It’s a typical story for Ohio – winter isn’t even over, and many school districts have already used up all their snow days.
And it’s an even worse situation for some this year, since the number of calamity days dropped to three through ex-Gov. Ted Strickland’s education reform package. The reform championed by the Democratic former governor and his allies are in the process of being dismantled by Republicans who won big last fall, but the calamity days issue is on a fast track.
“I think that reduction is turning out to be a poor decision.”
Republican Tim Grendell of Chesterland in northeast Ohio is sponsoring the Senate version of a bill that would immediately raise the number of canceled days districts don’t have to make up from three to five. Grendell is among those who say the safety of kids and staff are in jeopardy in bad weather, that it costs a lot to make up the time and that districts should have flexibility in how they deal with snow days. But former Gov. Strickland says he thinks they’re not considering the bottom line.
“I think some of the people who are wanting to increase the calamity days simply have not taken the time to understand the situation. Some people have said, well, this is costing us money. What they don’t realize is that the state is already paying for those five calamity days. So the state would be paying money for days when no instruction occurred. I think that’s just simply unreasonable. I also believe we’ve got to get serious about the education of our kids.”
One education activist agrees with Strickland, but says his calamity day plan didn’t go far enough. Bill Phillis led the coalition of poor schools that sued the state, claiming the way it funds public schools is unfair. He says Ohioans are paying 69 million dollars a day for K-12 education whether classes go forward or not.
“That’s an enormous public outlay, and if each school district were off one day, that’s 69 million dollars that taxpayers don’t see any services. That seems to be inconsistent with some of the other policies that are being pushed around the Statehouse.”
Phillis wants a longer school year and longer school days. But a former state school board member says the one-size-fits-all approach isn’t the way to go. Colleen Grady now works with a charter schools group, and she says while she supports the five calamity days bill to resolve the issue now, she’s pushing for schools to measure their calendars in hours, not days.
“If we simply express the minimum school year in hours and gave districts and schools some flexibility, I think that would be an approach that would number 1, work, and number 2, we wouldn’t be faced with dealing with calamity day issues on an annual basis.
Phillis agrees on the hours not days approach, which has been proposed before but not approved. And while longtime education advocates are split over the issue, Strickland’s Republican success John Kasich makes it clear how he feels.
“There’s just something about a snow day….I kinda like ‘em. I want snow days for governors – that’s what I’m pushing for next.”
While options such as on-line classes and other forms of distance learning have been suggested, there are concerns about how those could be implemented throughout the state.
