The purpose of this platform is to publicly state the positions of the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA) on a variety of issues facing public education. This platform will convey to legislators, policy makers, the public and the media where we stand. The platform also will guide the association’s advocacy efforts.

Each item in the platform has been approved by at least 75% of the voting delegates in the OSBA Delegate Assembly, where every member board of education has a vote.

The level of specificity in the language is by design. The platform is sufficiently precise to state the association’s position, but it is not so specific that it will tie the hands of the association and prevent it from achieving the best result consistent with the platform’s statements. Latitude must be given to the staff to interpret and apply the statements in the platform. However, the staff shall be accountable to the membership and shall keep the membership informed regarding progress in implementing the platform.

General principles

Recognizing that support of public education is an investment in Ohio’s future, it is resolved that the Ohio School Boards Association shall work in cooperation with parents, students, staff, community groups, members of educational organizations, state and local policy makers, and others to make the support of public education a state priority. The association will promote and support reform that will provide for a system of public schools that are accountable to the communities they serve and that prepare students to be productive citizens. The association shall promote the achievements of public schools, students and local boards of education.

Finance

The Ohio School Boards Association supports the creation and establishment of a funding system that provides for adequacy and equity in school funding for every public school in Ohio. The association believes that the governor and members of the Ohio General Assembly have a constitutional obligation to provide for a “thorough and efficient system of common schools,” [Article VI, section 2] and that the current system is neither thorough nor efficient, and it is neither adequate nor equitable. The association will support legislation that:

1. BASE-FORMULA AMOUNT — Establishes a process for determining the components and costs of a high quality education and provides that the state shall pay 100% of the cost for an adequate education for every child and 100% of the cost of categoricals that enable every school district to provide such an education to every student. The creation of such a system should not prohibit communities from voting to tax themselves to provide educational programs beyond the defined high quality components. The association believes parity aid should continue to be unrestricted. Decisions on how to spend parity aid should be a local decision. Ohio’s joint vocational career and technology schools should be eligible for parity aid.

2. PHANTOM REVENUE/CHARGEOFF — Aligns the local share (chargeoff) of the cost of a high quality education program with the tax reduction floor. The local share must be based on actual local revenues available at the chargeoff rate. All forms of phantom revenue must be eliminated.

3. CATEGORICAL PARITY — Establishes that the state, in addition to determining the cost of a high quality educational program, also must determine the additional costs necessary to provide educational services to students with special needs, such as students who are socially and economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities and students who require vocational or gifted educational services. The cost of providing educational services to students with special needs should be indexed to the cost of providing a high quality educational program for regular students, so that each component increases proportionately and in parity. Funding weights in addition to the cost of a basic education to provide educational services to special education, vocational education and gifted students should not be equalized. State funding for providing services to students with disabilities should be at 100%.

4. ROBIN HOOD — Provides the funding changes necessary for adequacy and equity and to support a high quality educational program for all public school students regardless of their geography. This must be accomplished without lowering the funding of other districts.

5. POOLING — Rejects the pooling of local property tax revenues and/or the diverting of locally approved revenues to other entities.

6. TAX ABATEMENTS — Requires that local boards of education be involved in all discussions and decisions regarding tax abatements. Local boards should have the authority to enter into negotiations to receive compensation for lost revenues with entities granting abatements and with businesses receiving abatements. Boards also should have veto power if, in their judgment, the abatements adversely impact their district; receive state mandated compensation based on all payroll generated from the abatement (whether tenant or owner); receive all reports, studies and information available regarding the abatement; and have standing to institute legal action if a firm has not complied with the terms of a tax abatement.

7. DIVERSION OF VOTER-APPROVED TAX REVENUE — Supports legislation that will prohibit the diversion of voter-approved tax money without the approval of voters and opposes any legislation that diverts voter-approved tax funds to another purpose without voter approval.

8. INFLATIONARY GROWTH — Provides for inflationary growth to ensure an adequate and equitable funding system for Ohio’s public schools. School districts must realize real funding growth adequate to address revenue needs without requiring voter approval of new tax levies.

9. PUBLIC/NONPUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING — Establishes that state funding for public schools should not be less per pupil than state funding for chartered nonpublic schools. Ohio’s public schools should receive at least the same per pupil amount as the chartered nonpublic schools in Ohio receive.

