Teachers and Children’s Services Investigations
Investigations by Children’s Services are NOT legal proceedings. Therefore, BEFORE talking with ANYONE from Children’s Services, please follow these important steps:
- If you are notified that a complaint against you has been filed with Children’s Services regarding your treatment of a student in your care, DO NOT make any statement regarding the allegations until you contact the Association President.
- After briefing your local president and principal on the allegations, immediately contact your OEA Labor Relations Consultant (LRC). An attorney will be assigned for any Children’s Services hearings or investigations.
- You are NOT entitled to have an attorney for meetings with the administration and parents if Children’s Services is NOT involved. Your local association will provide representation for meetings such as this.
- NEVER agree to meet with a Children’s Services representative regarding allegations against YOU as a teacher until you have followed steps 1. and 2. above. You DO NOT have to meet on their schedule and you always have the right to consult with legal counsel. Your future as an educator is at stake – don’t risk it. OEA provides assistance; please avail yourself of that assistance.
Teachers’ Duty to Report to Children Services
Ohio Revised Code Section 2151.421 (Key Provisions)
A.1. (a) — Duty to Report
Persons in certain official positions who know or suspect that abuse or neglect has occurred to a child under eighteen (18) or mentally retarded, developmentally disabled or physically impaired child under age twenty-one (21) shall immediately report that knowledge or suspicion to the county public children services agency or the municipal or county peace officer in the county in which the child lives.
A.1. (b) — People Required to Report
Total of twenty-two (22) are listed including licensed school psychologist, speech pathologist, or audiologist, school teacher, school employee, or school authority.
G.1 — Immunity for Making Report
Persons making the report or participating in the investigation IN GOOD FAITH are immune from civil or criminal liability.
Ohio Supreme Court Decision: Campbell v. Burton (imposing individual liability for failure to perform duty to report known or suspected child abuse)
In Campbell v. Burton, decided on July 25, 2001, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that a school teacher and her school district could be sued for the teacher’s negligent failure to report her knowledge or suspicion of child abuse to the public children services agency of the jurisdiction.1 In so holding, the Supreme Court reversed the decisions of lower courts that had relied on Ohio’s sovereign immunity law to dismiss lawsuits against teachers and school boards alleging negligent failure to report child abuse.2 The Court held that the abuse reporting statute expressly imposes liability on the individuals designated as mandatory reporters, and thereby creates an exception to sovereign immunity for the teacher and school district. The decision therefore opens the door to lawsuits against school teachers should they have knowledge of possible child abuse and fail to report such knowledge to the appropriate children services agency.
The decision does not expand the mandatory duty of school teachers to report knowledge or suspicion of child abuse; these laws have existed for many years. In this regard, teachers already face the possibility of criminal liability for failure to report suspected child abuse.3The Ohio Supreme Court also noted that individuals who report suspicions of child abuse in good faith are granted immunity from civil and criminal liability pursuant to R.C. §2151.421(G). By granting broad immunity to individuals who report suspicions of child abuse in good faith, the law encourages reporters to err on the side of disclosure in all instances of suspected child abuse.
The decision increases the likelihood of teachers becoming defendants in lawsuits where a third party is the actual child abuser, and the teacher has failed to report her suspicion of abuse. OEA members should be aware that boards of education have a duty to defend and indemnify teachers and other employees from such lawsuits under R.C. §2744.07. Even though school districts have a duty to defend and indemnify employees from such lawsuits, teachers and support staff will still face the burden of litigation, including time and inconvenience required to participate in litigation. The best advice to give teachers and support staff is to always err on the side of disclosure of suspected child abuse to the appropriate children services agency.
1School teachers have a mandatory duty to report knowledge or suspicion of child abuse pursuant to §2151.421(A) of the Ohio Revised Code.
2Ohio’s sovereign immunity statute provides: “In a civil action brought against a political subdivision or an employee of a political subdivision to recover damages for injury, death, or loss to property allegedly caused by any act or omission in connection with a governmental or proprietary function . . . the employee is immune from liability unless one of the following applies: (a) His acts or omissions were manifestly outside the scope of his employment or official responsibilities; (b) His acts or omissions were with malicious purpose, in bad faith, or in a wanton or reckless manner; or (c) Liability is expressly imposed by a section of the Revised Code.”
