Ohio Education Gadfly
Volume 2, Number 1
January 9, 2008
The Next Twelve
Gadfly's take on 2008...
From the Tit-for-Tat Department
The OEA needs to take a long look in the mirror
Recommended Reading
Promises with a Price: Public Sector Retirement Benefits
By
Terry Ryan
News and Analysis
Buckeye State: Better than average
By
Terry Ryan
News and Analysis
Charter school accountability--progress has been made, but more to do
By
Emmy L. Partin
,
Kathryn Mullen Upton
,
Terry Ryan
News and Analysis
Growth matters: Ohio's move to value-add
By
Emmy L. Partin
,
Kristina Phillips-Schwartz
Announcements
Plant a SEED in Cincinnati
Gadfly's take on 2008...
January 9, 2008
It's probably no surprise for those of you intimate with gadflies that they have, prominently, the ability to clearly and accurately predict the future. So, after many long hours in front of the crystal ball over the holidays, the Ohio Education Gadfly is blessing readers with eight insightful predictions for the Buckeye State in 2008:
1. The Ohio General Assembly: In an act of generosity and goodwill, the legislature introduces three bills reserved for the governor to insert his policy agenda into legislation. The first bill is to revamp Ohio's academic assessment system; the others are for a solution to global warming and a plan for Mideast Peace.
2. Governor Strickland: The governor will smile and wave--anything else might create unwanted controversy, thus ruining his chances as a vice-presidential candidate and damaging his soaring approval ratings.
3. Cincinnati Public Schools: With the Hollywood writers' strike still on, we can't have too many reality programs. So, after an initial fruitless effort to find a new superintendent for the troubled district, Cincinnati's school board will enlist Tyra Banks to host next fall's smash-hit reality TV show "Cincinnati's Next Top School Administrator."
4. The Ohio Education Association (OEA): The OEA will finally realize the error of its ways and apply to become a charter-school sponsor, allowing outstanding teachers to implement well-constructed plans for innovative schools.
5. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute: Gadfly's employer will organize a retreat with the OEA where Fordham president Checker Finn and OEA
Gadfly's take on 2008...
The OEA needs to take a long look in the mirror
January 9, 2008
Fordham president Checker Finn's December 11, 2007, Columbus Dispatch op-ed (see here) about how to better Ohio's charter school program generated a predictable letter to the editor from Ohio Education Association (OEA). The OEA's president, Patricia Frost-Brooks, took Finn's call for improvements as reason for ending charters altogether. While Frost-Brooks pointed out that 60 percent (actually it's 58 percent, but she was close) of the state's brick-and-mortar charter schools are in academic watch or academic emergency, she neglected to mention that 43 percent of traditional urban district schools, in the cities where charters operate, are also in the same boat. This despite the fact these schools receive 30 percent more state funding than charters and have been showered with new buildings. Least we forget, the reason Ohio has charter schools is because decades of evidence taught us that traditional district schools cannot meet the needs of all children.
Finn wasn't afraid to admit the shortcomings of Ohio's charter school system and call for improvements to the program. Imagine the progress Ohio could make if Frost-Brooks and her colleagues in the OEA would, responsibly, admit the failings of and seek ways to improve traditional public school districts.
For more insight, see:
"Charter schools need more than money," December 31, 2007, Columbus Dispatch.
"OEA needs to take care of own business," January 3, 2008, Columbus Dispatch.
And for an additional perspective, Thomas W. Carroll, chairman of the Brighter
The OEA needs to take a long look in the mirror
Promises with a Price: Public Sector Retirement Benefits
Terry Ryan / January 9, 2008
The Pew Charitable Trusts
December 2007
There has been much written lately, accompanied by serious teeth gnashing, about the sustainability of public-pension systems in the United States (see here and here). This past summer, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute joined the discussion by issuing a report on the health of the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS) and its impact on the decision making of current and future teachers about when to retire or, on the other end of the career spectrum, to even get into teaching at all (see here).
