Gov. DeWine Questioning Plan to Replace Academic Distress Commissions, Says He May Not Support

 

Governor Mike DeWine has announced he may not support House Bill 154, legislation pending in the Senate Education Committee that eliminates the Academic Distress Commissions. It passed the House May 1st and was rolled into the House version of the budget a week later. The Senate removed the provision and passed the budget without it.

DeWine’s concerns were reported in Gongwer, “What I hope comes out of the General Assembly…is a bill that would get assistance to schools when we have the first indication that there is a failure in that school. The system we have today is we wait until that school falls off the cliff.”

“A solution has to involve more involvement by the local school board, by the local community,” the Governor told Gongwer in July. “Having said that, we can not turn our back on these kids. We can not say that when we have a failing school that the status quo is acceptable.”

State Senator Andrew Brenner (R-Powell) sits on the Senate Education Committee. He told The Ohio Star the Senate is split into thirds over the bill with no clear path forward. He plans to meet with the Governor this week to discuss it and believes he and Governor DeWine share the same concerns.

“Do we need to do something? Absolutely,” Brenner declared. “But the bottom line is we need to put the kids, not the adults, first. I support local control, but if the board and the school are more concerned about payroll and union dues than giving kids a real education, the state needs to intervene for those children and give them real options.”

The Senate Democrats tweeted Sen. Teresa Fedor’s (D-Toledo) thoughts on the bill, “Sen. @teresa_fedor said that in addition to concerns about union contracts and current academic distress districts, the system still is based on state report cards, which she and others complain paint an inaccurate picture of schools.” Fedor is Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Education Committee.

 

Some of the components of HB 154 as passed the House include,

  • Dissolves all current academic distress commissions (ADCs) and repeals the law on the establishment of new commissions.
  • Requires a school district board of education previously subject to an ADC to establish an improvement team for each school building under the board’s control that also received an overall grade of ‘F’ for the previous school year, beginning July 1, 2019.
  • Requires a district board not previously subject to an ADC to establish an improvement team for each school building under a board’s control when a school receives an overall grade of ‘F’ for previous school year, beginning July 1, 2020.
  • Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, using criteria developed by the State Board of Education, to review when a school may leave ‘in need of improvement status’.”

The Senate has had four hearings on the bill and accepted two substitute versions. They cancelled hearings on HB 154 that were scheduled September 18th and 24th. The bill was not on the agenda for this week.

The Academic Distress Commissions were given “teeth” by House Bill 70 in the 131st General Assembly. Districts fall into “distress” when they receive an overall grade of “F” on the state report card for three consecutive years. The law provides “progressive consequences for failure to improve,” which include appointing a CEO who may close school buildings and/or turn failing buildings into charter or STEM schools, and limit, suspend or alter union contracts.

House Bill 70 went into effect four years ago this month. Youngstown City, Lorain City and East Cleveland City Schools are currently under Academic Distress Commissions. Dayton City Schools will go into Academic Distress next year if they receive another “F” and the law is not changed.

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Beth Lear is a reporter at The Ohio Star.  Follow Beth on Twitter.  Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mike DeWine” by Eric Porter. CC BY-SA 4.0.

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2 Thoughts to “Gov. DeWine Questioning Plan to Replace Academic Distress Commissions, Says He May Not Support”

  1. […] we need to do something? Absolutely,” Brenner told The Ohio Star several weeks ago. “But the bottom line is we need to put the kids, not the adults, […]

  2. […] we need to do something? Absolutely,” Brenner told The Ohio Star several weeks ago. “But the bottom line is we need to put the kids, not the adults, […]

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