By Scott Miller
President
Posted: June 28, 2021 4:43 PM

The House on Friday finalized legislation establishing a revamped accountability system for the state's K-12 school buildings and districts.

The chamber voted 89-3 to concur in Senate amendments establishing a report card system with five graded categories and a five-star rating system.

The language had previously been added to legislation (HB 82) initially focused on allowing students to opt out of state-mandated college admissions tests. (LSC Analysis)

That measure cleared the Senate Thursday, teeing up a House concurrence vote Friday which prompted dissents from Rep. Diane Grendell (R-Chesterland), Rep. Derek Merrin (R-Monclova Twp.) and Rep. Jena Powell (R-Laura). (See Gongwer Ohio Report, June 23, 2021)

Rep. Don Jones (R-Freeport) said the changes are the fruit of a stakeholder process going back years.

"Our goals for report cards were to make them simpler, transparent, equitable and more accurate to get a better understanding of what's happening in our schools and this legislation accomplishes that," he said.

The five graded categories on the proposed report card would be achievement, progress, gap closing, early literacy and graduation rate.

A sixth component – college, career, workforce and military readiness would remain ungraded for at least three years.

Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Powell) has described the bill as a compromise between a proposal he led (SB 145) and a bipartisan House plan (HB 200).

The report card provisions in HB82 have won support from education interests including the Alliance for High Quality Education, Columbus City Schools, Ohio Excels, the Ohio Association for Gifted Children and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

Rep. Jones called it a "comprehensive piece of legislation" and a "fair compromise" between the two chambers.

"I'm very proud of the work we've done," Rep. Jones said.

Rep. Phillip Robinson (D-Solon) agreed, thanking the stakeholders who spent hours-long meetings to ensure the legislation could get across the finish line before summer break.

"This is a fair compromise given the circumstances," Rep. Robinson said. "We think this moves us in the right direction."

"This is a down payment," Rep. Robinson added. "There's still more work to be done."

Among those applauding the bill's movement was Chad Aldis, vice president for Ohio policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

"State legislators should be commended for making these smart, commonsense course corrections," Mr. Aldis said in a statement. "The new report card will allow Ohio to successfully reboot its school accountability system after pandemic-related pauses, drive academic improvements in schools for the benefit of students, and ensure that Ohio parents have honest, accurate information that helps them choose greater schools that work for their kids."

Ohio Excels also welcomed passage, with President Lisa Gray saying: "Ohio's business community understands the importance of maintaining a report card system that clearly, honestly and fairly evaluates schools and school districts, and we believe the updated school report cards in House Bill 82 will help keep Ohio a national model for measuring the success of our schools."