SpeakEasy

[Guest]

Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 05:50:48 -0500
Subject: Education Update

To: LWVO
From: Joan Platz
Education Update for December 11, 2006

1) 126th Ohio General Assembly: The Ohio House and Senate are
scheduled to hold sessions this week on December 12-14, 2006.

*Votes are scheduled in the Ohio House this week on the following
education related bills:

Sub. HB 403 (Fessler) Changes to the occupational therapy, physical
therapy, and athletic trainers licensing laws
HB187 (Buehrer) Civil Service Review Commission recommendations
HB671 (Webster) Employment of school district treasurers
Sub. HB 71 (Stewart) Military service retirement credit
Sub. HB 250 (Trakas) School taxing districts
Sub. HB 431 (Peterson) Special Education Scholarship Pilot Program
Sub. HB 438 (Wolpert) Cost-of-doing-business study council
Sub. HB 506 (Blessing) Health savings accounts available to public employees
Am. HB 583 (Peterson) Addresses mercury in schools

The House is also expected to vote on the capital budget, HB 699
(Calvert), which was introduced last week and is pending in the House
Finance Committee.

*The agenda for the Ohio Senate Rules Committee includes the
following education related bills:
Sub. SB 159 (Mumper) Conduct and ethics rules for volunteer coaches
Am. SB 323 (Spada); Addresses mercury in schools
SCR 29 (Schuler) Designates the week of May 14, 2006, as "Co-op
Education Week" in Ohio

*The Senate Republican Caucus has selected State Representative Keith
Faber (77th House District) to replace State Senator Jim Jordan (12th
Senate District). Senator Jordan was elected to Congress in November
2006. The House Republican Caucus must now select a replacement for
Representative Faber.

2) State Board of Education Appointments Announced: The Board of
Education is composed of eleven elected members and eight members
appointed by the governor. On December 31, 2006 four seats on the
Board will become vacant. Governor Taft announced on December 6,
2006 that he is re-appointing three members of the State Board of
Education to terms of four years. Returning to the State Board of
Education are Stephen Millett from Columbus, Carl Wick from
Centerville, and Jennifer Sheets from Pomeroy. Governor Taft has one
more member to appoint for a four year term beginning January 1, 2007.

3) Committee Hearings Scheduled the Week of December 11-15, 2006:

*The House Finance and Appropriations Committee chaired by
Representative Calvert will meet on December 11, 2006 at 1:00 PM and
on December 12, 2006 at 1:30 PM (if needed). Committee members will
hear testimony on HB695 (Calvert) -establish a Science, Technology,
Engineering, Mathematics School System, and HB 699 (Calvert) -
Capital Budget for FY07-08. A vote is possible on both bills.

*The Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee chaired by
Senator Carey will meet on December 12, 2006 and December 13, 2006 at
2:30 PM or after session, and on December 14, 2006 at 9:30 AM (if
needed) in the Senate Finance Hearing Room. The committee will hear
testimony on HB 699 (Calvert) - the Capital Budget for FY07-08,
pending referral from the Ohio House.

*The House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Setzer,
will meet on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 and Wednesday, December 13,
2006 (if needed) at 3:30 PM in room 116. The committee will hear
proponent and opponent testimony on Sub. SB 311 (Gardner) Ohio Core
Curriculum. A vote is possible.

*The Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Padgett, will
meet on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 at 4:00 PM in the North Hearing
Room. The Committee will hear testimony on HB276 (Stewart) - School
bullying policies.

4) State Board of Education to Meet: The State Board of Education,
Sue Westendorf president, will meet on December 11 & 12, 2006 at the
Ohio School for the Deaf, 500 Morse Road, Columbus, OH. The
Territory Transfer subcommittee met on December 10, 2006 at the
Embassy Suites in Columbus.

On Monday, December 11, 2006 the Quality Middle and High Schools
Subcommittee, chaired by Carl Wick and Deborah Owens-Fink, will meet
at 8:30 AM in the Conference Center.

