Plain Dealer examines effect of Senate Bill 5 on school districts

The Cleveland Plain Dealer published an article this week that surveyed the effect Senate Bill 5 would have on school districts.

Among the most drastic changes for school personnel are the elimination of pension "pick ups," the elimination of binding arbitration, and the elimination of longevity pay and step increases.

Of course, opponents of SB 5 are mobilized, attempting to ensure that these changes never take effect, by putting the measure to the voters in the November 2011 general election.

That article can be accessed here: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/04/new_collective_bargaining_law.html

Bill to allow teachers to deduct classroom materials from income tax proposed

Ohio State Senator Eric Kearney, D-Cincinnati, introduced S.B. 290 to allow teachers to write off on their Ohio income tax the amounts that they spend for instructional materials in their classroom.

Under the bill, the tax commissioner has the right to request that the teacher provide a receipt for each item used in calculating the deduction and a letter from the teacher's employer confirming that the items were used for classroom instruction. Only teachers in grades K-12 are eligible, and are required to hold an educator license. Teachers who instruct a child exclusively at home and not eligible for the deduction.

The Ohio Education Association has not taken an official stance yet on the legislation. Stay tuned.

Appeals Court Upholds Grant of Unemployment to Special Education Teacher

The Ninth District Court of Appeals has upheld the decision of a trial court finding that a special education teacher was terminated without just cause.

In that case, the special education teacher was discharged by her board of education for allegedly abusing a student in her care. She was initially denied unemployment benefits, after there was a finding that she was discharged for just cause. However, the teacher continued her appeals, and the decision was subsequently reversed by the review commission.

The review commission's decision was appealed to the Court of Common Pleas, which upheld the decision of the review commission. That decision was affirmed by the Ninth District. In reaching its decision that the trial court's decision was not unlawful, unreasonable, or against the manifest weight of the evidence, the appeals court relied on the facts that a county children services did not reveal bruising on the child's wrist or neck. Also, the children services’ final determination was that the claim of abuse was unsubstantiated and the Center for the Teaching Profession after conducting an investigation determined there was no abuse and renewed the appellee individual's teaching certificate. Furthermore, the state Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities did not place the appellee individual on its registry of those who had abused students.

Accordingly, the teacher was able to collect her unemployment benefits.

Teacher not entitled to continuing contract, appeals court rules

An Ohio appeals court upheld the dismissal of a teacher who claimed he had a legal right to a continuing contract in the case of State ex rel. Browne v. Sandusky School District Board of Education.

In that case, the teacher had graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Bowling Green State University. In the spring semester of 1983, he enrolled in and received three credit hours in the area of licensure or in an area related to the teaching field. In the spring semester of 1994, at Bowling Green State University, Mr. Browne enrolled in and received credit for 18 hours of coursework in the area of licensure or in an area related to the teaching field.

On June 20, 1994, the Ohio Department of Education issued appellant his
first four-year provisional teaching certificate; at that time, appellant did not hold a master's degree. From 1994 until present, Mr. Browne has been employed with the Sandusky City School District. Following the issuance of his initial teaching certificate through 2003, appellant completed ten hours of coursework in his area of licensure or in an area related to the teaching field.

Believing that he had attained eligibility for a continuing contract, Mr. Browne
applied for a continuing contract for the 2005-2006 school year. In November 2005,
Mr. Browne was informed that he needed to complete two additional semester hours in order to be eligible for continuing contract status. In 2006, Mr. Browne completed an additional three hours of coursework. Also in 2006, he was issued a five-year professional license by the Ohio Department of Education.

In November 2006, Mr. Browne again requested that the Board consider his
eligibility for a continuing contract. In a letter dated December 8, 2006, the Superintendent informed Mr. Browne that, upon closer inspection of
his transcripts, the semester hours that appellant completed following his baccalaureate degree but prior to his initial licensure did not count toward the 30 semester hour requirement for continuing contract purposes. The Superintendent then informed appellant that he needed to complete 20 additional semester hours to be eligible for continuing contract status.

Mr. Browne did not complete any additional semester hours but continued to
assert his right to a continuing contract. On September 18, 2007, the Board again denied his request for a continuing contract.

On July 15, 2008, he filed a complaint for a writ of mandamus
requesting that the Erie County Court of Common Pleas compel the Board to issue him a
continuing contract. Specifically, he asserted that, pursuant to R.C. 3319.11,
he had a clear legal right to a continuing contract; the Board was under a duty to
award him a continuing contract; and that he had no adequate remedy at law.

On the school board's motion, the trial court dismissed the case. The appeals court upheld the dismissal, finding that Ohio Revised Code 3319.08(B)(2)(a) requires that 30 semester hours, in their entirety, must be commenced and completed following the issuance of the initial teaching certificate. Mr. Browne had argued that teachers could commence taking the hours beforehand. The lesson to teachers is that if they want their semester hours to count towards continuing contracts, they should only begin such coursework upon the initial issuance of their licensure.

Court of Appeals upholds trial court's narrow interpretation of "salary" in R.C. 3319.12 for teacher with continuing contract

The Twelfth District Court of Appeals held today that a school board does not violate R.C. 3319.12 when it fails to pay a continuing contract teacher the entire amount her contract requires when that teacher does not work the amount of days required in the contract.

At issue in the case was Carla A. Varasso, an art teacher with a continuing contract. That contract required her to work 183 days of the year
for an annual salary of $56,422.16, or $308.32 per day. However, in May 2004, Ms. Varasso was severely injured in an accident that left her unable to teach again until Fall 2005. By the time she returned, she had missed 58 days of the school year, only nine of which had been covered by sick leave.

Thus, Ms. Varasso had her compensation reduced for the time that she was off of work without sick leave. She thus filed suit, alleging a violation of R.C. 3319.12 which prohibits reducing teacher's salaries from the amount that they made the year before, unless the reduction is part of a uniform plan adopted by the school district.

The 12th District found that "salary" meant "rate of pay" and as long as the teacher was paid the same rate of pay for the days she worked, there was no violation of the statute.

The case is Varasso v. Williamsburg Local School Dist. Bd. of Edn., 2009-Ohio-3419.