10. SCHOOL DISTRICT INCOME TAX — Provides for increasing the senior citizen school district income tax credit. The association also advocates the establishment and enforcement of strict rules for reporting school district state income tax ID numbers.

11. SCHOOL BUS PURCHASE AND TRANSPORTATION REIMBURSEMENT — Provides for the revision of state standards for school bus purchase reimbursement to consider the age and condition of the bus to be replaced, as well as the mileage. The current formulas for bus purchase reimbursement need to be reexamined to make sure that schools are receiving the funding needed to replace their fleet in a timely manner. A state appropriation also should be made to replace all buses that are over 10 years old and do not have the latest safety features.

12. TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX BASE — Requires that school districts are notified when a challenge to the elements of the tangible personal property tax base is filed by a corporation, that the district have legal standing in the case and that, in the event a repayment is necessary due to an error on the part of the taxpayer, there be no interest payment assessed. The association opposes reduction or elimination of the tangible personal property tax base unless the revenue to school districts is permanently replaced dollar for dollar by the state legislature.

13. COURT-ORDERED JUDGMENT COUNTED AS DEBT — Requires that contractual agreements with the state and/or bonds issued to satisfy a court-ordered judgment will count as real debt for a district’s net indebtedness for participation in state assisted programs.

14. IMPACT FEES — Provides for local boards of education to propose to the voters an impact fee assessed on new housing to provide the additional revenues needed for capital expenses incurred in rapidly developing school districts.

15. ALL-SCHOOL-DAY/EVERY-DAY KINDERGARTEN FUNDING — Provides state funding for districts that choose to offer kindergarten throughout the school day in order to increase time on task for kindergarten students by counting all-school-day/every-day kindergarten students as one full-time equivalent (FTE) student in the district’s average daily membership (ADM). The state also should provide school facilities funding for districts that choose to offer all-school-day/every-day kindergarten, but do not have the facility space to accommodate a program.

16. COMMUNITY SCHOOL FUNDING — Prohibits the use of local tax dollars to fund community schools, except those sponsored by a locally elected board of education.

17. AVERAGE DAILY MEMBERSHIP (ADM) — Supports enrollment calculations that allow school districts to prepare and provide programs and services in a way that does not harm the education experiences of students. The association opposes any change from average daily membership to average daily attendance.

18. TAX REFORM — Provides for an overall reform of Ohio’s current tax system that is reflective of the current-day economy. This reform should be stable and competitive. All sectors of the economy should pay a fair share of the cost of public school education and state government.

19. LOCAL TAXING OPTIONS — Supports local taxing options that would allow flexibility at the county, district or regional levels for school districts.

20. MEDICAID — Supports the creation of a state program that substantially reimburses school districts for medical and related services as required by the individuals with disabilities education act provided to Medicaid eligible students.

21. EARMARKING/TAX INCREASES — Provides the necessary revenues to support an adequate and equitable system of funding public schools in Ohio and to permit them to offer a high quality educational program to every student. To do so, the association believes it will be necessary to:

A. Earmark a percentage of state revenues for the elementary and secondary public schools of Ohio; and

B. Provide an increase in state revenues either through the enactment of an increase in the state sales tax and/or the state personal income tax. The increase should be earmarked for education and be deposited along with the earmarked state revenue funds into a “State Public Primary and Secondary Education Trust Fund.”

22. PROPERTY TAX RELIEF — Increases property tax relief on Class I residential/homestead property. Funding for the increase in property tax relief should not come from the existing funding for elementary and secondary education and should be in addition to any new funds. The association supports legislation that would eliminate the overreliance on local property taxes.

23. ASSESSMENT RATES — Replaces lost revenues with state funds in the event of legislation that results in local revenue losses, such as a reduction of the tax base, exemptions from taxation or other tax structure changes.

24. FACILITIES — Provides for safe facilities that meet building codes, are conducive to providing educational services and support the inclusion of technology in the classroom. The association supports a state facilities funding program that provides access to state support when local school districts determine that a facility program is required. This program should be subject to state standards for school construction, rather than on a state prescribed schedule. The association supports using median income of the district’s residents as a measure of fiscal capacity in addition to recognized valuation. Changes in valuation resulting from legislative or judicial action should immediately be reflected in the formula. No district should be required to incur a debt limit that will harm a district’s financial position, and the 1/2 mill maintenance requirements should be repealed. The association further believes that school buildings determined to be unsafe by local fire and health departments should be upgraded immediately. Local boards of education that have such buildings in their district should be given the authority to impose an emergency capital improvements levy to upgrade and correct the unsafe conditions in the facility. In addition, the state should provide its full faith and credit as backing for all local facility bonds.