The Executive Committee, chaired by Sue Westendorf, will meet at
10:00 AM to hear updates from subcommittees, review the revisions to
the Board policies and procedures manual, and discuss legislative
recommendations regarding data accuracy and recommendations regarding
Average Daily Membership.

The Achievement Committee, chaired by Jim Craig and Mike Cochran, and
the Capacity Committee, chaired by Carl Wick and Jennifer Sheets,
will meet at 10:30 AM.

The Achievement Committee will discuss resolutions regarding the
value added rules, an Algebra II Request for Proposals, and the rules
for the Honors Diploma.

The Capacity Committee will discuss recommendations regarding
speech-language pathology assistants, the deadline for Educational
Service Center contracts, the Educational Service Center funding
proposal, performance based licensure rules, teacher education
programs, preschool education, and special education payments.

The full Board will convene in the Conference Center at 11:30 AM to
recognize the following Blue Ribbon Schools: Barrington Elementary
School; Dorothy E. Lewis Elementary School; Emerson World Languages
and Cultures Elementary Magnet School; Evening Street Elementary
School; Ft. Recovery High School; Hilltop Elementary School; Leipsic
Elementary School, Longfellow Magnet School Program, Old Trail
School, Roosevelt Elementary School, St. Mary's School, St. Rita's
School, Struthers High School, and Trenton Avenue Elementary School.

Following lunch at 1:00 PM the Board will review the State Board of
Education procedures manual; discuss a legislative recommendation
regarding ADM, discuss how financial literacy is expressed in Ohio's
academic content standards; and hear an update on federal and state
legislation.

The Board will hear updates from members and committee reports, and
review the consent agenda for the business meeting on December 12,
2006 staring at 2:45 PM. At 4:00 PM the Board will hold a Chapter
119 hearing on a resolution to rescind Rule 3301-02-04, notice of
personal information systems. The Board will then adjourn for the
evening.

The State Board will also meet on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 at 8:30
AM to hear an update from the School Funding Subcommittee and the
Achieve Policy Study Group.

The Board's business meeting will be called to order at 1:00 PM and
the Board will immediately convene into executive session. After
reconvening its public meeting, the Board will hear a report from the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Susan Tave Zelman; hear
public participation on agenda Items; and consider action on 18
resolutions, including 13 personnel items, 1 territory transfer, and
the following resolutions:

#3. Approve a resolution to adopt the Local Report Card Indicators
for the 2007-20008 school year and beyond.

#4. Approve a motion to adopt the revised State Board's policy manual.

#5. Approve a motion regarding a legislative proposal on data
accuracy, to be submitted to the House and Senate Education
committee, president and minority leader of the Senate, and the
Speaker of the House and the minority leader of the Ohio House of
Representatives.

Several resolutions honoring State Board members who will be leaving
the Board will also be presented.

The Board will then consider old business, new business,
miscellaneous business, and hear public participation on non-agenda
items. The Board will then adjourn.

For more information about the meetings of the State Board of
Education, please visit http://www.ode.state.oh.us and follow the links to
the State Board of Education.

5) Ohio House and Senate Approve Education Related Bills: The Ohio
House approved last week SB5 (Hottinger) - employer health care plans
and SB164 (Schuring) - permit students to carry epinephrine to school.

The Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Padgett, accepted
several amendments to Sub. SB 311 (Gardner) Ohio Core Curriculum,
before reporting the bill favorably out of committee on December 5,
2006. The Ohio Senate on December 6, 2006 approved, by a vote of
20-11, Sub. SB311 (Gardner), with Senator Carey voting with minority
members against the bill. The following are the highlights of Sub.
SB 311, as passed by the Ohio Senate:

*NEW - Adds two teachers (one public and one chartered non-public),
appointed by the governor, to the Partnership for Continued Learning.

*NEW - Adds the chairs and ranking minority members of the House and
Senate Education Committees to officials who receive certain reports.

