BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS -- State lawmakers want to hold educators accountable, but not if that means publicizing student proficiency test scores by race and gender.
The Ohio Department of Education included the data in a trial run of "report cards" on school districts that were distributed to parents and community leaders in a handful of communities earlier this month.
But in a decision made with little public debate, the General Assembly ordered the department to eliminate the comparison information when report cards are issued next year on every school building in the state's 611 school districts.
Gov. George Voinovich signed the change into law last week, overturning a 16-1 vote by the state Board of Education to provide the detailed information so parents could see how their schools compare with the statewide average and with similar school systems. Legislators behind the change said they responded to complaints from superintendents, who argued that listing test scores by race and gender would stigmatize students who fail portions of the exams. Some superintendents also feared that providing such detailed information for each building within a school district would unfairly target schools with large numbers of minority students and those from low-income families.
"We just felt it would lead to a lot of finger-pointing, that would be bad for kids," said Stanley Wernz, superintendent of North College Hill City Schools.
The report cards, spawned by a law intended to make schools more accountable, still will include overall proficiency test scores, plus graduation and discipline figures and spending and enrollment data.
Members of the state education board say failing to provide the race and gender information will prevent parents and community leaders from detecting problems.
In a letter asking Mr. Voinovich to veto the elimination of the data, Board President Jennifer Sheets said it was included in response to comments from focus groups of parents, citizens and interest groups.
"I believe people are entitled to this information," Ms. Sheets said. "Maybe if parents and community leaders see problems more clearly, people will get more involved in their schools and change things."
Few school districts already prepare such reports and offer them to parents. Cincinnati Public Schools began distributing such a report card last year, but it did not list proficiency scores by race and gender.
Assistant CPS Superintendent Kathleen Ware said the information is provided to staff members at individual schools so they can tailor their curriculum to assist children struggling with the proficiency tests.
However, Ms. Ware said, parents have told school officials there already is enough information on the report cards to determine how CPS and other districts are performing.
Some lawmakers agree.
"We feel most of the things on these report cards haven't been adequately debated by the public," said House Majority Leader Randall Gardner, a Bowling Green Republican who led the push to eliminate the race and gender data. "I frankly think that kind of information is controversial and divisive."
Mr. Gardner said he would consider leaving it up to individual school districts to decide whether to list the race and gender data. Removing the data is the latest move by lawmakers to overturn a vote of the state education board.
The panel spent three years drafting tougher academic standards, only to see its recommendations largely ignored by lawmakers. The education department also has been stripped of duties in recent years, including control of programs that fund classroom computers and school construction.
