The Ohio 8 Coalition Principle Statements
Download the Ohio 8 Coalition Principle Statements here.
Diversity in and among schools throughout Ohio should be recognized and promoted.
The Ohio 8 Coalition is proud to support the unique educational needs of every student in our districts, no matter where they come from, the amount of money their family earns, the languages they speak, or the physical or cognitive challenges they face. The Ohio 8 Coalition believes that it is crucial that parents and taxpayers throughout the state of Ohio are provided with important context regarding the uniqueness of Ohio’s more than 600 school districts. Information provided from the state of Ohio to local communities about school districts and student performance should embrace the complexities of every community and every district in order to ensure that we create an environment that fosters innovation and collaboration.
Student achievement measures should provide meaningful information that support students and their families.
The Ohio 8 Coalition believes a high-quality education is the right of all students and should be provided equitably regardless of race, disability, geographic location, or economic circumstances. This education should motivate students and holistically support them to meet high standards by addressing their unique needs. The Ohio 8 Coalition believes student achievement should be measured through the use of transparent instruments, consistent methods, and instruments developed with the input of educators working directly with our students. These achievement measures should provide reliable, consistent, explicable, and meaningful data to our students, parents, and educators.
A diverse and qualified workforce is critical to the success of students and thus must be supported and prioritized.
The Ohio 8 Coalition already prioritizes and will continue to strive to recruit, develop, and retain a highly professional, diversified, and dedicated workforce to ensure that caring, competent, and knowledgeable staff are working with our students and families every day. In order to create enriching and inspiring learning environments that provide the greatest possible opportunities for students, we support the need for the following:
- transparent, balanced, and fair educator evaluation systems;
- informed professional development opportunities and respectful collaboration; and
- communication with all stakeholders.
School funding is crucial to ensuring that every student has the opportunity to be successful.
The Ohio 8 Coalition believes in a system of school funding that fairly and efficiently supports and provides resources for federal and state educational requirements and affords every student in the state an opportunity to be successful in school. The state’s funding system should be stable and predictable. The funding system should take into account the reality and inherent challenges of local annual budget cycles for school districts but a bi-annual budget cycle for the state, and embrace the unique needs of students throughout Ohio. The school funding system should recognize that different students require different resources to achieve at high levels, should not place an unfair burden on the state’s most vulnerable students, nor should it force school districts to be rivals rather than partners.
Accountability measures ensure that families and taxpayers have access to useful school performance information.
The Ohio 8 Coalition believes every school and district must be accountable to the citizens they serve. Systems that hold schools and districts accountable should be developed with the input of stakeholders to ensure the transparency, validity, and usefulness of such systems and to equitably measure their uses in a reliable manner. The Ohio 8 Coalition believes that every school and district should be responsive to the state of Ohio’s educational accountability system, which should do the following (which it does not do at this time):
- highlight the uniqueness of Ohio’s more than 600 school districts;
- be simple for parents and taxpayers to understand; and
- support collaboration and innovation rather than a one-size-fits all approach that presently assumes similarities between schools and districts where there are significant differences.