Ohio ACTE News

CTE Report Card: Teleconferences Planned to Provide Details and Answer Questions

Ohio ACTE — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:04:40 GMT

Emily Passias from the ODE Office of Career-Technical Education will hold three conference calls to discuss the details of the report card. The dates and times for those calls are:

Wednesday, May 22 from 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Thursday, May 23 from 8:00am-9:00am
Friday, May 24 from 2:30pm-3:30pm

Additionally, the Office of Career-Technical Education will address questions related to the report card during weekly one-hour conference calls Noon to 1 p.m. each Wednesday, starting June 5 and continuing through the middle of August. Educators and others seeking information and with questions can participate in the calls.

To participate in the calls, dial (866) 551-1530 and use pin number 7398417#

Questions about the CTE Report Card? Email ODE at ctereportcard@education.ohio.gov.

Bill Ruth Outstanding Adult Education Award Presented to Harry Snyder

Ohio ACTE — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:08:02 GMT

Tens of thousands of Ohio adults have had better careers and better lives because of Bill Ruth. In 1970, he was given the task of building Ohio’s first adult vocational education system. He carried out the vision of using the facilities of the new career centers around the state so adult learners could receive career training in the evening after high school students finished their school day.

When he retired in 1984, an award was created in his honor through the Ohio Association for Career and Technical Education (OACTE). Since then, the award has been given annually to an Ohio educator with the same ethics, values, determination, and passion for adult education.

The 2013 Bill Ruth Award was presented this week to Harry Snyder, Director of Adult Workforce Development (AWD) for Great Oaks Career Campuses. As Director, Snyder oversees adult education for one of the largest career-technical districts in the United States. Each year, more than 50,000 adults come to Great Oaks for career training, professional development, workshops and classes. Through Snyder’s leadership, new programs in health care, manufacturing, and computer technology have been developed for adult students. Partnerships with Southern State Community College and other colleges now provide students with the chance to earn college degrees along with industry certification, and more students have the chance to improve their lives through education and training.

The Award was presented to Snyder by Bill Ruth, now 91 years old, along with Great Oaks President/CEO Dr. Robin White at the 2013 Workforce Transformation Conference.

Snyder is the second Great Oaks associate to win the Bill Ruth Award.

Ohio Jobs and Workforce Development Summit Highlights Partnerships

Ohio ACTE — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 19:22:32 GMT

On April 12, Rob Portman, United States Senator for Ohio, held a statewide summit concerning Ohio jobs and workforce development. More than 300 people participated in the summit including educators, employers and other stakeholders, representing 80 of Ohio's 88 counties. At the summit, participants discussed workforce development issues and ways to improve efficiency and work with business and industry. One session talked about how to bridge the skills gap and the challenge of 400,000 Ohioans out of work with 100,000 positions open in Ohio. More than 200,000 employees were represented through the breakout panelists who attended this session.

Judy Wells, Superintendent of Apollo Career Center, participated in the opening discussion, which incuded representatives from business, industry, communnity college and four-year institutions.

Judy Well is pictured here with Sen. Portman during the panel discussion April 12.

State Budget and CTE: Talking Points for Members

Ohio ACTE — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:13:12 GMT

Career-technical educators and Ohio ACTE leadership continues to advocate for adequate funding for career-technical education to serve students and businesses and contribute to Ohio’s economy and workforce.

As Ohio ACTE leadership, staff and Legislative Counsel, Terrence O’Donnell, Esq. meet with legislators and the Governor’s education policy staff, the message has been focused on three main objectives, which Ohio ACTE members and other career-technical educators are encouraged to use in their conversations with legislators:

1) Tiered Funding/Weighted Funding: Weighted funds represent the delta in cost differential between traditional education and career technical education. While a “tiered” system that awards different weights to different programs as in HB 59 may be workable, funding in the aggregate should be sustained.

2) Guarantees: As the state has signaled it would like to move away from funding guarantees, it is counter-intuitive that the budget bill would almost double the amount of JVSDs on a guarantee over the next two years. This could destabilize CTE budgets if and when the guarantees are removed.

3) Dedicated Funding and Associated Services: Career tech funding in the

comprehensive and compact districts should be provided per the “75/25 rule” and associated services funding should be dedicated as well so that funds meant to serve CTE are not diverted.

These principles were developed in collaboration with representatives of career-technical education groups through the Ohio ACTE Legislative Committee.