3A violation of R.C. §2151.421(A), i.e. the failure of a mandated reporter such as a school teacher to report known or suspected child abuse, is a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
Disruptive or Violent Students
If you have a Concern with a Student
Emergency Removal
- You have the right to remove a disruptive student from the classroom.
- You have the right to impose necessary disciplinary action to students in keeping with Board policy.
Physical Assault Involving a Unit Member
- You have the right to defend yourself and/or obtain assistance.
- The principal should be immediately notified to call police, parents, and the Superintendent.
- You have the right to legal aid from the County Prosecutor’s Office.
- You need to be sure to document the entire incident in writing by including the date, time, witness (es) present, location; any events leading up to the assault, and specifically, what took place during the assault.
For Your Own Protection
You should immediately contact your Association President and the Superintendent, and file charges with the local police department
Employee Use of the Internet
In the past several years, OEA has had a rash of contractual and legal issues regarding alleged misuse of the Internet – school and personal. Therefore, we wanted to remind you of the following common sense applications of Internet usage.
- You have Internet access at your school, you probably have signed a copy of the District’s “Acceptable Use Policy.” PLEASE READ IT!
- Do NOT visit Internet sites from your school computer that would be objectionable if a student saw the information posted there.
- Be VERY CAREFUL in your e-mail correspondence to students. Do not send even marginally questionable jokes, notes, etc. to students EITHER from your school computer or from your home computer. Your e-mail correspondence to students should ONLY be classroom-related. In fact, it would be better to e-mail to the PARENT, rather than the student.
- Do your best to monitor what students are viewing over the Internet sites in your workplace. Be sure that you have a classroom policy on use of the computers and Internet sites.
- Always remember that SOMEONE can read any e-mail you send or receive from the school’s computer.
- Illegal use of the Internet and e-mail ARE grounds for termination.
- When in doubt, DON’T! YOUR career is at stake!
Fact Finder for the Ohio Teacher
The Teacher Contract
Ohio teachers work under one of two basic types of contracts–limited or continuing. Limited contracts must be renewed periodically. State statute or your collective bargaining agreement determine the procedure the employer must use to non-renew a limited contract. A continuing contract remains in effect until a teacher dies, resigns, voluntarily retires, is suspended or terminated for cause.
Supplemental: Supplemental contracts are limited contracts issued for extra duties assigned beyond the regular teaching assignment. Contracts must set forth in writing the additional duties to be performed and must specify compensation to be paid for that assignment. Supplemental contracts should cover all educational responsibilities outside the regular teaching assignment other than voluntary duties. There is no notice requirement for termination of supplemental contracts, unless otherwise negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement.
Types of Licenses
Resident Educator (Four-Year)–Upon completion of an approved teacher education program, graduates are given a four-year Resident Educator license, which may be used for full-time or substitute teaching. The Resident Educator license is non-renewable, but may be extended on a case-by-case basis. Advancement to a five-year Professional Educator License requires the successful completion of a four-year Resident Educator Program.
Reading Requirement for Teachers Holding the Following Resident Educator Licenses: Early Childhood Education, Middle Childhood Education, and Intervention Specialist. Newly-licensed teachers who hold the resident educator license in early childhood, middle childhood, or intervention specialist should be mindful of how many semester hours of reading they completed during their pre-service teacher education program. Some teacher education institutions require that graduates in these fields complete six semester hours of reading, including instruction in phonics, in order to qualify for graduation and the two-year provisional license. Other teacher education institutions require students to complete 12 semester credit hours. Because the five-year professional license for early childhood, middle childhood, or intervention specialist requires a minimum of twelve (12) semester credit hours, or the equivalent, in reading including phonics, newly-licensed teachers should determine whether they need to take additional hours in reading to meet the twelve-hour requirement. Assuming that the teacher has completed course work in the teaching of phonics, additional reading courses might address a range of instructional strategies for teaching reading, the assessment of reading skills, and the diagnosis and remediation of reading difficulties. If a resident educator license holder has not completed the necessary course work before the expiration of the license, her/his application for a professional license will be denied.
