Saturday, October 29, 2022

Upcoming Events

 


Upcoming Events

Save the Date: Annual Ohio PTA Convention, Friday, April 14th – Sunday, April 16th, 2023 at the Nationwide Hotel Conference Center, Lewis Center, Ohio.


Important Information

IRS 990 filing and the Ohio Charitable Registration, on the checklist, are required to be completed by November 15th, 2022."

First-time dues remission must be sent via MemberHub by November 30, 2022, to remain a unit in good standing.

We offer our units a free IRS990 filing service- File990.org


See your bylaws - Article IV: Section 3 and Section 5 for more information.

Article IV—Relationship with National PTA and Ohio PTA


-Section 3. This local PTSA to be in good standing with Ohio PTA:

a. Adheres to the purposes and basic policies of PTA,

b. Remits the initial payment of National and Ohio PTA dues to the Ohio PTA by November 30, 2022.


-Section 5. This local PTSA not in good standing by:

a. November 30:

1. Shall not be eligible for awards.

2. Shall have their unit removed from the mailing list of the Ohio PTA.

3. Shall not be eligible to participate in the Reflections program of the Ohio PTA.


Ohio PTA Nominating Committee is Looking for Leaders!

Advocating for our families and making every child’s potential a reality takes the passion and dedication of many volunteers. Leaders at the state level of PTA come from all corners of our state. The legacy of Ohio PTA continues to thrive because of the leaders developed from the local unit, council, and region PTAs as well as those who bring specific volunteer and/or professional expertise to our advocacy. PTA leaders have diverse talents and abilities, and each person adds something unique to the team. If you are interested in serving on the Ohio PTA Board of Directors - please see the attached letter of Interest. The deadline for all materials to be received by the Nominating Committee chair (beresgerri@gmail.com) is October 31st, 2022.


Congratulations and a welcome to the new chartered units:

Ferdinand Schumacher CLC PTA, Akron Council

AF Falcons PTSA, Austintown Council

Euclid Early Learning Village, Euclid Council


Helping Hands and put the T in PTA Awards

Ohio PTA has two awards for units ( in working with their councils OR if you don't have a council ) to participate in recognizing outstanding individuals. The Helping Hand Award is for a volunteer who has made a positive impact on the lives of children and always helping at the PTA. The T in PTA is a way to recognize a certified staff that always goes above and beyond for the PTA, and its programs, or has made a positive impact in the lives of children. Further guidelines are on the forms- see attached!


Resources

Joe Mancini is the Ohio Connectivity Champions Coordinator, an Ohio Department of Education grant-funded program that assists families to find affordable and reliable internet connectivity. Ohioans with the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a $30 discount on internet costs for eligible families. Here is the Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/OHConnectChamps

For more information email Joe Mancini at joe.mancini@managementcouncil.org


Social Media – Stay Informed!!

Social Media Spotlight: We update our Ohio PTA Facebook page often, have you friended us on Facebook? https://www.facebook.com/OhioPTA/


Thanks for all you do!! We appreciate your Partnership!!


2022-2023 T in PTA .docx

2022-2023 Helping Hands.docx

2022 SOA Checklist.pdf

OPTA-Potential-Board-Member-Application-2022-Final.pdf




Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Vouchers



Source: Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding

A Reminder That a 2017 Stanford University Study Indicates That Vouchers Do Not Improve Student Achievement


It has been common knowledge for several years that vouchers do not improve student achievement, as evidenced by the 2017 Stanford University study. More recent studies in Ohio and elsewhere agree. However, a few voucher zealots and their political allies in the 134th Ohio General Assembly are bent on passing HB290, a universal voucher bill. Voucher zealots know the data but still try to convince potential voucher users that they are better off in a private voucher school. The voucher lobby however continues to change its rhetoric. Recently the lobby just puppets “fund the student—not the system.”

Support the E&A Coalition’s challenge to the constitutionality of the EdChoice voucher scheme.

Vouchers do not improve student achievement, Stanford researcher finds

Education professor Martin Carnoy analyzed 25 years of research and found that voucher programs do not significantly improve test scores. Carnoy says vouchers distract from proven policies and programs with proven impact on test scores and graduation rates.

