HB59 (budget bill) Initial Analysis

the Ohio Legislative Services Commision (LSC) has produced their first comparative analysis document of the Governor's budget proposal. Here is the relevant edcuation sections.

LSC analysis of HB59 - Education by

A decade-long crisis of democracy

We highlighted that despite Ohio voters in the aggregate preferring Democrats over Republicans in the 2012 election, the Republicans will hold a probable super majority 60-39 as a consequence of extreme partisan gerrymandering. The Dispatch was prompted by this result to produce an article about redistricting

Issue 2 is dead, buried deep by Ohio voters last week.

But over and over again, opponents of the redistricting plan, be they Republicans or editorial-page writers, noted that their opposition was not based on the belief that the current system of drawing legislative and congressional districts is good.

In fact, most acknowledged that it remains badly in need of an overhaul.

But if was this paragraph in the article that prompted us to take an even deeper look

Republicans now control 75 percent of the U.S. House seats and nearly two-thirds of the legislative seats in a state that has leaned Republican but is a key battleground state

We analyzed Ohio House of Representative results for each of the past 6 election cycles. By aggregating the votes for Democrats and Republicans in contested races we found a systematic, and extreme disenfranchising of Democratic representation in Ohio

Year	Democratic	Republican	D Seats	R Seats
2012	2,418,815	2,362,310	39	60
2010	1,447,949	1,696,064	40	59
2008	2,296,678	1,982,281	53	46
2006	1,832,548	1,605,801	46	53
2004	1,869,051	2,036,398	38	60
2002	1,243,671	1,364,656	36	63
Total	11,108,712	11,047,510

Based upon the preferences of voters, Democrats should have controlledthe General assemblies after the 2012, and 2006 elections - but were denied by partisan gerrymandering. Furthermore, the majorities that Republicans did earn in all of their successful years should have been much, much smaller - and never reacher super majority status.

Indeed when one looks at the sum total of votes in contest races over the past decade, rather than being center right, the results indicate a center to center left leaning electorate.

It is simply not possible to conclude that Ohioans have been legitimately represented in the 21st century by their preferred choices, either in actuality or in scope. We have a crisis of democracy in Ohio.

Voters First - Issue 2 - ballot language

The Ohio ballot board, in a partisan split decision chose the following as the language that will appear as Issue 2 (Voters First) on the November 6th ballot.

Proposed Constitutional Amendment
Proposed by Initiative Petition
To add and repeal language in Section l,3,4,6,7,9 and 13 of Article XI, repeal Sections 8 and 14 of Article XI, and add a new Section 16 to Article XI of the Constitution of the State of Ohio

A majority yes vote is necessary for the amendment to pass.

The proposed amendment would:

1. Remove the authority of elected representatives and grant new authority to appointed officials to establish congressional and state legislative district lines.

2. Create a state funded commission of appointed individuals from a limited pool of applicants to replace the aforementioned. The Commission will consist of 12 members as follows: four affiliated with the largest political party, four affiliated with the second largest political party and four not affiliated with either of the two largest political parties. Affirmative votes of 7 of 12 members are needed to select a plan.

3. Require new legislative and congressional districts be immediately established by the Commission to replace the most recent districts adopted by elected representatives, which districts shall not be challenged except by court order until the next federal decennial census and apportionment. In the event the Commission is not able to determine a plan by October 1, the Ohio Supreme Court would need to adopt a plan from all the plans submitted to the Commission.

4. Change the standards and requirements in the Constitution for drawing legislative and congressional districts.

5. Mandate the General Assembly to appropriate all funds as determined by the Commission including, but not be limited to, compensating:
1. Staff
2. Consultants
3. Legal counsel
4. Commision members

If approved, the amendment will be effective thirty days after the election.

SHALL THE AMENDMENT BE APPROVED
YES
NO

Voters first has filed a lawsuit, claiming the ballot language is incomplete

The wording, for example, omits any references to requirements that the commission draw fair districts that reflect the political preferences of Ohio voters.

The ballot language "does not properly identify the substance of the proposal to be voted upon" and was written "to mislead, deceive or defraud the voters," the lawsuit says.

A summary of the initiative can be read, here.

The Toxic Trifecta in Current Legislative Models for Teacher Evaluation

A relatively consistent legislative framework for teacher evaluation has evolved across states in the past few years. Many of the legal concerns that arise do so because of inflexible, arbitrary and often ill-conceived yet standard components of this legislative template. There exist three basic features of the standard model, each of which is problematic on its own regard, and those problems become multiplied when used in combination.

