With Gov. Mike DeWine spending the day before a holiday poring over a 1,200-page document debating line-item vetos, he had a lot of input from advocacy groups as to the final education budget.

A conference committee of Ohio House and Senate leaders last week, and on the last day of the month, the original deadline for passage of the budget, sent the document on to DeWine with a three-day extension.

Before it even hit the governor鈥檚 desk late Sunday night, education groups and some members of the Ohio State Board of Education had already sent messages urging vetos and explaining their lack of support for some parts of the education budget.

EdChoice vouchers

Ohio鈥檚 biggest teacher鈥檚 unions, the Ohio Federation of Teachers and the Ohio Education Association, joined with the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and think-tank Policy Matters Ohio to praise an increase in state funding that landed in the final budget via the Ohio House鈥檚 version, but also to express concerns about the private school vouchers expansion.

The groups, all part of a coalition called 鈥淎ll in for Ohio Kids,鈥� called the nearly $1 billion increase in public school funding as part of a phase-in of the Fair School Funding Plan 鈥渁 monumental step forward,鈥� considering multiple rulings in DeRolph v. Ohio, in which the state鈥檚 highest court said the public education system in Ohio was unconstitutional.

鈥淎fter decades of non-compliance with the Ohio Supreme Court rulings, the legislature is on the brink of finally meeting its constitutional responsibility to fairly fund Ohio鈥檚 public schools,鈥� the coalition said in a joint statement.

The funding increases, which also included current data accounting for real-time costs of education disabled students and those for whom English is not their native language, unfortunately don鈥檛 distract from the 鈥渟erious concerns鈥� the coalition said it had about private school vouchers.

The compromise budget included near-universal private school scholarship eligibility, in which households earning up to 450% of the federal poverty level, or $135,000 for a family of four, qualifies for a full scholarship.

The scholarships amount to $6,165 for K to 8 students and $8,407 for high schoolers.

But the financial help doesn鈥檛 stop there, even for those families making more than $135,000 annually.

鈥淪cholarships for students in families within incomes above 450% will be means-tested with scholarship amounts adjusted based on their income,鈥� Senate President Matt Huffman鈥檚 office said in announcing the new budget. 鈥淓very student in Ohio will be eligible for a scholarship worth at least 10% of the maximum scholarship regardless of income.鈥�

House Majority leadership said the program 鈥渋s designed to safeguard lower-income families and offers options beyond traditional public schools,鈥� according to a statement.

But the teacher鈥檚 unions and advocacy groups see the voucher 鈥渟cheme鈥� as a way to 鈥渆nsure that state support for our public schools will be diminished to pay for tuition for private school students, no matter how wealthy their family is or how their school performs.鈥�

鈥淧riority should be given to fully implementing the Fair School Funding Plan so that our public schools, where 90 percent of students attend school, receive the resources they need instead of expanding unaccountable private school vouchers,鈥� the coalition stated.

Preschool and child care

Even before K-12 education comes into play, the child welfare advocates at Groundwork Ohio say more could have been done within the budget to promote child care and preschool.

The group praised the restoration of $47 million the had removed in child care/preschool allocations, but pointed to the end of one-time COVID-era federal funding as a 鈥渕assive cliff鈥� that won鈥檛 be accounted for in the new budget.

The fact that the new funding won鈥檛 allow the publicly funded child care in the state to serve new children could result in the state 鈥渃ontinuing to trail behind the rest of the nation as we only will now offer public support to a family of three making at or below $16.05 per hour when the average cost of infant care is well over $11,000 per year across the state,鈥� according to a Groundwork budget analysis.

鈥淭he stark reality is that Ohio鈥檚 child care system is no more stable with this budget today than yesterday, despite years of parents, professionals and community leaders sounding the alarm 鈥� and the problem only gets worse,鈥� the group said in a statement.

One element of education that did see improvement was the school lunch program. Nutrition advocates are relieved that the conference committee discussions ended in the restoration of expanded school lunch programs, something that was removed by the Senate in the previous budget draft.

The new state budget, barring any unexpected changes from DeWine, will include reimbursements for school districts so that any child eligible for the free or reduced-lunch program can receive breakfast and lunch at no cost, as long as the school participates in the National School Breakfast or Lunch Program.

