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From:  Joan Platz
Education Update for May 7, 2007

1)  127th General Assembly:  The Ohio House and Senate will meet in
session and hold committee hearings this week.

*Last week the Ohio House approved the biennial budget bill, Am. Sub.
HB 119 (Dolan), by a vote of 97 to 0.  There were no amendments to
the bill, and debate, or rather testimonials in support of the bill,
lasted 90 minutes or so.   The proposed $52 billion budget for FY08
and FY09 (General Revenue Fund monies) is already being debated in
the Ohio Senate's Finance and Financial Institutions Committee,
chaired by Senator Carey.  The committee is currently hearing invited
testimony from state agencies and departments.  The Ohio Department
of Education is scheduled to present testimony on May 8, 2007, and
the Ohio Arts Council on May 11, 2007.  The committee will hear
public testimony on Am. Sub. HB 119 later this month.

*The Ohio House selected Ron Gerberry to replace Representative Ken
Carano, who recently resigned from the 59th Ohio House District seat
to accept the position of Regional Director for the Office of the
Governor for Mahoning Valley.  Representative Gerberry is a former
State Representative who served in the Ohio General Assembly from
1982 to 2000, and chaired the House Education Committee.

*The Senate approved Sub. HB2 (Webster), appointment of the
chancellor of the board of regents, on May 2, 2007 with some changes.
The House must now agree with the Senate changes before the bill
becomes law.  The Senate version of HB 2 does the following:
-Allows the governor to appoint the chancellor of the board of
regents for a term of five years with the approval of the Senate.
The Senate must approve the chancellor before the chancellor can take
office.  The chancellor can be reappointed by the governor.   The
governor can remove the chancellor from office for demonstrated
incompetence, malfeasance, and misfeasance.
-Makes the board of regents an advisory board to the chancellor.
-Transfers the current powers and duties of the board of regents to
the chancellor.
-Assigns the following new duties to the chancellor: (1) adopt rules
prescribing procedures for the chancellor to follow when taking
actions associated with the chancellor's duties and responsibilities,
(2) adopt rules prescribing the advisory duties of the board of
regents, (3) request the board to hold a public hearing on whether to
recommend the elimination of a graduate program at a public
institution of higher education prior to the chancellor issuing a
final recommendation, and (4) respond to requests for information
about higher education from the General Assembly.
-Shortens the terms of members of the board of regents from nine to six years.
-Requires the board of regents to submit an annual report to the
Governor and the General Assembly on the condition of higher
education in Ohio and the performance of the chancellor.
-Requires the chancellor by September 28, 2007 to report to the
General Assembly how to make college more affordable and increase
access to higher education; keep students in Ohio after graduation;
how higher education can be used to grow the economy; and how to use
the talents of the Ohio Board of Regents.
-Requires the board of regents to meet quarterly, report annually on
the state of higher education and on the chancellor, and conduct
hearings on appropriate topics.
-Declares an emergency.

  2)  More details on Am. Sub. HB 119 (Dolan):  The Ohio House
approved Am. Sub. HB 119 (Dolan) on May 1, 2007 with no debate or
amendments.  Am. Sub. HB 119 allocates a total of $52 billion for
FY08-09 in General Revenue Funds ($25.3 billion in FY08 and $26.7
billion in FY09), which is $785 million less than the proposed
Executive Budget request submitted by Governor Strickland in March
2007.  The total budget, including all funds and federal funds, is
$52.5 billion in FY08 and $54.5 billion in FY09.

The General Revenue Fund Budget for K-12 education is $7.735 billion
in FY08 and $8.07 billion in FY09.  The total budget for education,
including all funds and federal funds, is $10.9 billion in FY08 and
$11.5 billion in FY09, which is slightly higher than the Executive
Budget request.

Am. Sub. HB 119 makes many changes in Governor Strickland's budget
request as introduced.  The House version of the biennial budget
reduces spending in several departments and agencies, including the
Department of Development in FY09 and the Department of Mental
Health, makes changes regarding Medicaid eligibility, and restores
certain work requirements for TANF recipients.  HB 119 also
eliminates the moratorium on opening new charter schools; restores
the Educational Choice Scholarship Program; creates a new voucher
program for students in special education programs; restores funding
for abstinence-only education; adds $22 million in FY08 and $149
million in FY09 for higher education; adds funds to support early
childhood education, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
schools; and $500,000 each year for Ohio Arts Council, to name a few
examples.  (There are several individual organizations and programs
that also receive support through the budget, and these will be noted
in a future Education Update.)

