Education News for 06-27-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• Kasich asks agencies not to seek more funds (Dispatch)

Those looking for a sign that state agencies will soon see relief from the punishing economic downturn won’t find much to like in Gov. John Kasich’s latest budget move. But those who have observed Kasich’s desire to hold the line on spending should not be surprised that he has asked state agencies to start the next budget process with plans to spend no more than what they are getting in fiscal year 2013, which starts on July 1. Read more...

• U.S. Department of Education data shows career-training graduates struggle to repay loans (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND — Students who completed career-training programs at almost 100 institutions across the country, including one in Northeast Ohio, have so much difficulty repaying their student loans that the schools could be banned from offering federal financial aid, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education. The federal agency has put those schools on notice for failing to meet any of the three benchmarks set by its Gainful Employment regulations. Read more...

• Elida schools to seek earned-income tax (Lima News)

ELIDA — Elida school officials said they listened to voters who say they want an alternative to property taxes. Now they hope those voters come through for them. The school board unanimously voted Tuesday to put a five-year, 0.75 percent earned-income tax on the November ballot. It will raise $2.06 million a year for operations and keep the district out of deficit spending, where it is headed in two years. Superintendent Don Diglia said officials talked to a lot of people before deciding to go with an income tax. Read more...

The Ohio Coalition for Quality Education (Miamisburg) had an exclusive video discussion on education issues with two of Ohio's leading policymakers. You can view this video here…

Local Issues

• Panel: Delay Columbus schools tax vote until 2013 (Dispatch)

A citizens committee urged the Columbus school board not to go to voters in November for a tax increase, but rather wait until next year. The panel voted 8-2 yesterday morning to delay putting new millage on the ballot until either the spring or fall of 2013. While Superintendent Gene Harris offered the committee two options that would have placed an issue on this November’s ballot, the panel shot down those proposals. Each option would have totaled 7.5 mills, adding about $230 in new tax for each $100,000 in appraised property value. Read more...

• Wickliffe Schools looking into privatized bus service (News-Herald)

Tuesday's Wickliffe School Board meeting featured comments from both sides about the possibility of the district switching to privatized school bus services. Matthew Molek, vice president of Ohio Association of Public Schools Employees local 196, which includes district bus drivers, asked the board to hold off on considering privatizing bussing, at least until the union's current contract runs up. "Right now we are right in the middle of our contract," Molek said. "My comment is: Honor the contract until next year, and we'll look at it then." Read more...

• Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District contracts expire June 30 (Sun News)

June 30 is the last day of the current contract for nearly 450 teachers and support staff in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District. And that is a concern for both the unions and their supporters. Those concerns were voiced June 25 when the employees and supporters crammed into the Board of Education building for the regular monthly school board meeting. According to a release from the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Organization of Support Staff. Read more...

• Residents urge board to reconsider options (Vindicator)

Austintown - Public displeasure continued to be voiced Tuesday over the current busing situation for Catholic students living in the township. A handful of residents, including township Trustee Jim Davis, addressed the Austintown school board during Tuesday’s regular meeting, urging the members to change their minds about cutting busing to Catholic schools outside of the township. The proposal, announced in May, offers public-transit vouchers to private-school students instead of using district vehicles. Read more...

• Board gives thumbs-up for TPS' top officials (Blade)

The Toledo Board of Education gave its top two administrators a vote of confidence Tuesday in midyear evaluations. The board expressed support for both Superintendent Jerome Pecko and Treasurer Matt Cleland after conducting evaluations last week in closed meetings. The evaluation results read publicly Tuesday did not include any rating of performance or specific areas identified by the board as weaknesses or strengths in either man's performance. Read more...

• Board of Education extends Eric S. Gordon's contract as CEO for 3 Years (WOIO 19 CBS)

CLEVELAND - Tuesday night, the Cleveland Board of Education voted to extend Eric S. Gordon's contract as Chief Executive Officer through June 2015. Gordon previously served CMSD as its Chief Academic Officer from 2007 to 2011. After a national search produced three finalists from outside the district in its search for a CEO last year, the Board by-passed the top candidates for CEO and awarded a one-year contract to Gordon in June, 2011. Read more...

