Without state help, Cleveland needs 15-mill levy for school reform
Governor Kasich signed House Bill 525, a plan to reform Cleveland schools, with a great deal of fanfare earlier this month.
Just to plug Cleveland’s projected budget deficit would cost more than 12 mills (or about $400/$100,000 home), and that doesn’t include any additional investments by the district as envisioned in this plan. Without additional state support, it is difficult to see how these innovations can be realized.But the state provided no additional support, despite the importance the Governor has placed on the success of the Cleveland Plan. Why? Dyer asks this question again today on his blog, pointing out that the $77 million the District needs is only a small portion of what the state has stashed away for a rainy day. The Governor stood at his press event surrounded by Cleveland school kids. Will he still be there for them if the levy fails?
Lottery profits are up, so why isn’t school funding?
News coverage of record profits at the Ohio Lottery has reporters taking great pains to point out that Lottery profits are dedicated to public education in Ohio, according to Ohio’s Constitution.
“Not so fast” says education analyst Greg Mild and IO”s Steve Dyer.
That’s because, while Lottery profits rose, funding to Ohio schools did not. The new lottery money was indeed sent to the schools, but funding from the state’s general fund was reduced by an equivalent amount. So, as Mild notes, instead of restoring some of the recent cuts to schools, the administration instead banked the extra cash in the Rainy Day Fund. It’s the Lottery Shell Game on full display.
Innovation Ohio’s education policy fellow, Steve Dyer, offers his take on the history of what he calls the Lottery Two Step with a new post on his blog. In it, he also notes that the $771 million generated for schools by the Lottery exactly matches how much is diverted annually to charter schools, leaving our public system without any additional state revenue.
New report lauds Ohio’s (old) school funding system
As Ohio legislators begin to examine what the state’s new school funding system should look like, it is important for them to recognize that previous systems had promise.
[Read more…]
[Read more…]It’s no surprise: budget cuts driving up cost of higher education
Readers of the Cincinnati Enquirer woke to this headline this morning:
It’s actually not that surprising, given a state budget that cut support for colleges and universities by 13%. According to a new report from the Department of Education, four of Ohio’s public colleges and universities are among the 14 most expensive in the nation, making our state perhaps the most expensive state in the nation to get a public 4-year degree. If Ohio is going to compete for top employers, a highly trained workforce is essential. Investment in higher education needs to be part of the state’s strategy to create and retain good jobs.“Surprise! Ohio colleges among most expensive”
IO Report: GOP Student Loan Plan Would Hurt Ohio
Research Overview
Without Congressional action, interest rates on federally subsidized Stafford student loans will double on July 1 from the current 3.4% to 6.8%, costing the average student borrower an extra $1,000 in interest payments. Nationally, Stafford loans are used by 7.4 million college students, including 380,000 Ohioans. Student loan debt now stands at $1 trillion –exceeding both credit card and auto loan debt –and the average Ohio college student graduates with nearly $28,000 in loans. Doubling the interest rate could cause many students to transfer colleges or drop out of school altogether. Although Democrats and Republicans alike agree that interest rates should be kept at the current level, the parties have proposed distinctly different ways in which to pay the estimated $6 billion cost. Democrats want to close a corporate tax loophole (worth $6 billion) that allows some wealthier business owners to escape paying Social Security and Medicare taxes. House Republicans have passed a bill that would zero out the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF) of the Affordable Care Act (worth $11.9 billion), which funds a number of disease prevention programs. Innovation Ohio has examined statistics from both the Stafford Loan program and the Prevention and Public Health Fund, and has analyzed the impact on Ohio if Stafford Loan interest rates are allowed to double and the Prevention Fund is zeroed out in order to pay for keeping interest rates low. Read the report. Read the press release.Cleveland Proposed Alliance to Remain Hidden from Public Eyes?
According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer today, one of the key components of Cleveland’s school transformation plan would not be subject to public scrutiny.
Proposals given to state legislators last Saturday call for the Cleveland Transformation Alliance, which would have the power to block new charter schools from opening if they did not meet standards, to be exempt from state open meetings or open records laws.This Alliance would be non profit and would serve many functions that seem to logically fit with what school boards could do, like approving Charter Schools and rating the district’s schools. To his credit, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, who appoints the school board and would appoint members to this Alliance, has expressed an interest in creating more transparency with the Alliance.
“I think it’s a legitimate question to raise,” Jackson said, adding that transparency is important. “I agree that there shouldn’t be anything to hide.”Ron Adler, who has been one of the strongest advocates for Charter Schools and one of the Traditional Schools’ toughest critics, told the Plain Dealer he wants to see the Alliance be transparent. In Innovation Ohio’s report about the Cleveland Plan, we suggested that the Alliance be open to the public and either have more accountability to the public by having elected officials appoint its members (as the current draft of the legislation does), or make the panel advisory to the school board. Again, as long as the Alliance is open and accountable to the public, it would appear to maintain the strong tradition of public accountability that has long been a hallmark of our state’s school system. Allowing the Alliance to do business in the dark would seem to countermand that tradition. This post was written by Innovation Ohio’s Education Policy Fellow, Stephen Dyer, and originally appeared on his blog 10th Period.
State Board passes on Cleveland school plan… for now
According to the Columbus Dispatch, Ohio’s State Board of Education decided yesterday not to take a position on the Cleveland Plan, holding off until April’s board meeting at the earliest. Gov. John Kasich had personally asked the board to endorse the plan on Monday.
Traditionally, the board has not waded into political and legislative debates, but on Monday the governor pleaded with members to pass a resolution or provide some sort of backing to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson’s plan. “I’m begging you as human beings to not let this go down the drain,” Kasich told the board in his first public address to the panel since he took office last year.[Read more…]
First Glance: Kasich Previews Small Scale Ed Reforms
(Cross-posted from 10th Period, the person blog of IO’s Education Policy Fellow, Steven Dyer)
The Columbus Dispatch reported yesterday that Gov. John Kasich will be introducing some education reforms in his mid-biennium budget corrections bill, but he is almost desperate to have the Cleveland Plan included — the Dispatch described his request before the State Board of Education as “begging”. From the Dispatch story:
The governor’s plan will also call for new and tougher grading system for schools, standards for digital education, reporting academic performance of students attending technical schools and helping students find their passions and better understand the purpose of getting an education by providing opportunities for them to interact with business professionals and other outside-of-school activities. [Read more…]
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