Am. Sub. HB 119 also retains many provisions from the Executive
Budget request.  The substitute bill retains the major components of
the school funding formula for primary and secondary education;
funding for early childhood education; changes in the property tax
exemption for the elderly and disabled persons; the provision to
securitize $5 billion in future tobacco settlement funds; the State
Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), and more.  The
following are highlights of Am. Sub. HB 119 (Dolan) as approved by
the Ohio House, including CHANGES and NEW items approved in the House
version.  This summary was prepared from the Legislative Service
Commission's (LSC) Budget Comparison Document, LSC's Budget in
Detail, and the LSC Analysis of Am. Sub. HB 119, which are available
at http://www.lsc.state.oh.us/.

BASICS OF THE CURRENT SCHOOL FUNDING FORMULA
*Total State Aid increases by 2.6 percent in FY08 and 4.0 percent in FY09.
*Increases per pupil funding by 3 percent each year to $5,565 in FY08
and $5,732 in FY09.
*Eliminates the cost of doing business factor.
*Eliminates the second formula ADM count currently the 2nd week in
February.  The district formula ADM is the final number verified by
the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and authorizes the
Superintendent to adjust the ADM to correct errors.
*CHANGE.  Removes the provision that lowered the base cost of
e-schools to $3,295 in FY08 and $3,387 in FY09 to reflect the use of
a new student teacher ratio of 100 to 1 rather than the 20 to one
used for other types of schools.
*Base Cost Formula Amount $3.9 billion in FY 08 and $4.1 billion in FY09.
*Base Funding Supplements $49.42 in FY08 and $50.90 in FY09 per
pupil.  Retains the 75 percent phase-in for base funding supplement
for professional development.
*Special Education
Maintains the weighted per pupil funding for special education in 1-6
categories, $517.5 million in FY08 & $551 million in FY09.  Keeps the
90 percent phase-in for special education weights.  Increases the
threshold amount for catastrophic special education and related
services from $26,500 to $27,375 for categories 2-5 and from $31,800
to $32,850 for category 6.
Changes the term "special education teachers" to "intervention specialists."
*Career Technical Education.  Maintains weighted funding for
career-technical education.
*Gifted Education
Maintains unit funding for gifted  ($47.6 million in FY08 & $48
million in FY09).
*Parity Aid
Maintains the changes for parity aid included in the Executive
Budget.  Parity aid will provide districts an amount that represents
what 8 mills in FY08 and 8.5 mills in FY09 will raise in the 123rd
wealthiest district.  410 low wealth districts will qualify in FY08
and 367 districts in FY09, which will cost $485 million in FY08 and
$521 million in FY09.
*Adds poverty based assistance and parity aid to the base cost and
the calculation of the state share percentage.
*Poverty Based Assistance
Increases state aid to poorer school districts through Poverty Based
Assistance, and provides more flexibility to school districts, but
requires districts to annually report to the ODE how they spend
funds, and requires the ODE to find effective ways to spend funds.
($204 million in FY08 & $225 million in FY09).  Poverty Based
Assistance includes funding for All Day Kindergarten, Increased
Classroom Learning Opportunities (K-3 class size reduction),
Intervention - 3 Tiers, Limited English proficient, Teacher
Professional Development, Dropout Prevention for big eight school
districts, Community Outreach for Urban 21, Closing the Achievement
Gap (new in Executive Budget).  PBA is determined based on a
district's poverty index, which is calculated using the number of
children whose families qualify for Ohio Works First compared to a
state percentage. Keeps the phase-in for limited-English proficient
at 70 percent, but fully funds dropout prevention, professional
development, and community outreach, rather than phasing in the
levels in current law.
*Transportation
Increases by one percent state funding for transportation in FY08-09
and implements a new ODE recommended transportation formula, which
would begin to operate in the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium.  Also
establishes the Biodiesel School Bus Program to award grants to
promote the use of biodiesel fuels.
*Maintains the teacher experience and training adjustment
*Maintains Gap Aid and removes any funds the district receives to
replace tangible personal property tax loss from the Gap Aid
calculation.
*Guarantee
Guarantees that no district will receive less state funds than the
previous year.  Provides increases to 302 school districts in FY08
and 368 school districts in FY09 out of 613 school districts.
Eliminates the guarantees for poverty based assistance, base-cost,
and reappraisal guarantee.
*Maintains funding for Joint Vocational Schools and provides $52
million a year for Educational Service Centers.
*Removes from the calculation gap aid revenue received by a school
district to replace the Tangible Personal Property Tax Replacement
Fund or the phaseout of the tangible personal property tax.
*Lottery Profit
Provides $672.9 million in FY08 and $667.9 million in FY09 from the
Lottery Profit fund.

