BY MARK SKERTIC
The Cincinnati Enquirer
If the state is spending more on schools, it has an obligation to hold educators accountable, Gov. George Voinovich said Tuesday. He was in Cincinnati to unveil new local report cards that will be issued on every public school district and school later this year.
"It's all about accountability," Mr. Voinovich said.
The report cards, scheduled for release in June, will contain proficiency test scores, graduation and discipline figures, and spending and enrollment data. Report cards will also contain comparison information, so parents can see how their district compares with the state average and with similar school systems. Few school districts already prepare such reports and make them available to parents. Cincinnati Public Schools began distributing such a report card last year, and some of the work CPS did was a model for the state, Mr. Voinovich said.
Understanding the emphasis the state is putting on accountability in all 611 districts is crucial as voters consider Issue 2, a proposal to raise the state sales tax, he explained.
Issue 2, which would increase the tax by a penny on the dollar, would raise an estimated $1.1 billion that would be evenly split between schools and providing property tax relief to homeowners. The tax proposal, which will be voted on May 5, was prompted by the Ohio Supreme Court's ruling last year that the school funding system is unconstitutional.
"This report card is going to guarantee what people are getting for their investment," Mr. Voinovich said. "We haven't had accountability in Ohio."
Gathering information on report cards and preparing them is expected to cost about $1 million. A law passed last year required district and school report cards be in place by 1999. The state will produce the report cards this year, and distribute them to schools. But state efforts to get them to all parents won't be in place until next year.
This year, 109 school systems will take part in a test to distribute the report cards in different ways. For example, Mason City Schools will send report cards home with students, while Mariemont City Schools will have districts mail them.
Other local districts taking part in the distribution experiments are: Lakota, New Miami and Ross in Butler County; Goshen and Milford in Clermont County; and Deer Park and Madeira in Hamilton County. Districts not taking part in the distribution experiment will receive only a handful of the reports this year. Parents whose children are not in a test site district will be able to get their district's report card by contacting their school.