鈥淥hio should be incredible proud of this step to expand access to free breakfast and lunch for our students, which will directly support working families and which acknowledges that adequate nutrition is an essential part of every child鈥檚 ability to learn, grow and fulfill their potential,鈥� said Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, in a statement.

SB 1

It wasn鈥檛 just advocacy groups speaking out against the inclusion of language previously a part of , which splits the Ohio Department of Education into the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, puts the department under the authority of the governor鈥檚 office, and limits the State Board of Education.

Seven of the members of the board to DeWine the day he received the budget asking for him to veto the voucher expansion, along with the 鈥減ower grab鈥� of changing the the state board鈥檚 roles.

鈥淭he budget moves educational governance from a primarily elected body, the State Board of Education, to an appointed director who answers to the governor and the legislature,鈥� states the letter from board members Christina Collins, Teresa Fedor, Katie Hofman, Tom Jackson, Meryl Johnson, Michelle Newman and Antoinette Miranda.

Under the senate bill now included in the budget, the board authority would now be mainly limited to teacher disciplinary and licensure cases and territory disputes.

According to the , creating a new director position for the ODEW 鈥渕ay increase annual costs by up to $254,000,鈥� and creating two deputy director position, one for education and another for workforce, could up costs from $151,000 to $189,000 for each position.

Appropriation for the state board would be $14.4 million in fiscal year 2024 and $14.7 million in the next fiscal year, which would be in a 鈥渟tandalone budget鈥� strictly for the board.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David DeWitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on and .

An Ohio state Senate bill is trying to create new centers at Ohio State University and the University of Toledo that expand and affirm 鈥渋ntellectual diversity.鈥�

Senate Bill 117 鈥� introduced earlier this month by Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, and Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon 鈥� would create the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at Ohio State and the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership at UT鈥檚 College of Law.

鈥淭here is a structural preponderance of one line of thought in our universities today,鈥� Cirino said during a recent Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee meeting. 鈥淥ne of the ways to change the structural preponderance of one line of thought is to set institutes like these up to assist our universities in moving forward with more intellectual diversity.鈥�

He went on to say that university faculty are predominantly liberal.

鈥淭his causes a single ideological perspective to dominate academia,鈥� Cirino said. 鈥淲ith the passage of this legislation, we are giving students and their parents鈥� options within the market to choose an education that is best suited for them.鈥�

Both centers would begin this fall if the bill is able to pass quickly enough, McColley said.

鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that our institutions will embrace this as something that is going to help them move the dial just a little bit in favor of true intellectual diversity,鈥� Cirino said.

He said using public funds to create centers at colleges is not unheard of.

鈥淏oth Arizona State University and the University of Florida have created similar centers to aide in establishing diverse viewpoints at their respective universities,鈥� Cirino said in his testimony.

SB 117 would give UT $1 million in fiscal year 2024 and $2 million in fiscal year 2025 for the Institute, and Ohio State $5 million in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 for the Center.

University of Toledo

The Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership would be housed in the university鈥檚 College of Law and it would expand 鈥渢he intellectual diversity of the university鈥檚 academic community,鈥� according to the bill鈥檚 language.

The institute鈥檚 mission would be to 鈥渃reate and disseminate knowledge about American constitutional thought, and form future leaders of the legal profession through scholarship, teaching, collaboration, and mentorship,鈥� according to the center鈥檚 concept overview.

UT Law Professor Lee Strang first got the idea for the institute in 2019 after visiting the Georgetown Center for the Constitution and Princeton University鈥檚 James Madison Program.

鈥淭hose places provided the resources in an intentional space for people from a wide variety of perspectives to respectfully and civilly present their views, present their research, present their arguments on whatever the topic was,鈥� Strang said.

He wanted to bring something similar to UT, so he got approval from UT鈥檚 president to move forward with the institute and he has been working with McColley on the bill, who graduated from Toledo鈥檚 College of Law in 2010.

鈥淚t seems to me that in many of these law schools across the state of Ohio and across the country, there is no longer as much intellectual diversity among the faculty, particularly in the area of constitutional law as there once was,鈥� McColley said. 鈥淭his has a critical role to play in the training of future lawyers, but also it鈥檚 a potential recruiting tool.鈥�

He said has has been in talks with UT鈥檚 president and the dean of the law school about SB 117.

