New teacher licensure guidelines will hit charters next year
Schools need to begin now to prepare for a change that will affect current employees holding either long-term substitute or international licenses.  READ MORE

E-school funding group to address final questions including treatment of DOPR 
The Joint Committee on E-School Funding created by legislation passed by the Ohio Legislature last fall continues its work to study a funding system “based on student competency.”  READ MORE 

Groups call for changes to transportation administrative rule
Organizations representing traditional public school boards, administrators and business officials say proposed rules could require districts to provide transportation for more charter and private school students.  READ MORE

Bill calls for mandated student safety training
Bipartisan legislation (H.B. 123) has been introduced by state Rep. Gayle Manning (R-N. Ridgeville) and Rep. Glenn Holmes (D-McDonald) to require schools to train sixth- through 12th-grade students on ways to recognize warning signs of suicides, shootings and other acts of violence.

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) would be tasked with developing a list of evidence-based programs to assist schools in implementation.

The “comprehensive approach to school safety” would require the creation of teams to assess school-based threats and provide ways for anonymous reporting of safety concerns.

The father of a Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victim who attended a Statehouse press conference at which H.B. 123 was unveiled shared that a group he founded – Sandy Hook Promise – offers a “suite of programs” helpful in recognizing and reporting violence warning signs.   

Legislation addresses disciplinary actions for educator licenses
Legislation (S.B. 34) introduced by state Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R-Hilliard) would toughen disciplinary actions for educator licenses, adding to those that would be grounds for automatic denial or revocation.

In addition to specifying that a court finding of eligibility for intervention (in lieu of conviction) for criminal offenses specified in current law would trigger automatic denial or revocation, adjudication as a delinquent child for criminal offenses specified by the bill would, as well.

Some legislators are questioning whether a crime committed by a juvenile should later in life exclude them from the teaching profession.

Another key provision of the bill would end what some refer to as “passing the trash” in allowing school employees who have engaged inappropriately with students to move on to employment in another school or district.  The proposal would require the Ohio Department of Education to share reports of teacher misconduct (now confidential) in response to requests by districts considering individuals for employment.

Economic development linked to tech skills
Lt. Gov. Jon Husted recently spoke at a digital skills workshop sponsored by Google in Columbus, noting the link between boosting the technology skills of Ohio workers and the state’s economic development efforts.

“It can’t be just the people who have traditionally been in tech,” he said.  “It needs to be every single man, woman and child in this state preparing themselves for that future.  If you want to work or you’ve planned on working, technology is going to interact with you in some way.”

The DeWine Administration will work to foster collaboration between state agencies and the business community.

“Education can’t do this in isolation.  Business can’t do this in isolation,” he said.  “The closer we build those partnerships together, the better chance we stand of helping actually to make sure somebody who gets the job skills has exactly what they need.”

Bill introduced to expedite transfer of student records
Rep. Catherine Ingram (D-) recently introduced H.B. 111, which would require public and chartered nonpublic schools to transmit a transferred student’s records within five school days after receiving a request from the school or district the student is attending.  If the district or school does not have a record of the student’s attendance, it must provide a statement of that fact to the requestor.

Under current law, school officials must request a student’s records from the public or nonpublic school that the student most recently attended within 24 hours after a student’s entry into the new school.  Both state and federal law permit the transfer of student records between schools for legitimate educational purposes.  Currently, however, there is no statutory requirement that districts or schools must transmit a student’s records to the requestor.  

Bill proposes tax credit for teachers
Legislation (H.B. 121) recently introduced by Rep. Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster) calls for an income tax credit of up to $100 for teachers who purchase classroom instructional materials, including materials for home schooling.

The tax credit would be nonrefundable, meaning that if the credit is more than the net amount of tax due with the teacher’s annual tax return, the difference is not refunded.

To qualify for the credit, a teacher must be licensed to teach a grade between kindergarten and 12th grade (or be a home school teacher qualified to provide home instruction under Ohio law) and must use the materials for classroom instruction.