25. UNFUNDED MANDATES — Prohibits Congress, the Ohio General Assembly, and/or federal and state administrative agencies from enacting and/or promulgating statutes and rules that result in unfunded and underfunded mandates. Fiscal impact statements should accompany all school-related proposed statutes and rules.

26. BALLOT ISSUES — Prioritizes the support of public education as the number one priority of the state. The association wishes to reiterate that the enactment of an adequate and equitable funding system for the public schools of Ohio is a constitutional responsibility of the General Assembly, with oversight from the courts. Any initiative to shift the balance of power between the courts and the Ohio General Assembly will be opposed. The association pledges support to work with the governor and members of the General Assembly to enact a system of public schools that have adequate and equitable resources, enabling them to provide high quality educational programs for all students. If the General Assembly and governor fail to provide for an equitable and adequate system of funding for public education, the association endorses the concept of presenting a citizens’ petition to the people of Ohio to amend the Ohio Constitution. If it is necessary to take the required provisions to the people of Ohio for their approval, the association stands ready and willing to endorse such a measure and work toward its passage, provided the measure represents the best interest and agreed direction of the Ohio School Boards Association and the public schools of Ohio.

27. EDUCATIONAL SERVICE CENTERS FUNDING — Provides an adequate funding mechanism for educational service centers that is linked to the base formula amount, is adjusted by the cost of doing business factor and provides for inflationary growth. State funding for facilities should be a part of the educational service centers’ funding formula. Educational service centers are a vital link and partner in the educational process providing curriculum development, staff development, technology assistance and special education services as well as other services for the districts they serve.

28. SCHOOL DISTRICT LIABILITY — Imposes a reasonable limitation on the damages assessed against a school district. Excessive court judgments against school districts can seriously impair the ability of a school district to provide an adequate education to its students. School districts also should be able to recover legal costs for any appeal of a court judgment where no monetary damages were issued by the court.

29. STATE FUEL TAX EXEMPTION — Exempts fuel purchased by boards of education from the state fuel tax.

30. SELF-INSURED WORKERS’ COMPENSATION PROGRAM — Allows all public school districts in Ohio to self-insure for the purposes of workers’ compensation programs.

31. COST OF DOING BUSINESS FACTOR — Ascertains the true cost impacts through an analysis of the cost differentials. The association opposes any reduction in the cost of doing business factor. The result shall be reflected in the school funding formula.

32. MRDD SERVICES — Develops a process for fair financial compensation to those school districts who provide the educational services to students that are within the jurisdiction of the county MRDD, but whose MRDD board declines to provide financial compensation to the actual provider.

33. GAMBLING — Opposes any expansion of gambling that is linked to K-12 education funding.

34. CHARGE-OFF SUPPLEMENT — Excludes new operating levies from the charge-off supplement calculation. When a school district passes a levy, the new local revenue raised reduces the charge-off supplement payment from the state dollar for dollar. This creates a disincentive for districts to build their local share of funding.

35. SCHOOL DISTRICT LEVY REDUCTION/REPEAL — Prohibits the reduction or repeal of a continuing levy by citizen petition and vote within the first five years of such a levy.

36. TAXATION/SPENDING LIMITATIONS — Opposes any legislative or constitutional amendment proposal that restricts local taxation and spending by school districts.

37. PREKINDERGARTEN FUNDING — Supports full state funding for traditional public school districts that choose to provide prekindergarten programs.

38. STUDENT ENROLLMENT ACCOUNTABILITY — Opposes the transfer of funds from a public school to a community school or voucher school without complying with the legal requirements for enrollment or withdrawal.

Students and learning

The Ohio School Boards Association recognizes that every child can learn, and every child will learn if the conditions are right. The key component to establishing the right educational environment is the relationship between the students, parents, the school district and the community. Each needs to be accountable for sharing in the process. The association will support legislation that:

1. CURRICULUM — Localizes decisions regarding the adoption of curriculum, textbooks and instructional materials with the local board of education, with advice and input from the staff, parents, students and members of the community.

