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State plan to lift specialty teacher rule draws flak
By Denise Dick
BOARDMAN
A recommendation from a state school board committee that would eliminate a requirement that school districts offer a certain number of specialty teachers is not a good idea, many Mahoning Valley educators said.
The changes, approved by a committee Monday and debated before the full school board Tuesday, haven’t been adopted by the full board. Another meeting is set for next month. If approved, it would have to go through a joint state House-Senate committee before returning to the board for final approval. Its effective date would depend on how those steps proceed.
“My first concern when they talk about flexibility with finances is that districts that are cash-strapped are going to whack these positions because it’s going to save money,” said Dave Pavlansky, president of the Boardman Education Association, the union that represents Boardman schoolteachers.
Current requirements, commonly called the “5 of 8 rule,” mandate school districts provide teachers in five of the eight areas per 1,000 students: counselor, library media specialist, school nurse, visiting teacher, social worker and elementary art, music and physical education.
Proponents of the change argue it would allow districts more flexibility in how they operate and spend money.
“I think most teachers are concerned about the education of the whole child,” Pavlansky said. “It takes an art teacher to teach a young person art in elementary school. It takes a music teacher to teach music to an elementary school. It takes someone dedicated to physical education to ensure children get out and run around. It’s important for them not only academically but also for them as human beings, as physical beings.”
He said there are schools in the western part of the country where children don’t have gym class or recess because the schools are focused on the students preparing for tests.
“We have to be very, very careful that we don’t turn schools from places to educate into places where children just get ready to take tests,” Pavlansky said.
He worries that’s the direction some districts are heading with so much emphasis on standardized testing.
State Rep. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-58th, sent a letter Tuesday to state school board members, outlining his opposition to the change. Hagan was elected last week to the state board, and his term begins next year.
Many districts have recognized the importance of social, emotional and physical well-being to a child’s learning, Hagan wrote.
“Instead of making it easier for cash-strapped schools — which many are after weathering state cuts to education over the last four years — to walk away from standards that invest in children in a holistic way, the state board has a responsibility to help districts meet these new challenges head-on,” he wrote.
Vince Colaluca, Austintown superintendent, said he also supports education of the whole child and he wouldn’t be in favor of cutting those programs.
But the change would give districts an option when budgets get tight. He doesn’t believe any district that could afford those programs would cut them. It may come down to what a particular district can afford and what that community is willing to support.
“I believe in those programs and think they help make well-rounded students, but I would never put down a district that had to eliminate them because of financial reasons,” Colaluca said.
Dennis Dunham, South Range superintendent, said the change would offer districts flexibility. “With that said, all programs have value to them and they’re good for kids.”
South Range voters last week rejected a 10-year, 3.9-mill operating levy that was to generate $707,500 annually. District officials are contemplating returning to voters. The district faces a projected $700,000 deficit in two years without additional money.
“It’s one of those things, no matter what you’re talking about, it’s people and programs that benefit kids,” Dunham said. “No matter what they are, they’re still difficult decisions whether it’s a mandate or not.”
Liberty Superintendent Stan Watson, whose district recently emerged from fiscal emergency, said lifting the requirement would offer another tool to districts facing difficult financial situations.
“My impression of it is it’s a tool for districts that are in a very serious situation, a desperate situation,” Watson said. “It’s certainly not something I would recommend. We went through a desperate situation without sacrificing those programs.”
Larry Ellis, president of the Youngstown Education Association, the union for Youngstown city schoolteachers, is against the potential change, too.
He believes it would hurt kids by cutting programs and services that foster creative thinking. Fewer teachers teaching those classes means less opportunity for students to take them.
“I think that’s a bad way to go,” Ellis said.
The change also could affect school nurses, positions that already have been cut in many districts, he said. Nurses split their time among school buildings.