Superintendent Urges Lawmakers to Delay & Refine Ohio's ESSA Educational Plan

COLUMBUS (March 9, 2017) – Shaker Heights City School District Superintendent Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr., urged the Ohio General Assembly’s Joint Education Oversight Committee to delay submitting Ohio’s plan to implement the federal Every Student Succeeds Act until the fall.

“The new ESSA gives states an unprecedented amount of autonomy and flexibility,” Hutchings said. “We are shortchanging ourselves—and our students—if we do not take advantage of this opportunity.”

During testimony in Columbus, Hutchings also told the committee that Ohio should use multiple and alternative assessments—rather than a single state standardized exam—to determine a student’s mastery of academic material.

“When it comes to measuring student mastery of materials, we need to be more innovative and more creative,” Hutchings said.

Hutchings also told lawmakers that Ohio’s new biennial budget needs to be aligned with the state’s ESSA plan. For example, the budget should provide school district funding for priorities such as high-quality early childhood program, Career Technical Education (CTE) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

He also suggested the need for better charter school oversight, the development of workforce development plans with businesses, a revised State Report Card that does away with A-F grades for districts and schools, and adequate funding to ensure teachers and administrators have the training they need to implement new state standards.

Hutchings was among two dozen superintendents and education leaders to testify before the bipartisan oversight committee, which is made up of members from both chambers of the legislature.

Monday, March 6, 2017, was the Ohio Department of Education’s deadline for soliciting public comment on the state’s draft ESSA plan. A final version of the plan will be sent to the U.S. Department of Education either in the spring or fall of this year.

In early 2016, an ESSA Task Force of Shaker Heights parents, educators and students created an ESSA White Paper that detailed recommendations and changes to the state in six key areas. 

 Click here to read the testimony by Dr. Hutchings.
 Click here to read the ESSA White Paper.