Lawmakers are very likely to extend graduation flexibility to the high school classes of 2019 and 2020 during the lame duck session this year, Sen. Peggy Lehner (R-Kettering) told local education officials Tuesday at the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA) Capital Conference in Columbus. 

Lehner, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, joined a panel alongside Rep. Scott Ryan (R-Newark), chair of the House Finance Committee, and Rep. John Patterson (D-Jefferson), co-leader of a bipartisan school funding study group whose impending report is highly anticipated on Capitol Square.

In a discussion moderated by OSBA's Jay Smith featuring several questions from attendees, the legislators handicapped the prospects of various new education policies in the lame duck session and the budget deliberations of early next year.

Smith kicked off the discussion with a question about graduation flexibility. Lawmakers created new methods of earning a diploma for the class of 2018 amid reports that many students were unlikely to graduate on time, but so far haven't acted on the State Board of Education's request to extend that flexibility. The State Board of Education is set to vote later this week on a new, long-term graduation reform proposal that is recommended to take effect with the class of 2022.

"I would bet, 99 percent, that the alternative pathways are reinstated for 19-20," Lehner said.

Outside the meeting room, Lehner told Hannah News her conversations with leadership and colleagues revealed widespread agreement on the need to act, but she said a two-year extension is likely as much as schools will get, not the three-year transition period called for in the state board's proposal.

The board's long-term proposal, beyond the flexibility extension, will likely not see action until the spring, she said.

Ryan said he's personally in favor of extending flexibility, but said he doesn't know the sentiments of his caucus on the issue. He added that the state needs a broader concept of what a diploma means, saying now it's too focused on those who are bound for college. He said he'd like to see diplomas that signify readiness for the next stage of life, supplemented by accompanying certificates that demonstrate college readiness or welding skills or technology skills, for example.

"My concern here is, we put everybody in the same bucket," he said to applause.

Patterson spoke about his year-long work with Rep. Robert Cupp (R-Lima) on a workgroup of educators to develop a new school funding model. "For the last year, this group and numerous legislators have met to answer two fundamental questions. First of all, what does it cost to educate a typical student in a typical town? We've never really asked that question. … And the second question then is, what is a fair share for the state and a fair share for the local districts?"

He said the group is in the final stages of reviewing information and devising recommendations. One draft idea that he shared during discussion with the audience is direct funding, rather than funding via deduction from home school districts, of students opting for open enrollment and charter schools.

Norman Scearce, a board of education member for Trotwood-Madison Schools, asked the panelists about the possibility of changes to the academic distress commission law enacted in 131-HB70 (Brenner-Driehaus), calling it a "horrible" policy for the way it disenfranchises local voters and places all authority in a single person.

Lehner said that, despite the good intention of addressing chronically failing schools, the distress commission law has "serious flaws" and needs to be re-worked. But, she added, Gov. John Kasich is "very protective" of that law, likely leaving it off the table for lame duck action. She said she's not heard anything on the topic from the incoming administration but plans to bring it up when she meets in the coming weeks with Gov.-elect Mike DeWine's team.

"I do anticipate there will be some changes made to the academic distress commission process. What those are, I don't know at this point," Lehner said.

Andrew Wilson, a member of the board of education for Fairborn Schools, asked whether the dormant HB512 (Reineke), Kasich's plan to merge education and higher education into one agency and sideline the State Board of Education, is dead.

"Yes and no," Lehner replied. "I think 512 itself is dead, but I think some of the issues that it raised are still alive … We have a very clunky governance system in education, frankly."

"To invest all of that in a czar, so to speak, under the governor … is too much," Lehner said. But she added she's a fan of the P-20 council model at work in other states, where representatives of various players in the education sector make recommendations to lawmakers. Such a system could supplant the State Board of Education, she said.

Patterson said he sees a need for greater integration of K-12, career-technical and higher education.

Ryan said, "I am very concerned about the governance structure of our education system being able to adapt at the speed necessary to create the work paths necessary. It's a real problem. Cap Square in and of itself is hardwired to shoot things down. Then you add different layers to that; it's almost a recipe for stagnation."

Another audience member asked what the state's doing about addressing the problems of accountability and recovery of public funds raised by the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) saga.

Lehner noted the creation in SB216 (Huffman) of a joint committee on e-school funding, which she will chair along with Cupp. While the committee is behind schedule -- its first meeting is scheduled for Thursday, the same day its report is due by law -- Lehner said her staff did a lot of research on the topic over the summer, so the panel will be ready to hit the ground running.

Lehner said a key challenge of the e-school model is that it often takes students who didn't do well in traditional schools and then drops them into an environment with little supervision. Because few states are like Ohio in terms of the number of e-schools operating and the way they're paid, state leaders will have to create a new system on their own, she said.

Mark Curtis, board of education member for Twinsburg Schools and Cuyahoga Valley Career Center, asked about report card reforms, noting particularly the challenge career centers face in being graded for student performance that is more directly linked to students' home districts.

Lehner said both the general and career-technical education report cards are under review for reforms. Action is unlikely during lame duck, but more likely in the coming General Assembly, she said.