The institute would bring in more money for the law school 鈥� which would allow UT to invite more law scholars, judges and lawyers from across the country to symposiums and classes, said Professor Rebecca Zietlow, the associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Law.

鈥淭hat spices things up for students,鈥� she said.

The institute would also give the law school more resources to teach additional courses. For example, Strang said this would help give him the resources to teach a class on Ohio constitutional law.

鈥�(The institute is) a mission of academic excellence, it鈥檚 a mission of a wide variety of viewpoints debating, discussing these important constitutional issues, role modeling vivid debate and discussions for future leaders in the legal profession in Ohio,鈥� Strang said.

He emphasized SB 117 is separate from that has received lots of pushback. Both bills were introduced within a couple months of each other by Cirino and have language that includes 鈥渋ntellectual diversity.鈥�

鈥淥ne thing I鈥檓 trying to avoid is wrapping this up in SB 83,鈥� Strang said.  鈥淚鈥檝e been working on this independent of and without knowledge of SB 83 since 2019,鈥� he said.

Ohio State University

The Salmon P. Chase Center, named after Ohio鈥檚 23rd governor, would be an independent academic unit and would 鈥渁ffirm the value of intellectual diversity in higher education and aspire to enhance the intellectual diversity of the university,鈥� according to the bill鈥檚 language.

Cirino said in his testimony that the center 鈥渨ould introduce a new level of debate that would allow students to receive broadened viewpoints.鈥�

Chris Nichols, a history professor at Ohio State, is skeptical.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of things that already do a lot of what they are wanting to mandate through the Salmon P. Chase Center and it seems like a bit of a mistake to reinvent the wheel when you could actually just work with the existing faculty, staff and student centers and institutes that are pledged to do a lot of this kind of work,鈥� Nichols said.

He wonders what problem the bill is trying to solve.

鈥淚t looks like building a very small parallel university within a university,鈥� Nichols said. 鈥淭his is frankly dropping down a center that duplicates some of what鈥檚 already happening and also doesn鈥檛 have an organizational structure that makes sense.鈥�

The center would have a director that would report directly to the provost and university president.

Ohio State already has more than 70 centers, and Cirino said he has had general discussions with Ohio State about the center.

鈥淲e expect to have further discussions with them regarding the implementation,鈥� he said.

When asked about the bill, Ohio State spokesperson Ben Johnson said 鈥渨e look forward to discussing the proposal with the sponsors.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David DeWitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on and .

Student hunger looks different in every school district in Ohio, but legislative intervention could resolve the issues, from the funding gap to the stigma attached to meal support, advocates say.

Districts across the state have held fundraisers to pay down unpaid meal accounts, and alternatives to hot meals are available, often in the form of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and other cold offerings.

But combatting student hunger often comes with a 鈥減ride gap鈥� 鈥� those that are too embarrassed to ask for help 鈥� and students who would rather not eat than face a cafeteria of students who will be able to identify their free or reduced lunch status.

Schools do what they can to make sure food is available for students, but they can鈥檛 eliminate that stigma that puts kids into 鈥渃ategories.鈥�

鈥淚t still doesn鈥檛 eliminate that category of kids, it doesn鈥檛 capture hunger in totality,鈥� said Alexis Weber, food service director for Austintown Local Schools. 鈥淏ecause someone鈥檚 income might not directly indicate whether or not a student is hungry.鈥�

Hunger landscape

Food insecurity is very much a part of the landscape in Ohio, with Feeding America ranking Ohio 13th in percentage of children with food insecurity. The Children鈥檚 Defense Fund Ohio found that 1 in 6 children in Ohio 鈥渓ives in a household that faces hunger,鈥� yet 1 in 3 children in food insecure households who are eligible for the school meals program don鈥檛 participate for fear of judgment.

鈥淭he program inherently labels and puts kids into categories,鈥� CDF-Ohio stated in a white paper on student hunger. 鈥淭he stigma felt by students that the program is only for low-income kids causes many children not to participate.鈥�

Participation in the school meals has been linked to 鈥減ositive educational and health outcomes for children,鈥� according to CDF-Ohio, and students are less likely to have 鈥渘utrient inadequacies.鈥�

According to the Ohio Department of Education, participation in the National School Lunch Program from 2017 to 2022 has largely remained the same, even as school enrollment goes down.

