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THIS WEEK IN COLUMBUS July 20, UPDATE - Points to remember when reading a bill July 20, UPDATE - Am. H.B. No. 412 as passed by the House (it is now in the Senate) July 20, UPDATE - Sub. S. B 55 as it passed the Senate (it is now in the House) July 19, UPDATE - Response to the Speaker's letter July 19, UPDATE - Text of HJR 16/SJR 3 July 18, UPDATE - Hearing schedule July 17, UPDATE July 16, UPDATE July 15, UPDATE (See below. It will be helpful if you read this section first). Legislators are working feverishly on school funding and related issues.
The activity through the end of July will be intense. This space is dedicated to providing
timely information regarding the important events that are unfolding. If you have a SHORT
question, or if you have information that you wish to share with me, please CLICK here: [email protected] (This presumes that your browser is
set to send outgoing mail).
House Education Committee hearings on Sub. SB 55 (Watts).
Student performance standards such as graduation requirements (NOT the standards for Ohio
Schools document, just the enabling amendments) will be tucked into this bill. An
amendment to change the 9th grade test to a 10th grade test will
probably be included. School performance standards (graduation rates, attendance rates,
drop out rate, and minimum overall passage of the proficiency tests. The State Board calls
for 75%; newspapers are reporting that the rate will be dropped to 60%. House Education
Committee members: Gardner, (Chairman) Brading, Callender, Fox, Harris, Jordan, Olman,
Perz, Roman, Stapleton, Winkler, Wise, Womer Benjamin (all Republicans) and Gerberry,
Jones, Ogg, Sulzer, Tavares, Whalen, and Prentiss (all Democrats). For phone numbers see
the Legislative Directory link below]. Sub. House Bill 412 is being heard in the Senate Finance Committee will be working on fiscal accountability legislation. The Standards for Ohio Schools document will not be included, but enabling amendments will be tucked into this bill. Amendments may include funds for textbooks (although the term textbook is being expanded to mean far more than just books), professional development for teachers, and building maintenance among other things. Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee members: Ray (Chairman), Cupp, Drake, Furney, Herington, Horn, Kearns, Latell, Suhadolnik, Watts, and White. The Senate voted on SB 55 several months ago and the House Bill 412 was already been voted out of the House. What is happening is that these bills are being used as carriers for amendments that were not part of the bills when they were voted on in their respective places of origin. So Senate Bill 55 is now in the House and House Bill 412 is now in the Senate. The fact of the matter is that when these bills were under discussion in their chambers of origin, (most) legislators did not know that these bills would be the carriers for enabling legislation for the Standards for Schools document. And what is even more important is that citizens did not have opportunity to provide input to lawmakers prior to these "carriers" being passed by the full House and full Senate. For a legislative directory CLICK HERE
Question: "I called my senator and his aide told me that the House (or Senate) is NOT voting on the "standards" and that someone was giving out misinformation. Now, I don't know who to believe. Please help. Answer: Legislators will not be voting on the standards document right now; what will be voted on is ENABLING legislation - the amendments (changes to existing law) - that must be made before the State Board can officially adopt the new standards. After the state board has its final vote on the Standards, then the document will be sent to the House and Senate and they will "approve" it, probably by passage of a "joint resolution." Therefore, the Standards document can be put on the shelf for months and months thereby giving the impression that it is no longer on the fast track, all the while knowing that the important action is the passage of the enabling legislation. It is anticipated that a vote will be taken on July 24. Again, even if the adoption of the standards is postponed for months, once critical legislative changes have been made, probably through SB 55 and perhaps HB 412, the foundation for acceptance of the standards by the General Assembly will have been laid. Then, whether sections of the standards that are considered problematic by some make it into the final standards document becomes irrelevant; the legislation alone will be enough to enable the issuance of waivers from the standards, regardless of what they look like. As I see it, only about ten critical legislative changes need to be made, those related to EMIS, graduation requirements, exit credentials, state curriculum, extension of pupil services, shared teaching credentials, performance indicators and some provision to incorporate the heart and soul of the standards, continuous improvement, i.e., Total Quality Management. The data-driven TQM system may be appropriate for business and industry, but it is manipulative when used in the process of shaping the lives of young children in a compulsory attendance environment. -------- Question: What does SJR and HJR stand for? Answer: Senate Joint Resolution and House Joint Resolution.
Important joint resolutions that are under consideration right now are: SJR 3 SCHOOL FINANCE (Finan) Proposes three constitutional amendments. SJR 4 SCHOOL LAW JURISDICTION (Finan) Proposes to amend Sec. 2 of Art. VI of the Ohio Constitution to establish that the General Assembly, the elected legislative representative of the People, has exclusive responsibility to determine what constitutes a thorough and efficient system of common schools, and HJR 16 SCHOOL FINANCE (Davidson) Proposes three constitutional amendments HJR 17 SCHOOL LAW JURISDICTION (Davidson) Proposes to amend Section 2 of Article VI of the Ohio Constitution to establish that the General Assembly, the elected legislative representatives of the People, has exclusive responsibility to determine what constitutes a thorough an efficient system of common schools. ----- Question: I am confused about all the talk about whether lawmakers or judges should be making decisions about school funding. Can you help me? Answer: Currently, the Ohio Constitution reads: "All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their equal protection and benefit, and they have the right to alter, reform or abolish the same whenever they deem it necessary, and no special privileges of immunities shall ever be granted that cannot be altered, revoked or repealed by the General Assembly." (Article I, section 2.) The Constitution further states that, "The General Assembly shall make such provisions by taxation or otherwise as will fund a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state." Senate Joint Resolution 4 and House Joint Resolution 17 re-enforce the Ohio Constitution in re-affirming that lawmakers have the responsibility, as elected representatives of the people, to fund public schools rather than shifting the responsibility to judges. Therefore, if you want elected representation when it comes to school funding then you would be in support of 4 and 17. If you believe that the courts should have the responsibility, then you would oppose 4 and 17. Your legislators need to hear from you THIS WEEK as the decision to put
these items on the November ballot is being made NOW. Do NOT wait until November to make
up your mind; by then your options will have been limited by the decisions that are made
in the next two weeks. |
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Diana M. Fessler
· 7530 Ross Road · New Carlisle, OH ·
45344 |