The Pew Charitable Trusts has now chimed in with the release of its report "Promises with a Price." This report looks at the bills coming due in the next few decades, $2.73 trillion over the next 30 years, for public employee pensions. For Ohio, there is some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the state's unfunded liability for its public employee pension systems (the state has four) is only $26 billion, which compares well with other states. Illinois's public pension systems, for example, have a cumulative unfunded liability of $41 billion.
However, Gadfly readers will know that the STRS unfunded pension liability is $19.4 billion of the $26 billion facing the state, even though STRS's membership is little more than one-third of the state's three other public pension systems.
According to Pew, public-pension expenses facing the 50 states are staggering, although
Promises with a Price: Public Sector Retirement Benefits
Buckeye State: Better than average
Terry Ryan / January 9, 2008
Education Week released its Quality Counts 2008 report today. This influential and objective annual report gives Ohio another B-minus. Here are some key takeaway points:
Ohio's children start school less prepared for school success than their peers across the country;
The state's assessment and accountability system is one of the nation's best;
The state, despite the cries of many, does a fairly decent job of investing in its children and has high marks for educational equity;
The state's greatest challenge continues to be the education gap between rich and poor; and whites and minorities; and
Ohio's teachers are paid well in comparison to comparable Ohio workers.
Check out the report here.
Buckeye State: Better than average
Charter school accountability--progress has been made, but more to do
Emmy L. Partin , Kathryn Mullen Upton , Terry Ryan / January 9, 2008
Since 2005, Ohio has ramped up its charter school accountability. The General Assembly took the lead here with legislation like H.B. 66 in 2005 and H.B. 79 in late 2006. This legislation increased accountability on charter schools, capped new school start-ups so only those operators with a track record of success can open schools in Ohio, and created an academic death penalty for persistently failing charter schools.
The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has followed step with a renewed focus on charter-school quality, as evidenced in its fifth annual report about the condition of the state's charter school program that was submitted to the governor last month. But the march toward quality is not complete, as illustrated in the compliance section of ODE's report. The report's final table, "Sponsor Assignment of Community School Legal Compliance," makes clear that the state has too many lax sponsors. This, if it continues, will result in lawmakers further usurping sponsors' powers through new legislation and increased regulation.
The ODE compliance table, which is truly the most enlightening part of the report, summarizes charter-school compliance in education, finance, governance, and academic assessment and accountability. Sponsors must rate schools as overall compliant, partially compliant, or non-compliant in each area and submit these ratings to ODE each fall. As many as 17 sponsors did not submit an annual report at all, and just five sponsors--our sister organization, the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, among them--rated any school as noncompliant.
Obviously, this
Charter school accountability--progress has been made, but more to do
Growth matters: Ohio's move to value-add
Emmy L. Partin , Kristina Phillips-Schwartz / January 9, 2008
Last month, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) released the value-added achievement test data for the state's public schools. This data, from the 2006-07 school year, shows student academic growth (in math and reading, grades four through eight) over time. ODE rates buildings and districts in three categories: green (exceeds state-level growth expectations), yellow (meets state-level growth expectation), and red (does not meet state-level growth expectations). Beginning this August, with two full years of data available, the value-added measure will appear on state report cards for schools and districts, and this growth metric will have an impact on a school's overall academic rating. Schools or districts with two consecutive years of growth that exceeds state expectations will move up a rating, while schools with three consecutive years failing to meet growth expectations will move down a rating.
In the meantime, there are at least three takeaways from the first round of data.
First, value-added data reaffirms that the ability to attain academic gains is independent of poverty or minority status. While these factors may be challenges to educating students, they are by no means excuses for failure. For example, "rural poor" districts are outpacing other types of districts in overall value-added gains, and charter schools outpace their traditional counterparts, especially in adolescent literacy. (Charter advocates are making hay of these inaugural results, as seen here.).
Second, this data raises questions about how to define "success" in a school. Some schools with
Growth matters: Ohio's move to value-add
Plant a SEED in Cincinnati
January 9, 2008
The SEED Foundation-created in 1997 to establish college-prep, urban boarding schools-is seeking to open a new school in Ohio's Queen City and is hiring a Director of New Schools Development for Ohio to lead the efforts. Applicants should have experience in non-profit growth development and must possess enthusiasm and an entrepreneurial spirit, among other qualifications.
