May 2018 Legislative Committee Report
Graduation Requirement: Representative Tavia Galonski has introduced House Bill 630 to extend the additional graduation pathways to the classes of 2019 & 2020. To learn more, including how to get involved, see an Elyria teacher’s take at this link to Plunderbund.
ECOT: The case against the digital education monster continues as computer data is preserved, auctions are halted, and charges are levied upon ECOT officials ordering employees to manipulate data to boost enrollment and defraud the state of millions, all while Attorney General Mike DeWine and Auditor Dave Yost ignored a whistleblower’s evidence.
House Bill 626, Youngstown Plan Moratorium: Reps Teresa Fedor and Kent Smith have proposed a 3 year moratorium on HB70 style state takeovers like those that have seen CEO’s take all control in Youngstown and Lorain. From an article in the Morning Journal, “The takeovers in Youngstown and Lorain have had atrocious results, but there are models out there that work,” Fedor said. “This moratorium will give us time to find the ways that will actually improve schools for our students and communities.”
What the hell is going on in Lorain?: Newly appointed CEO David Hardy of the Lorain Schools continues to skirt the edge of educational reality, legality, and common sense. In the past month or so he has refused to release information on administrative candidates, hired unqualified Teach for America cronies to administrative positions, hired more unqualified administrators, and stated that he will use Title funds to hire more administrators, threatening services to students in the Lorain Schools. Hardy claims that this top-down approach is designed to provide a quality education for Lorain’s “scholars.”
House Bill 540, OTES Revision: Rep Manning has co-sponsored House Bill 540 with Rep Gavarone. It would help get rid of some of the more ridiculous parts of OTES. It contains recommendations brought forth by the Educator Standards Board. Some do not believe that it goes far enough to remedy the albatross of an evaluation system, but it may be difficult to get anything stronger to pass. You can read more about it here and sign this petition from the OEA.
Senator Lehner has a companion bill about OTES in the Senate. It has the same language as Rep Manning’s HB 540. If you want to see this bill, the easiest thing to do would be to go to this page and scroll down to analysis and click on it. That way you are not stuck trying to read some 100+ page bill.
House Bill 591: HB 591 changes the state report cards so there are no letter grades. It is designed to give parents a more nuanced view of school performance, so they don’t just see a letter grade and think the school is terrible. It also gets rid of some nongraded reports and annual measures as well. The bill does keep some A-F grades and still permits state takeovers based upon those ratings.