Political Landscape section is a collection of news items, updates, and essays on policy issues, state and federal legislation, academic standards, testing issues, the politics of funding, and other issues.
Updates from the League of Women Voters’ Joan Platz:
School Funding Matters and the KnowledgeWorks Foundation released on May 27, 2009 a report called Models for Ohio School Funding: Comparing the Evidence-Based Approach with Weighted Student Funding. The report notes that weighted student funding (WSF) is not designed to direct resources to support successful educational strategies. Weighted Student Funding is now being promoted by some Ohio lawmakers and supporters of charter schools and vouchers as a method to fund public schools in Ohio. The approach is the focus of a report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute called Fund the Child: Bringing Equity, Autonomy, and Portability to Ohio School Finance, released on March 13, 2008. The model is usually used to distribute funding within a district to increase equity and autonomy among schools, but is also being promoted as a way to decentralize governance of public schools at the state level. According to some, the WSF model could be used to provide individual students with state funds to attend any school, including charter or private schools.
Unlike the Evidence-Based Model (EBM), proposed by Governor Strickland as the approach used to reform Ohio’s education and school funding system in Sub. HB 1, the weighted student approach provides a mechanism to distribute funds, but does not determine the funding levels that will lead to higher student achievement or an adequate level of funding for schools. There is also no research to back the approach as a way to increase student achievement.
According to the KnowledgeWorks review, “The comparison finds no clear evidence exists to determine if weighted student funding can achieve its goals of increasing equity and improving results by giving schools more control over finances. No location has yet enacted the model without substantial modifications and some that adopted or considered the approach have since abandoned it, including Seattle and Charlotte schools.”
For more information visit the School Funding Matters website: http://kwfdn.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1dc7051df673b6a56c5109e95&id=740f8a3bd0&e=8870813afe
The Center for Community Solutions released on June 1, 2009 State Budgeting Matters: Avoiding a Meltdown in Public Services by Jon Honeck. This issue examines the revenue options that should consider as lawmakers work out a compromise for the budget bill Am. Sub. HB 1 and plan for Ohio’s future. According to the article, which was released before the Senate version of Am. Sub. HB 1 was approved by the Senate on June 3, 2009, the key issue for the conference committee to consider “is when, or if, the economic recovery will begin during the biennium.”
The article notes that Ohio is not alone in this budget crisis. Forty-seven states have reported budget shortfalls this year. Sixteen states have addressed the shortfalls by raising taxes and cutting spending, and 17 more states are considering raising taxes.
Some experts such as Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel-prize winning economist, believe that relying on tax cuts alone may harm a state’s economy more than targeted tax increases, because cutting state government also affects state jobs, tax revenue, and services. If increasing state taxes becomes an option, the state could consider raising taxes on high-income households; increasing the rate of the Commercial Activity Tax; keeping part of the current corporate franchise tax, which is being phased out; closing tax loopholes, credits, exemptions, etc; or limiting the homestead exemption to those with a certain income level.
According to the article, “There is little evidence to suggest that state tax policy is the major driving force behind state economic performance. The reality is that many factors influence economic outcomes and that government spending also catalyzes economic growth by helping to provide transportation infrastructure, a well-educated workforce and other aspects of quality of life that make a location more attractive to investors and job seekers. Taxes are only one of many considerations that businesses take into account when they move and are generally not the most important factor. Proximity to customers and suppliers, quality of the workforce, educational opportunities, and the overall quality of life also are crucial.”
Full report: http://www.communitysolutions.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=1612&DEPARTMENT_ID=103
Judge John D. Holschuh of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, announced on July 2, 2009 preliminary approval for a partial settlement in a case filed 16 years ago called Doe v. State of Ohio. A hearing on the fairness of the agreement will be held in October 2009, and then the court will give final approval of the order and the provisions of the agreement.
The lawsuit was first filed in the early 1990s, but the original plaintiffs dropped the lawsuit when the DeRolph decision was issued by Judge Linton Lewis in Perry County in 1994. The Ohio Legal Rights Service (OLRS) requested to take over the lawsuit representing eight students with disabilities, their parents, and a plaintiff class of over 250,000 Ohio students with disabilities.