2. TECHNOLOGY — Provides the funds necessary, equalized based on district wealth, to provide for the hardware, software, staff instructional inservice and infrastructure necessary to provide access to modern technology. Every public school district and classroom should have this access, regardless of the wealth or geography of the district.

3. SCHOOL YEAR/SCHOOL DAY — Provides more flexible school schedules to adequately meet the needs of all students. In addition, the state should provide funding for all-school-day/every-day kindergarten for districts that choose to offer it, and provide additional state aid for increasing the school year for staff development and parent conferences.

4. ASSESSMENTS — Aligns state assessment laws with the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Assessments should be used as a diagnostic tool to improve instruction and learning as well as for evaluation of school and district effectiveness. Any and all requirements associated with the implementation of these laws should be fully funded.

5. ADULT EDUCATION — Develops adult education programs in Ohio’s public schools. Ohio’s adult residents and employees have an ongoing need for education and training. The public school districts of Ohio should assist in meeting the adult education needs of the communities they serve.

6. ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS — Creates alternative schools for disruptive students and provides state funding for those schools. There should be at least one alternative school for disruptive students in each non-urban county and at least two in each urban county.

7. DISCIPLINE — Furthers the ability of educators to maintain control of their classrooms, buildings, facilities and other school property and offers appropriate discipline measures as determined by a locally developed, board-approved policy. All students have the right to learn in a school environment that is both safe and free of distraction.

Personnel

Ohio enacted one of the nation’s most comprehensive collective bargaining statutes in April 1984. The enactment of the collective bargaining bill, and a series of court cases, particularly in the area of teacher evaluation and nonrenewal, have made it extremely difficult for local boards of education to effectively manage schools. The association believes that changes and modifications to RC Chapter 4117, as well as to Sections 3319.11, 3319.111 and 3319.16, are urgently needed. The association will support legislation that:

1. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

A. CONFLICT OF INTEREST — Clarifies that the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement prevail over conflicting provisions of a statute.

B. THE BARGAINING TEAM — Rejects any restrictions on the exercise of free choice of either party in designating its representatives to the bargaining team.

C. SCOPE OF NEGOTIATIONS — Restores management rights to the collective bargaining statutes. The association asserts that there are some board affairs that are not appropriate matters for formal negotiations, but rather are for the sole and exclusive determination of the board, such as, but not limited to, the length of the school day and school year, class size, curriculum, course of study, and text book and instructional materials selection.

D. RIGHT TO ORGANIZE — Recognizes the right of employees to organize for professional, organization goals without interference, coercion or reprisal from the board or its representatives, and guarantees employees the right to refrain from joining any organization. Any attempt to negate the right to refrain from joining an organization by a scheme of fees or assessments or other coercion by an organization upon nonmembers should be opposed.

E. DISPUTE RESOLUTION — Allows the parties to negotiate a mutually satisfactory dispute resolution process. Further, the association supports legislation that prohibits any person or agency from intervening in negotiations or a job action without the agreement of all parties.

F. STRIKES — Prohibits strikes by public employees and provides penalties and sanctions imposed upon striking public employees that are an effective deterrent to such strikes. The association also supports limiting picketing at the residence and/or places of business of public officials and requiring a 10-day written notice prior to the commencement of picketing, striking or other concerted refusal to work. The association will oppose any legislative or judicial attempts to change those provisions.

G. BINDING ARBITRATION — Rejects any provision establishing binding arbitration upon matters of substance.

H. SUSPENSION OF CONTRACTS — Allows boards of education to suspend individual employment contracts for all types of employees for economic considerations. Further, the association will support legislation that would limit the ability of a local collective bargaining contract from impeding a district’s ability to perform such suspensions.

I. PROFESSIONAL COMPENSATION — Supports innovative approaches to employee compensation initiated on the local level.

2. EVALUATIONS — Provides for evaluations of all school employees and permits the removal of employees who do not correct identified deficiencies and improve their performance. The association believes local boards of education should adopt a periodic evaluation system of all school employees, including administrators. Employees who have deficiencies noted in the evaluation process should have a probationary period to correct deficiencies. Failure to correct deficiencies should be cause for termination. The components of such evaluation should be developed locally, and shall include job descriptions and performance standards. The association will oppose any legislation which would require evaluations of school personnel in a manner that would hinder a board’s ability to nonrenew an employee.