In the 2021-22 school year, statewide participation in school lunch was 57.6%, up slightly from the 2019-2020 school year, when it was 54.1%. The 2020-2021 year wasn鈥檛 calculated because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the ODE.

Free and reduced lunch programs are supported through the federal National School Lunch Program, and free breakfasts are also a part of the strategy to get children fed while they鈥檙e required to attend school. The ODE said not all schools participate in the NSLP, but of the more than 3,700 schools who do, more than 91% operate both the NSLP and the School Breakfast Program.

鈥淭hese figures are increases from school year 2019-2020 (pre-pandemic),鈥� the ODE stated in a December 2022 report.

A household is eligible for free school meals currently at 130% of the federal poverty level, meaning $36,075 or less for a family of four. For a reduced-price meal, households are eligible at 185% of the federal poverty level, or up to $51,338 for a family of four.

But a gap exists between the federal funding and district-level general funds, which school nutrition administrators have said can be filled through state investment.

School admin focus on universal meals

As budget talks continue at the Ohio Statehouse, Weber and other school food service leaders told the stories of their districts, imploring lawmakers to consider funding for universal lunches in the state, not only to reduce the hunger, but also to eliminate identification of those receiving financial help.

Chesapeake Union Exempted Village School District Superintendent Doug Hale told the Ohio House Finance Committee that the expiration in June 2022 of pandemic-era waivers that allowed schools to provide free school lunches to all students regardless of family income made Appalachian districts like his 鈥渂race themselves for the challenge to come.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 here to testify that hungry kids can not perform academically, and we have hungry children in our district,鈥� Hale said.

What Hale also found as he worked through the challenge was that his district鈥檚 struggles weren鈥檛 unlike districts in the rest of the state.

Chesapeake鈥檚 student meal debt sits at $60,000, according to Hale. Other districts, like the Lancaster City School District and Westerville City Schools, have $40,000 in meal debts.

鈥淚鈥檓 here to tell you that Chesapeake, Westerville and Lancaster, we serve kids, that鈥檚 as far as we鈥檙e alike,鈥� Hale said.

In a snapshot by the Children鈥檚 Defense Fund-Ohio, the group found several schools with thousands in student meal debt, including Washington Local Schools in Lucas County ($38,000), Lorain County鈥檚 North Ridgeville City School District ($14,040), Minford Local Schools in Scioto County ($13,771), Delaware City Schools ($8,693), Alexander Local Schools ($7,000), and Wellington Exempted School District in Lorain County ($4,108).

Pickerington Schools currently has more than $46,000 in charges, according to Brent Kasler,  supervisor of food services.

The stigma of free and reduced lunches, particularly in high schools, flows through rural, urban and suburban districts all the same.

鈥淭his means many high school and middle school students who need these meals go without,鈥� Hale told the finance committee.

Hale鈥檚 testimony was bolstered by other district nutrition officials, who on primary and secondary education in March.

Daryn Guarino, of the Alexander Local School District in Athens County, told the subcommittee that while the district has an alternative option for students who have a negative balance and can鈥檛 receive the hot lunch, there are students who don鈥檛 come back to the cafeteria once they鈥檙e told they can鈥檛 receive the same lunch as other students. This included a six-year-old, he said, in a situation that made him question whether he wanted to do the job.

鈥淚鈥檓 sorry, but despite everyone鈥檚 best efforts and intentions, a student went without lunch for several days because they were ashamed that they didn鈥檛 have the money to pay for it,鈥� Guarino told the OCJ. 鈥淥ur willingness to feed them did not get them fed. I wish I were lying.鈥�

Donating to districts

For now, donations are accepted to help pay down meal debt, typically through individual districts鈥� treasurer鈥檚 office.

鈥淲e usually have individuals or organizations that will contact a school about helping to pay off a student鈥檚 negative balances,鈥� Pickerington鈥檚 Kasler told the OCJ.

Donations sent to the treasurer鈥檚 office in Pickerington are transferred to the food service account, where balances in school buildings can be paid off.

Other districts contacted by the OCJ also said financial support should be directed through district treasurer鈥檚 offices.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David DeWitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on and .

A chunk of Gov. Mike DeWine鈥檚 proposed budget zeroes in on what鈥檚 called the science of reading method.