Passing of Walker J. Huffman

Ohio ACTE — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 19:03:17 GMT

Walker J. Huffman, 87, passed away on April 1, 2013. He was born on July 30, 1925 in Zanesville, OH to Walker A. and Mary Moore Huffman. From July 1943 until February 1946 he served in the United States Navy in World War II. After the war he went into the field of Public Education Administration. The Muskingum Area Vocational School District, present day Mid-East Career and Technological Center, was established by him in 1967. He also established the Muskingum Area Technical College, now Zane State College. He then served as both Superintendent of the vocational school and President of the college. He retired after 30 years of service. After retirement he went on to serve with the United States Department of Labor. With this department he worked with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the Vocational-Technical school consultant from 1981-1986. In these five years he created the Administrative Structure for the Kingdoms Vocational Schools. In 2008 the Ohio School Board Association awarded him with the “Advocate of Education” honor. He is survived by his five children, ten grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

New Officers Elected to the Ohio Board of Regents

Ohio ACTE — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 18:01:39 GMT

On March 29 the Ohio Board of Regents held officer elections for the next two terms. Elected were Vinny Gupta as Chair, Lana Moresky as Vice-Chair and Tim Burke as secretary.

According to Dr. Stephanie Davidson, Interim Chancellor of OBR, Gupta, Moresky and Burke did well as board members and demonstrated leadership and dedication. She is pleased that they can continue their work as officers and on issues affecting higher education.

Additional business at the meeting included the swearing-in of a newly appointed Regent, Tom Humphries. He replaces James M. Tuschman.

Clay High School CTE Machining Program Featured on News

Ohio ACTE — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:19:14 GMT

ToledoNewsNow.com: News, Weather

Clay High School, in Oregon, Ohio, was featured on the Toledo News for its brand new HAAS VF1 Vertical Milling Center that was unveiled on March 19.

VIsit the school's Web site for more inforamation.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Taylor Speaks to Career-Tech Educators

Ohio ACTE — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 12:51:15 GMT

On March 22, Ohio Lt. Governor Mary Taylor addressed attendees at the Ohio Career Technical Administrators Conference. She said Industry and educators need to speak candidly and often together about the needs and resources to create a stronger workforce in Ohio.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor with Harold Niehaus (left), Miami Valley CTC and Dan Murphy, Massillon City Schools and Ohio ACTE Treasurer.

Among inroads Taylor cited are a recent collaborative with the insurance industry and 117,000 jobs created in the state since Governor John Kasich took office. Among barriers to a healthier economy are: 1) the perception that all students must go to college to be successful; 2) lack of career education information in the earlier grades when parents are more actively engaged; 3) the negative image that career-technical education isn’t as good as a traditional high school education; and 4) competitiveness that hinders sharing for stronger inroads to workforce development. Ohio secondary career-tech leaders at the conference asked the Lt. Governor to consider reinforcing the message that apprenticeships are equal to college and that the branding should be preparing students for “careers” instead of “careers and college” to alleviate the double standard. Taylor also talked about the Common Sense Initiative (www.governor.ohio.gov/CSI).

Comment on this article on the Ohio Department of Education Office of Career-Technical Education Web site

Columbus Business First Includes CTE in “20 to Know in Education”

Ohio ACTE — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 13:05:00 GMT

Christine Gardner, Ohio ACTE Executive Director, was included as one of the “20 to Know in Education” published in the March 15 print issue of Columbus Business First. Those selected will also participate in a discussion on education. The list and profiles can also be found online .

Others included on the list are:

Aimee Kennedy, Metro Early College High School

Ann E. Schiele, Mount Carmel College of Nursing

Barbara Mattei-Smith, Office of Ohio Governor John Kasich

Paolo DeMaria, Education First Consulting

Michael Bowers, Columbus State Community College

Dr. Christopher Washington, Franklin University

Dr. Terrell Lamont Strayhorn, Ohio State University

Katina Fullen, I Know I Can

Lolita Augenstein, Columbus Council of PTAs

Lois Carson, Columbus City Schools

Andrew Boy, United Schools Network

John Mackenzie, Columbus Academy

Elizabeth Martinez, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio

James Lower, St. Charles Preparatory School

Sue Testaguzza, LifeCubby

Liza Lee, Columbus School for Girls

Mary Lou Langenhop, Children’s Hunger Alliance

Bob Boltz, Fahlgren Mortine

Suzanne Coleman-Tolbert, COWIC

Educators, Business Partner Testify in Legislature on Behalf of CTE

Ohio ACTE — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 17:47:11 GMT

A the March 5 meeeting of the Ohio House of Representatives Finance Subcommittee on K-12 Education, career-technical educators testified on behalf of CTE.

