- Fordham’s Chad Aldis testified in the House Education Committee yesterday on HB 228. There are a number of provisions in the bill, including funding and kindergarten readiness, but Chad was testifying on the provision that would limit testing in Ohio to four hours per student per subject per year. He was against a quick fix with an arbitrary time limit. You can read his full testimony here. (Gongwer Ohio)
- In other sausage-making news, HB 343 was stuffed like a lame-duck-flavored kielbasa in the House Education Committee yesterday. The possible remove of teacher pay schedule requirements from state law is getting the most play (check out the Plain Dealer’s coverage here – over 300 comments already! – and the Dispatch’s coverage here for a taste of that smoky link). The debate on this provision of the bill sounds eerily similar to that of the so-called “5 of 8 rule” from the state board of ed earlier in the week. But seriously, there was a lot more crammed into this bill than just pay schedules. That includes provisions on zero tolerance, safe harbor, third grade reading cut scores, and state report card changes. You can see a nice summary of everything in Gongwer Ohio.
- No matter how stuffed that HB 343 sausage is, it’s the teacher pay schedule removal provision that’s getting the most grilling. Here’s a guest commentary from a former Cincinnati-area district administrator opining that the schedule should not only remain, but it should be increased. (Cincinnati Enquirer)
- Back to the “5 of 8” rule issue for just a minute. Amid all the overheated internet rhetoric, points of order, and board member walkouts this week, board member Stephanie Dodd (one of the walker-outers, BTW) tells the Advocate that she hopes to find some middle ground on the issue before the final board vote sometime in the spring. She says she feels the rule language needs updated, not eliminated: "Right now, the way the language reads, it is very out of date… I was hoping we might be able to come up with some sort of compromise that gives districts flexibility while at the same time ensuring we are providing the best education for our children." We shall see. (Newark Advocate)
- Speaking of updating language, the Education Subcommittee of the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission heard from State Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer this week. The topic: the “thorough and efficient” clause whose proposed removal/replacement has been of considerable concern to a number of long-standing education traditionalists. Count Justice Pfeifer among them. While he told the committee members that those words aren’t “the most perfect words,” he definitely would “caution against” removing them. In fact, "If this goes to the ballot...I would welcome the task of leading vigorous public opposition," he said. Is there any possibility that this won’t go to either the ballot or the court? Yeah, didn’t think so. (Gongwer Ohio)