First, the standard evaluation model proposed in legislation requires that objective measures of student achievement growth necessarily be considered in a weighting system of parallel components. Student achievement growth measures are assigned, for example, a 40 or 50% weight alongside observation and other evaluation measures. Placing the measures alongside one another in a weighting scheme assumes all measures in the scheme to be of equal validity and reliability but of varied importance (utility) – varied weight. Each measure must be included, and must be assigned the prescribed weight – with no opportunity to question the validity of any measure. [1]Such a system also assumes that the various measures included in the system are each scaled such that they can vary to similar degrees. That is, that the observational evaluations will be scaled to produce similar variation to the student growth measures, and that the variance in both measures is equally valid – not compromised by random error or bias. In fact, however, it remains highly likely that some components of the teacher evaluation model will vary far more than others if by no other reasons than that some measures contain more random noise than others or that some of the variation is attributable to factors beyond the teachers’ control. Regardless of the assigned weights and regardless of the cause of the variation (true or false measure) the measure that varies more will carry more weight in the final classification of the teacher as effective or not. In a system that places differential weight, but assumes equal validity across measures, even if the student achievement growth component is only a minority share of the weight, it may easily become the primary tipping point in most high stakes personnel decisions.

Second, the standard evaluation model proposed in legislation requires that teachers be placed into effectiveness categories by assigning arbitrary numerical cutoffs to the aggregated weighted evaluation components. That is, a teacher in the 25%ile or lower when combining all evaluation components might be assigned a rating of “ineffective,” whereas the teacher at the 26%ile might be labeled effective. Further, the teacher’s placement into these groupings may largely if not entirely hinge on their rating in the student achievement growth component of their evaluation. Teachers on either side of the arbitrary cutoff are undoubtedly statistically no different from one another. In many cases as with the recently released teacher effectiveness estimates on New York City teachers, the error ranges for the teacher percentile ranks have been on the order of 35%ile points (on average, up to 50% with one year of data). Assuming that there is any real difference between the teacher at the 25%ile and 26%ile (as their point estimate) is a huge unwarranted stretch. Placing an arbitrary, rigid, cut-off score into such noisy measures makes distinctions that simply cannot be justified especially when making high stakes employment decisions.

Third, the standard evaluation model proposed in legislation places exact timelines on the conditions for removal of tenure. Typical legislation dictates that teacher tenure either can or must be revoked and the teacher dismissed after 2 consecutive years of being rated ineffective (where tenure can only be achieved after 3 consecutive years of being rate effective).[2]As such, whether a teacher rightly or wrongly falls just below or just above the arbitrary cut-offs that define performance categories may have relatively inflexible consequences.

The Forced Choice between “Bad” Measures and “Wrong” Ones

[readon2 url="http://nepc.colorado.edu/blog/toxic-trifecta-bad-measurement-evolving-teacher-evaluation-policies"]Continue reading...[/readon2]

Education News for 03-14-2012

Statewide Education News

• State education board mum on Cleveland plan (Dispatch)

The Ohio Board of Education had no immediate response to Gov. John Kasich’s request that the panel support a controversial plan to turn around Cleveland schools. At its monthly meeting in Columbus yesterday, the board decided to discuss the issue at its April meeting. Traditionally, the board has not waded into political and legislative debates, but on Monday the governor pleaded with members to pass a resolution or provide some sort of backing to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson’s plan. Read More…

• Ohio 3rd-graders who can't read at grade level could be held back under Gov. John Kasich's plan (Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS — Third-graders who are not reading at grade level would be held back a year under a midterm budget plan Gov. John Kasich will announce today. The policy will be part of a handful of education initiatives the Republican governor will unveil, the administration confirmed to The Plain Dealer. Other items in the plan, which would require legislative approval, include revamping teacher evaluation metrics and overhauling the state's school report card because the administration believes it encourages mediocrity. Read More…

• Gridlock in Congress threatens Ohio programs (Dispatch)

Automatic spending cuts triggered by gridlock on a bipartisan congressional “supercommittee” could cost Ohio nearly $313 million next year, with a large chunk being pulled from funds for poor students and those with special needs. The overall reduction in federal funding for the state — 1 percent — might be small, but it would hit certain programs hard. Head Start faces a nearly 9 percent cut. So do special-education grants for K-12 schools, work-study payments for needy college students and extra nutritional aid for low-income pregnant women and children, according to an analysis done last month by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Read More…