The case was continued to ensure that state officials were meeting their obligations to ensure that children with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and to address the impact that inequities in Ohio’s school funding system have on the education of children with disabilities. The plaintiffs are seeking relief under IDEA, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the U.S. Constitution. Another part of the lawsuit concerning school funding was not addressed in the settlement agreement and can go to trial.
According to a press release from the OLRS, the lawsuit challenged the way the Ohio Department of Education implemented procedures under IDEA. In the settlement, the ODE agrees to do the following:
Press release and additional information about the settlement: http://olrs.ohio.gov/asp/DoeConsent.asp
“Maintaining Diversity and Equal Opportunity in Ohio’s Schools” was presented by Professor john a. powell, Executive Director of the Kirwan Institute, and Gregory H. Williams, Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the Michael E. Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University. Professor powell was invited to speak to the Board to provide information and guidance about the PICS decision and how it affects the Board’s Equal Educational Opportunity Policy, which was adopted in 1978 after several Ohio school districts were found to be segregated and ordered to implement desegregation plans. The policy directed the Ohio Department of Education to identify, monitor, and correct discriminatory practices that affect racial balance in Ohio’s school districts. ODE collected data on race and ethnicity to comply with this policy.
The PICS decision, handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2007, found that the voluntary integration plans of the Seattle and Louisville school districts to be unconstitutional. The decision is called Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (PICS) and McFarland v. Jefferson County Board of Education. The U.S. Office of Civil Rights issued guidance on the PICS decision in August 2008, which confused the issue in some ways, especially in relationship to the State Board’s policy to monitor school districts for racial diversity.
At the Board’s December 2008 meeting, members approved a resolution to immediately review the Equal Educational Opportunity Policy and pending that review to suspend the portion of the policy on monitoring school racial balance.
During his presentation, Professor powell summarized desegregation law starting with Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and ending with PICS. The PICS decision was a very complicated one producing five different opinions. Although a majority of justices agreed that the voluntary integration plans in Seattle and Louisville were unconstitutional, a majority of the justices also recognized a compelling government interest to remedy racial isolation.
Justice Kennedy wrote for the majority, “Compelling interest exists in avoiding racial isolation, an interest that a school district, in its discretion and expertise, may choose to pursue. Likewise, a district may consider it a compelling interest to achieve a diverse student population.” He was joined in this opinion by Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter, and John Paul Stevens, providing a majority for this point.
Even though PICS limits how school districts may pursue voluntary integration, the decision protects the right of boards of education to develop integration plans for their local schools. Professor powell therefore advised the State Board that using race alone for increasing the racial diversity of schools is unconstitutional, but addressing racial isolation through other strategies is not. These strategies include open enrollment and attendance policies, redrawing school boundaries, recruiting students to specific schools, creating regional schools, developing proxies for race such as economic segregation or academic achievement, selecting specific school sites, etc.
In addition, Professor powell told the Board that monitoring and tracking students to identify racial isolation would not be unconstitutional. Professor powell also provided examples of school districts nationally that have developed other models to address racial isolation, including the Minneapolis plan; Raleigh, North Carolina; the Berkeley plan; Louisville; Nebraska, etc.
For more information on the PICS decision, see page 5 of the Kirwin Institute newsletter (PDF): http://4909e99d35cada63e7f757471b7243be73e53e14.gripelements.com/newsletter/Kirwan_Update_au07wi08.pdf
Policy Matters Ohio (PMO) recently released the following reports:
This study by Tim Krueger (June 3, 2009) analyzes the success and cost benefits of Ohio’s Initiative on Increasing the Graduation Rate, operating in 33 urban schools beginning in the 2007-2008 school year and costing $10 million each year. The program provides individual support for ninth-grade boys who meet certain criteria and are at risk of dropping out of school. The cost analysis is based on determining the number of these students who will graduate instead of dropping out in the future, the cost of the program, and the savings gained as a result of increased graduation rates. The report notes that some adjustments were made in the analysis to account for missing data from some of the participating schools.
