Both houses of the state legislature are now finished for the year, meaning any bills that did not win approval must be reintroduced and undergo new hearings in the two-year session that begins in January.
“I think we were close to probably 40 votes for repeal,” said outgoing State Rep. Matt Huffman, R-Lima, who led the Common Core repeal effort. “I think as people know more of what this is about, we’re going to be able to pull it apart. … We’re not at 50 votes yet, but I think given time, there will be a majority.”
Common Core school standards were approved by 45 states in 2010 in an attempt to toughen and unify U.S. school standards as American test scores lagged behind other nations.
Supporters of Common Core say Ohio’s new math and English standards for each grade require increased critical thinking and mastery of deep concepts, with less memorization. Opponents disagree with some content standards and worry about excessive federal government involvement and a rushed decision process.
Springfield City Schools Superintendent David Estrop said the Ohio legislature got it right on Common Core, not only by deciding to keep the standards but also by using an earlier 2014 vote to slow the pace of implementation on testing and evaluations.
“Had they chosen to do away with the Common Core standards, a lot of us in education thought we’d be left in limbo — what are we teaching, what tests should the children be taking?” Estrop said. “And we’d be left to wander for a couple of years until they figured it out. So that was a critical decision.”
Mike Dittoe, spokesman for the House Republican caucus, said it’s premature to say how Common Core repeal will be dealt with in 2015 under incoming House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, R-Wilmington. But Dittoe acknowledged that many Republicans believe the issue should be discussed again. Huffman said it could happen via multiple smaller bills.
Many legislators said there was less support for Common Core repeal this year in the Ohio Senate. But Senate Education Committee chair and Common Core supporter Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, acknowledged the issue will return in 2015.
“I think the fate of the Common Core will probably reside with how well it works this year,” Lehner said. “At the end of the year, how comfortable do teachers and parents feel with it? And frankly, how the testing goes will probably have a significant impact.”
That could be a major issue because the tougher standards and tests are likely to result in poorer student test scores, at least in the first year. And Lehner said she fully expects that those lower scores will be accompanied by complaints.
“I have a feeling that a lot of schools will blame the lower scores on the Common Core, and the pressure to drop it will increase,” Lehner said. “It’s going to be up to our leaders here in the state to get people to understand that we expected this, and it is all part of what happens when you increase rigor in the schools.”
Testing hours
A bill limiting Ohio K-12 students to four hours per subject per year on end-of-year state exams will return to the drawing board despite passing by a huge margin in the House.
Complaints about testing overload are common nationwide, and Ohio’s new Common Core-tied tests are given in two parts that exceed four hours. Lehner said some lawmakers considered the testing legislation an end-run at removing Common Core.
Complaints about overtesting are legitimate, said Lehner, but she called the House bill a “a knee-jerk response.”
“This is not a simple question, and it deserves a far more in-depth look,” she said. “If we fail to rely very heavily on the input of superintendents, principals and teachers across the state, we’re doing a disservice to our students.”
Lehner and others have said they want to see an Ohio Department of Education report, due Jan. 15, on potential ways to reduce the testing load, before they approve legislation.
One other hot-button issue never came to a vote. A piece of House Bill 343 that would have eliminated the base teacher salary schedule from state law was removed before the House voted on the bill. Lehner says that provision never would have passed the Senate, either.
What DID pass?
Two bills containing education provisions did pass both houses in the final days of the legislature – House Bills 367 and 178. Rob Nichols, spokesman for Gov. John Kasich, said the governor is expected to sign both bills. Here is a look at what is in those bills:
- HB 367 changes the end-of-course exam that students will take in science. Tom Ash, director of government relations for the Buckeye Association of School Administrators, said not all school districts taught classes in physical science, so the state is switching that exam to biology starting next year. This year, districts can choose which of those two science tests to offer.
- Another provision of HB367 deals with the third-grade reading test. All Ohio third-graders took the long-standing Ohio Achievement Assessment in reading this fall. The original plan was for those students who passed (scored high enough to move on to fourth grade) to take the new Common Core reading test in the spring, while those who failed would get another chance at the OAA. Under HB 367, all third-graders will take the reading OAA again in the spring, largely for data reporting reasons. Lehner pointed out that an editing mistake in the rushed bill effectively eliminated a requirement for fall reading diagnostic tests that are required under Ohio's Third Grade Reading Guarantee. "The ink's not even dry on this bill and we already recognize that we're going to need to come in early next year and (correct that)," Lehner said. "That is a significant problem, it will get corrected, and there's unanimous agreement on that. … That's the problem with the lame duck session – an awful lot happens very fast."
- World history will now be a required half-credit course for Ohio high school students. Ash said most students already take that class.
- School districts, via their health curriculum, will be required to teach about the dangers of prescription opioid abuse (drugs such as oxycodone).
- Ash said the legislature also added some flexibility in the definition of a full-time student. Given the new rules defining attendance by hours rather than days, there was risk that students who left school one period early for a job, or who took classes online from home, would not be counted, potentially reducing state funding. The new law considers any student enrolled in five credits a full-time student.
- House Bill 178 took language that currently requires nine school fire drills per year, and changed it to six fire drills, three safety drills (which can include exercises such as lockdowns and evacuations) and one staff safety planning exercise. That bill also makes charter schools subject to the same rules as public schools on limiting restraint and seclusion of students.
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