Professional (Five-Year)—Conversion from the Resident Educator (four-year) license to the Professional Educator (five-year) license requires completion of a four-year Resident Educator Program in an assignment under the four-year Resident Educator license, including a state-required summative prescribed performance assessment.. No additional professional development credits are required, except as explained below.
Senior Professional Educator (Five-Year)—Advancement to a Senior Professional Educator license (five-year) from a Professional Educator license (five-year) requires that an educator meet the following requirements: 1) Have a Master’s degree or higher from an institution of higher education accredited by a regional accrediting organization; 2) have nine years experience teaching under a standard teaching license with 120 days of service as defined by ORC, of which at least five years are under a professional/permanent license/certificate; and 3) have successfully completed the Master Teacher Portfolio.
Lead Professional Educator (Five-Year)— Advancement to a Lead Professional Educator license (five-year) from a Professional Educator license (five-year) requires that an educator meet the following requirements: 1) Have a Master’s degree or higher from an institution of higher education accredited by a regional accrediting organization; 2) have nine years experience teaching under a standard teaching license with 120 days of service as defined by ORC, of which at least five years are under a professional/permanent license/certificate; and 3) have successfully completed the Master Teacher Portfolio AND earned the Teacher Leader Endorsement OR hold active National Board Certification.
Professional Development for Licensure Renewal
An educator’s Individual Professional Development Plan [IPDP] must be filed with and approved by the Local Professional Development Committee[LPDC] prior to earning credits for course work or continuing education to renew a license or to transition from a certificate to a license.
Transitioning to or Renewing a Professional (Five-Year) License—Transition from an eight-year professional certificate to a professional license requires the completion of a combination of course work, CEUs or other equivalent educational activities, equal to six semester hours, according to an LPDC-approved Individual Professional Development Plan and in accordance with LPDC criteria for professional development. There is no provision for reducing the course work or professional development requirements on the basis of work experience.
Professional License (Five-Year) renewals—The educator must successfully earn six (6) semester hours or 18 CEUs or other LPDC-approved educational activities, according to an LPDC-approved Individual Professional Development Plan and in accordance with LPDC criteria for professional development.
For more information about the Ohio’s licensure standards, including fees for application, contact the Office of Educator Licensure at the Ohio Department of Education (ODE), 25 S. Front St., Columbus, OH 43215- 4183, (614) 466-2006 or visit the center’s website at www.ode.state.oh.us.
The necessary application for a new certificate or license or a renewal may be obtained at the ODE. An LPDC must review an individual’s professional development and verify that it meets the requirements for renewal before ODE will act on an application for renewal. For current licensure fees, visit ODE’s website search term “Educator License Applications.”
Teacher Sick Leave
The law requires that teachers be permitted to accumulate at least 120 days of sick leave at the rate of 15 days per year credited at the rate of one and one-fourth days per month. Any accumulation beyond 120 days is covered by the collective bargaining agreement and/or board policy.
The law permits the use of sick leave for personal illness, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, injury, exposure to a contagious disease, and absence due to illness, injury, or death in the employee’s immediate family.
Under the law, teachers who are disabled and who have exhausted their sick leave are entitled to unpaid leave for the duration of their disability, not to exceed two years, and may receive leave renewals after the two-year period has expired.
Any public employee may carry accumulated sick leave from one public employer to another, provided the break in service between jobs does not exceed ten years.
Parental Leave
Members wishing to take a leave of absence for reasons of maternity, adoption or child rearing may be granted such leave based upon negotiated contracts. They may be entitled to such leave under equal employment opportunity laws and under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
Important Teacher Dates
May 1: Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES) and Ohio School Counselor Evaluation System (OSCES) educators must have completed their evaluation, if applicable. The final evaluation report must be received not later than May 10.
June 1: Any limited contract teacher must be notified not later than June 1 of the board’s intent to non-renew their contract. Failure of a board to provide such notice, or failure of the board to perform three observations, automatically results in re-employment for one year under a limited contract.
Unless teachers notify the board of education in writing to the contrary by June 1, they are presumed to have accepted re-employment under the provisions of the contract offered by the board.
July 1: Teachers must be notified in writing by July 1 of their salary for the coming school year. The salary may be increased due to schedule improvements through negotiations.