Specifically, it includes $64 million for science of reading curricula, $43 million each year for the next two years to offer science of reading instruction for educators, and $12 million to support 100 literacy coaches in schools and districts.

鈥淚 truly believe there鈥檚 nothing more important than the science of reading, and making sure that every single child in the state of Ohio, as they are learning to read, has the benefit of the science,鈥� . DeWine has been making literacy stops in classrooms around Ohio to learn about how the science of reading method has been implemented in lessons.

The science of reading method incorporates phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, said Brett Tingley, the president of both and OH-KID (Ohio Kids Identified with Dyslexia).

鈥淭eaching reading should be systematic, explicit, and direct based on the system of processing language,鈥� said DeJunne鈥� Clark Jackson, president of the , a Louisiana-based literacy nonprofit organization.

Meanwhile, some skeptics argue that the science of reading method doesn鈥檛 do enough to provoke the kind of thinking that enables deep comprehension in realistic reading situations.

鈥淲e must teach comprehension as a multidimensional experience,鈥� wrote educators Jessica Hahn and Mia Hood . 鈥淲e want children to comprehend what鈥檚 happening literally in the text (who did what when), but we also want them to be able to analyze how parts of the text (literary devices, figurative language, structural choices) work together to develop ideas. And we want them to interpret the purpose and significance of the text in relation to their lives and to society.鈥�

How children best learn how to read has been debated for decades, and a recent has thrust this hotly-debated issue further into the national spotlight.

A little more than half of the states and the District of Columbia have passed laws or implemented new policies related to evidence-based reading instruction since 2013 as of August, according to . DeWine is hoping Ohio can be added to that list.

Structured literacy

that applies the knowledge of the science of reading method, and it includes explicit and systematic instruction in foundational reading skills, including phonics. The science of reading says most children need explicit phonics when learning how to read.

鈥淧honics isn鈥檛 the only component of literacy instruction, but it can鈥檛 exist without phonics,鈥� said Troy McIntosh, executive director of the Ohio Christian Education Network.

The science of reading method prioritizes this.

鈥淭o have a student say that they can comprehend what they鈥檙e reading, there鈥檚 two components to that, that go hand in hand, and it鈥檚 word recognition and language comprehension,鈥� said Lindsey Roush, an assistant professor at Walsh University鈥檚 division of education.

Walsh University, a private Catholic college in North Canton, converted all their education courses to be aligned with the science of reading method in 2019, Roush said.

The method focuses on how letter sounds and printed letters work together, she said.

鈥淲e want their eyes to stay focused on the word and start from those little points of the sounds to bigger chunks of the word to analyze the word to be able to decode it and understand it,鈥� Roush said.

Which is where phonics comes into play.

鈥淧honics is a very big part of this in terms of really getting down to those phonemes the letter sounds and understanding which sound each of those letters make, individually, and as they鈥檙e grouped together in different formats,鈥� Roush said.

Balanced literacy

There is another approach to reading instruction called balanced literacy that does not teach phonics in an explicit, systematic way, but prioritizes students鈥� comprehension of a text.

Critics of that approach say it鈥檚 not based on the science. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not using the foundational skills,鈥� alleged Danielle Fontenot, vice president of program development at the Center for Literacy and Learning.

Balanced literacy incorporates the three-cueing method, which encourages children to read words by asking three questions: Does it make sense? Does it sound right? Does it look right? For example, there could be a picture of a horse on a book鈥檚 page and a student may say 鈥減ony.鈥�

鈥淲hen you get to books without pictures your strategy鈥檚 not working,鈥� Tingley said.

The science of reading method eliminates guessing, Roush said.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 want them looking at pictures,鈥� she said.

Whole language is another approach to reading that is more in line with balanced literacy that, as the name suggests, teaches students the whole word instead of parts of the word, Jackson said.

The balanced literacy and whole language methods teach children the 鈥渉abits of poor readers,鈥� Tingley alleged.

鈥淭he children are the ones who are suffering,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to have someone you love struggle to read. 鈥� If you can鈥檛 read, you can鈥檛 do a story problem. You have a hard time in math, you can鈥檛 access science or social studies, so reading is the most important thing.鈥�

Linda Fenner, a founding member of Citizen Advocates for Public Education (CAPEOhio), said she wonders if there is a 鈥済lobal solution or a one-size fits all program鈥� that works best for teaching all students how to read.

