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The Thomas B. Fordham Institute & Foundation believes that all children deserve a high quality K-12 education at the school of their choice. In our home state of Ohio, we strive to close achievement gaps by raising standards, strengthening accountability, improving school funding systems, and expanding education options for parents and families. We specifically advance the reform of Ohio education by:

• engaging in solid research and provocative analysis;
• disseminating information and ideas that shape the debate;
• supporting quality schools and organizations in Dayton and throughout the Buckeye State;
• sponsoring charter schools in Ohio and building their academic excellence; and
• informing Ohio policy makers at every level about promising solutions to pressing education problems.

Visit the Thomas B. Fordham Institute Ohio homepage.

Check out our blog, Flypaper.

Subscribe to our bi-monthly policy newsletter, The Ohio Education Gadfly.

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“Maintaining and strengthening Ohio’s accountability system is a top priority for the next biennium. With the GOP in charge of every major statewide office and both chambers of the legislature, there’s political will to move the ball forward with overhauling eacher evaluations, abolishing antiquated seniority-based preferences for hiring and firing teachers, and expanding school choice programs. But with the state’s enormous budget deficit may come the temptation to put testing on the chopping block, or water down existing accountability metrics for district and charter schools. Fordham will be pushing for more autonomy for school districts, but only in exchange for tighter accountability,” says Terry Ryan.

• Fordham Ohio has been keeping busy with a number of different analyses looking at everything from school governance options, to why Ohio needs a reading guarantee. Did you know that Ohio currently has a reading guarantee, but that it has never been fully implemented? We explain the history of the reading guarantee and why we need to earnestly implement it. The team at Fordham Ohio also took a look at Ohio’s teacher evaluation reform efforts, as well as how voucher students are performing across the state compared to their traditional school peers.

• Can we work smarter together? That was the question on people’s minds at a forum last month sponsored by Fordham, the Nord Family Foundation, Ohio Grantmakers Forum, ESC of Central Ohio, Ohio Education Matters, and Public Performance Partners. The event, Working Smarter Together: Enhancing savings and performance for local schools and governments, featured several keynote speakers (including Auditor of State Dave Yost), and a panel discussion about real-world examples of efficiency and cooperation in local government. To find out more about this important and timely issue and view footage from the event click here.

• June 2010 Ohio committed itself to adopting the Common Core standards in math and English language arts (ELA). In an attempt to ensure that these new standards are complemented with rigorous training for current and future teachers, and that the curriculum is aligned at the local level, states must choose from two different consortia who are working with states during the transition process. States must either choose from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) or the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC). Some state have already chosen one, Ohio has not. A recent primer produced by Kathleen Porter-Magee, Jamie Davies O’Leary and Emmy Partin outlines the characteristics of SBAC and PARCC and raises implementation concerns for Ohio as it moves forward with this decision.

• Revised considerably by the General Assembly, Governor Kasich’s budget plan (House Bill 153), a 5,000-page document that both funded the Buckeye State through fiscal year 2013 and included dozens of education-policy changes, was signed into law on June 30. The Ohio House and Senate were also engaged during the spring in passing other legislation that impacts schools.

  It’s time to take stock. To what extent have Ohio’s leaders met the challenges and opportunities before them in K-12 education? What needs to happen next? Fordham reflects on these questions - and offers recommendations and cautions as the state implements recently passed reforms - in its post-budget analysis, After the Budget, What Next? Ohio's Education Policy Priorities.

• Ohio's FY 2012-13 budget has been passed and signed, and it is full of changes to K-12 education policy. What does this mean for the Buckeye State and its 1.9 million students? Read Fordham's response here. Hint: the devil is in the details and implementation and leadership from the State Board of Education, the next state superintendent, and the Ohio Department of Education will be crucial to uphold the intent behind many of the budget reforms. Fordham Ohio also took a more granular look at how various provisions of the budget will affect voucher eligibility, teachers (being re-tested in subject area knowledge), and charter school start-up regions.

• Fordham previously warned of the serious risks involved with the charter provisions that the House inserted into Ohio’s biennial budget, and urged the Senate to remove such provisions. In its just released version of the budget, the Senate removed language that had the potential to move charter schools in the Buckeye State back decades, and they should be applauded for that. However, they also removed good teacher personnel language. The governor’s original budget contained strong language that would end LIFO and create a meaningful foundation for Ohio to hire, retain, dismiss, develop, and support teachers based of effectiveness instead of seniority. Terry Ryan’s op-ed in the Dispatch makes the case why these teacher provisions must remain in the budget. Fordham Ohio also produced a video detailing what the Buckeye State can learn from DC’s teacher evaluation system. Read about it and watch the video here.

• The Ohio House recently released its version of the budget bill, but several amendments would dramatically turn back the clock on progress the state has made toward better charter school quality and accountability. Among some of the most troubling parts of the bill include allowing charter school operators to apply directly to the Ohio Department of Education and operate without a sponsor, as well as allow a charter school sponsor to open new schools without regards to the performance of their current schools. Fordham’s Terry Ryan weighs in on these amendments and what they mean for Ohio.  In addition, reforms advocates in Ohio had reason to celebrate recently with the signing of legislation that paves the way for Teach For America to establish a site in Ohio. The bill will also allow for TFA alums more easily get licensed to teach. Read more the signing of the bill here.

• The Ohio House Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary Education held hearings related to the proposed changes laid out in the HB153 (the budget). Fordham’s Terry Ryan was among many who testified before the committee. Terry offered support for issues such as Innovation schools/zones and praised the fact that this budget would hold charter schools and their sponsors more accountable. Furthermore, he stressed the importance of ensuring that all children are taught by highly effective teachers and called for an evaluation system based on performance metrics instead of seniority and credentials. Terry also spoke more about the importance of improving Ohio’s evaluation system in an op-ed that appeared in both the Columbus Dispatch and the Dayton Daily News.

• Fordham recently hosted Eric Hanushek, economist and education policy expert as he testified before a joint meeting of the Ohio House and Senate education committees. Hanushek’s testimony emphasized the importance that all education policies must create incentives for achievement. Another important development worth noting comes in the form of the passage of HB 21 and SB 81, legislation that paves the way for a Teach For America site in Ohio and makes it easier for alums of the program to get certified to teach here. Read about this exciting development here and Jamie Davies O’Leary’s testimony to the Senate Education Committee here. Kathryn Mullen Upton also testified before the Ohio Senate Education Committee in support of SB 86, a bill that would enable the creation of a charter school that would “serve adults of school age who are incarcerated or who have been released from the custody of the Department of Youth Services.” Fordham’s Terry Ryan testified in the Senate on SB 5 discussing the concerns of Ohio’s Superintendents. Read more here, view a video of Terry talking about his testimony on SB 5 here, or go straight to the transcript of his most recent version (delivered to the Ohio House Commerce and Labor Committee) here.

Terry Ryan
Vice President for Ohio Programs and Policy

Media Contact: Emmy Partin

(614) 223-1580