July 10: A teacher must resign not later than July 10 for the next school year. After July 10, the teacher must have the board’s consent or face a possible suspension of their teaching license for up to one year
Teacher Severance Pay
Teachers can receive severance pay based upon accumulated unused sick leave at the time of retirement. Payment may be for all or part of accumulated unused sick leave based upon the policy in force in the district or the negotiated contract. If the district has no policy, or there is no local contract language on this point, the law provides for severance pay in an amount equal to one-fourth of the accrued unused sick leave, up to a maximum accrual of 30 days.
Discrimination
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and various Ohio state laws offer protection against discrimination in the areas of supplemental salaries, pregnancy leave, promotion, termination, transfer and other areas. If a member believes he or she is being discriminated against for legally proscribed reasons, the member should contact their OEA Labor Relations Consultant.
Removing Disruptive Pupils from Class
Ohio law gives teachers the legal right to remove disruptive pupils from the classroom. OEA-backed legislation gives teachers the right to “remove a pupil from curricular or extra curricular activities” with the condition that the teacher submit written reasons for the removal to the principal as soon as possible. This right applies when, in the judgment of the teacher, the “pupil’s presence poses a continuing danger to persons or property or an ongoing threat of disrupting the academic process.” In addition to regular suspension and expulsion, the law also permits a school district to permanently expel a pupil under certain circumstances.
Children with identified learning disabilities are subject to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a federal law which may guide how to deal with disruptive students with such disabilities.
Teachers and Corporal Punishment
Corporal punishment is prohibited in Ohio schools unless a school board has established a policy that permits it. If your school board has a policy permitting corporal punishment, get a copy of that policy and adhere strictly to it when considering the use of corporal punishment. If you are unsure whether your district has a policy permitting it, refrain from using corporal punishment until you are certain of your school district’s policy.
Ohio law allows the use of such amount of force and restraint as is “reasonable and necessary” to quell a disturbance which threatens physical injury to others, to obtain possession of weapons or other dangerous objects within the pupil’s control, for the purpose of self-defense or for the protection of persons or property.
If A Member Is Assaulted
If a member is the victim of an assault while on school property, the following procedures are recommended:
- Write down as soon as possible after the assault incident all particulars of the situation, including names, witnesses, date, time(s), location, and general conditions.
- Contact the proper school authorities.
- Contact the local association.
- Have the person determine his/her rights to assault leave under the Ohio Revised Code or the collective bargaining agreement.
- Take pictures, if relevant and possible, of injuries or property damage.
- Get a doctor’s statement if there is even a remote possibility of personal injury.
- File all appropriate police reports.
- Press charges against the assaulting student(s) or others.
- Avoid talking to anyone representing the student or others without prior counsel.
- Remember, members are covered by the OEA/NEA Legal Services Program if charges are filed against them.
For Member Protection
Under Ohio law, public employers bear responsibility to indemnify their employees against certain tort claims for acts occurring within the scope of their employment. However, as OEA members, individuals have the additional protection of $1 million in professional liability insurance. This program provides for: *
- Liability Protection. Payment of up to $1 million in damages assessed against a member as a result of a lawsuit.† There is a $3 million aggregate limit per occurrence for this coverage. This is excess coverage, meaning that it is available when the employer declines to provide coverage or where liability limits are exceeded.
- Legal Costs. Payment of all legal costs in defending such cases.
- Civil Rights. Payment of up to $300,000 in damages, attorney fees, and court costs if a member is charged with the violation of the civil rights of an individual.†
- Criminal Cases. Reimbursement of attorney fees and other legal costs up to $35,000 if a member is charged with violating a criminal statute in the course of employment, provided the member is found innocent of the charges or the charges are dropped. If charges stem from an incident involving corporal punishment, the member can be reimbursed up to $35,000, regardless of the outcome of the case.
- Bail Bond. Reimbursement of up to $1,000 of the bail bond premium if the member must post bond.†
- Personal Property Damage. Payment of up to $500 for damages to personal property when caused by an assault in the course of employment. If you believe there is a claim under the liability protection program, contact your local OEA/NEA Labor Relations Consultant immediately.