Joyce Malainy, Superintendent at C-Tec and Chris Renn, Career Technical Director at Millstream Career Center testified regarding the proposed Stte budget.

Bassam Homsi, President and CEO of AUTOTOOL provided testimony that emphasized the importance of career-technical education to local business and manufacturing in finding skilled employees.

Read their complete testimony:

Bassam Homsi

Chris Renn

Joyce Malainy

Gov. Kasich's Attendance at Ohio ACTE Student Showcase Highlighed by Media

Ohio ACTE — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 14:20:25 GMT

Governor John Kasich attended the 2013 Ohio ACTE Student Showcase on March 7 in the Statehouse Atrium. The purpose of the Showcase is to show legislators and lawmakers the projects and programs that students work on through career-technical education and the value of CTE to Ohio’s students and economy.

Gov. Kasich spent about half hour at the Showcase, talking to students and viewing their displays. He also addressed the 150 students, teachers and guests in attendance.

The event was also covered by the local news media and a segment aired on the news that evening, said Christine Gardner, Ohio ACTE Executive Director.

“The whole event was a home run,” said Gardner. The students did an excellent job showcasing their work and talking to legislators and the Governor, she said. “We could not have hoped for a better event or more positive publicity for CTE - students are our best advocates,” Gardner said.

The timing of the Showcase was set to coincide with State budget process as lawmakers review the Governor’s proposed budget, which includes a new education funding formula that will impact CTE.

Click here to view the news segment.

Educators and a business partner have also been advoacting for CTE by testifying in the legislture on behalf of career-technical education and funding. See their testimony here.

Governor John Kasich with Vantage Career Center Students.

Governor John Kasich and Speaker of the House William Batchelder with Mid-East Career Technology Center students.

Senator Cliff Hite with Tri-Rivers Career Center Robotics student.

US DoE: Submit New Adult Programs for Approval

Ohio ACTE — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 14:02:39 GMT

The US Department of Education issued a letter March 4 indicating that Career Centers must seek new accreditation in the next 18 months if they are accredited by NCA CASI. In the meantime, schools may develop new programs and submit them to the DoE’s Federal Student Aid (FSA) office. FSA will review the program and approve in appropriate circumstances for Title IV.

“This is great news for our adult career centers,” said Christine Gardner, Ohio ACTE Executive Director. Many people helped with this issue, including staff members in the office of our US Senators, Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, she said.

“Ohio ACTE President Joe Dannemiller, Harry Snyder of the PACE Division and I traveled to Washington DC in December to meet with DoE and explain our challenges to the Department,” Gardner said. Our efforts paid off, and with NCA-CASI’s withdrawal, DoE was quick to act, she said.

Career Centers must seek alternate certification in the next 18 months, according to the DoE letter. Ohio ACTE and the PACE Division have been working with accreditors to help streamline the process.

Last fall, adult directors held a meeting with Council on Occupational Education to learn about their accrediting process and a meeting is planned with Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) on March 26-27 in Columbus to learn more about their process.

Click here for more information on the ACCSC meeting and view the DoE March 4 letter by clicking here.

Governor Kasich Delivers State of the State in Lima

Ohio ACTE — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:51:20 GMT

Ohio Governor John Kasich: Jobs are state's greatest moral purpose

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/political/ohio-governor-john-kasich-jobs-are-states-greatest-moral-purpose#ixzz2LXuSL6bD

Panel: Internships, co-ops help business, students and Ohio

http://www.limaohio.com/news/local_news/article_353e51fc-7af8-11e2-b91c-0019bb30f31a.html

Joint House, Senate panel talks workforce development

http://www.limaohio.com/news/local_news/article_fe18e1aa-7b07-11e2-a3e5-0019bb30f31a.html

Manufacturers ask state officials for easier route to help

http://www.limaohio.com/news/local_news/article_cd3e2c06-7ac7-11e2-8bee-001a4bcf6878.html

Outline of the Governor’s Education Funding Plan and CTE

Ohio ACTE — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:07:48 GMT

By Terrence O’Donnell, Esq., Bricker & Eckler, LLC

Ohio ACTE Legislative Counsel

On February 13, 2013, one day after the Governor revealed his proposed state budget bill, two of his top education policy advisors, Barbara Mattei-Smith and Richard A. Ross, testified before the Ohio House of Representatives Finance Committee to outline proposed changes to the state’s K-12school funding formula.