BY CARRIE SPECTOR

Proponents of “school choice” say that voucher programs – which allow parents to use state education funds to enroll their children in private schools – promote learning by providing access to different types of schools and by fostering competition that motivates public schools to improve.

But there’s no evidence that voucher programs significantly increase test scores, according to a new report by Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) Professor Martin Carnoy.

At best, they have only a modest impact on high school graduation rates, Carnoy found – and the risks they pose outweigh any advances.

“The evidence is very weak that vouchers produce significant gains in learning,” Carnoy said. “They also carry hidden costs, and they’re distracting us from other solutions that could yield much higher returns.”

Assessing the impact

The report, published by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), was initiated shortly after Betsy DeVos was nominated to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education. DeVos, who was confirmed Feb. 7, has pushed for the expansion of school vouchers nationwide.

Carnoy analyzed research conducted over the past 25 years, including studies of programs in Milwaukee, New York City, Washington, D.C., Indiana and Louisiana. Most studies have evaluated the impact of vouchers through test scores (as a proxy for student achievement) and high school graduation and college enrollment rates (indicators of school performance).

In Milwaukee, where the nation’s second-largest (after Indiana’s more recent) voucher program has been operating for almost 20 years, only a quarter of students attend their neighborhood school. “If choice were the answer, Milwaukee would be one of the highest-scoring cities in the country,” Carnoy said.

But test score data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tell a different story. Among black eighth-graders in 13 urban school districts, Milwaukee – where black students make up more than 70 percent of all voucher recipients – ranked last in reading and second-to-last in math.

In cases where test scores did improve, Carnoy said, the increase appeared to be driven by increased public accountability, not vouchers. A four-year study in Milwaukee found no greater gains in state test scores among voucher students attending private schools until the legislature announced that all private schools accepting voucher students would be required to take the test and that the results would be made public. Researchers concluded that publicizing the results for the first time pressed these schools to focus more teaching on elements that might appear on the test, which helped increase their scores.

While research has found some small gains in voucher schools’ graduation and college enrollment rates, Carnoy said there’s no evidence indicating whether this was due to private school competition – as free-market proponents contend – or to private high schools’ willingness to shed less-motivated students.

Hidden costs

The report also disputes the common claim that vouchers cost less per student than traditional public education. “The cost argument is flawed,” Carnoy said, because the savings that private schools enjoy couldn’t be sustained if voucher programs were implemented much more widely.

For one thing, a private school that accepts vouchers can ease out low-performing students, even if initially required to admit them by lottery. Also, administering a voucher plan is expensive: Carnoy cited research estimating that record-keeping, student transportation and other costs associated with vouchers could raise public educational costs by 25 percent or more.

One alarming long-term cost of a voucher system, Carnoy said, is the impact it could have on the teaching pipeline. Public education’s tenure and pension system offers security that compensates for relatively low pay and that helps to retain experienced teachers. Without these benefits, he said, fewer young teachers would be likely to enter and remain in the profession.

Private schools in a largely public system save money by hiring young teachers who seek training and experience and have the option to go on to competitive positions at public schools. A mainly private system would eliminate the salary and tenure benefits of the public system, he said, exacerbating the teacher shortage and diminishing teacher quality on average.

“Supporters make the argument that vouchers are still cheaper, even if they don’t produce gains, but they’re using a false measure of the real cost of these schools,” said Carnoy, who has authored more than 40 books and 150 articles on economics and education.

Proven strategies

The report also draws attention to policies and programs that have been shown to improve student learning.

“There are many policy changes that are likely to have much higher payoffs than privatization,” said Carnoy, including teacher training, early childhood education, after-school and summer programs, student health programs and heightened standards in math, reading and science curricula.

These strategies appear to generate far more meaningful results than those estimated for voucher students, he found. And given the potential downsides, he said, expanding voucher programs just for slightly higher graduation rates “seems rather unreasonable.”

Media Contacts
Martin Carnoy, Stanford Graduate School of Education: carnoy@stanford.edu
Brooke Donald, Stanford Graduate School of Education: (650) 721-1402, brooke.donald@stanford.edu