3. CONFIDENTIALITY OF PERSONNEL APPLICATIONS — Provides through the Ohio Public Records Act that applications for employment, including applications for promotion, are confidential and not subject to disclosure until the number of applicants is reduced to three or less.

4. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT — Requires institutions of higher education for teachers to include in their curriculum courses in technology and classroom and behavior management.

5. STRS/SERS RETIREMENT SYSTEMS — Opposes future benefit enhancements advocated by State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) and the School Employees Retirement System (SERS) unless the enhancement is accompanied with a reduction in the 14% employer’s share and repeal of the SERS surcharge. Ohio school employee retirement systems offer excellent benefits to their members and contribute to attracting and retaining employees. The association supports the school employee retirement systems and has not opposed benefit enhancements in the past. The association supports representation of school boards of education on the STRS Board and SERS Board. The association opposes any attempt to increase the employer’s share to cover increases in costs.

6. HEALTH CARE — Supports the concept of expanding health care pooling, provided school districts maintain local decision-making authority, their employees maintain quality benefit levels, and significant cost savings or other efficiencies may be created by the pooling.

School governance

The association believes that the cornerstone of public education in Ohio is locally elected boards of education, which are accountable to the citizens who elected them, while exercising local control in the establishment of policy and governance of their local schools. The association will support legislation that:

1. LOCALLY ELECTED BOARDS OF EDUCATION — Maintains local school boards, which exemplify representative government. Control of the public school system by locally elected board members produces an educational system responsive to each community’s desires. Legislative, judicial, executive and administrative actions that diminish local control will be opposed.

2. VOUCHERS — Opposes the use of public funds to expand programs in nonpublic schools. Vouchers, scholarships, tuition tax credits and similar programs will be opposed at the state and federal levels.

3. CHARTER/COMMUNITY SCHOOLS — Reforms the concept of charter/community schools, which are an alternative in providing educational services to students. The sponsorship of charter/community schools should be only through the local board of education. Creation of a charter/community school should not adversely impact a local school district. Base funding for each charter/community school should be provided by the state for all Ohio school districts. Funding provided to charter/community schools for special education, vocational education, poverty based assistance and transportation should be totally state funded. The state should develop a funding process where charter schools are held to the same reporting standards and data integrity requirement as each school district in Ohio. The state should eliminate the process of flow-through funding to charter/community schools. Charter/community schools students should be required to meet the state board minimum standards to receive a high school diploma. The association supports the adoption of statutory laws to require greater fiscal and administrative oversight of charter/community schools. The association supports full state funding for the purchase of additional buses required to provide transportation for charter/community school students. Charter/community schools, however, must be required to coordinate their transportation schedules with the district providing transportation services.

4. DEREGULATION — Expands deregulation to give local boards of education the authority to exempt themselves from state statutes and administrative codes that do not apply to chartered nonpublic schools and to proposed community/chartered schools. Further, educational service center governing boards should be given the permissive authority to transfer regulatory functions to local boards of education.

5. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION — Provides for the regulation of education standards by a State Board of Education that is an elected board, not an appointed/elected board. Further, the State Board of Education has a constitutional and statutory obligation to set forth the needs of public education in their budget and policy recommendations to the governor and members of the General Assembly. The association opposes any attempts to remove regulatory control of educational standards from the state board in fulfillment of its statutory responsibilities to set forth the needs of public education in Ohio including, but not limited to, the creation of a professional practice board.

6. EDUCATIONAL SERVICES — Ensures that school districts have access to quality regional educational services through the state’s educational delivery system. The delivery of these regional educational services shall be accountable to locally elected school board members.

7. SERVICE FUNDS — Supports the authority of local districts to set aside each year from their general fund a sum not to exceed two dollars for each child enrolled in the district, $20,000 or $4,000 per board member, whichever is greatest. Any city, local, exempted village or joint vocational career and technology school board of education, and any educational service center governing board by resolution can set aside this money in the “service fund.”

8. SALE OF REAL PROPERTY — Provides school districts with the flexibility to sell real property in a manner that offers the most benefit to the school district as determined by the locally elected board of education.

9. OPEN ENROLLMENT — Opposes the imposition of mandatory open enrollment policies and/or the mandatory expansion of open enrollment to nonadjacent districts.

Adopted November 11, 1996
Last modified November 12, 2007

Constitution and Bylaws
Advocacy OSBA


©Ohio School Boards Association, 2008