NEWS

State promises no funding cuts for Common Core opt-outs

Hannah Sparling and Chrissie Thompson
Gannett Ohio
  • State won't cut funding based on Common Core-test opt-outs.

Parents opting out of Common Core-based testing got some good news this week:

Stack of school books and apple on desk in empty classroom

One: It won't mean a cut in state funding.

And two: It won't influence grades, promotion or school-choice vouchers.

Technically, state law prohibits the Ohio Department of Education from funding students who didn't take a state test the previous school year, according to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Richard Ross.

However, the law also allows him to issue a waiver, permitting funding for those students, Ross wrote in an email he sent Tuesday to Ohio school officials.

"Under that authority, the department has, in the past, automatically funded these students for many years," Ross wrote. "We plan on continuing the same practice this year. This means that we will continue to fund each student in your district, regardless of their participation."

Schools could still see restrictions placed on federal funds, though that would only happen if less than 95 percent of students take the test at any one school or district — or, less than 95 percent of any subgroup, such as students in poverty.

Students across Ohio in February started taking the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers tests. The PARCC tests are centered around Common Core, and, in an effort to push back against the new standards, some parents are withdrawing their children from taking the exams.

There is no statewide data on opt-outs, but numbers seem to vary greatly among districts.

Re-enforcing Ross' announcement, the Ohio Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill that would offer "safe harbor" to students who opt out this year, meaning it won't influence grades or promotion. House Bill 7 is largely symbolic, but supporters say it provides another level of comfort for parents who don't want their children taking the new tests.

The bill will go back to the Ohio House then to Gov. John Kasich for approval.

"We're not sure what (the education department) is going to do or not do. What we did was clarify the law," said Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina. "The support of it in a bipartisan way, I think, recognizes the issues that all Ohioans are having with the testing mechanisms that are out there."

Meanwhile, GOP lawmakers are considering whether to call for changes to the PARCC exams. Ohio Senate Republicans on Wednesday launched a commission tasked with reviewing the content, format, technology and timing of the exams.

The group — which includes teachers, superintendents, testing experts and one parent — expects to make a recommendation on whether to scrap or tweak the PARCC exams by some time this spring. Any changes would need to pass into law by July to take effect next school year.

In the House, state Rep. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, has introduced a bill that would require the state to consider tests other than PARCC ahead of the 2015-16 school year. The state would be prohibited from accepting proposals from a consortia of states, excluding PARCC, which is a partnership of a dozen states.

Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, R-Clarksville, said House Bill 74 lines up with where House Republicans want to start the testing conversation.

hsparling@enquirer.com

cthompson@enquirer.com