†In an incident arising out of the member’s education employment.
* In civil actions related to your education employment activities. Please note: This is not a full description of the coverage. For a complete description of OEA/NEA liability coverage, please contact your Labor Relations Consultant.
Educator Standards Board
The Educator Standards Board is responsible for:
- Creating teacher and principal standards, and professional development standards
- Creating standards for license renewal
- Collaborating with colleges and universities to align teacher prep programs with standards
- Defining master teachers
- Monitoring compliance with teacher and principal standards;
- Researching policies on the profession of teaching and school administration
- Working with the Department of Education to develop a proposal for a career ladder program
- Recommending policies to lose achievement gaps among groups of students
- Creating standards for treasurers and business managers
- Creating standards for superintendents
- Developing model teacher and principal evaluation systems
- Determining a method for measuring student growth
The State Board is required to appoint ten teachers from public schools, one teacher from a chartered nonpublic school, five school administrators, one school board member, one parent representative and three representatives from higher education to the new board.
The nominations for the Educator Standards Board came from teachers’ unions, higher education, and educational associations that represent teachers, administrators, parents and school board members. Membership on this board is voluntary.
The Educator Standards Board can be found online at http://esb.ode.state.oh.us/
ESSA Fact Sheet
For 14 long years, students and educators have lived under the deeply flawed No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) returns decision making for our nation’s education back where it belongs — in the hands of local educators, parents, and communities — while keeping the focus on students most in need.
Summary of ESSA Workgroup Collaborative Items
Statement of Purpose
Education organizations and stakeholders across Ohio embrace the opportunities provided within the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to set forth a vision of high-quality education in Ohio. Our group of education stakeholder organizations has identified five key areas that must be improved to ensure a better learning environment for students. Embedded within these opportunities is an emphasis on providing all students the support and resources needed to succeed in school and prepare them for college or careers.
Early Childhood
- Focus on early literacy and childhood education — providing needed support to students in their earliest years of learning rather than intensive interventions later in their educational career.
- Equity in resources serving our neediest learners in order to improve services to children and their families.
- Coordination among Head Start, early childhood initiatives (Birth-Age 8), and Title funding. Using best practices and educator professional development on the academic, social, and emotional needs of learners to ensure educational opportunities for the whole child.
ESSA provides for Professional Development Grants through a competitive Preschool Development Grant. These grants provide funding to states to promote coordination and collaboration between existing early childhood programs and systems to improve the access to quality programs for low income and disadvantaged children. ESSA authorizes a new $250 million early childhood education program. Whether or not Ohio is a recipient of these funds, the fact that these funds are being provided within ESSA demonstrates the need for quality programs with a focus on interventions, support, and equity for our youngest learners.
Assessments
- Identify and articulate the purpose and use of state mandated assessments. Assessments should be communicated in a language that is easily understood by families, educators, and other education stakeholders. This would include a description and purpose of each assessment, valid uses of the data, and a clear explanation of the results.
- Audit the current assessments utilized for Ohio’s accountability and explore alternative methods of assessment in order to assess students in the least invasive way possible. The amount of time spent on state mandated testing should be further reduced to absolute minimums in order to provide more time for learning and local formative assessment.
- Apply the 1% limit on alternative assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities on a statewide basis, as opposed to being applied at the district or school level.
- Establish a period of stability for tests and testing windows. Provide timely feedback to allow for the testing data to be used to inform instruction and enhance student learning.
- Utilize test data for the purposes identified by the selected assessment to ensure validity. Assessment results should not be utilized in making high-stakes decisions concerning students, staff, or schools. The impact of student growth/test scores on educator evaluation and school effectiveness should be eliminated.
ESSA provides the opportunity to further reduce the amount of standardized testing. It decouples testing and high-stakes decision making for students and educators. It further allows states to set a cap limiting the amount of time students spend taking annual standardized assessments. The SMART Act provides funding for states to audit and streamline assessments, and eliminate those that are duplicative. Reducing the amount of time spent on testing results in more time for teaching and learning to take place in the classroom.
Accountability/State Report Card/School Improvement
- Focus on the purpose of Ohio’s Report Card including what is being reported as well as how the results are reported and interpreted within the community.