ACADEMIC DISTRESS
*Changes current law regarding an academic distress commission.  1)
Permits rather than requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
to establish an academic distress commission for a school district
that has been in academic emergency and has not met adequate yearly
progress for four or more consecutive school years; 2) Requires that
the two members of an academic distress commission appointed by the
president of the district board be residents of the district; 3)
Changes procedures and requires each commission to adopt an academic
recovery plan approved by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

ACADEMIC STANDARDS
*Physical Education Standards
CHANGE.  Removes the provision in the Executive Budget that required
the State Board of Education to adopt the most recent standards for
physical education in grades K-12 developed by the National
Association for Sports and Physical Education.
*Biology
NEW.  Changes the biology requirement in the Ohio Core to "life sciences".
*Agriculture Education
NEW.  Requires the ODE to appoint a Director of Agricultural
Education to disseminate information on agricultural education to
school districts, and retain consultants in agricultural education
and provide assistance to school districts, and coordinate Future
Farmers of America.
*Ohio Core
CHANGE.  Makes chartered nonpublic schools eligible for funding as
well as school districts for earmarks up to $3,600,000 in each fiscal
year to be distributed to school districts to be used to obtain
contracted instruction with institutions of higher education in
advance mathematics, laboratory-based science, or foreign language
for public high school students that results in dual high school and
college credit.
CHANGE.  Eliminates an earmark of up to $2,000,000 in FY08 for
National Aeronautics and Space Administration resource centers.
CHANGE.  Reduces earmark to $6,425,000 in FY09 to be distributed to
public school districts for supplemental postsecondary enrollment
options.
NEW.  Provides $10 million each year for the creation of science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) academies throughout
the state through GRF appropriation item 235-437, STEM Initiatives.

ACCOUNTABILITY
*School District and Building Performance Ratings
CHANGE:  R.C. 3302.03 - Limits the highest performance rating a
school district or building may receive based on the percentage of
its students who do not take all required achievement tests according
to the following:   (1) to continuous improvement if 10 percent to 15
percent of the students are not tested, (2) to academic watch if more
than 15 percent but not more than 20 percent of the students are not
tested, and (3) to academic emergency if more than 20 percent of the
students are not tested.
*NEW:  Exempts from R.C. 3302.03 (the provision above) community
schools in which a majority of the students are enrolled in a dropout
prevention and recovery program.
*Replaces the current requirement, withholding payments to community
schools and school districts that fail to report data to EMIS, with a
set of sequential actions for ESC, school districts, and educational
service centers that fail to properly report EMIS data.
*NEW. Requires the ODE to inform school districts which academic
content standards and benchmarks were used to develop questions on
the elementary achievement tests that are redacted, upon the release
of those tests to the public.
*Requires a school district to label equipment or materials that it
purchases or leases with state auxiliary services funds and which are
loaned to a chartered nonpublic school, unless the district
determines that they are consumable or have a value of less than $200.
*Shipping date of elementary achievement tests (R.C. 3301.0711)
Changes the dates to submit the elementary achievement tests to the
scoring company  based on the enrollment of the school district.

