How are schools in Ohio doing?

COLUMBUS

Our public school rating system in Ohio is a joke.

Yes, I know, that’s a strong statement. I write it not to criticize teachers or school district administrators, who are simply playing the hands they’ve been dealt, but to voice the frustration of thousands of parents across Ohio who are having a hard time understanding the emerging attendance brouhaha and its implications for their kids.

There are two issues here that probably should have been addressed by the state long before now. The first concerns the likelihood that school districts have figured out how to game the system to inflate their report card results. The other concerns the format those report cards, which are supposed to give parents an idea of how well or poorly their schools are doing.

The Ohio Department of Education announced last week that it was revising a Hamilton County district’s card after it “falsely reported 36 students as withdrawn during the school year, thereby removing them from the district’s state testing results,” according to a release.

As state Superintendent Stan Heffner said in a released statement, “Dishonest actions that may inflate results are unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

The only problem is the attendance tweaking may not be an isolated incident. Results from other districts are being questioned, and state Auditor Dave Yost said his office is launching a review of attendance reporting practices statewide.

Ratings

Then there are the report cards themselves. A show of hands: How many parents really understand the difference between “Excellent with Distinction,” “Excellent,” “Effective” and “Continuous Improvement?”

How many have a grasp on “District Value-Added Data” or “Building Value-Added Data?” Or “Adequate Yearly Progress?” Or “Social Improvement Status?”

I’ve listened to state officials through hours of press conferences as they have attempted to explain this stuff and come out even more confused afterward by the gobbledygook that was spewed.

That’s not to say that a new A-F methodology, being pursued by Gov. John Kasich and others who want to make the ratings easier for parents to compare and contrast, would be any better, because smart bureaucrats and attorneys will eventually find a way to rig the new system.

Consider: The state banned payday lending, but smart payday lenders found enough loopholes in state law to offer essentially the same high-interest loans.

The state banned gambling via skill-based entertainment machines, and smart entrepreneurs and their legal counsel found enough loopholes to offer another form of unregulated gaming.

Marc Kovac is The Vindicator’s Statehouse correspondent. Email him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at OhioCapitalBlog.