*CHANGE IN DATE - Changes from March 31, 2007 to May 31, 2007 the
date for which the Partnership for Continued Learning is required to
make legislative recommendations regarding the Post Secondary
Enrollment Options Program.

*CHANGE - Sec. 3301.42 (M) Specifies that the Partnership of
Continued Learning consider in the development of criteria for
universities to use to waive the Ohio Core in their admission
standards, students who have served in the military service or have
moved to Ohio from another state, and have not completed the Ohio
Core.

*CHANGE IN DATE - Requires the ODE and OBR to propose by April 30,
2009 a standard method and form for documenting on high school
transcripts each student's knowledge, learning, and high school
credits earned.

*CHANGE - Requires that the ODE consult with the Partnership for
Continued Learning and the Ohio Board of Regents to develop measures
of student preparedness for higher education and the workforce to
include on district and building report cards, and report those
measures by June 30, 2012.

*NEW - Specifies that the three units of science required for
graduation are "inquiry-based laboratory experience that engages
students in asking valid scientific questions and gathering and
analyzing information", and include the following:
Physical sciences, one unit;
Biology, one unit;
Advanced study in one or more of the following sciences, one unit:
Chemistry, physics, or other physical science; advanced biology or
other life science; astronomy, physical geology, or other earth or
space science.

*CHANGE - Clarifies that the required study of economics and
financial literacy could be acquired in a social studies class or
another class.

*CHANGE - Adds to the list of five elective units (foreign language,
fine arts, business, or technology, and career-technical education)
family and consumer science, or any other English, science, math,
social studies course.

*NEW - Sec. 3313.603 (K) Requires two semesters or the equivalent of
fine arts for graduation for students (in public or nonpublic
chartered school) who enter ninth grade for the first time on or
after July 1, 2008, and are not graduating under the opt-out
provision or a dropout recovery program. "The coursework may be
completed in any of grades seven to twelve. Each student who
completes a fine arts course in grade seven or eight may elect to
count that course toward the five units of electives required for
graduation under division (C) (7) of this section, if the course
satisfies the requirements of division (G) of this section and is a
high school course. In that case, the high school shall award the
student high school credit for the course and count the course toward
the five units required under division (C) (7) of this section. If
the course in grade seven or eight did not satisfy the requirements
of division (G) of this section, the high school shall not award the
student high school credit for the course, but shall count the course
toward the two semesters or the equivalent of fine arts required by
this division."

*NEW - Requires the General Assembly to "...appropriate funds for
strategic initiatives designed to strengthen schools' capacities to
hire and retain highly qualified teachers in the subject areas
required by the curriculum."

*CHANGE - Requires the State Board of Education, the OBR, and the
Partnership for Continued Learning to develop policies to "...ensure
that only in rare instances will students who complete the Ohio Core
curriculum require academic remediation after high school."

*Change - Requires school districts, community schools, and chartered
nonpublic schools to integrate technology into learning experiences,
and allows the use of distance and web-based course delivery of
instruction.

*Change - Requires the Partnership for Continued Learning in
collaboration with the ODE and OBR, to analyze student performance
data to determine whether or not the Ohio Core opt out provision
should be extended.

*CHANGE OF DATE - Requires the State Board of Education, in
consultation with the Board of Regents and the Partnership for
Continued Learning, to adopt a statewide plan for students to earn
units of high school credit based on a demonstration of subject area
competency. The plan must be developed by March 31, 2009, and
phase-in of the plan shall begin in the 2009-2010 school year.

*Change - Requires the Teacher Quality Partnership to submit an
annual data report starting September 1, 2008 on teacher
effectiveness to the Educator Standards Board.

*CHANGE - Requires by April 2008 the articulation and transfer
advisory council of the OBR to recommend standards for awarding
course credit toward degree requirements at state institutions of
higher education based on scores obtained on advance placement exams.