Editorial

• What to do with Ohio's extra cash (Plain Dealer)

On Saturday, Ohio closes the books on this fiscal year -- the first of two in the Ohio biennial budget -- and opens another check register. Thanks to an uptick in the local economy as well as good management by Gov. John Kasich and the General Assembly, Ohio is, and will stay, in the black. Probably next week, Budget Director Tim Keen will announce final 2011-12 numbers, but some trends already are clear. For the 11 months ending May 31, tax collections were $1.3 billion (7.8 percent) greater than the year-earlier period while spending fell by $130 million (0.5 percent). Read more...

• More money not sure fix for schools (Tribune Chronicle)

Ohio has received high marks from researchers looking into how public education funding is handled. But tell that to officials and taxpayers in financially beleaguered school districts. They understand that good grades in a national study are one thing, but the reality of not being able to balance a district's budget is something else. Just three states - Ohio, New Jersey and Utah - received ''A'' grades for education financing in a study by Rutgers University and the Education Law Center. Read more...

Education News for 06-19-2012

Statewide Stories of the Day

• New approaches urged to get boys to read (Dispatch)

Tyler Teague is the kind of reader educators say is the toughest to reach. The 11-year-old would pick up a book if required by his teacher, but it’s not something he’d do for fun. “It felt like a chore and that you had to do it,” said Tyler, who will attend Hilliard Tharp Sixth Grade School this fall. Educators have long struggled to motivate boys to read on their own. Boys tend to be more active, hands-on learners and would rather clean their rooms than read Little Women, educators say. Read more...

Local Issues

• Fostoria school board OKs insurance contract (Courier)

FOSTORIA - Fostoria school board on Monday approved a contract of about $58,000 with Ohio School Plan, Toledo, for the district's property, fleet, liability and violence insurance for 2013-2015. Separately, the board approved a $50,195 bid from Roppe Corp., Fostoria, and a $45,500 bid from Lakeside Interior, Perrysburg, to replace the carpeted area on the first floor academic wing at the junior/senior high school. Read more...

• Belmont Co. school districts get grant to explore sharing some services (WTOV 9 NBC)

BELMONT COUNTY — As school districts continue to face challenges of budget cuts while trying to maintain programs and state mandates, two Belmont County districts have been awarded a grant allowing them to explore sharing administrative services. The Barnesville and Union Local school districts have been awarded a $100,000 grant that will allow educators to explore sharing administrative services through Project Share. Read more...

• Greenon district to keep salary freeze (News-Sun)

ENON — Greenon school board members plan to vote Thursday to freeze pay for district administrators and central office employees, a continuation of a two-year wage freeze for all district employees that has saved an estimated $460,000 to date. “It’s not a new crisis or a new issue,” said Treasurer Ryan Jenkins. “It’s just us following through with everything we said we would do.” In the spring of 2011, the district’s two labor unions — the Greenon Federation of Teachers, representing certified staff, and the Ohio Association of Public School Employees, representing classified staff. Read more...

• Residents clear about education needs (Vindicator)

Youngstown - Residents of the city are clear about what needs to happen to improve the schools. The next step is devising a plan to get there. More than 115 people attended an education town-hall meeting Monday at Stambaugh Auditorium where the representatives of the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation of Bethesda, Md., discussed the findings of a community-engagement effort launched last February. Read more...

• Cleveland schools CEO Eric Gordon likely to head district until 2015 (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - First-year Cleveland schools chief Eric Gordon will likely be back for three more. Today, after a year board President Denise Link and Mayor Frank Jackson consider successful, the school board will consider extending Gordon's contract as chief executive officer through June 2015. Gordon has worked closely with Jackson for the last four months, promoting to residents and legislators a school overhaul plan that lawmakers in Columbus approved last week. He will soon have to shift gears to recommend a tax increase for the board to put before voters in November. Read more...