COMMUNITY SCHOOLS AND VOUCHER PROGRAMS
*Requires community schools to conduct criminal records checks of
governing authority members.
*Community School Payments
CHANGE. Restores parity aid and poverty-based assistance for dropout
prevention and community outreach to "brick and mortar" community
schools. Under continuing law, e-schools do not receive parity aid or
any poverty-based assistance.
*Community School Enrollment Disputes
NEW.  Prohibits the ODE from withholding payment to a community
school when a district presents a challenge concerning a student's
enrollment until after the district proves that the student should
not be included in the community school's enrollment.
*Community School Moratorium
CHANGE.  Removes the moratorium to open new community schools in the
Executive Budget on "brick and mortar" community schools.  Permits
the opening of conversion charter schools.  The moratorium on
e-schools remains until the General Assembly enacts standards for
e-schools.  New startup community schools may open after June 30,
2007, but only if the governing authority of the school contracts
with an operator that operates other schools in Ohio or other states
that perform at a level higher than academic watch. Operators are
allowed to manage one start-up school after June 30, 2007 for each
school it manages nationwide that performs at a level higher than
academic watch.
*Residential Facility
Prohibits a community school that opened for operation after May 1,
2005, from operating from a residential facility that receives and
cares for children until July 1, 2009.
*Educational Service Centers
CHANGE.  Limits an educational service center to sponsoring community
schools that are located in a county or contiguous county to the ESC,
but grandfathers current ESCs.
*Compliance with State Education Laws and Rules
CHANGE.  Eliminates the provision in the Executive Budget that
required community schools to comply with all state laws and rules
pertaining to other public schools, school districts, and boards of
education, such as providing a curriculum that includes the arts,
foreign languages, family and consumer science, etc.; assigning
qualified staff; minimum standards covering instructional materials,
equipment, and facilities (such as library facilities and school
grounds); requirements for admission and promotion of students;
instructional requirements (such as phonics and energy and resource
conservation); reporting requirements, and other laws and rules from
which community schools are currently exempt.  The cost of operation
for many community schools may have increased if they were held to
the same operating standards as public schools.
*Community School Facilities
CHANGE.  Removes the provision that repealed the process for
community schools to purchase school district property.   Revises
current law to require that a school district offer property suitable
for classroom space for sale to start-up community schools in the
district if the district (a) has not used at least 75 percent of a
building for "academic instruction" for at least 75 percent of a
school year, and (b) has not adopted a plan to use at least 75
percent of it for academic instruction for at least 75 percent of the
next year (rather than a plan to use the whole building within the
next three years as under current law).  This will eliminate an
option to use the building for other "educational purposes,"
including administration or storage.
*Community School Operators
CHANGE.  Removes the provision in the Executive Budget that required
operators of community schools to be nonprofit entities, and a
provision that required community schools to select operators through
a competitive bidding process established by ODE. 151 community
schools currently have contracts with operators, and 68 community
schools contract with for-profit operators. There are a total of six
for-profit and seven nonprofit operators of community schools in Ohio.
*Community School Minimum Enrollment
CHANGE.  Eliminates the provision in the Executive Budget that
increased the minimum enrollment for community schools from 25
students to 100 students, and the requirement for the ODE to develop
criteria to grant waivers.  Currently there are 114 community schools
with a total average daily membership (ADM) of less than 100.  For
these schools formula ADM totals 6,608 and total state aid is $58.7
million.  The State Board of Education has recommended an increase in
the minimum enrollment of community schools.
*Community School Minimum School Year
CHANGE.  Eliminates the provision that required community schools to
provide students with 180 days, instead of 920 hours, of learning
opportunities each school year.  Currently in statute and
administrative code school districts are required to provide 182 days
of instruction:  five days per week; five hours for grades 1-6 and
5.5 hours for grades 7-12.  Five hours are required in law for grades
7-12, but the State Board of Education has set 5.5 hours in rule for
grades 7-12 for school districts. Community schools are required to
operate 920 hours.
*Community School Attendance
CHANGE. Eliminates the provision in the Executive Budget that
required a community school to withdraw a student who fails to
participate in 21 consecutive days of learning opportunities without
excuse, and, unless the school primarily serves dropouts, prohibits
the community school from re-enrolling the student for the duration
of the school year. Current law states that the student must miss 105
consecutive hours of instruction in order to be withdrawn.
*Community School Student Enrollment in Career-Technical Program
NEW.  Permits a community school student to enroll in the
career-technical program of the student's resident district. Permits
both the district and the community school to receive state funds for
the student for the proportion of the time the student attends each
school.
*Closed Schools
Specifies that funds remaining after payment of debts after a
community school permanently closes, must be paid to the Department
of Education for redistribution to the resident school districts of
the community school's students.
*E-school Teachers
CHANGE.  Eliminates the requirement in the Executive Budget that each
e-school employ (rather than retain an affiliation with, as under
current law) at least one full-time teacher of record for up to 125
students.  Currently e-school teachers may be affiliated with more
than one school, and so they could be responsible for up to 125
students in each of those schools.
*Unauditable Community Schools
NEW. Requires the Auditor of State to provide notification of a
finding that a community school is unauditable to the school, its
sponsor, and ODE, and to post the notification on the Auditor's web
site.
NEW. Prohibits the sponsor of an unauditable community school from
entering into contracts with additional community schools until the
Auditor completes a financial audit of the school.
NEW:  Requires the sponsor of an unauditable community school to
respond to the Auditor with a description of the actions it will take
as a result of the finding that the school is unauditable.
NEW:  Requires ODE to cease all state payments to a community school
that fails to make progress in bringing its records into auditable
condition within 90 days after being declared unauditable, but
release withheld funds when the Auditor is able to complete an audit
of the school.

VOUCHERS PROGRAMS
*NEW.  Creates the Special Education Scholarship Pilot Program to
provide scholarships for children with Individual Education Plans in
grades K-12 to attend alternative public or private special education
programs in fiscal years 2008 through 2013.  Limits the number of
scholarships to not more than three percent of the number of
identified students residing in the state.  School districts are
obligated to continue certain services, such as transportation, and
review the child's IEP.  Requires the ODE to develop a document that
compares the rights under state and federal special education law and
those under the Special Education Scholarship Pilot Program, and
distribute that information to parents.  Also requires the ODE to
conduct a formative evaluation of the program by December 31, 2009.