*CHANGE - Clarifies the difference between "admitted" and "accepted"
to a university.

*CHANGE IN DATE - Section 3 - Implements the Foreign Language
Advisory Council's plan no later than the 2014-15 school year.

*CHANGE - Section 6 - Clarifies that chartered nonpublic schools and
teachers are eligible for Ohio Core funding, and nonpublic school
students can participate in programs to encourage students to become
science, math, or foreign language teachers.

The following amendments were offered by Democrats in the Senate
Education Committee, but were tabled:

*Create an exception for college admission for students who have had
military service.
*Add the foreign language graduation requirement to the Ohio Core
more quickly. (Withdrawn)
*Require an independent cost analysis of implementing the Core.
*Grant individual student "drop-out recovery" exemptions rather than
create exceptions to the Ohio Core for entire programs.
*Delete the study on educator licensure assessment results to assess
teacher quality.
*Delay implementation of Core from 2001-2012 to 2015-2016.
*Include the teaching of the diversity and the history of the African
slave trade in the curriculum.
*Appropriate $10 million for remediation.
*Provide a tax credit for attracting qualified faculty.

6) Capital Budget Introduced: The House Finance Committee chaired
by Representative Calvert heard sponsor testimony this past week on
HB689 (Trakas) - high quality higher education in North East Ohio;
HB695 (Calvert) - Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)
school system; and Am. HB 699 (Calvert) - Capital Budget.

*HB689 (Trakas) - high quality higher education in North East Ohio,
establishes a study commission to support collaboration among the
University of Akron; Cleveland State University; Northeastern Ohio
Universities College of Medicine; Youngstown State University; and
Kent State University.

*Am. HB695 (Calvert) establishes the Science, Technology,
Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) education authority, which is made up
of nine members appointed by the governor and ex-officio members
including the superintendent of public instruction, the chancellor of
the Ohio board of regents, and the director of development, or their
designees. The STEM education authority will oversee a new system of
public schools called the STEM school system, the purpose of which is
to encourage students to pursue studies and careers in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics, and improve instruction in
those areas. The bill was amended to include an appropriation of
$600,000 for start-up costs.

HB 695 also sets up a college of education for STEM teachers outside
the Ohio Board of Regents. The STEM education authority is directed
to establish 4 or 5 world class STEM secondary schools in 2007-2008,
including one residential academy, and create a 501(c)(3) foundation
to receive corporate and foundation funds for operation. The
Department of Education would distribute funding to STEM schools
based on the greater of (A) the 2005 formula amount times the 2005
cost of doing business factor of the student's resident district or
(B) the sum of the current formula amount times the current cost of
doing business factor plus the per pupil amount of the base funding
supplements. STEM schools would also receive additional funding for
students who qualify for special needs, limited English speakers,
vocational programs, poverty based assistance, etc.

*HB699 (Calvert) - The Capital Budget contains $1,780,904,216 in
appropriations for capital projects and improvements for FY07-08, and
technical, corrective, and other adjustments in law. The total
appropriation is 16.6 percent greater than FY05-06 appropriations.
The budget includes $1.6 billion in appropriations backed by debt
issued by the state for the capital projects of state agencies,
departments, and 117 local projects, and $211.3 million in
appropriations from current cash revenue. Approximately $1 billion
in re-appropriations for capital projects was already approved by the
Ohio General Assembly in March 2006 through HB530. The following are
appropriations included in HB 699 that are related to education:

-$698.6 million for Governor Taft's Rebuild Ohio Plan, which provides
state funds to support the construction and renovation of Ohio's
primary and secondary schools. According to testimony by Tim Keen,
Director of the Office of Budget and Management, $5.6 billion in
state funds have been committed to Ohio's schools during the Taft
administration. More than 700 facilities in more than 300 districts
have benefited from this plan.
-$526.6 million for Ohio's higher education institutions building
projects. This is an increase of $88.2 million over FY05-06.
-$50 million for the Third Frontier initiative. This amount is in
addition to the $50 million included in HB 530, and will support
research and commercialization collaborations. These funds are not
part of the Third Frontier Research and Development bonds approved in
State Issue One in November 2005.
-$4 million under the Ohio School Facilities Commission to support
planning and design costs for a new joint use school facility for the
Ohio State School for the Blind and the Ohio School for the Deaf.

