Governor addresses anticipated budget shortfall
Gov. Ted Strickland has announced more than $730 million in budget cuts to account for an expected drop in revenue through the end of June 2009, the end of the current biennium. The cuts were announced after the latest economic projections showed a budget shortfall ranging from $733 million to $1.9 billion. The amount of the shortfall depends on how much the economy grows — or fails to grow — and whether the nation slides into a recession.
As part of the governor’s budget repair plan, state travel, hiring and contracting expenses will be restricted. The plan includes staff reductions of 1,500 to 2,700 employees through early retirements, buyouts, attrition and layoffs. In addition to cuts, the governor announced an expansion of the Ohio Lottery that would include a state-run Keno game for bars and other venues that is expected to boost lottery profits by $73 million.
Strickland has stated that he will not increase taxes, and that if conditions worsen, he intends to seek additional revenue from the state’s $1 billion rainy day fund to balance the budget.
The cuts may have an indirect impact on education. The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) will have to trim more than $100 million from the agency’s budget: $51.8 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 and $49.7 million in FY 2009. The governor has asked ODE to implement a budget reduction strategy that exempts services critical to direct pupil education. The governor also directed that the foundation formula for K-12 funding be exempted from the reductions.
With more than 300 districts flat-funded in the biennial budget bill, House Bill (HB) 119, cutting funds to Ohio’s 1.8 million schoolchildren should be a last resort when it comes to balancing Ohio’s budget. OSBA issued a press release on Jan. 31 responding to the governor’s budget cuts that can be viewed at www.osba-ohio.org/files/013108_OSBAPressRel.pdf.
Legislation banning corporal punishment
State Reps. Jon Peterson (RDelaware) and Brian Williams (DAkron) introduced HB 406, which would prohibit corporal punishment in all public schools. Since 1993, Ohio has banned corporal punishment unless a local school board specifically acts to allow it. Currently, there are 17 school districts in Ohio that allow corporal punishment.
The bill also retains current law permitting public and private school employees to use force or restraint as reasonable and necessary to stop a disturbance, to obtain possession of a weapon, for self-defense or to protect persons or property. HB 406 is currently being heard in the House Education Committee.
Educator misconduct legislation
Additional legislation to address educator misconduct was introduced recently in both the House and Senate. HB 428, sponsored by Rep. Arlene Setzer (R-Vandalia), and Senate Bill (SB) 270, sponsored by Sen. Gary Cates (R-West Chester), follows in the footsteps of HB 190, initial legislation passed in November 2007.
HB 428 and SB 270 would automatically revoke the license of any educator who commits one of more than 80 offenses, instead of waiting for the State Board of Education to conduct a hearing process. The offenses are the same crimes that currently prevent a person from getting a teaching license in the first place. They include such crimes as murder, rape, unlawful sexual contact with a minor, gross sexual impositionand many drug and firearms offenses.
The bills also would require
school districts to remove an employee from the classroom if he or she is arrested for any of the disqualifying offenses. The employee, including licensed and nonlicensed, would be suspended from all duties that require the care, custody or control of a child.
Under the bills, ODE would have access to state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation arrest reports (“rap back”) for all licensed educators. A “rap back” is a daily report of all arrests compiled by the attorney general’s office. The daily arrest report would be checked against ODE’s list of licensed educators. If a licensed educator appears on the daily arrest report, ODE would notify the school district.
The bills also do the following:
- Change the description of who is liable for failure to report educator misconduct from entities to individuals. Currently, the reporting entity is the board of education; the bills would change this by designating the superintendent. If the superintendent or treasurer is the employee who must be reported, the president of the board of education must make the report.
- Grant ODE’s Office of Professional Conduct access to the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway (OLEG) in the attorney general’s office for background information when conducting a disciplinary action.
- Permit the State Board of Education to impose disciplinary action on a licensee if he or she is sent to an intervention or diversion program instead of prison.
- Provide civil liability protections for individuals who make good-faith reports about misconduct by licensed educators.
- Permit ODE to question a licensee or license applicant about an offense that is included as part of a sealed or expunged record, even though it does not bear a “direct or substantial relationship” to the person’s license or position.
SB 270 is currently being heard in the Senate Education Committee and the House Education Committee is holding hearings on HB 428.
For the latest legislative updates, please contact the OSBA legislative division at (614) 540-4000; or (800) 589-OSBA.
Editor's Note: All information in this article was current as of February 1, 2008.
