General Assembly gears up before summer recess
It is a busy time for legislators as they try to finalize and pass pieces of legislation prior to the summer recess. A $1.57 billion economic stimulus package and a prenegotiated capital appropriations/ biennium budget corrections bill are expected to pass. Some of the hot-button issues for education will be special education vouchers and the study of local government consolidation.
Contacts needed on special education voucher legislation
The Ohio Senate approved special education voucher legislation by a vote of 17-15. Senate Bill (SB) 57, sponsored by Sen. Kevin Coughlin (R-Cuyahoga Falls), would create the Special Education Scholarship Program to ,provide vouchers for disabled children in grades K-12 to attend alternative public or private special education programs. The bill now goes to the House, where it is expected to move quickly. We need you to continue to contact your legislators and voice your opposition to SB 57!
Thanks to all who have already contacted their senators urging them to oppose this bill. We have received feedback from legislators that they are hearing from you. Now is the time to concentrate our efforts in the House. Please contact your state representative and voice your opposition to the special education voucher proposal with these talking points:
- We believe public school funds should not be diverted to support voucher-type programs at the expense of the other students remaining in public schools. While the vast majority of students continue to be educated in public schools, vouchers and similar scholarship programs serve to siphon public dollars from public schools, undermining programs and efficiencies already in place.
- SB 57 would require the resident school district to re-evaluate the Individualized Education Plan, even though the district would have no interaction with the voucher student or the benefit of knowing firsthand the progress of the student or his/her ability level.
- This program weakens the due process rights afforded to parents and students.
- It requires parents and voucher students to opt out of their due process rights under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act and Ohio’s Operating Standards for Students with Disabilities.
- The current system allows school districts to use outside providers if the district cannot meet the needs of a particular student.
- This voucher program will drain resources from public schools without providing increased educational opportunities for special education students.
- State resources should be used to improve public schools’ ability to serve and educate students, not encourage them to leave.
- It is impossible to hold private schools accountable for the expenditure of public dollars.
OSBA is adamantly opposed to SB 57! We joined with other statewide organizations to testify in opposition to the bill. The groups included the League of Women Voters of Ohio; Ohio Association of Public School Employees; Ohio Education Association; Ohio Federation of Teachers; Ohio PTA; and Ohio School Psychologists Association. To view a copy of the testimony, visit www.osbaohio. org/advocacy.htm. Again, we need you to contact your Ohio House member as soon as possible and share your concerns with SB 57.
Local government study legislation
House Bill 521, cosponsored by Reps. Larry Wolpert (R-Hilliard) and Larry Flowers (R-Canal Winchester), would create the Ohio Commission on Local Government Reform and Collaboration to develop recommendations for reforming and restructuring local government in Ohio.
The legislation would direct the commission to consider school district consolidation as an option for cost savings. While this idea is often raised as a cost-saving measure, multiple studies have shown that consolidation rarely results in any significant savings to taxpayers.
OSBA sent a letter to members of the House Local and Municipal Government and Urban Revitalization Committee requesting that school districts be removed from the proposal. We provided several examples of how school districts currently collaborate with other entities to ensure cost savings.
As an alternative, we recommended working through the school-funding reform process recently undertaken by Gov. Ted Strickland. We are certain that education stakeholders will be expected to offer and consider new measures to achieve efficiency. We believe it would be best to work with legislators and other policymakers through the development of the governor’s school reform plan, instead of adding another study to the process.
To view a complete copy of the letter, visit www.osba-ohio.org/advocacy.htm.
For the latest legislative updates, please contact the OSBA legislative division at (614) 540-4000; or (800) 589-OSBA.
Editor's Note: All information in this article was current as of May 16, 2008.