• Ten lose jobs as Zane Trace board OKs $500K in budget cuts (Chillicothe Gazette)

KINGSTON - Ten Zane Trace employees -- eight of them bus drivers -- lost their jobs Monday after the board of education approved a reduction in force. With a projected $1.28 million deficit looming in 2014, the board moved forward on a series of cuts expected to save the district more than $500,000 annually. Also losing their jobs Monday were a middle school intervention specialist and a custodian. In addition, the board will leave vacant two teaching positions and a custodial position. Read more...

Editorial

• All layered up (Beacon Journal)

The hope of the Kasich administration, which last week released a report on local governments sharing services, is to encourage greater collaboration at the grass roots. To do so holds much potential for reducing expenses and improving services, quite a feat at a time of sharply curtailed state support for cities, counties and schools. “Beyond Boundaries: A Shared Services Action Plan for Ohio Schools and Governments” plows some familiar ground, previous reports establishing the burden created by the state’s overlapping units of government. Read more...

• Controversy over busing in Austintown was avoidable (Vindicator)

There is no denying that public education in Ohio is confronting major financial challenges. Significant reductions in state funding, along with the expansion of charter schools and voucher programs, are forcing districts to reduce spending — without affecting academics. The growing number of systems in state-designated fiscal watch and fiscal emergency illustrates the scope of the problem. Tensions are high, which means that lines of communication among school boards, administrators and the public, especially parents, must be open at all times. Read more...

• Ohio's third-grade reading standard is improved by revision (Plain Dealer)

Education in Ohio got a boost last week, when Gov. John Kasich and Republican lawmakers brokered sensible agreements to help struggling third-graders and impose more accountability on charter schools that cater to teenagers at risk of dropping out. The compromises are in an education reform measure, Senate Bill 316, now awaiting Kasich's signature. Kasich had wanted to hold back every third-grader who scored below proficient on reading. That would have forced an estimated 17,000 students to repeat the grade -- more than teachers could handle or parents would tolerate. Read more...

PolitiFact is mostly made up

PolitiFact Ohio, a "fact checking" operation ran by the Cleveland Plain Dealer decided to check out the following statement by Cleveland teachers

"The (Jackson) plan (for reforming Cleveland schools) lacks any data or methods proven to raise student achievement."

PolitiFact goes through a number of cases, based upon assertions made by CEO Gordon

"And while Gordon conceded "there is no empirical study that shows the portfolio strategy is the one strategy" he said there is some evidence that some of the approaches in the Jackson plan have worked to raise test scores."

PolitiFact looked at some "evidence", and so shall we.

For example, Gordon mentioned research that has been done by the Center on Reinventing Public Education. The non-profit group recently issued a report on a number of big city school districts trying reforms similar to those in Jackson’s plan.

The group’s report looked at Denver schools, where many teachers voluntarily opted for a merit pay system instead of the standard teaching contract. Known as the ProComp program, it ties teacher pay to education levels and offers bonus pay to teachers who work in the toughest schools and whose students score higher on tests.

Researchers at the University of Colorado found "significant and positive ProComp effects at both middle and high school for both math and reading, and the effects are larger at high school than middle school." The researchers cautioned, however, that it generally was the more effective teachers who opted into the program.

ProComp was funded by voters to the tune of $25 million in order to pay teachers more. Unless there's a provision in Frank Jackson's plan to ask voters for an additional $25 million on top of the $65 million deficit, we can see straight away that the Jacksons plan and the Denver ProComp system are not at all similar and worthy of comparison.

But let us pretend Frank Jackson's plan does involve giving teachers up to almost $4,000 a year in bonuses. According to a recent study of the ProComp system, researchers found

DPS has experienced significant student learning gains across grades and subjects, but it is not clear that this was the result of ProComp. There was not a consistent pattern across grade levels and subjects in the relationship between ProComp and observed achievement gains. In some cases, the gains appeared primarily among students with ProComp teachers, while in other cases it is NonKProComp teachers who appeared to be more effective. Though puzzling, these findings are consistent with research on other well known interventions that include elements similar to ProComp.