The analysis shows that in its first year of operation, the initiative provided programming for about 5,500 boys at target schools; 2,796 of those students were identified as at risk. At the end of the school year, 1,883 (67.3%) of the 2,796 at-risk boys were promoted to 10th grade. The study estimates an overall savings of more than $28.45 million and projects that “the state will recoup more than $3.3 for each dollar spent on this program”
According to the study, “Although Ohio’s Initiative on Increasing the Graduation Rate is in its early stages, it seems clear that this approach to expanding graduation has much potential.” PMO recommends continued funding for the initiative, which has been eliminated in the Senate’s version of Am. Sub. HB 1 (Sykes), the FY10-11 state budget.
Full report: http://www.policymattersohio.org/OhioGradRate2009.htm
This report by Zach Schiller recommends that the Ohio General Assembly examine the state tax expenditure report prepared by the Ohio Department of Taxation to identify additional revenue needed to balance the FY10-11 budget proposal, Am. Sub. HB 1 (Sykes). Tax expenditures for FY10-11 amount to more than $7 billion in foregone revenue to state government.
The report states, “The General Assembly’s conference committee should look to limit or eliminate unnecessary credits and exemptions. It should reexamine new or expanded tax credits and exemptions approved by the House and the Senate in their versions of the budget bill. If the full General Assembly approves any such measures, it should include sunset provisions so they expire in 2 years unless renewed. The legislature should set a phase-out date for all existing tax expenditures, and create a committee to make recommendations on which should be renewed.”
Full report: http://www.policymattersohio.org/OhioTaxExpenditures2009.htm
U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, was a guest on National Public Radio’s “Talk of the Nation” hosted by Neal Conan on June 9, 2009. Secretary Duncan talked about what he thinks needs to happen to improve student achievement in our nation’s schools and how education is an important component in turning around the national economy. He emphasized the one-time resources provided by Congress to support P-16 education (over $100 billion through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act), and how those resources will be used to “stave off an education catastrophe” and also push forward a reform agenda for education. Secretary Duncan identified the following areas where additional resources for education can be effectively used:
The key issues that policy makers and educators must resolve are developing a comprehensive longitudinal data system to track student progress preK-16, raising expectations so that students are prepared for higher education, recruiting talented and bright individuals into the teaching profession, and developing strategies to turn around under performing schools.
One of the listeners in Ohio asked Secretary Duncan to comment on his support for charter schools, which, according to the listener, “have a rather poor record of achievement in northeastern Ohio compared to most of the public schools in terms of standardized testing.” Secretary Duncan replied that he is very familiar with the situation in Ohio, and although a fan of charter schools, certain things must happen in a state to ensure charter schools are successful, and “some of these things haven’t happened there in Ohio, and I think that is part of the challenge.” He identified the components that must be in place for successful charter schools, and concludes, “And so when those three things happen: a high bar to entry, real autonomy coupled with real accountability, then you have success, and some of those conditions haven’t been met in Ohio and other places.”
An e-mail from a listener also asked about what was being done to address the loss of art and music classes in schools. Secretary Duncan responded, “That is a great question, and part of what I worry about. We were going to try to build on what worked with No Child Left Behind, and try to fix what didn’t work. One of the things I am really struggling with, Neal, is I fear that the huge emphasis on testing particularly in math and reading and English, really led to a narrowing of the curriculum. So whether it’s art, or dance, or drama, or music, or sports, these things that aren’t tested I think many districts and many schools walked away from them. And this narrowing of the curriculum I think really hurts children…I think we have to bring these things back, and give our children these opportunities. The reason to do it is for their own benefit in and of themselves, but there are all kinds of data that talk about the link between music and math, and so if you want to really drive up math scores, you know, expose students to music. And so I think as we go forward we really want to find ways to broaden the curriculum to give every child a chance to find their passion, to find their interest, and get away from what I see is a real narrowing of opportunities, way too much so over the past few years.”
Full interview: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105166207&ft=1&f=1021
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