HB368 – CCP Weighted Grades – The Ohio House Primary and Secondary Committee met this week to receive proponent testimony on HB368 which would allow districts to remove weighted grades from CCP (College Credit Plus) courses. The education management associations along with an AP teacher and a few AP students testified in support of the bill. The questioning was interesting. Again, most of the (See https://ohiochannel.org/video/ohio-house-primary-and-secondary-education-committee-10-13-2021 at approximately 38:00 for all the testimony on HB368. Go to https://ohiohouse.gov/committees/primary-and-secondary-education/meetings/cmte_h_primary_secondary_ed_1_2021-10-13-0900_854 to download testimony.) Most of the testimony centered around the viewed lack of rigor in CCP courses, the unfairness of CCP weighted grades, and local control. Under questioning, one of the witnesses did admit that the districts were angry about the outflow of money due to CCP.
State Report Cards Are Out – ODE released the 2020-2021 report cards today. Please note there are no grades associated with any components on the report cards due to the challenges in districts and schools caused by COVID-19. All information about the report cards can be found at https://reportcard.education.ohio.gov. Downloadable data can be viewed at http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Data/Report-Card-Resources. OAGC will be reviewing the gifted performance indicator information and providing an overview at a later date.
Please note that no financial information will be available until sometime in December.
State Board Meeting – In a meeting that lasted over 12 hours, the State Board of Education replaced its controversial equity resolution with a new resolution that sought to thread the needle between different factions on the board. The new resolution entitled “Resolution to Promote Academic Excellence in K-12 Education for Each Ohio Student without Prejudice or Respect to Race, Ethnicity or Creed” passed with a vote of 10 to 7. Will this end the months-long saga of testimony on equity at the State Board? We shall see next month.
The new interim superintendent, Stephanie Siddons, took the reins at this month’s board meeting. Unfortunately, very little was shared about the development or progress of the new report card (HB82) which must be in place by March 31, 2022.
New York City Cuts Gifted Program – As one his last acts as mayor, Bill De Blasio announced that New York City would be eliminating the gifted program instead opting for generalized teacher professional development. The move was blasted by many who hope that the incoming mayor, Eric Adams, will reverse this decision. Here is the NAGC press release condemning the move: http://www.nagc.org/about-nagc/media/press-releases/nagc-statement-new-york-city-mayors-plan-eliminate-gifted-education
The Fordham Foundation also produced a more in-depth editorial: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/bill-de-blasio-decimating-gifted-education-new-york-will-eric-adams-save-it