Formula, Generally: The formula appears to provide a base level of funding to every district (“core opportunity funds”) on a “per pupil” basis. Next, the formula seeks to target resources to those districts with relatively lower income and property values. The core funds and the targeted resources, together, provide funds for the general operation of the school. The formula then makes available additional dollars based on “unique needs” of students such as those with disabilities, those not yet proficient in English, economically disadvantaged students, gifted students, etc.

Career Tech: In recognition of the fact that career technical education is indeed more costly than traditional school, the formula retains what is commonly referred to as “weighted funding.” Ohio ACTE is pleased the Governor’s budget acknowledges this reality as the preservation of weighted funding was a major goal of the association. At the same time, the formula revises the amount of weighted funding to support career tech. Under current law, career tech funds are weighted an additional 57%. Under the Governor’s proposal, the weights are not a percentage of the whole but rather a fixed dollar amount. In addition, the proposed weights are not uniform across CTE as they are today at 57%. Rather, the career tech weighted funds as proposed in the Governor’s budget are allocated according to career field and are grouped in five categories as follows:

1. $2,900: Environmental & Agricultural Systems, Construction Technologies, Engineering & Science Technologies, Finance, Health Science, IT, Manufacturing Technologies
2. $2,600: Business & Administrative, Hospitality & Tourism, Human Services, Law & Public Safety, Transportation Systems
3. $1,650: Career Based-Intervention
4. $1,200: Arts & Communications, Education & Training, Marketing, Workforce Development Academics, Career Development
5. $900: GRADS, Family & Consumer Sciences

Career tech superintendents, treasurers, administrators, and others are actively testing this formula, running the numbers, and simulating the proposal’s fiscal impact. While the Governor’s Office released a spreadsheet simulating the impact of the formula on JVSDs, the spreadsheet did not appear to take into account the changes to the weighted funding system. (It appeared to only calculate the changes to the base amount).

Guarantees: Finally, at least for the next two years, the proposal also continues the “guarantees” seen in other recent school funding formulas whereby the State will provide base resources to a school not less than the resources received in the past year to avoid budget “destabilization” in the short term. However, future legislation could certainly eliminate the guarantees and simply allocate dollars strictly per the formula without a safety net. Should this occur, it is expected that districts with declining student populations could see their funding levels decrease accordingly.

As Ohio ACTE representatives and leadership continue to meet with the Governor’s Office and key legislative leaders and gain additional information about the impact of the budget proposal, we will keep members informed.

Read the full testimony of Barbara Mattei-Smith

Read the full testimony of Dick Ross

Budget Information Resources

Ohio ACTE — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:00:16 GMT

For more information on the proposed budget and education funding, including School Funding Spreadsheets for Primary and Secondary Education Preliminary Estimates - FY 2014, visit the Ohio ACTE Legislative Information page.

State Budget Bill Introduced

Ohio ACTE — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:18:20 GMT

The Budget Bill, HB 59, was introduced Feb. 12 by Rep. Ron Amstutz, Chair of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee. View the Legislation at this link: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/BillText130/130_HB_59_I_N.html

Rep. Amstutz released the following statement:

“The budget proposal that we received today exemplifies Governor Kasich’s bold vision to continue Ohio’s progress toward a more competitive, attractive economy. I am very appreciative of Governor Kasich and his budget team for their hard work on this proposal with tremendous effort from the Legislative Service Commission. This is an earlier-than-usual delivery.”

“We are eager to start hearings on the budget proposal and look forward to discussions that are thoughtful and open for public input. We will work closely with the governor, the Ohio Senate and the many affected Ohioans to ensure that this budget addresses the issues aimed at improving the quality of life in our state.”

Ohio ACTE Legislative Counsel, Terrence O'Donnell is reviewing the changes and areas that impact career-technical education with CTE leadership in order to be ready with testimony regarding CTE.

Governor Shares State of Ohio Budget

Ohio ACTE — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:49:29 GMT

Governor John Kasich released the State of Ohio Budget on Feb. 4.