The bill also includes the following corrections and changes in current law:

-Codifies and makes permanent the Autism Scholarship Program and
increases the number of students eligible for the scholarship by
including preschool children. There were in 2005 approximately 3.1
percent of special education students in grades K-12 identified as
autistic, and potentially 700 preschool children could be identified
as autistic, based on a statistical analysis. Approximately 6
percent of eligible children with autism accepted a scholarship in
FY06, and an estimated 42 scholarships may be awarded to preschool
children if this law is approved.

-Clarifies the formula used to determine eligibility for certain
districts to continue to receive reimbursements for losses in tax
revenue due to the reduced assessment rates on tangible personal
property of electric and gas utilities, as a result of utility
deregulation, and not made up by the state education aid offset.

-Prohibits the School Facilities Commission from approving agreements
or labor contracts for state-assisted school facilities projects that
require the payment of the prevailing wage. School facilities
projects have been exempted from the prevailing wage requirements
since 1997. However, there is no prohibition if the lowest
responsive and responsible bidder of a contract chooses to pay the
prevailing wage.

-Expands the definition of "caucus" for purposes of the Open Meetings
Law to include meetings of committee members of the Ohio House of
Representatives of the same party. Currently caucus meetings of
members of the same political party are not subject to Open Meetings
Law, and this extends that provision to meetings of committee members
of the same party.

7) Charter School Bills will Honor Tom Mooney: The Coalition for
Public Education (CPE) held a news conference on Tuesday, December 5,
2006 at the Statehouse announcing that it was terminating its legal
challenge of Ohio's charter schools, and would pursue legislative and
regulatory solutions through SB 129 (Schuring) and HB 213 (Oelslager)
to make charter schools more accountable to the public. The press
conference was held two days after the tragic death of Tom Mooney,
President of the Ohio Federation of Teachers and Chairman of the
Coalition for Public Education. Mark Hatch from the Ohio Association
of Public School Employees spoke at the new conference on behalf of
all CPE members, who were stunned and saddened by the loss. Mark
expressed the CPE's admiration for Tom Mooney, who dedicated his life
to public education and the students in Ohio's public schools. Both
Senator Schuring and Representative Oelslager agreed to honor the
memory of Tom Mooney and his tireless efforts to improve education in
Ohio by working to pass these substitute bills in this General
Assembly or the next.

Substitute versions of SB 129 and HB 213 have been prepared, but have
not been accepted in the House or Senate education committees. The
CPE supports the substitute bills, which include the following
provisions:

-Limit the number of new operator-run community schools
-Prohibit for-profit companies from operating additional schools
-Extend the current statewide cap on charter schools for two years
-Create a Joint Study Committee to examine charter schools issues and
issue a report within two years;
-Require that each student who is required to take a test but does
not do so be considered as having failed the test for purposes of
calculating the school's performance ratings
-Require charter schools to be non-profit organizations
-Limit the term of the charter contract to not more than five years
-Require automatic withdrawal of a student who misses 30 consecutive
hours (down from the current 105 consecutive hours)
-Require charter school board members to be residents of the county
in which the school is located
-Require charter school teachers in core subject areas to be licensed
for that subject and "highly qualified" as defined by the federal No
Child Left Behind law, just as public school teachers much be

The Coalition for Public Education includes the Ohio PTA, the League
of Women Voters of Ohio, the Ohio Association of School Business
Officials, the Ohio School Boards Association, the Ohio Coalition for
Equity and Adequacy of School Funding, the Buckeye Association of
School Administrators, the Ohio Association of Public School
Employees, the Cleveland Teachers Union, the Akron Education
Association, the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, the Columbus
Educations Association, the Ohio AFL-CIO, the Ohio Federation of
Teachers, the Toledo Federation of Teachers, the Ohio Education
Association, and the Ohio Retired Teachers Association.

