Calendar

July 17: HOUSE FINANCE AND APPROPRIATIONS

Thursday - 9:30 a.m., Room 313

HJR16 School funding.

HJR17 Establish that lawmakers, not judges, have exclusive responsibility to determine what constitutes a thorough and efficient system of common schools.

The House Finance and Appropriations Committee will hold its final hearing on school funding on Thursday, July 17. - 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., Room 313. Call to verify the time and place. The committee is working on changing the way schools in Ohio are funded. It is anticipated that a new version of Senate Joint Resolution 3 (tax increase) will be released next Tuesday (22^nd). Further hearings on Senate Joint Resolution 4 have been suspended. However, The Ohio Roundtable and the Ohio Freedom Forum have pledged to actively oppose SJR 3 unless lawmakers put SHR 4 (the question of whether judges or lawmakers should have responsibility for determining what constitutes a through and efficient education) on the ballot in December.

SUMMARY: It is recommended that you read the previous summaries since some explanatory information is not being repeated here.

This afternoon (Wednesday), I attended the House Education Committee hearing on Sub. S.B 55. It's late so this will be a quick summary. Rep. Bender stated that he is under the impression that proficiency tests must be kept secret because the tests don't belong to the state of Ohio. When I heard that my initial thought was: What do you mean they don't belong to the state, taxpayers paid for them!

Greg Browning, Director of the Office of Budget and Management spoke regarding the Governor's desire for "accountability and academic reforms." He further stated that the Governor is in favor of increasing the number of Carnegie units required for graduation and that the ninth grade test should be replaced with a phased-in 10^th grade test. I found it noteworthy that Mr. Browning stated that the State Board of Education was supporting the notion of a 10^th grade test since the board has never taken on vote on 10^th grade testing. This is an interesting discussion as Dr. Sanders, former State Superintendent clearly stated, in writing, that if we expect students to show an increase in the number of questions that they answer correctly (in order to have higher scores), then the questions will need to be made less difficult.

Reportedly, the Governor supports increased data collection, meaning Report Cards for school districts, suggesting that overtime, these reports would inform the public regarding the performance of local schools. It is my considered opinion, that if this one item was enacted, the remainder of the wish list would be totally unnecessary. Browning related the Governor's desire for a new entity, The Office of Education Accountability. And what would this entity do? Provide factual information. Browning said, "We do not have information systems that reveal what is going on in the school districts," he said. "It will continue to be very difficult to determine the type of progress being made at the school district level" unless this new office is created. Reportedly, the proposed entity will establish performance based budgeting for school districts.

He also suggested that the department has a "constituency" that the Office of Budget and Management does not have. Actually, the department has no constituency; although eleven State Board members do. This discussion isn't about constituencies, it shifting oversight of "accountability" from the State Board of Education to an agency over which they have no control. Lobbyist for the Ohio Department of Education did not testify against the proposal. Rep. Sulzer asked how much the new office would cost. Browning did not have a figure. No on would go to their banker for money for a construction loan on a new office without expecting to tell the banker how much money the project was going to cost.

Browning also recommended amending Senate Bill 140 (enacted in 1989) to revise the excellent/deficient designations to include "management audits" for school districts with a system of "progressive intervention." The notion of each district maintaining its own Rainy Day Fund was offered, but no mention was made of how such a savings account might discourage voters from taxing themselves. Rep. Sulzer asked Browning if he thought all districts were capable of establishing and maintaining a rainy day account and what percentage should be set aside for that purpose. Browning suggested 5% of a district's budget but acknowledged that a more achievable goal might be 1%.

Senator Watts was in the House Education Committee meeting during most of the session. As he left, reporters surrounded him. One reporter asked him: "The Ohio Education Association has four million dollars to disperse as campaign contributions. Do you have to clear the ballot issues with the OEA? Watts replied, "Consensus will be critical." When asked if the Republicans and Democrats have been working closely on the proposals, he said, "The Democrats have chosen not to be disruptive in this process." Regarding the Office of Education Accountability, Watts said that it will be folded into Sub. HB 412. Reporters asked Watts if he was going to introduce a number of amendments or an omnibus bill. Watts didn't respond directly to the question. When asked if he was preparing amendments for both 55 and 412 again he did not respond directly. [55 is the vehicle for academic reforms and 412 is the vehicle for "accountability." Together, they supposedly support the need for a $1 billion dollar sales tax increase.]

After the hearing, Rep. Gardner told reporters that each member of the committee can propose amendments. Regarding whether the "standards" would be included, he indicated that "not very much of them" would be. Gardner said his goal is to accept amendments or a "substitute bill" on Tuesday of next week, and to call for the vote on Wednesday.

Obviously, if the amendments do not become readily available until Tuesday afternoon, citizens will be hard-pressed to know precisely what is being voted on. In addition, under the leadership of Interim Chair Gardner, the House Education hearing are being held in the afternoon. In the past they have been held at 7:00 p.m., a time most conducive to attendance by the public. In addition, the accountability, academic reforms and constitutional amendments have been assigned to numerous committees, some of which meet at the same time. Accordingly, even those acutely interested in these matters are hard pressed to attend the various hearings that are taking place in the House and Senate. Thus, as I see it, the amendments are being held close and the hearings are being held when most people are working. So much for public input.