*Educational Choice Scholarship
CHANGE.  Removes language that repealed the Educational Choice
Scholarship Pilot Program R.C. 3310.01, 3310.02 through 3310.14,
3310.17.  This program provides a voucher of up to $5,200 for
eligible students in grades 1-12 and up to $2,700 for students in
Kindergarten to attend eligible private schools.  312 chartered non
public schools participated in the program this year; 2880 students
participated in 2006-7 school year; up to 14,000 scholarships are
available.
*Retains the Cleveland Scholarship and the Autism Scholarship
Program.  The Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program served 5,813
students in 2006-7, and 46 chartered public schools participated.
The Autism Scholarship program served 570 students this year, and 50
percent were between 3-5 years of age. 150 service providers
participated in the program, and the average cost per student was
approximately $17,000 per student.  The program provides
reimbursement up to $20,000 per student.

NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS
*Transportation of Nonpublic School Students
-NEW.  Permits a school district, upon request, to transport a
student in grades K through 12 who does not reside in the district to
a nonpublic school the student attends, if (1) the student's resident
district is not required to transport the student because the travel
time is more than 30 minutes, and (2) the parent agrees to reimburse
the nonresident district for the costs that exceed the amount the
district receives from the state for transporting the student. If the
nonresident district declines the request, requires the district to
state in writing its reasons.

SCHOOL FACILITIES COMMISSION
*Accelerates the state's school building program, and securitizes
future funds for that program ($2.2 billion for school facilities.)
*Permits a school district to use the interest earned on district
moneys in the project construction fund to pay the cost of facilities
not included in the project.
*Eliminates the Career-Technical School Building Loan Program, but
does not affect the Vocational School Facilities Assistance Program.
Requires that existing money in the program be transferred into the
Public School Building Fund (school facilities cash fund) and that
remaining loan repayments under the repealed loan program be
deposited into the Public School Building Fund.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
*CHANGE:  Removes the earmark of $601,165 in each fiscal year to
support educational media centers to provide Ohio public schools with
instructional resources and services.
*CHANGE:  Reduces to $236,250 in each year the earmark Project GRAD.
*CHANGE:  Increases the earmark to $75,000 in FY08 and FY09 to
Southern State Community College for the Pilot Post-Secondary
Enrollment Options Program with Miami Trace High School.

SPECIAL EDUCATION ENHANCEMENTS
*CHANGE.  Earmarks up to $400,000 in each fiscal year to be used for
the Collaborative Language and Literacy Instruction Project.
*NEW. Earmarks $325,000 in each fiscal year for OCALI to contract
with the Delaware-Union ESC to provide autism transition services.
*NEW.  Earmarks $75,000 in each fiscal year for Leaf Lake/Geauga
Educational Assistance Funding.

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
*CHANGE:  Removes an earmark of up to $25,000 in each fiscal year of
GRF appropriation item 200-320, Maintenance and Equipment, for State
Board of Education out-of-state travel.

TEACHER  PREPARATION AND TRAINING, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
*Teacher on Loan Programs
CHANGE.  Removes the earmark of $747,912 in each fiscal year to
provide funds to school districts that have teachers participating in
the teacher-on-loan program.
*Entry Year
CHANGE:  Increases from $8,715,817 in each fiscal year to $9,515,817
for entry year programs for beginning teachers in school districts
and chartered nonpublic schools, and permits the earmark to be used
for entry year programs for principals as well as teachers.
*Alternative Education Programs
CHANGE:  Removes the earmark of $100,000 in each fiscal year to be
used for Youth Opportunities United, Inc.
CHANGE.  Removes the earmark of $250,000 in each fiscal year to
support Amer-I-Can.
NEW.  Earmarks $100,000 in each fiscal year for the Cincinnati Arts
and Technology Center to increase program support for high-risk teens
and unemployed urban adults.
NEW.  Earmarks $2,000,000 in FY08 to support Improved Solutions for
Urban Students (ISUS) in Dayton/Sinclair Youth Initiative.
*Educator Preparation
CHANGE.  Removes the earmark $100,000 in each fiscal year for the
Teacher Quality Partnership project.
*Improving Teacher Quality
NEW.  Requires ODE to provide $600,000 in each fiscal year from FED
Fund 3Y6 appropriation item 200-635, Improving Teach Quality, to the
Columbiana County Educational Service Center for the Ohio Wyami
Appalachian Teacher Cohorts Program.
*Literacy Improvement
CHANGE:  Reduces earmark to $9,690,000 in each fiscal year for
educator training in literacy for classroom teachers, administrators,
and literacy specialists.
*Teachers
Qualifies all public and chartered nonpublic school teachers who hold
a valid teaching certification issued by the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards to an annual $2,500 stipend.

