Opposition to voucher expansion has doubled to more than 170

Only a month has passed since we last published the long list of local communities opposing the statewide expansion of vouchers contained in the Governor's budget. But in that short period of time, the number of school districts passing a resolution in opposition has now passed 170.

Here's the list.

Adena local	Lorain County ESC
Allen East Local	Lordstown Local
Anthony Wayne Local	Loudonville-Perrysville
Antwerp Local	Louisville City
Athens City	Lynchburg-Clay Local
Austintown Local	Madeira City
Barnesville EV	Mahoning County C&TC
Bath Local	Manchester Local
Bellbrook-Sugarcreek	Marietta City
Belmont-Harrison Vocational	Mathews Local
Belpre City	Miami County ESC
Berea City	Miamisburg City
Big Walnut Local	Millecreek West Unity
Bloom-Carroll Local	Milton-Union Local
Bloomfield-Mespo Local	Minford Local
Bluffton EV	Monroeville Local
Boardman Local	Morgan Local
Bridgeport	Muskingum Valley ESC
Bristol Local	National Trail Local
Brown Local	Nelsonville-York City
Brown County ESC	New Lexington City
Buckeye Local (Jefferson)	New Richmond
Caldwell EV	New Riegel
Campbell City	Newcomerstown EV
Chagrin Falls EV	Newbury Local
Chillicothe City	Noble Local
Chippewa Local	North Olmsted
Circleville City	Northern Local
Clay Local	Northmont City
Clinton-Massie Local	Northwest Local (Scioto
Clyde Green Springs	Northwestern Local
Columbiana County ESC	Northwood Local
Columbiana EV	Oak Hill Union Local
Coshocton City	Oak Hills Local
Coshocton County JVS	Oakwood City
Coventry	Oberlin Local
Crestline EV	Ohio Valley ESC
Crestview Local	Old Fort Local
Crooksville EV	Ottawa-Glandorf
Cuyahoga Falls	Parma City
Cuyahoga Heights	Put-in-Bay Local
Dublin City	Revere Local
East Guernsey Local	Ridgedale Local
East Liverpool City	Ripley Union Lewis Huntington
Eastern Local (Meigs)	River View Local
Eastern Local (Pike)	Ross Local
Fairbanks	Ross-Pike ESC
Fairborn City	St. Clairsville-Richland City
Fairfield Union	St. Marys City
Fayetteville-Perry Local	Sandusky City
Federal Hocking Local	Sheffield-Sheffield Lake
Felicity-Franklin Local	Shelby City
Findlay City	South Central Ohio ESC
Firelands Local	South Range Local
Fort Frye	Southeast Local (Portage)
Fort Loramie Local	Southern Local
Franklin Local	Southern Ohio ESC
Galion City	Southington Local (Lucas)
Gallipolis City	Springfield Local (Summit)
Garaway Local	Southwest Local
Geneva Area City	Springfield Local
Genoa Area Local	Springfield City
Goshen Local	Streetsboro City
Graham	Sylvania Local
Grand Valley Local	Trimble Local
Granville EV	Trumbull Career & Tech
Green Local (Franklin Furnace)	Tuscarawas Vlley Local
Greenfield EV	Tuslaw Local
Hardin-Houston Local	Union Local
Huber Heights City	Urbana City
Huntington Local	Vanlue Local
Indian Creek Local	Vantage Career Center
Indian Valley Local	Van Wert City
Jackson City	Vinton County Local
James A. Garfield Local	Warren City
Jennings Local	Warren Local
Kalida Local	Washington Local
Kenston Local	Washington-Nile
Keystone Local	Waverly
LaBrae Local	Wayne County Career Center
Lancaster City	Wayne Local
Leetonia EV	Wellston City
Liberty Local	West Muskingum
Licking County ESC	Wheelersburg
Lincolnview Local	Williamsburg Local
Lisbon EV	Yellow Springs EV
Logan-Hocking Local	Zane Trace Local
	Zanesville City

Deep Red Opposition to Kasich Funding Plan

As the 130th General assembly gets underway and begins its hearings on the Budget, questions from law makers and superintendents are already starting to heat up - and not from your typical quarters.

the most eye opening example is Superintendent of Franklin City Schools, in deep red Warren county who sent out a letter to residents calling John Kasich a liar, and asking for citizens to join him in removing him from office.

Governor John Kasich was untruthful last week, and in doing so, finally clarified that kids in poor school districts don't count.
[...]
As parents and friends of our district, I hope you will do two things: First, please join me in an active campaign to ensure that Gov. Kasich and any legislator who supports him are not re-elected. Second, I hope you will contact our state officials and urge them to ask Gov. Kasich to return to the drawing board on his school funding proposal.

