HB555 FAQ for teacher evaluations

We've just got our hands on this document put out by the Ohio Department of Education. It's an updated framework for teacher evaluations based on the changes that were slipped into HB555 in the dead of night.

Is there a more ridiculously convoluted and complex framework for evaluating any other professions job performance? How is any teacher expected to understand all this enough to know where to focus improvement efforts, especially since the Value-added formula itself is secret and proprietary.

HB 555 FAQ with regard to teacher evaluations by

Education News for 08-02-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Democrats want to view state auditor’s school-attendance investigation (Dispatch)

The Ohio Democratic Party asked state Auditor Dave Yost last week to turn over records into the investigation of school districts rigging their state report-card data. Yost, a Republican, charged yesterday that the Democratic Party is meddling in a continuing investigation. “It’s a partisan political organization that exists for the purpose of electing Democrats and harassing Republicans,” Yost said. “That doesn’t belong in the middle of this work.” Read more...

• TPS may reduce Nov. levy request (Blade)

Toledo Public Schools could reduce its upcoming levy request, after reports of a better-than-expected financial picture indicate projected deficits may be smaller than expected. The Toledo Board of Education is expected to call a special meeting Friday, during which TPS Treasurer Matt Cleland plans to propose a range of millage rates lower than the 6.9-mill new permanent levy request approved in May by the board. TPS ended the 2012 fiscal year on Tuesday with $8.58 million more than expected. The original projected surplus was $2.64 million. Read more...

• Lockland puts superintendent on leave (Enquirer)

Lockland’s school board late Wednesday placed longtime Superintendent Donna Hubbard on paid administrative leave. Hubbard has worked for the tiny Hamilton County school district for about 37 years. Board President Terry Gibson said the board thought it appropriate to put her on leave while it investigates allegations of enrollment practices that resulted in low-scoring students being coded as withdrawn from the schools, which state officials say resulted in artificially inflated test scores. Read more...

Local Issues

• Lake freezes teachers' pay, opens doors of new school (Blade)

MILLBURY - Lake Local Schools officials approved a contract Wednesday that freezes teachers' pay and increases their medical insurance cost, then proudly toured their new high school with members of the media. The glistening high school replaces the former building that was mostly destroyed by a tornado in June, 2010. The 144,000-square-foot facility that cost $25.5 million -- none of which came from local taxpayers -- features 28 classrooms and will house 450 students when classes start Aug. 21. Read more...

• Heights pledges to pay bill, demands preschool funds (Newark Advocate)

PATASKALA - Licking Heights officials reiterate that they intend to pay back the Licking County Educational Service Center the money the school district owes the center. In the meantime, district officials continue to press the ESC to release state funding, pegged at between $78,000 and $156,000 a year, that they contend should go to Heights' preschool students with special needs. "We're certainly looking at paying what's owed, but we still contend we need that (special needs preschool) unit funding they're blocking from the state.” Read more...

• North Olmsted offering before school care program (WOIO 19 CBS)

The North Olmsted Before School Care Program will be offered at two school locations for students in grades K - 3rd. Birch Primary School (24100 Palm Dr.) for Birch and Butternut students and Forest Primary School (28963 Tudor Dr.) for Forest and Spruce students. The program times are 7:30 a.m. - 8:50 a.m. on all days that school is in session. Cost of the program is $75.00 per quarter/per child. Students from Butternut and Spruce Primary Schools will be taken by district transportation to their school of attendance for the start of the regular school day. Read more...

• Councilman would vote for charter schools after abstention (Blade)

A Toledo councilman who abstained Tuesday on two votes involving requests for new charter schools to open in the city admitted he should have voted and now wants the chance to do so. That could clear the way for one of the schools to open downtown. "I needed further clarification on the rule because I made a mistake in not understanding this rule of council and at the time, I labored under the belief that I could abstain," Councilman Tyrone Riley said Wednesday. Read more...

Editorial

• Improve the system (Dispatch)

As allegations of attendance-report rigging by Columbus City Schools and other districts spread, many are wondering if the annual school report cards put out by the state can be trusted. After all, if some districts have doctored their attendance figures in ways that make their proficiency-test passing rates look better than they are, then voters who are asked to pass school levies have no way of judging if they’re getting what they’re paying for. Others have gone a step further and said that if some school officials feel it necessary to cheat in order to improve district report cards. Read more...

The Casino shell game

Hopes of school districts hitting the proverbial jackpot are set to take a significant hit if analysis conducted by the Cincinnati inquirer prove accurate.

“This is all a big shell game,” said Warren County Administrator David Gully. “We’re not really getting anything. All the new money we’re getting is going to be offset by cuts in the Local Government Fund.”

Gully was referring to state budget cuts through mid-2013 that severely slashed funding to counties and local communities in order to close an $8 billion budget gap.
[...]
Tax projections also depend on whether slot machines open at Ohio’s seven racetracks. Local governments can count on a 27 percent reduction in projected tax proceeds if that occurs because “racinos” are expected to dip into casino profits. The low end of The Enquirer’s analysis includes that scenario.

That scenario is now certain, with the Governor signing SB386 which will allow racetracks to offer slot machines. Ohio schools are likely to received just 39% of what was promised in 2009, which wasn't big money to begin with. In 2009 projections were that $327,441,791 would flow from casino to local tax juridistions, but now just $130,452,323 is expected, a massive drop of $196,989,468

School officials are skeptical about how much money they’ll receive and what it will mean to their budgets.

Consultants have told school districts to expect $21 per student for 2012 and up to $80 per student when all casinos are open.

“It’s not big money, although it sounds like a lot to the average Joe,” said Randall Bertram, treasurer at Northwest Local Schools, the second-largest school district in Hamilton County with about 9,000 students.

Northwest, which is laying off 56 people on Aug. 1, including 21 teachers to trim $3 million from the payroll, is hoping to get about $1 million a year in tax revenue from the casinos. That’s still only 1.25 percent of an $80 million general fund budget in a district that axed $16 million from its spending since 2005, Bertram said.

The further fear, which materialized with the lottery revenues, is that casino revenues will further supplant state funding

“It took one or two biennium budgets and it’s in the same bucket of money as everything else,” Bertram said of lottery proceeds. “We don’t know how long this is going to last. It’s almost like stimulus money. You hope you get it, and you hope you can do good with it. You don’t rely on it.”

Here's a district by district breakdown of expected revenues.

Casino Revenue Analysis

Proving SB5 unnecessary, public schools show significant gains

The freshly released 2010-2011 state report card has some great news to demonstrate that public schools in Ohio are not in some crisis, and radical, extreme reforms are not needed in order for our students to recevie a quality education.

The percentage of students scoring proficient on state tests increased on 21 of 26 indicators, with the strongest gains in third-grade math, eighth-grade math and 10th-grade writing. Overall, students met the state goal on 17 out of 26 indicators, one less than last year. The statewide average for all students’ test scores, known as the Performance Index, jumped 1.7 points to 95, the biggest gain since 2004-2005.

For 2010-2011, the number of districts ranked Excellent with Distinction or Excellent increased by 56 to 352. The number of schools in those same categories grew by 186 to 1,769.

76% of traditional public schools statewide have a B or better this year.

Value-Added results, which show whether students meet the expected one year of growth for students in grades 3-8 in reading and math. In 2010-2011, 79.5 percent of districts and 81.4 percent of schools met or exceeded expected Value-Added gains.

The Performance Index looks at the performance of every student, not just those who score proficient or higher. In 2010-11, 89.3 percent of districts and 71 percent of schools improved their Performance Index scores.

We'll be taking a closer look at this results and bringing you all the latest findings.