcome its deficit, but two area legislators are unsure…Read more...

Editorial



• Paying for education (Akron Beacon Journal)

Richard Ross, Ohio’s superintendent of schools, once described school-funding debates in Ohio as the education version of Groundhog Day…Read more...

Education News for 05-31-2013

State Education News

• Ohio's school spending could shoot up (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Ohio public school funding would grow by 11 percent over the next two years versus 2012- 2013 spending levels, the largest percent increase in education spending in at least a decade, under the proposal Senate Republicans…Read more...

• School aid would be boosted under Ohio Senate proposal (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Ohio Senate leaders this afternoon proposed boosting basic state aid to districts from $6.3 billion this school year to more than $7 billion…Read more...

• Ohio Senate ups education funding in budget (Columbus Dispatch)

Most Franklin County school districts would see state funding increases averaging nearly 9 percent per year under Senate-proposed changes to the new two-year budget…Read more...

• Schools challenge families to scale back on tech use (Columbus Dispatch)

Her daughter yearned for the television, her son for his iPod. Both parents felt disconnected without phones and computers. But for one week they left electronics untouched.Well, at least the kids did…Read more...

• ODOT grants will help kids get to school more safely (Columbus Dispatch)

The Ohio Department of Transportation has approved $7.2 million in projects to improve safety for students getting to and from school…Read more...

• Senate funding plan aims to assist Ohio education system (Lorain Morning Journal)

A substitute version of Ohio’s school funding plan proposed by the Senate would increase aid for state education $717.4 million over the next 10 years…Read more...

• Bill with similarities to "Cleveland Plan" could soon pass for Columbus schools (Ohio Public Radio)

It’s been a rough school year for Columbus City Schools. The district is under investigation by the State Auditor’s office and the FBI for tampering with student attendance data and grades. And the struggling district has a history of less-than-stellar…Read more...

• Senators say their school funding plan is constitutional (Ohio Public Radio)

Ohio Senators are calling their new budget plan “a work in progress” but they are touting it as a major improvement in funding for Ohio’s public schools…Read more...

• State Senate plan for 2-year budget not as good for TPS (Toledo Blade)

Senate Republicans on Thursday said they will pump $717 million more into basic aid for K- 12 schools during the next two years in the budget they plan to approve next week…Read more...

• School funding plan in the works could increase dollars for some districts (Youngstown Vindicator)

Senate Republicans unveiled a new school-funding formula Thursday that likely will change as it moves through committee deliberations and passage in the Senate…Read more...

Local Education News

• Clear Fork to improve school routes (Mansfield News Journal)

The Ohio Department of Transportation said Thursday it will dole out $7.2 million for 58 different Safe Routes to School projects in Ohio communities…Read more...

• Brecksville-Broadview Heights educators hoping to expand EdCamp (Sun Newspapers)

A pair of Brecksville-Broadview Heights educators once again are teaming to host a free conference about education…Read more...

Education News for 5-29-2013

State Education News

• Columbus school-levy bill advances in legislature (Columbus Dispatch)

After hearing testimony from two Columbus school-board members and others, the Ohio House Education Committee voted 16-3 yesterday to send a bill to the full House that would require a school district property-tax issue…Read more...

• Gender split proves positive in Hamilton schools (Hamilton Journal-News)

The lunch period at any school can sometimes be a chaotic scene of boys and girls vying for each other’s attention…Read more...

• Lorain Superintendent Tucker outlines comprehensive academic recovery plan (Lorain Morning Journal)

On the same day Superintendent Tom Tucker outlined his comprehensive academic recovery plan for Lorain City Schools, its treasurer presented a gloomy financial forecast…Read more...

• Greenon follows trend on all-day kindergarten (Springfield News-Sun)

Kindergartners entering Greenon schools next year will get more time to learn as the district moves to all-day classes, following a state and national trend…Read more...

• School Nurses Want Law To Help Them Save Students From Deadly Allergic Reactions (WBNS)

As the school year comes to an end, state lawmakers will be getting a bill backed by school nurses within the next few weeks. Nurses want to save the lives of students who have allergic reactions to food for the first time while at school…Read more...

Local Education News

• Columbus board mum on hiring provost (Columbus Dispatch)

The Columbus Board of Education met privately at noon yesterday to discuss hiring Ohio State University Vice President and Provost Joseph Alutto to become acting superintendent…Read more...

• Hancock School board to rescind some layoffs (Steubenville Herald-Star)

Three months after announcing teacher and other staff layoffs, the Hancock County Board of Education is poised to call some of those people back…Read more...

• Struthers considers drug tests for athletes (Youngstown Vindicator)

The Struthers City School District may begin drug testing its student athletes in grades seven through 12 as soon as the 2013-14 academic year…Read more...

Education News for 05-28-2013

State Education News

• Coventry schools lead state in financial stress, but may have righted the ship (Akron Beacon Journal)

For nearly as long as Ohio has been rating school districts based on their financial health, Coventry schools has been in fiscal watch — the second-lowest level possible…Read more...

• Bulletproof backpacks used to protect some school children (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Guns weren't the only thing people raced to buy after 20 students and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School…Read more...

• Columbus school board president clarifies stand on auditor (Columbus Dispatch)

Columbus Board of Education President Carol Perkins said this week that the district’s internal auditor’s post “is not going to be done away with,” but she issued a statement later saying that her words had been misinterpreted…Read more...

