Ohio lawmakers at odds over length of school year

By JON CRAIG

COLUMBUS — Ohio House members from both political parties are questioning the wisdom of extending the school year.

During finance committee hearings at the Statehouse this past week, at which details of Gov. Ted Strickland’s two-year budget — including plans for funding schools — are being scrutinized, state Rep. Bob Mecklenborg said he’s concerned that extending the school year an extra 20 days will drive up teachers salaries by at least 11 percent.

Officials from the Ohio School Boards Association, the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association and other groups joined many state legislators in praising Strickland’s plan for considering a global economy while making the state’s funding system simpler, and presumably more transparent.

But Mecklenborg, a Republican from Green Township, joined others in wondering why the state is adding more mandates when public schools already are burdened with the need for frequent local property tax levies.

And state Rep. Denise Driehaus, another finance committee member, said she’s concerned a longer school year will cut into tourism — including business at Kings Island amusement park — and the summer employment of teens if they’re in school an extra month.

Driehaus, a Democrat who co-owns Philipps Swim Club in West Price Hill, said small business owners and those who operate seasonal operations such as public pools are concerned about the loss of student workers, who often take on a seasonal job when school ends.

“Why 20 [more] days?” Driehaus asked, saying she’d like to know how other states with longer school years fare, or consider shifting Ohio’s academic year to mirror states that start after Labor Day and end in late June.

Michigan passed a law in 2005 to start school after Labor Day, an effort to help its tourism industry. Indiana legislators have proposed a similar school calendar change.

Across the USA, two states — Virginia and West Virginia — require public students to be in school 200 days annually, while five other states are in session at least 190 school days, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality.

Some studies show lower-income students lag behind more privileged classmates in high school graduation rates and college attendance in part because of a summer learning gap that starts in elementary school.

All details of the school funding package have yet to be released but some goals — including extending the school year by 20 days and requiring all-day kindergarten and a four-year residency for new teachers — have some local school officials in cash-strapped districts worrying about more unfunded mandates from the state.

During a visit to Hamilton Freshman School in Butler County on Thursday, Strickland said some major changes he is calling for will be phased in gradually. For example, he said, all-day kindergarten will be installed over eight years and an expanded, 200-day school calendar, will be phased in over 10 years.

As part of his 2006 campaign, Strickland promised to devise a new school-funding plan that is less reliant on local property taxes. The governor’s “child-centered” plan, rolled out as part of the state budget this month, gradually increases the state’s share of funding, from 55 to 59 percent, adding an additional $925 million in 2010-11.

Yet 229 of Ohio’s 613 school district expect cuts or are “flat funded” the next two years. State Rep. Randy Gardner, a Republican from Bowling Green, said school districts faced with more programs but less money think Strickland’s new plan is full of “unfunded mandates.”

Scott Ebright, a spokesman for the Ohio School Boards Association, said most concerns being raised so far are from poorer, rural districts, which are not seeing major state funding increases yet would have to hire new staff. These might include licensed nurses, more kindergarten teachers, tutors or mentors for new teachers.