8) Committee Approves Bills about Treasurer Contracts and Special
Education Vouchers: The House Education Committee, chaired by
Representative Setzer, reported out favorably two bills last week;
Am. HB671 (Webster) - which revises laws regarding the employment of
school district treasurers, and Sub. HB 431 (Peterson) - which grants
special education scholarships to eligible students.

The Committee accepted a substitute bill for HB431 - Special
Education Scholarship. The substitute bill establishes the Special
Education Scholarship Program as a pilot program limited to three
percent of qualifying special education students in Ohio, and expands
eligibility to participate in the program to preschool students. The
substitute bill also directs the voucher payment to the school rather
than the parent. Currently there are 270,000 students in Ohio
identified with special needs, so approximately 8100 students could
be eligible for the pilot program.

Representative Peterson, who explained the substitute bill, responded
to committee members' questions about the amount of the scholarships;
the added costs to school districts to re-evaluate student IEPs; how
parents will lose their "due process" rights by participating in this
program; and how the program would be evaluated. According to
Representative Peterson, due process is needed to protect the parent
against the school district, and "...satisfaction with school choice
is the evaluation."

Both proponent and opponent testimony were presented to the
committee. Speaking in support of the bill were several parents of
students with special needs who support having more educational
options supported by public funds for their students. Some of the
parents who testified serve on Governor Taft's Autism Task Force,
which has reported that school districts are not meeting the needs of
students in special education.

Opponent testimony was presented by Michelle Francis from the Ohio
School Boards Association and Melissa Clark from the Ohio Education
Association, representing a coalition of organizations, including
Ohio School Boards Association, the Ohio Federation of Teachers, the
Ohio Association of School Business Officials, the Ohio Parent
Teacher Association, the Buckeye Association of School
Administrators, the League of Women Voters of Ohio, the Ohio
Education Association, and the Ohio School Psychologists Association.

According to the testimony, the Ohio Department of Education, Office
of Exceptional Children, keeps records of disputes regarding student
Individual Education Plans (IEP) initiated by parents against school
districts. In 2004-2005 the successful mediation rate for these
disputes was 77 percent, and in 2005-2006 the ODE reported a
successful mediation rate of 83.4 percent for these disputes. The
overwhelming need for this program is not evident from the statistics
provided by the Ohio Department of Education. Parents and students
in Ohio are working together to resolve disputes to provide
satisfactory educational experiences for students with special needs.

Parents will also lose their rights under the Federal Individuals
with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) if they choose to
participate in this program. The bill does not require teachers in
the private programs to meet the No Child Left Behind Act highly
qualified teacher standards; does not require the pilot program to be
evaluated; does not require the students to participate in the No
Child Left Behind Act assessments; and undermines current services
and programs to children with disabilities remaining in the district,
because the program will divert funding that is already limited to
private providers, that are not accountable to the public.

9) Update on the Ohio Core Curriculum, Sub. HB 565: As the Senate
was approving Sub. SB 311 (Gardner) Ohio Core Curriculum, testimony
on the House version of the bill, Sub. HB 565, was being presented in
the Ohio House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Setzer.
Testimony had been extended to Wednesday, December 6, 2006, to
accommodate many witnesses who were unable to testify at the regular
Tuesday evening House Education Committee.

Among the supporters of Sub. HB 565 were John Boggess of the Ohio
Association of Joint Vocational Schools and Superintendent of the
Miami Valley Career Technology Center, President Charlotte Hatfield
of Washington State Community College, President Thomas Chema of
Hiram College, Trisha Renner of College Board; Michael Cline of
Perrysburg Schools, and Canton Local School District Counselor
Barbara Tscholl and four students.