TAX POLICIES; CUTS; AND REIMBURSEMENTS
*Provides property tax relief for the elderly and disabled ($385.5
million - 775,000 homeowners) through an exemption from local
property taxes on the first $25,000 of a home's value for all Ohioans
age 65 and older and those who are permanently disabled.
*Property Tax Reimbursement
$794.5 mill in FY08 & $885 in FY09.  (This does not include all
reimbursements.)
*Sales tax exemption for school fundraising sales (R.C. 5739.02(B)(9))
Removes the six day limit on exemptions for primary and secondary
school and student-related sales so that school sales are tax exempt
no matter.  Current law granted a sales tax exemption for sales made
by school- and student-related nonprofit organizations (and by
churches and other nonprofit or tax-exempt organizations), for six
days in a year.
*Dual Purpose Levies
Authorizes school boards to levy, with voter approval, a dual-purpose
income tax for both current expenses and permanent improvements.
*School District Income Tax Rate Increments
Reduces the required increment that school district income taxes are
to be levied from .25 percent to .10 percent.
*Rate Reduction
Allows board of education to reduce school district income taxes in
increments of .10 percent.

  MISCELLANEOUS
*Transfer of adult education programs to Board of Regents
(Section 269.60.30) Directs the ODE and the BOR to identify which
"adult and career-technical education programs," other than adult
basic and literacy education (ABLE) programs should be transferred
from the ODE to the BOR to better align Ohio workforce education July
1,
2008.

*School District Reductions in Force
CHANGE.  Eliminates the provision in the Executive Budget that
removed the phrase "for financial reasons" from the list of statutory
reasons a school district or education service center (ESC) may make
reductions in force in its teaching staff.
*NEW.  Implements but changes the delayed requirement of the 126th
General Assembly (HB 66) for the formation of School Employee Health
Care Board and implementation of health care plans. Requires the
health care board to adopt a set of standards to be termed "best
practices" for school district health care plans; oversee the
implementation of health care plans; request the Attorney General to
seek appropriate court orders to enforce compliance with health care
plans; and makes other significant changes in current law.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
*State Funded Early Care (Section 269.10.20) - Continues GRF funding
for early childhood education programs provided by eligible school
districts, joint vocational districts, and Educational Service
Centers (ESCs) for children at least three years old and whose
families meet income requirements. The Executive Budget allocated
approximately $29.0 million in FY08 and $31.5 million in FY09 for the
Early Childhood Education Program (Section 269.10.20 of HB119).  Of
this amount $10.4 million in FY08 and $12.9 million in FY09 are for
new providers. The House version adds another $2.4 million in FY08
and $2.7 million in FY09 through an earmark of GRF appropriation item
200-550, Foundation Funding.  This program can serve children in
families that earn up to 200 percent of the federal poverty
guidelines.
*Staff Qualifications for Early Childhood Education Programs
CHANGE:  Eliminates the provision in the Executive Budget that
postponed from FY08 until FY10 and sets new dates to implement the
requirement that staff for state-funded early childhood education
programs established prior to July 1, 2006, have at least an
associate degree and teachers have bachelor's degrees.  This may
cause programs to close because they lack qualified staff.
*Requires the ODE to compile and distribute an annual report on state
funded early childhood education programs and early learning program
guidelines for school readiness.
*Early Childhood Education
Early Learning Initiative (ELI) (Section 309.40.60) Establishes the
Early Learning Initiative (ELI), which will be paid for with federal
Title IV-A (TANF) funds.  This program will serve up to 12,000
children who meet the income and other eligibility requirements, and
are at least three years of age.  The program may also serve children
whose families do not meet the federal poverty income level.  The
program will provide full-day, part-day, or a combination of
services, and those services are specifically outlined in the bill.
The ODE and the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services are
required to develop the rules and administer the program, including
the development of guidelines for school readiness to evaluate the
success of the ELIs, and oversee proper credentials of the ELI
agencies.  The bill also specifies that the purpose of the EL
services relate to preventing and reducing out-of-wedlock pregnancies.
*Changes current law to allow any school district to establish a
preschool program, even if the district is not eligible for poverty
based assistance.