Here's the full letter

Letter to Residents-Mr. Elam

Further difficult questions were posed to the Governor's education advisors during a House education committee hearing. Plunderbund captures on such exchange by Rep Smith (a Republican who won his district with over 65% of the vote in 2012)

During the hearings [video available here at 137:53] Smith asked a very moving question of Richard A. Ross, head the Governor’s Office of 21st Century Education. He simply wanted to know what, if anything, this budget would do to help the severely underfunded schools in his district, schools that are laying off teachers and other vital staff and can’t afford to provide simple classes in art of music. Ross compared his schools to the fast growing Olentangy school district in Central Ohio.

“Olentangy schools have German 1,2 and 3, Jewelry 1, Ceramics 1, Sculpture 1, Stage Craft 1, Concert Orchestra,” said Smith. ”These are things that children of Appalachia don’t get exposed to.”

“I’m not asking for synchronized swimming or a swimming pool or anything extra. I’m not asking for violin lessons or cello lessons. What I want for is my kids is music. And art… just give them a basic education,” pleaded Smith.

State Rep Smith also tells the story of Symmes Valley School District where the Superintendent had to layoff his board secretary, transportation director and curriculum director and is now doing all of those jobs himself. Another school district in Smith’s area has lost 40 teachers and the rest have had no raises in four years.

Smith ends by asking Ross asking if there is any “special sauce” in this budget that will help superintendents just provided a basic education to the kids in his district?

the Governor's advisors told Rep Smith that perhaps students in his poor district could learn music online. Then they laughed. They may not be laughing much longer, as opposition to the second worst school funding plan (The worst being their previous plan that cut almost $2 billion from school budgets) is increasing and hardening even in red corners of the state.

Stephen Dyer notes that Governor Kasich ought to be worried. We agree.

Education News for 04-16-2012

Statewide Education News

• State to target achievement gaps among students (Dispatch)

If nothing changes, black fifth-graders won’t be reading on par with white fifth-graders in Ohio for another 303 years, the state estimates. For third-graders, it would be 90 years before black and white students pass reading exams at the same rate. State officials say those alarming estimates show that schools need to act quickly to make sure groups of students who are behind are catching up with their peers. Read More…

• Project learning 101 at Winton Woods (Enquirer)

In classrooms across the country, a pendulum is swinging. On one side is the predominant belief that students learn best through direct instruction – teachers lecturing and students listening, taking notes and proving on tests what they’ve learned. On the other side is what some say is a more progressive form of education, in which students collaborate on projects and problems and learn from each other by asking, doing and exploring. The teacher is merely a facilitator. This “project-based” or “problem-based” learning is where many schools should be heading, Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction Stan Heffner told The Enquirer last week. Read More…

Local Issues

• Special ed spending soars in some districts (Hamilton Journal News)

In the past decade, the cost of educating special needs children has skyrocketed while the numbers of children with disabilities have shown only modest increases. An analysis of data from the Ohio auditor and the Ohio Department of Education shows that Butler County public school districts spent 158 percent more on special education between 2001 and 2010 while the number of special needs children has risen by 14 percent. Read More…

• Cleveland mayor takes on teacher union over reform (Associated Press)

CLEVELAND - The mayor wants to give his hand-picked superintendent the power to reassign bad teachers, reshape failing schools and stagger class times without union contract barriers. Mayor Frank Jackson, the only Ohio mayor who controls schools through an appointed board, angered fellow Democrats and the party's labor allies by challenging timeworn teacher union contracts. "What we will not accept is incremental change or the belief that everything is OK and we should continue down the same path," he said in a city hall interview. "That is not acceptable to us." Read More…

• Future cloudy for alternative school existence (Chillicothe Gazette)

CHILLICOTHE -- The Ross-Pike Educational Service District might shutter its alternative school after Ross County's school superintendents said they're unlikely to send students there in the future. "It's a possibility," Ross-Pike ESD Superintendent Steve Martin said of the rumored closure. "It's a possibility every year." Martin confirmed, at a recent meeting, the superintendents indicated they probably would stop using the alternative school as a disciplinary tool for disruptive students beginning with the 2012-13 school year. Read More…

• Westfall discipline case raises questions about public files (Chilicothe Gazette)

WILLIAMSPORT -- A principal is without a job and a teacher is on thin ice after a recent personnel investigation at Westfall High School that was conducted mostly behind closed doors. Tom Lehman, the school's principal since August 2008, agreed to resign April 5, ending an investigation that began in February with questions about his professional conduct. Superintendent Cara Riddel said she often had clashed with Lehman since joining the district in summer 2011, but it was his violation of part of the Licensure Code of Professional Conduct for Ohio Educators that led to his suspension Feb. 21 and ultimately his resignation. Read More…

Editorial & Opinion

• Hold charter schools to task (Warren Chronicle Tribune)

Charter schools - private institutions operating with subsidies from the government - can provide invaluable alternatives to public education in some areas. But they have to play by the rules, too. That has not been the case in Ohio for many years, to judge by revelations about financial mismanagement at some charter schools. Read More…