On initial review, adult career centers are flat funded, despite efforts by Ohio ACTE, OACTS and many adult educators to provide more funding for job skills training for Ohioans.

“It’s disappointing, but we still have an opportunity to educate legislators regarding the importance of what adult career centers do to help get Ohioan’s back to work,” said Christine Gardner, Ohio ACTE Executive Director.

In terms of secondary CTE funding, the 777 page budget is under review, according to Ohio ACTE Legislative Counsel, Terrence O’Donnell of Bricker & Eckler.

“While we heard the Governor’s overall education plan last week and the Achievement Everywhere plan, we will review the details of how this plan will impact CTE,” O’Donnell said. Based on prelimninary information, we are encouraged about funding for CTE, but are actively seeking more information, he said.

Titled Ohio’s Jobs Budget 2.0, budget initiatives include:

Ohio Achievement Everywhere – Education Plan
Medicaid 2.0
Cutting Taxes through Reforms
Transforming Higher Education
Ohio Jobs and Transportation Plan
Continuing Review and Reform of State Government

More budget information is available at the Ohio Office of Budget and Management Website.

Ohio ACTE will continue to monitor information regarding the budget and career-technical and adult education.

Governor Unveils Basics of Education Funding Plan, Recognizes Career-Tech

Ohio ACTE — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:06:27 GMT

Achievement Everywhere, which is part of Gov. John Kasich’s FY2014-15 budget proposal, helps provide all schools with the resources they need so their students can succeedundefinedregardless of where they live. The plan provides $1.2 billion in total new funds over the biennium for primary and secondary education.

In Gov. Kasich's address on Jan. 31, he said "We believe Vocational Education is critical...we want career-techs to drive the education in those career-tech schools to the jobs we know exist in our state."

The Governor also said that we want to make sure each student who graduates from a CTE program has the capability to "pivot" to higher education.

View the Governor’s Office briefing and access more information on the plan on the Governor’s Web site.

Other highlights of the plan include:

A funding formula that provides schools with the resources to help children achieve, regardless of where they live;
Policies that focus on putting dollars in the classroom where educators can help students succeed and work with their parents to make decisions on how best to respond to their unique learning traits;
Special funds to help schools transition from unsuccessful models to new strategies that work, and;
Relief for educators from rules and regulations that hold them back so they can have more flexibility to meet students’ needs.

Career Technical Educators who attended the briefing with the Governor and his team on January 31 in Columbus came away encouraged but eager for more information. Ohio ACTE leadership will continue to monitor the Governor’s budget plan to determine the impact on CTE as more specific information is revealed.

OBR Completes Relocation to ODE Building

Ohio ACTE — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:50:43 GMT

Both Agencies Working to Increase Collaboration, Reach Shared Goals

Preparing Ohio’s high-school students for college and career is one of the shared goals of the Ohio Board of Regents (OBR) and the Ohio Department of Education (ODE). The two agencies are working more closely than ever before to ensure a seamless transition for students from high school to post-secondary learning.

The Ohio Board of Regents successfully moved from its Rhodes Tower office to the Ohio Department of Education building on Front Street at the end of December and has completed the first month in its new location. OBR staff members share two floors – the 2nd and the 7th – with ODE staff members, and all had an informal “mixer” on Jan. 18 to get to know each other in an effort to foster future collaboration efforts.

The OBR and ODE share responsibilities that include dual-enrollment and Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO), teacher preparation programs, student teaching, federal and other grant funding, and many other functions.

NCA-CASI Withdraws Petition to US Department of Education for Continued Accreditation

Ohio ACTE — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:55:34 GMT

North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement ("NCA CASI") Board of Directors voted to withdraw NCA CASI's petition to the US Department of Education for continued recognition as an accrediting agency of postsecondary institutions.

This action was taken January 29 by the NCA CASI Board of Directors, along with the Board of its parent company, AdvancED.

According to a letter from NCA-CASI Vice President Carolyn Gasiorek to its accredited institutions, under federal law, institutions may maintain their eligibility to participate in Title IV and other relevant federal programs for up to 18 months while they obtain alternative accreditation from a new accrediting agency. The letter references the US DoE Website accreditation glossary.

Many Ohio Post-Secondary Career Technical Institutions have already begun the process of selecting and working with a new accreditor.