鈥淒ifferent kids need different things in order to learn how to read,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he kids who need the most support really need different things and in different combinations.鈥�

Ohio school districts

It鈥檚 unclear which Ohio school districts are using which methods when it comes to the reading curriculum. Ohio law gives about curriculum, so there is no required state curriculum, said Ohio Department of Education Spokesperson Lacey Snoke.

But one thing is clear 鈥� there are Ohio school districts not teaching the science of reading method and DeWine is working hard to change that through his proposed budget.

鈥淭his is a problem that we know how to fix,鈥� Tingley said. 鈥淎nd we owe it to these children to fix it.鈥�

Athens City School District in Athens County currently uses what would be considered a balanced literacy approach, but supports DeWine鈥檚 science of reading method budget proposal, Superintendent Thomas Gibbs said in an email.

鈥淲e have continued to see stagnation in our reading scores and have been internally training and reviewing different curriculum that is more in line with the Science of Reading,鈥� Gibbs said. 鈥淭he allocation of dollars in the budget to purchase new materials that are in line with SOR and dollars to support the additional time and commitment our teachers will have to put into professional development is necessary and would be a good investment.鈥�

Athens Schools third grade English Language Arts reading scores from the 2017-18 to the 2020-21 school year have been between 9% to 29% for limited scores, between 17% to 25% for basic scores, between 13% to 22% for proficient scores, between 11% to 20% accomplished, and between 12% to 34% for advanced scores, .

Ohio鈥檚 tests scores

Ohio鈥檚 test scores dipped in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which published in October.

Eighth grade math proficiency dropped from 38% in 2019 to 29% in 2022. In reading scores for the same grade level, proficiency went from 38% in 2019 to 33% in 2022, according to the NAEP data.

Fourth graders saw decreases as well, going from 38% in 2019 to 33% in 2022 in reading scores, and from 38% in 2019 to 29% in 2022 in math.

鈥淚 believe that one of the biggest educational mistakes we have made over the last three to four decades is abandoning direct phonic instruction,鈥� McIntosh said. 鈥淭hat has been disastrous for Ohio鈥檚 kids.鈥�

“One of those 鈥榓ha moments鈥�”

Roush distinctly remembers being introduced to the science of reading method through Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) professional development training about four years ago.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just one of those moments, I feel as an educator, like one of those 鈥榓ha moments,鈥� like, why haven鈥檛 we been doing this?鈥� Roush said.

She previously taught for 13 years at McKinley Elementary School, part of Lisbon Exempted Village Schools in Columbia County, and remembers seeing frustrated students struggling to read before the district switched to the science of reading approach.

鈥淚f we can prevent that, of course, we should want to do that as educators,鈥� Roush said.

She remembers students looking at a picture in a book that was near the word on a page and say something that might have started with the same letter, but was ultimately incorrect.

鈥�(It) made zero sense whatsoever, because they were just simply guessing by looking for context clues in the pictures rather than trying to decode the word,鈥� she said.

She starting noticing a difference after incorporating the science of reading method in her third grade classroom.

鈥淚t started to click with students,鈥� Roush said. 鈥淭he big thing was seeing them start to problem solve and how to break apart a word. If they came to a word that they didn鈥檛 know, they had the strategies to decode that word.鈥�

Educators say it鈥檚 worth putting in the time to learn the science of reading method.

鈥淚t鈥檚 our obligation to do what鈥檚 best for students and if we have been doing it one way for so long and it isn鈥檛 working, then we have an obligation to our students to know better and do better,鈥� Fontenot said.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David DeWitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on and .

A new bill would eliminate retention under Ohio鈥檚 Third Grade Reading Guarantee and is almost identical to a previous bill that died in the last General Assembly.

House Bill 117 was introduced last week by state Rep. Gayle Manning, R-North Ridgeville, and state Rep. Phil Robinson, D-Solon.

鈥淚 have nothing against retention,鈥� Manning said. 鈥淏ut we just feel that a parent should have a voice in that.鈥�

The Ohio Third Grade Reading Guarantee, which was enacted in 2012, requires third graders pass a reading test to advance to fourth grade. Third grade students need to score at least a 685 on the test for this current school year to move on to fourth grade. For English language arts, the scale scores range between 650 and 850.

