Following is a roundup of key education-related activities that have taken place recently in the state capital. 1. School Employees Health Care Board seeks extension The biennial budget legislation, House Bill (HB) 66, created the School Employees Health Care Board to study and design pooled life and health care benefits plans for public school employees. The bill also requires a study by a third party before any benefit plans can be implemented. Any new programs would have to be approved by the General Assembly. The health care board held its first meeting on Feb. 22, when members discussed procedural matters, asked questions about selecting a consultant and agreed to ask the General Assembly for an extension of the board’s statutory deadlines to allow it time to complete its work. HB 66 required the board to submit a written study of a plan of operation to the governor and the General Assembly by Jan. 15, 2006. The legislation also required a consulting firm to make any legislative recommendations needed to establish and maintain the medical plans by December 31, 2005. It is obvious these time lines were not be met. In other business, the board elected Stephen Loebs, State University School of Public Health professor emeritus, as its chair, and Chris Mohr, Dublin City Schools treasurer/chief financial officer, as vice-chair. Loebs is a former Upper Arlington City Board of Education member. The next School Employees Health Care Board meeting is scheduled for March 15. Hearings held on charter schools legislation Legislators heard proponent testimony on Senate Bill (SB) 129, sponsored by Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Canton). The legislation would establish a joint committee to study Ohio’s charter schools and to make recommendations to the General Assembly for improving those schools. The bill also would require charter schools to comply with the same reporting requirements as public schools. The bill was introduced in April 2005, but only recently received hearings in the Senate Education Committee. Barb Bungard, president of the Ohio PTA, testified in support of the bill on behalf of the Coalition for Public Education, of which OSBA is a member.

Candidates for statewide offices finalized The deadline to file to run for statewide office has passed, and there were few surprises. The following candidates will appear on the ballot: Governor Republican • Secretary of State • Attorney General Democrat • Former State Rep. Bryan Flannery (Lakewood) • U.S. Rep. (Lisbon) Auditor of state Republican • State Rep. (Green) Democrat • Mahoning County Treasurer John Reardon • State Rep. Barbara Sykes (Akron) Attorney general Republican • State Sen. Timothy Grendell (Chesterland) • State Auditor Democrat • Law Director Subodh Chandra • State Sen. (Niles) Treasurer Republican • Incumbent Jeanette Bradley Democrat • Franklin County Treasurer • Montgomery County Treasurer Hugh Quill Secretary of state Republican • Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Greg Hartmann • Franklin County Recorder Robert Montgomery • State Rep. Jim Trakas (Independence) Democrat • Former Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge President Bush releases FY 2007 budget plan President George W. Bush recently released his federal budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007. Two major sources of funding to school districts for compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) are Title I and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding. The current funding levels for these programs in FY 2006 are $12.7 billion for Title I and $10.6 billion for IDEA. Bush’s FY 2007 budget request provides no increases for Title I funding and a mere $100 million increase for IDEA. Both Title I and IDEA funding have suffered extreme shortfalls. In 2002, when NCLB was enacted, both the president and Congress promised $25 billion for Title I. Under Bush’s proposal, Title I would continue to be under-funded by $12.3 billion in FY 2007. In 2004, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA), Congress promised $16.9 billion in FY 2007 for special education funding. The president’s proposal is $6.2 billion less than what was reauthorized last year. The overall FY 2007 budget request of $2.77 trillion includes proposals to cut $182 billion in spending over a five-year period, except for defense and homeland security. The cost savings will come from education and other programs. Some programs proposed for elimination are: Safe and Drug-Free Schools state grants, currently funded at $346.5 million; Smaller Learning Communities grants, which help with class-size reduction initiatives in high schools, currently funded at $4.8 million; Comprehensive School Reform, currently funded at $7.9 million; Elementary School Counseling, currently funded at $34.6 million. For details on the federal FY 2007 education budget, visit www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/news.html or www.nsba.org.