Proponents agreed that the rigorous curriculum required in the Ohio
Core would help students prepare for higher education and a more
globally competitive job market. Trisha Renner spoke on behalf of
the College Board and advocated for advanced placement courses as a
dual enrollment option that would "....create a college-going culture
within schools."

Some proponents of the bill, including Superintendent Michael Cline
of Perrysburg Schools, noted that the Ohio Core would require
additional costs to school districts, but asked the committee to
approve HB 565, because it was the right thing to do for students.

Among those opposing the bill were Darold Johnson, Ohio Federation of
Teachers, Daniel Kaffenbarger from the Triad Local School District,
Matt Dotson of the Ohio Education Association, Barbara Shaner of the
Ohio Association of School Business Officials, Fred Pausch of the
Ohio School Boards Association, Randy Smith from the Forest Hills
Local Board of Education, and Paige Fleming, a math teacher from the
Marietta City Schools. Representative Garrison also presented
testimony that was provided by Superintendent Robert Greenwood from
the East Guernsey Local School District.

Opponents testified that Sub. HB 565 included unfunded mandates,
including the cost for hiring additional teachers and the cost for
providing adequate facilities for the additional science lab courses
required in the Ohio Core. Some opponents questioned the timing of
the bill also, and asked that the bill be delayed until the cost of
the Ohio Core could be determined. The Ohio Core could be included
in the next budget bill, which will be introduced in March 2007, and
would not delay the implementation of the Ohio Core curriculum.
Opponents also suggested that the rigorous standards may also hurt
some students who are already struggling with their course work, and
may drop out of school.

Mary Campbell-Zopf, Deputy Director and Arts Learning Director of the
Ohio Arts Council, and Tom Ash, Director of Governmental Relations
for the Buckeye Association of School Administrators, presented
testimony as "interested parties".

Deputy Director Campbell-Zopf spoke about the importance of having a
fine arts credit as part of Ohio's graduation requirements, and
requested that Sub. HB 565 be amended to include a one credit
graduation requirement in the arts. According to her testimony,
"Arts education develops the precise set of skills that equips
students to compete for the most sought-after and highest-paying jobs
of the emerging global economy. These skills are a combination of
problem-solving, individual responsibility, teamwork, confidence, and
creative thinking."

Tom Ash presented the results of a survey of school superintendents
conducted by the Buckeye Association of School Administrators in June
2006 regarding the estimated costs to implement the Ohio Core. 3667
senior class schedules (2.83 percent of all seniors statewide) from
18 schools districts were examined. According to the survey, 45.56
percent of the senior schedules surveyed showed that students had not
completed a fourth year of math, which is required in the Ohio Core.
Approximately $29.6 million in additional funds may be needed to
implement the fourth year math requirement statewide.

10) What is the Public's Role in a Democracy? The Kettering
Foundation released a report on November 13, 2006 called "Public
Thinking about Democracy's Challenge: Reclaiming the Public's Role",
which focuses on the opportunities and challenges for citizens in a
democracy today. These opportunities and challenges were raised by
citizens participating in forums held throughout the nation.
According to the report, many Americans feel like consumers in a
democracy rather than participants, or feel connected to their
community but not to the nation. The widespread feelings of
alienation, mistrust, and cynicism may be overcome, however, by
dialogue about the critical national issues facing our nation, and
their effect on our democratic principles. The report is available at
http://www.kettering.org/readingroom/focus_detail.aspx?catID=2&itemID=2469

11) Bills introduced the week of December 4 - 8, 2006:

-HB700 (Blasdel) School Employment Retirement. Requires school
boards to establish alternative retirement plans for teachers and
school employees.

-HB701 (Strahorn) School Funding. Modifies the method of adjusting
the per-pupil formula amount for school districts from year to year.

-SJR10 (Spada) Term Limits. Increases term limits for members of the
General Assembly elected in 2008, and for certain members elected
before 2008.

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