Manning, who was a teacher for 37 years and taught third grade for most of her career, said the English Language Arts Assessment would still be administered once a year under HB 117.

鈥淩etention in kindergarten or first grade isn鈥檛 as noticeable and isn鈥檛 as detrimental to a child,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut a lot of those (third graders) if they鈥檙e retained, it鈥檚 extremely difficult for them. Kids are making fun of them years later.鈥�

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said on Tuesday that it鈥檚 important to focus on early childhood literacy, 鈥渟o the issue of retention does not come up in a student鈥檚 life.鈥�

鈥淭here is just no reason that we cannot get a lot more of our students reading at grade level by third grade,鈥� he said.

A do not meet the Third Grade Reading Guarantee鈥檚 promotion threshold, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

About 1% of third grade students did not meet the promotion threshold for the 2021-22 school year; 1.38% for the 2020-21 school year; 1% for the 2019-20 school year; 5% for the 2018-19 school year; 5% for the 2017-18 school year; 6.1% for the 2016-17 school year; and 6.6% for the 2015-16 school year.

Ohio educators support HB 117

Both of Ohio鈥檚 teacher union associations are in favor of HB 117.

鈥淲hat we don鈥檛 want to be doing is sucking the joy out of learning, particularly sucking the joy out of learning to read for our students,鈥� said Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want the pressures of a single test on a single day and all the things that go into how a student performs to outweigh what teachers who work with kids everyday in the classroom know what their kids are able to do.鈥�

Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, fears holding students back because of a standardized test could have unintended consequences.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e putting a student on the pathway to dropping out further down the road because they鈥檙e further behind their peers,鈥� she said.

Studies show holding students produces short-term academic gains that wain over time. Studies also show that students who repeat a grade are , and students who are old for their grade are more .

Cropper thinks the emphasis should be on literacy, not standardized testing.

鈥淲hat we need to be doing is focusing on what we are teaching children, making sure that they have the proper supports that they need, and focusing less on standardized testing, and more on making sure that we have enough intervention specialists and enough resources and supports to be able to give students the individual help that they might need,鈥� she said.

Manning and Robinson co-sponsored the previous iteration of the bill 鈥� , which passed 82-10 in the House of Representatives in June, but never made it of out the Senate.

Even though the bill died last session, Manning is optimistic the bill will pass this time around.

鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping we just ran out of time when we got over to the Senate,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that if we can get it over there early enough, we鈥檒l have enough time to get it done before they break.鈥�

State Rep. Riordan McClain, R-Upper Sandusky, voted against HB 497.

鈥淩eading is foundational to educational success and I have concerns about the effects of removing its prioritization,鈥� he said in an email.

that would make all public, nonpublic, and homeschool students in grades K-12 eligible for a state scholarship that would be funded through an education savings account (ESA) to go to a participating nonpublic school or receive home schooling. Parents could use the ESA to pay for tuition, fees, uniforms, and books.

Ohio鈥檚 English Language Arts test

The percentage of students who tested at least proficient in Ohio鈥檚 third grade English Language Arts test has fluctuated in recent years, but the number of students tested also dipped, according to ODE.

About 61% of students scored at least proficient in 2017-18; 66.7% in 2018-19; 44.2% in 2019-20; 51.9% in 2020-21; and 59.8% in 2021-22.

In December 2021, DeWine signed a bill that exempted school districts from the retention requirements of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee for the 2021-22 school year. Students may still have been held back if their parents, principal, and teacher agreed that the student was reading below grade level and not prepared for fourth grade.

administered by the National Center for Education Statistics. Ohio鈥檚 fourth graders reading proficiency dropped from 38% in 2019 to 33% in 2022, and the eighth graders also went from 38% in 2019 to 33% in 2022.

DeWine鈥檚 focus on literacy

DeWine鈥檚 proposed budget that he and includes a $162 million science of reading proposal that includes $64 million for science of reading curricula, $43 million each year for the next two years to offer science of reading instruction for educators and $12 million to support 100 literacy coaches in schools and districts.

The science of reading is decades of research that shows how the human brain learns how to read.

鈥淯nfortunately, we still have some schools in the state of Ohio, they鈥檙e not following the best science,鈥� DeWine said. 鈥淲e need to make sure that every child in the state of Ohio has that opportunity to read based on the best science.鈥�

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