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State Representative Jim Buchy
Properly
Calculating School Performance
Recently, our children have come under increased pressure due to a
drastic increase in school testing. With the number of testing hours
reaching a threshold that bordered on unhealthy for our children, it
was clear that the legislature needed to step in to help reduce the
stress level placed on the students.
This is why I introduced House Bill 7 last year, which provided safe
harbor to students taking the PARCC test. The PARCC test, which has
since been a proven failure, already had a safe harbor provision for
the teachers and districts, however HB 7 extended that protection to
those who need it the most; our children.
Even though HB 7 proposed safe harbor for students many families still
chose to “opt-out” their children. The PARCC test was an
unproven, untested examination. Following the failure of this test Ohio
lawmakers voted to end the PARCC testing ensuring it will not be used
in the future.
The state education report card grade is scheduled to be released in
February, posing problems for local districts because scores will
reflect zeros for students who did not take the PARCC. Projections show
that our local schools will see their scores drop as much as 40 points
ranking them as D’s or F’s because bureaucrats have refused to
recognize the impact of the opposition to PARCC testing.
In order to right this wrong, I am pushing for a bill that will require
the Ohio Department of Education to adjust the performance index score
on the state report card for students who opted out of the failed PARCC
test. This is an emergency measure that needs to be passed this month
so our students are not unfairly punished for opting-out of an
inadequate standardized test. Without emergency legislation, the Ohio
Department of Education will release false scores, eliminating the
legislature’s intent for a safe harbor.
We have the best and brightest education minds right here in
west-central Ohio. I am confident that if these education professionals
come together to develop a program, Ohio will certainly prove to have
superior public education.
Please give me your opinion on this topic and others in the news this
month by completing an online survey at tinyurl.com/buchyjanuary2016
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