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State Board of Education MeetingNovember 11, 2014Columbus Convention Center400 N. High St.Columbus, OhioPresident Terhar, members of the State Board of Education, Superintendent Ross, ODE staff and guests,My name is Tim Katz, and I am the executive director of the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education (OAAE). I want to thank you for the opportunity to make this brief statement concerning the Revised Operating Standards, which just yesterday was passed by a narrow margin out of Committee and on to the full Board.The Ohio Alliance for Arts Education represents more than twenty arts and arts education organizations and thousands of arts educators in Ohio. Our members include the Ohio Music Education Association, the Ohio Art Education Association, OhioDance, and the Ohio Educational Theatre Association. We are also affiliated with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Alliance for Arts Education Network, based in Washington, D.C. I want to thank the Operating Standards Committee for their thoughtful efforts to revise Operating Standards with the intent of improving opportunities for success for schools and school-age children throughout the state of Ohio. I would also state for the record that the Operating Standards Committee, through the leadership of its Chair, Ron Rudduck, has been receptive to input from the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education throughout the past year. We appreciate the respect and tremendous courtesy shown us throughout the term of the Committee’s work. However, as was pointed out by several of the Committee’s own members during yesterday’s session, there are issues and concerns that were raised over the past several months about which definitive conclusions were never reached; and there are issues arising now, over the past several days, that have not been previously discussed by the Committee.The OAAE has three recommendations regarding the revisions of Rule 3301-35-05 (A) (3) Educational Service Personnel (commonly referred to as Rule 5), and Rule 3301-35-01 (B) (13) Definition - Educational Service Personnel.1) Regarding Rule 5: We do not believe that the revised Rule provides adequate incentives or guidance for school districts to employ educational service personnel to support student learning. We recommend that the original rule be restored. 2) Regarding Rule 1, the definition of educational service personnel has been revised now to include positions that might not require the employment of licensed teachers, which we believe undermines the whole purpose of the Rule. We would like to point out to the State Board that the revised language for 3301-35-05 (A)(3) applies to “credentialed” educational service personnel, but some of the categories that have been added in the definition of educational service personnel (Rule 3301-35-01 (B) 13, might not be credentialed staff. We recommend that the original rule be restored.3) We also recommend that the number of educational service personnel employed by a school district and school building be reported in each category on the local report card, so that the availability of educational service personnel in the schools is made public. We believe that school districts that employ librarians, nurses, and elementary arts teachers should be recognized for providing a comprehensive education program, and the data collected on the report card could be used to determine appropriate ratios for educational service personnel in the future. The State Board of Education has the authority to collect and report additional information on the local report pursuant to section 3302.03 (G) of the Revised CodeThe original purpose of Rule 5, regarding Educational Service Personnel, was to incentivize school districts to provide a comprehensive education program, including elementary art, music, and physical education teachers, and to provide students with access to educators with additional expertise to support student learning, achievement, health, welfare, and success, such as librarians, school nurses, counselors, etc. This Rule was at one time aligned to Ohio’s school funding formula, and provided a financial incentive (in the form of additional state funds) for school districts to employ educational service personnel. School districts were also penalized (lost state funds) for not meeting this requirement. As the school funding formula changed over the years, the funding adjustments were eventually eliminated from law, leaving this section still in rule. Although the financial incentives were eliminated in law years ago, the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education supports the overall best practice that this rule promotes, and how it aligns with the purpose of operating standards. We ask that you stop and consider the purpose of our State Board of Education’s Operating Standards, that is, “to assure that all students are provided a general education of high quality,” and to create “the best learning conditions for meeting the personalized and individualized needs of each student.” The purpose of the Standards says nothing about providing school districts with flexibility or more local control, but focuses on the educational needs of the STUDENTS, and the type of education system that THEY need and deserve to prepare them for careers and higher education.The Ohio Alliance for Arts Education believes that the revised Rule, which does not include the ratios or the 5 of 8 original categories of Educational Service Personnel, simply does not do enough to encourage best practice or the best conditions for student learning. The revised Rule 5 leaves Ohio schools less accountable than before to the very real needs of students, and as guidance renders the Operating Standards less responsive than before to the holistic needs of children and the development of creative thinking skills the 21st Century demands. There is a very real possibility, given the financial and other pressures schools routinely experience – especially poorer rural and urban school districts – that as a result, school districts will employ fewer educational service personnel, which could decrease the number of learning opportunities and support services for students. Therefore the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education still supports our original recommendation, and requests that the State Board of Education conduct a study with a view to revising the recommended ratios. In the meantime, we recommend that most of the original language - and the intent of the Rule - be retained. Surely there is an opportunity for a simple compromise here, and I respectfully extend to the Board our offer to help craft a simple and brief revision which meets the needs of all constituents and which will satisfy your desire to update and modernize these Operating Standards. A simple compromise could make this document more useful, and better targeted to the long-term needs of pre-K to 12 students. Why would any of us not want to stop and make absolutely sure these Operating Standards provide the most effective guidance to Ohio schools for years to come?This year the SAT mean scores for Ohio students who reported taking 4 years of courses in the arts and music was 576 in reading (21 points higher than the Ohio mean for all SAT takers); 575 in math (13 points higher than the Ohio mean for all SAT takers); and 555 in writing (20 points higher than the Ohio mean for all SAT takers).?Nationally this year, the SAT mean score for students taking arts and music courses was 534 in reading (37 points higher than that of all SAT takers), 536 in math (23 points higher than that of all SAT takers), and 523 in writing (36 points higher than that of all SAT takers).? Americans for the Arts reports that researchers have found that students who are exposed to the arts have a higher graduation rate, and college students with lower incomes are more likely to complete college if they have participated in the arts. Those employed in the creative industries, including engineers, artists, and scientists, were more likely to hold on to their jobs during the 2008-2010 recession, according to a study in the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society. And, researchers in Michigan have found that participating in the arts as a hobby, such as painting or playing in a band, "is a better predictor for career success in any discipline than IQ, standardized test scores, or grades".If the purpose of Ohio’s State Board of Education and its Operating Standards is “to assure that all students are provided a general education of high quality,” than those Operating Standards must provide clearer guidance, and stronger leadership to schools regarding arts education, as well as the services of professional library, and health care educators, than the revised Rule 5 and the Definition of Educational Service Personnel currently offers. Thank you for this opportunity to share our recommendations, and we look forward to working with the State Board and the Ohio Department of Education over the next few weeks to develop a set of Operating Standards that ensures high quality and the best learning environments. ................
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