Clearly there is no evidence, as the Cleveland teachers said, that this kind of compensation improves student performance. Gordon and PolitiFact are WRONG.

PolitiFact's next step was to look at the Colorado Innovation Schools Act

Another approach tried in Colorado — a 2008 law called the Innovation Schools Act — gives school officials who opt into the program greater school autonomy and flexibility in operations and academic decisions. "The innovation schools are experiencing growth in test scores but many were exceeding state averages prior to being innovation schools," said a recent report from researchers who have studied the schools.

There are just 21 innovation schools - an incredibly small sample, but according to a recent report

Innovation schools did not tend to look drastically different than other schools.
[...]
Innovation schools have experienced high rates of mobility among teachers and principals. Their teachers tend to be somewhat less experienced and are less likely to have master’s degrees than teachers in comparable schools
[...]
There are not yet clear trends to help us understand how Innovation will affect student achievement.

They sound an awful lot like most Cleveland charters, and like most Cleveland charters they rely upon less experienced, less qualified teachers, and are not producing better results than traditional schools. Gordon and PolitiFact are WRONG to look at Innovation Schools as evidence of successful reforms.

Next PolitiFact uses this

The Baltimore school district — after working hand in hand with the union — implemented a reworked teacher contract largely based on teacher evaluations and student test scores. That contract only went into effect last year so it’s too soon to say whether it has improved student test scores.

In their own words, there is no evidence this works to improve student achievement, exactly what the teachers in Cleveland claim. Why did PolitiFact even introduce this as evidence? Moving on.

The Jackson plan also calls for increased learning time through either longer school days or a longer school year, a hot topic among educational academics. Research on the subject is mixed — a fact Gordon acknowledged. "Well, no one factor in of itself is a magic bullet solution," he said. "You are going to find time studies where it did work and time studies where it didn’t work."

Now we're getting desperate. So how does PolitiFact rule on this mountain of evidence?

Ohio AFT union head Melissa Cropper said Mayor Frank Jackson’s sweeping plan to improve Cleveland schools "lacks any data or methods proven to raise student achievement" as she labeled the proposal an attack on teachers. For PolitiFact Ohio, a key part of that statement is "lacks any."

While the specific approach Jackson mapped out for Cleveland hasn’t been proven, it does clearly contain elements that researchers suggest may work — at least in some cases -- such as merit pay for teachers, greater flexibility for schools in how they go about their business and longer school days or school year.
[...]
On the Truth-O-Meter, the claim by the Ohio Federation of Teachers rates Mostly False.

Huh? "Elements", "may work", PolitiFact contort their own piece to arrive at this ridiculously tortured conclusion. There is no evidence based on research that shows that what is proposed in the "Cleveland Plan" will work (though we hope some of it does!), to then arrive at a conclusion that the teachers are "mostly wrong" is absurd. This should come as no surprise as the Plain Dealer has been carrying the water for Frank Jackson and his SB5 plan on their opinion pages from the gitgo - and that's a Fact, totally true.

Frank Jackson's plan circa 1970

It's backwards

Cleveland Metropolitan Schools CEO Eric Gordon has been given the job of trying to sell everyone on Mayor Frank Jackson's plan for revitalizing Northeast Ohio's largest school system.

Gordon tells WTAM 1100 that the administration and teachers union both need to work together on what the mayor proposes, saying, "We have to be careful to modernize the work rules in a way that's respectful to adults."

The work rules, via collective bargaining, are modern and respect adults. Collective bargaining was brought to the education profession in Ohio in 1983. Before that it was the wild west of management whims. Collective bargaining modernized that system. Why Frank Jackson thinks going back to the old failed ways of doing things is the solution to Cleveland Schools is a mystery.

Mutual trust and respect involves collaborating with educators before you release your plan to send labor relations back to the 1970's.