• 3 referred to state in city schools data probe (Columbus Dispatch)

The Columbus school district has reported three former employees with ties to its data scandal to a state office that investigates educator wrongdoing…Read more...

• Area schools to get $1.8M to meet new state requirements (Dayton Daily News)

Several districts and schools across the Miami Valley will get a $1.8 million boost to meet the state’s new early literacy and reading requirements, including two districts in Clark and all districts in Champaign counties…Read more...

• State denies request for more information on attendance investigation (Dayton Daily News)

The Ohio Department of Education has denied the newspaper’s request to see Northridge Local Schools’ official written response to allegations that it scrubbed student attendance data…Read more...

• Non-traditional high school graduates grows (Dayton Daily News)

The majority of Ohio public high school seniors still graduate from traditional schools but a growing number of them are graduating from non-traditional high schools…Read more...

• Changes coming to GED; New standards, switch to digital format (Lorain Morning Journal)

It’s been three years since 21-year-old Larita White started working toward her GED, but her progress may be undone if she doesn’t receive the diploma before January…Read more...

• State OKs plans to fix school data errors (New Philadelphia Times-Reporter)

Ohio schools that reportedly had errors in certain enrollment data have gotten state approval of plans to fix the issues…Read more...

• It looks like there will be more money for more preschool in state (Ohio Public Radio)

Some conservative Ohio lawmakers and some faith leaders who generally support conservative causes want to put millions of additional dollars into more preschool…Read more...

Local Education News

• Kids learning to COPE with stress (Columbus Dispatch)

Nothing gets 14-year-old Lyle Watters’ stomach tied up in knots as much as when his mom and stepdad argue…Read more...

• Columbus schools may tap OSU provost as fill-in chief (Columbus Dispatch)

The Columbus school board president has asked Joseph Alutto, vice president and provost at Ohio State University, to lead Columbus City Schools until a permanent superintendent…Read more...

• North Baltimore to evaluate digital device program (Findlay Courier)

Results of a pilot program that permitted North Baltimore students to use mobile electronic devices during school hours will be assessed by school officials this summer…Read more...

• VB teachers, school begin contract talks (Findlay Courier)

Contract negotiations between Van Buren's teachers and administrators have begun and are proceeding well, Superintendent Tim Myers…Read more...

• Board approves reading, math programs for 2013 (Toledo Blade)

At its regular meeting last week, the board of education approved the 2013 elementary intervention program, including its fees and instructors…Read more...

• Board supports policy of student drug testing (Toledo Blade)

Fremont Ross High School students will undergo random drug testing next school year, following the school board’s support for a new drug testing policy…Read more...

• District to provide iPads to students (Toledo Blade)

Seventh and eighth graders in Oregon schools will get a welcome amenity next year when classes start: a new iPad. The board of education last week approved a technology lease with Apple Inc. that will put an iPad…Read more...

Editorial

• School board made good choice (Columbus Dispatch)

A public resolution by the Columbus Board of Education, expressing support for the recommendations of the Columbus Education Commission, is welcome…Read more...

• Easy vote for lawmakers (Columbus Dispatch)

Ohio lawmakers have before them a simple piece of legislation that won’t cost a dime in state funds, has bipartisan sponsorship, enjoys the broadest possible community support and unites groups…Read more...

Education News for 05-22-2013

State Education News

• Little Miami regains its independence (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Today is Independence Day for the financially embattled Little Miami Schools. Once Ohio’s poster child for school district monetary woes, the Warren County school system will be autonomous…Read more...

• Coleman, Gee pitch Columbus school proposal to legislators (Columbus Dispatch)

State legislators drew attention to academic failures of the Columbus school district and to its ongoing data scandal last night in the first talks over a bill that…Read more...

• Special-needs aides still fighting dismissal (Columbus Dispatch)

Two Columbus special-needs aides who were fired last summer are still fighting to get their jobs back. The final day of hearings before the Columbus Civil Service Commission…Read more...

• Northridge out of fiscal caution, but levy needed (Newark Advocate)

The Northridge School District is out of fiscal caution. However, the district will have to renew its 8.86 mill levy by the end of 2014 to remain in the black long term…Read more...

• As prepared as we can be for Tornadoes (Portsmouth Daily Times)

An enormous tornado ripped through Moore, Okla., Monday, killing more…Read more...

Local Education News



• Families of the victims of Chardon School shooting are suing the United Way over access to Chardon (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

The families of the three Chardon High School students who were killed in 2012 are suing the United Way of Greater Cleveland and its Geauga County chapter…Read more...

• Reynoldsburg takes over charter e-school (Columbus Dispatch)

The Reynoldsburg school board is taking over the charter e-school that it placed on probation last year…Read more...

• Groveport Madison levy still losing by 12 votes (Columbus Dispatch)

Groveport Madison’s school levy gained four votes but is still behind after elections officials counted provisional ballots and added in an uncounted…Read more...

• Columbus school board votes to back report of Coleman’s education panel (Columbus Dispatch)

A resolution supporting the recommendations of the Columbus Education Commission passed a divided Columbus school board last night, after a lengthy debate that centered largely around whether…Read more...

• Brunswick school officials close all buildings in response to norovirus (Sun Newspapers)

Although symptoms of the condition itself last, in general, little more than 24 hours, a norovirus outbreak at the Brunswick City Schools this past week led to the closer of every building…Read more...

• Maysville students benefit from early college courses (Zanesville Times-Recorder)

Skylar Novaria might achieve his goal of becoming a business manager or CEO sooner than expected because of being a proactive teenager…Read more...