HIGHER EDUCATION
*Higher Education Compact
CHANGE.  Removes language in the Executive Budget referring to the
Higher Education Compact.
*Choose Ohio First Scholarship
NEW.  Adds $100 million to support the Choose Ohio First Scholarship
Program for students pursuing degrees in STEM area, and specifies
that it is the intent of the House of Representatives to work with
the Senate and the Governor to design the criteria for the program,
which is funded under GRF appropriation item, 235-569, Choose Ohio
First Scholarship.
*Eligibility for Student Choice Grants.
CHANGE.  Removes the provision in the Executive Budget that narrows
the eligibility for student choice grants specified in section
3333.27 of the Revised Code by adding a requirement that a student
must also qualify for a needs-based Ohio College Opportunity Grant.
CHANGE.  Requires that GRF appropriation item 235-531, Student Choice
Grants, be awarded only to students who have family incomes of
$95,000 or less.  This is a $900 grant.  This increase will cost the
state approximately $41 million.
CHANGE.   Increases the student choice grant appropriations to $38.5
million in each year.
*Ohio College Opportunity Grants
(R.C. 3333.122)
Disqualifies students from receiving an Ohio College Opportunity
Grant (OCOG) who first enroll after the 2007-2008 academic year in
proprietary schools certified by the State Board of Career Colleges
and Schools. The bill also disqualifies students from receiving the
OCOG who first enroll after 2007-2008 in two-year education programs
sponsored by private institutions of higher education, if the
sponsors do not have certificates of authorization from the Board of
Regents. Eligible students who enrolled in these institutions or
programs in 2006-2007 or 2007-2008 may continue to apply for the
OCOG.  The OCOG program will replace the Ohio Instructional Grants.
The OCOG  provides need-based tuition assistance to Ohio resident
students from low- to moderate-income families and are enrolled in
eligible institutes of higher education. (Have a certificate of
authorization from the Board of Regents.)
*Co-located Technical Colleges
NEW. Allows technical colleges that are co-located with other state
institutions of higher education to offer baccalaureate oriented
programs that would enable students to obtain an associate degree or
to transfer to colleges and universities to obtain a baccalaureate
degree.
*Health technology workforce development pilot project (R.C. 3333.55)
Requires the Ohio Board of Regents to establish the Health
Information and Imaging Technology Workforce Development Pilot
Project to develop a collaborative project in Clark, Greene, and
Montgomery counties, that would explore in 2008-2010 ways to enhance
P-16 education and workforce development in the field of health
information and imaging technology.  Specifies the participating
parties and school districts.
*Distribution of Challenge Funds
NEW.  Requires Board of Regents (BOR) to study the effectiveness and
appropriateness the Jobs Challenge, Access Challenge, Success
Challenge, and Economic Growth Challenge programs. The study is to
focus on the student-based funding, the current workforce development
needs, and incentives for student success in the context of a
knowledge-based economy. Requires the BOR to recommend a distribution
of the funds provided for FY09 and seek Controlling Board's approval
for the recommended distribution by May 1, 2008.
*State Share of Instruction (SSI) for FY08 and 09 increases two
percent in FY08 and ten percent in FY09.
NEW.   Limits the increase in instate undergraduate fees (including
instructional, general and all other fees) to no more than 3 percent
in FY08 and prohibits any increase in instate undergraduate fees in
FY09.
NEW.  Guarantees each institution in FY08 and FY09 to receive the
same amount of SSI funding as received in the prior year,
notwithstanding the SSI distribution formulas outlined in Section
275.30.20.
NEW.  Specifies that in each fiscal year, each institution also
receive its proportional share of total SSI appropriation increase
for that year (2.0 percent for FY 08 and 10.0 percent for FY09) if
the institution meets savings requirements of 1 percent for FY08 and
3 percent for FY09.
NEW.  Requires BOR, in consultation with the Department of
Development, to commission a study on the needs of the business
community relative to higher education in Ohio, including necessary
skills and talents required by the business community. The study is
to be completed by December 31, 2007.
NEW.  Requires BOR, in consultation with state-supported institutions
of higher education, to develop a plan that addresses five specific
areas of higher education: access, success, affordability, research
and development support, and higher education awareness. The plan,
which is to be completed by December 31, 2007, is to include outcome
measures and progress indicators for each area.
NEW.  Institutions are required to commit to increasing
interinstitutional collaborations and partnerships with the goal of
increasing savings.
NEW.  Requires BOR, in consultation with state-supported institutions
of higher education, to study the feasibility of establishing and
implementing a tuition flexibility plan. The study is to be completed
by December 31, 2007.
*Community Project Transfer
CHANGE.   Removes language from the Executive Budget that would have
transferred two community project appropriation items from Cleveland
State University to Cuyahoga Community College: CAP-166, Playhouse
Square Center-Hanna Theatre, in the amount of $750,000, and CAP-169,
Cleveland Museum of Art, in the amount of $3,000,000.
*Requires each state university, community college, state community
college, university branch, and technical college to provide students
with an itemized list of fees and charges owed by the student in 2008.
*Eliminates the Student Workforce Development Grant ($300 grant)
which provided tuition assistance to students enrolled full-time in
Ohio proprietary schools and are pursuing an associate's or
bachelor's degree.

