Ohio senators look to extend state report card waiver through 2022

A bill in Columbus could extend the stay on state report cards for this school year. Report cards based on data for the 2019-20 school year were released Tuesday, missing data and component grades due to COVID-19 shuttering school districts in mid-March. Sweeping legislation passed earlier this year waived state testing for the 2019-20 school year, among other provisions. Two state senators are looking to extend those provisions beyond the 2020-21 school year Sens. Nathan Manning, R-North Ridgeville, and Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, introduced Senate Bill 358, which would require the Ohio Department of Education to request a waiver for federally required testing, as well as freezing EdChoice Scholarships and state takeover designations. "Without the extension of these provisions, the uncertain learning conditions in the 2020-2021 school year will be even more stressful for teachers, students and families," Manning and Fedor said in a statement when the bill had its first hearing. "Missing school has produced serious gaps in student learning. Coupled with the normal summer losses, teachers will need to focus on getting students back on track. Any pressure we can relieve so that the focus is on teaching and learning, rather than testing and evaluating, will help our students succeed in the long term." It would bar the Ohio Department of Education from issuing overall or component grades for schools for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 school years — lengthening safe harbor provisions during that time period. Third-grade reading guarantees would be based solely on a student's academic performance in reading, not a state test, under the law. Similarly, high school students' ability to graduate would be based on final course grades, rather than end-of-course exams. The bill is in the Senate Education Committee, waiting for a second hearing slated for this afternoon. Its first hearing was Sept. 2, receiving support from several state education and administration associations, Summit Academy Management, and staff from Lorain and Elyria schools. On Tuesday, Elyria Superintendent Ann Schloss praised Manning and Fedor for "trying to put the brakes on high-stakes testing right now." "It's not important when we're looking at just … a lot of issues going on with mental health during crises like this, with just being able to fill in the (educational) gaps for our students," she said. She added, "This is a worldwide crisis … Why are we talking about testing?" State report cards have been a point of scrutiny by the legislature for some time. Some, including Fedor, have decried the current system measures districts' poverty rate, not academics. A move away from the A-F letter grades was expected earlier this year, but has been on hold since the start of the pandemic. The Senate Education Committee meets at 1 p.m. today. It will be broadcast online via the Ohio Channel. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.