- Develop an easily understood guide for community members to be able to make sense of the data being reported about their schools/districts.
- Simplify the state report card, while allowing for a district’s unique circumstances (such as poverty level) which can be identified within a non-academic indicator as provided for in ESSA.
- Provide an opportunity for schools and districts to add explanatory comments to the report card in order to provide additional context to the community.
- Identify those schools needing comprehensive supports and interventions for lowest performing schools based on “what works,” including evidence-based interventions and resource equity. The development of any intervention strategies should allow for local decision making in the school improvement process.
ESSA gives states discretion to choose at least one school quality and student success indicators within two parameters: the indicators must (1) allow for meaningful differentiation in school performance; and (2) be valid, reliable, comparable, and statewide. Additionally, ESSA provides five examples of indicators and then adds that the state may use “any other indicator the state chooses that meets the requirements of the school quality and success clause”. ESSA allows for more than one non-academic indicator. Any selected indicator(s) must be applied across the state.
Of note, the four academic indicators in the aggregate must have greater weight than the 5th non-academic indicator (school success/student support). Discussions around the non-academic indicators of school success or student support allowed within ESSA can provide schools and districts an opportunity to tell their story and focus on the varied educational supports/opportunities that are provided for all students through a well-rounded curriculum but are not reflected in the academic indicators.
Family Engagement
- Provide equity of resources for “special families” – special education, English Language Learners, military families, and socioeconomic status throughout the state. These needs are large and evolving as the student population of Ohio continues to diversify.
- Invest more than 1% of Title I funding for family engagement. A key component in family engagement is providing for supportive professional learning on effective family engagement practices for teachers and school leaders.
- Use clear, consistent language with communities and families to develop stronger connections and school/family partnerships that endure.
ESSA authorizes Statewide Family Engagement Centers to support and provide comprehensive training on parent education and family-school partnerships. Multiple provisions in ESSA ensure that every student has access to a high quality education, regardless of zip code, and that strategies to engage families and communities are central to school improvement efforts. ESSA includes provisions for the Community Support for School Success program, which provides grants for Full-Service Community Schools. A focus on families and communities prepares all stakeholders to truly partner in student-focused programs and supports when education, accountability, interventions, and successes are shared. Collaborative partnerships should focus on valid programs and supports for students with a shared sense of accountability and success.
Educator Capacity
- Promote professional learning that provides time to collaborate, work with data to make informed decisions, and be involved in guiding the instructional decisions.
- Decouple assessments from educator evaluations (teacher and principal) in order to emphasize educator performance and growth.
- Adjust OTES and OPES to drive professional growth rather than serve as compliance checklists.
Consider the interwoven relationship between educator capacity and other key decisions within ESSA. ESSA provides that Title II grant funding continues to be used to increase student achievement while increasing quality and access to effective teachers, principals, and other school leaders. Title II also ends federally mandated evaluations. States will be allowed to develop, improve, and implement educator evaluation systems, so long as they consult with stakeholders including educators, paraprofessionals, and their unions. ESSA makes resources available to states that could be used to develop or strengthen educator induction and mentoring programs. This is of particular importance given recent polls that show that fewer college bound students are electing to go into the education profession. Further, ESSA allows district funds to be used to enhance collaboration and teacher-led professional development aligned with students’ learning needs. Quality professional learning opportunities support growth in educator learning which in turn impacts student learning.
Collaborative Educator Stakeholder Organizations:
- Buckeye Association of School Administrators
- Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators
- Ohio Association of School Business Officials
- Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators
- Ohio Education Association
- Ohio Federation of Teachers
- Ohio Parent Teacher Association
- Ohio School Boards Association
For more information, visit NEA’s ESSA site, getessaright.org.
Licensure and Renewal Information
Ohio offers several different types of licenses for educators including a Resident Educator 4-year License, a 5-year Professional License and Substitute License. Information regarding Teacher Licensure and Certification in Ohio can be found by accessing the Ohio Department of Education links below:
If you are applying for Initial Licensure: http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Teaching/Licensure/Apply-for-Certificate-License
If you are applying for Licensure Renewal: http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Teaching/Licensure/Renew-Certificate-License
For an overview of Teacher Licenses in Ohio:
http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Teaching/Licensure/Apply-for-Certificate-Licens
Ohio Resident Educator Program
The Ohio Resident Educator Program began in 2011 and has evolved to a comprehensive, multi-year induction program. Successful completion of the program and the Resident Educator Summative Assessment (RESA) results in professional licensure.