3) Senate Education Committee Hearing:   The Senate Education
Committee, chaired by Senator Padgett, met on May 1, 2007. The
committee reported out favorably HB 2 (Webster), which grants the
governor authority to appoint the chancellor of the Ohio Board of
Regents, and accepted testimony from several proponents of SB143
(Padgett), which establishes a limited student permit category for
speech language pathology interns.  The committee also heard sponsor
testimony on two bills.  SB151 (Roberts) would require publishers to
control the high cost of college textbooks and course materials, and
partner with institutions of higher education and the Ohio Board of
Regents to reduce the high cost of college materials.  Senator
Padgett also presented sponsor testimony on SB141 (Padgett),
community school sponsors.  Senator Padgett explained that the bill
reflects the recommendations of the State Board of Education.  It
would give the board the authority to evaluate all community school
sponsors and intervene with progressive sanctions; require sponsors
to assure compliance with requirements to open a new community
schools; and require sponsors from other states to show that they
have managed schools at the minimum of "continuous improvement" level
before they are allowed to sponsor a community school in Ohio.  Two
of the provisions are currently included in Am. Sub. HB 119 (Dolan),
the biennial budget.

4)  This Week at the Statehouse

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2007
*The Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee, chaired by
Senator Carey (614-466-8156), will meet at 10:00 AM in the Senate
Finance Hearing Rm.  The Department of Education  will present
testimony on HB119 Biennial Budget (Dolan). The Ohio Board of Regents
will testify in the afternoon.  (2:00 PM or after session.)

*The House Education Committee, chaired by Representative Setzer
(614-644-8051) will meet at 4:00 PM in room 116.  The committee will
hear testimony on the following bills:
HB155 (Setzer) Establishes Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics Schools;
HB180 Speech Language Pathology Interns (Setzer) Establishes a
limited student permit category for speech language pathology interns
and to declares an emergency;
HB143 Requirements for Boards of Education (Wagner) Eliminates
certain requirements/prohibitions applying to school district boards
of education;
HB175 Calamity Days (Fessler) Makes up calamity days by adding hours
to remaining days in the school year, and declares an emergency;
HB94 Undergraduate Education (Koziura) Requires universities to
guarantee undergraduate students can complete study in a specified
time:
HCR9 (Skindell) Amends the No Child Left Behind Act to fully fund the
appropriations.

*The Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Padgett
(614-466-8076) will meet at 4:00 PM in the North Hearing Room.  The
committee will hear testimony on SB143 (Padgett) Speech Language
Pathology Interns.  A vote is possible.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2007
*The Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee, chaired by
Senator Carey (614-466-8156), will meet at 9:30 AM and 2:30 PM in the
Senate Finance Hearing Rm.   The committee will hear invited
testimony on Am. Sub. HB 119 (Dolan) from invited state agencies and
departments, including the Ohio School Facilities Commission.

THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2007
*The Senate  Financial  and Financial Institutions, chaired by
Senator Carey (614-466-8156), will meet at 9:30 AM and 1:30 PM in the
Senate Finance Hearing Room.  The committee will hear testimony on
Am. Sub. HB 119 (Dolan) the FY08-09 State Budget from the Department
of Development; Department of Commerce: and Liquor Control Commission
in the morning.

*The House State Government and Elections Committee, chaired by
Representative Daniels (614-466-3506), will meet at 10:00 AM in room
122.  The committee will hear testimony on HB26 Urban Homestead Zones
(Wolpert), which would permit the creation of urban homestead zones,
and provide vouchers to families living in these zones to attend
private schools.

FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2007
*The Senate  Financial and Financial Institutions, chaired by Senator
Carey (614-466-8156) will meet at 9:30 AM and 1:30 PM in the Senate
Finance Hearing Room.  The committee will hear testimony on Am. Sub.
HB 119 (Dolan) the FY08-09 State Budget from several agencies,
including the Ohio Historical Society, the Ethics Commission, and the
Ohio Arts Council (in the afternoon).

5)  Bills Introduced:

HB197 (Boyd) Provides for the reporting of assaults in public schools
to administrators and law enforcement.

HB204 (Boyd) Permits school districts to employ school security
personnel officers and authorizes training programs that qualify
persons as school security personnel officers.

 

 

 
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