Local Issues

• City, county, schools join in drive to prevent bullying (Blade)

Local city, county, and school officials announced a joint public awareness campaign Tuesday to combat bullying. Calling the impact of bullying on communities "devastating," Lucas County Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak said that children can't be effective learners if they feel threatened in school. "We want to prevent the bullying," Ms. Skeldon-Wozniak said. "We want the schools to feel safe." Students, faculty, and staff of area schools will be asked to sign anti-bullying pledges, where they will vow to monitor for bullying and support victims, among other promises. Read More…

• Community split on whether Richmond Heights students should wear uniforms (News-Herald)

The Richmond Heights community is split on the topic of whether the school district should have students wear uniforms. Interim Superintendent Robert J. Moore, at Monday’s school board meeting, shared the results of a survey sent out to families which showed that almost 50 percent are for student uniforms and 50 percent against. Moore said he plans to revisit the issue and propose a sport coat or jacket with the Richmond Heights logo on it in order to create a sense of unity within the community and district. Read More…

• Lakota eyeing unemployment claims, severance after cutting 141 jobs (Journal-News)

LIBERTY TWP. — The Lakota Board of Education, which approved $10.5 million in cuts and a reduction of 141 positions Monday, is now turning its attention to unemployment compensation and severance pay. Treasurer Jenni Logan said the district wants to make sure to give those employees enough lead time to find gainful employment elsewhere. “Our hope is to have that process firmed up and to formally take action on all of that at our final board meeting in April,” she said. Job cuts for the 2012-13 school year will be based on seniority and licensing, Logan said. Read More…

Editorial

• Raising the bar (Courier)

Whether or not our children decide to compete for a job in another state or country, or stay home, they must have the best education possible. And it must start well before they get to a university, community college or trade school. Signs show good things happening in most schools in Ohio. More than half of the 609 schools that received a state report card for the 2010-2011 school year got "excellent" or "excellent with distinction" marks. And more than a handful of those schools are in our area. Read More…

• Cleveland school-reform bill needs teachers' input (Plain Dealer)

When the usually reserved Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson says he would trade his office for "quality education for our children," all of the other adults involved in the high-stakes discussion on school reform ought to determine what they would give up as well. So far, judging from the Cleveland Teachers Union's tepid response to the mayor's Cleveland-only school reform package, the answer appears to be little or nothing. Read More…

Union members spotlight - State Senate

Last week we took a look at the union members who have decided to run for the Ohio House of Representatives. With so many there's a good change you have a union member running to represent you! You can check them out at the following links.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5

Today, the day before the primary, we turn our attention to the four union members running for the Ohio Senate. Where the Ohio House has 99 seats, the Ohio Senate has only 33, with only half up for reelection every two years. This year those districts with even numbers are up for reelection.

It should be noted that the districts listed below are new as a consequence of the legislative redistricting process that happened last year.

Senate district 6 - Rick McKiddy (D)

Rick is a retired member of the UAW. Rick is running unopposed in the primary. Paul Isaacs is challenging Lehner for the GOP nod to face Rick in November. Lehner was appointed to succeed State Sen. John Husted when he assumed the office of Ohio Secretary of State. Sen. Lehner voted for SB5 and the budget.

Senate district 20 - Teresa Scarmack (D)

Teresa is a member of OEA. Recognized as a Master Teacher, with 23 years of teaching experience, she is running uncontested in the primary and will face Troy Balderson in the general election. Sen. Balderson was appointed to the Senate in 2011 form the House, where he voted for SB5 and the budget.
You can learn more about Teresa, here.

Senate district 24 - Tom Patton (D)

Tom is a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States (IATSE), President of Treasurers and Ticket Sellers Local 756 and AFL-CIO delegate. He was one of the few Republican senators to vote against SB5. He faces Jennifer L. Brady in the general election.
You can learn more about Tom, here.

Senate district 26 - Tanyce Addison (D)

Tanyce is a member of OEA. Tanyce is a recently retired Elgin teacher of the year. Her opponent, David Burke, voted YES on SB5. He was appointed to Karen Gillmor's Senate seat after she voted YES on SB5. You can learn more about Tanyce, here.