Full information regarding the Ohio Resident Educator Program can be accessed on the Ohio Department of Education Website: http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Teaching/Resident-Educator-Program
How to Get Free Classroom Supplies
Rather than reaching deeper into your own pockets, Tamar Snyder at Edutopia suggests following these tips for getting free supplies:
Don’t Buy What’s Free
Look into these strategies for obtaining free materials:
- Recycling. Jennifer Volpe, a speech pathologist at Cobble Hill High School, in Brooklyn, New York, recommends a nonprofit recycling site called Freecycle, where people from all over the world post books, CDs, electronics, and toys they’re giving away. “The only catch is that you have to arrange to pick up the items,” says Volpe.
- Free shopping spree. Teachers at schools in which at least 60 percent of students qualify for free lunch can take part in a monthly shopping spree at resource centers such as A Gift for Teaching, in Orlando, Florida, which gets many of its new supplies donated as surplus from businesses.
- Try a Facebook Group. Join a Facebook Group for your community/region and post a request for the supplies you need.
Put Your Classroom Up For Adoption
Adopt-A-Classroom offers a free, safe online e-wallet account to educators who want to solicit financial support from the community. Teachers can use the money to purchase books, games, and other educational supplies through the online vendors associated with the site.
To sign up, log on to the site, register your classroom, and describe what kinds of supplies you’d like to buy. Then let parents and local businesses know that they can “adopt” your classroom for as little as $25.
Go For The Big Score
OfficeMax, in partnership with Adopt-A-Classroom, hosts the annual A Day Made Better event in October. Last year, the office superstore sent 1,300 teachers each a large box of classroom-supply staples that included scissors, glue sticks, pencils, pens, notebooks, tissues, and even a digital camera.
Teachers who’d like to be considered for A Day Made Better 2009 should have a school principal or fellow teacher nominate them at the official site.
Raise Funds For Supplies
Neeta Garg, owner of the Kumon Math and Reading Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, wanted to help local teachers. So last summer, she organized a school-supplies drive. She sent flyers and emails to parents, and her daughter posted the event on Facebook. In addition to hundreds of donated pencils and notebooks, she collected gloves, coats, and backpacks — all of which she donated to area public schools.
And at Wilmot Elementary School, in Deerfield, Illinois, parent-teacher organization (PTO) fundraisers pay for a lot of supplies. Teachers fill out wish lists of the classroom supplies they’d like, from pencil sharpeners to cooking utensils. The PTO organizes fundraisers throughout the year, including a Market Day, when students and their families can order food from a catalog once a month.
Start A Gift Registry
Gift registries aren’t just for weddings anymore. At DonorsChoose, public school teachers can post online requests for equipment and supplies. Supply Our Schools allows teachers in low-income school districts to register for classroom supplies. Gold Star Registry is yet another site that encourages parents, PTAs, and other community-support organizations to make similar types of donations.
Seek Out A Matchmaker
San Diego businessman Jerry Hall founded iLoveSchools.com to match donors with teachers seeking new or gently used equipment and supplies for their classrooms. Tens of thousands of teachers have signed up, and many have received gifts such as computers and art supplies — even a saxophone with sheet music.
Sell Advertising Space
Tom Farber, an Advanced Placement calculus teacher at San Diego’s Rancho Bernardo High School, made headlines when he asked parents and local businesses to sponsor his exams. “I knew that I had to do something,” said Farber, explaining that if he gave one quiz per chapter to each of his 167 students, he’d spend more than $500 (roughly $3 a student) on photocopies alone.
So Farber began selling a small amount of space at the bottom of each exam. He charges $10 per quiz, $20 for tests, and $30 per final. Most sponsors use motivational quotes, such as this gem: “A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants trees under which he full well knows he will never sit.”
To date, Farber has raised more than $625 — enough to cover a year’s worth of photocopies.