Parent mentor testifies against ESC cuts

VW independent/submitted information

COLUMBUS – An area parent mentor with the Western Buckeye Educational Service Center (WBESC) testified in Columbus about her concerns for what proposed state budget cuts would do to special education services in Ohio.

WBESC Superintendent Brian Gerber and Craig Burford, executive director for the Ohio Educational Service Center Association (OESCA), were instrumental in getting Cathy Ruiz, parent mentor for Paulding County, to make a recent trip to the Statehouse. On March 12, Ruiz, along with Burford and other ESC supporters, gave her testimony before Ohio Representative Bob Cupp and the House Finance and Appropriations Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary Education in Columbus, which Cupp chairs.

Following testimony before the subcommittee, ESC supporters met with Senator Randy Gardner’s staff, as well as meeting in person with Senator Cliff Hite, to share their concerns regarding Governor John Kasich’s proposed budget cuts, specifically to educational service centers and to special education.

Governor Kasich’s proposed biennial budget, House Bill 64, has raised many concerns, specifically in regards to the executive proposed 25 percent funding cut to Ohio ESCs in this biennium, as well as the executive proposal allowing certain districts that meet specific criteria to opt out of ESC alignment and support services.

These two proposals would negatively impact direct student services provided to school districts by high quality regional service providers.

For 100 years, Ohio’s Educational Service Centers (ESCs) and its members have provided leadership and services that enable school districts to increase student achievement and improve Ohio’s education system.

As a parent mentor with Western Buckeye, ESC in Paulding County, Ruiz provides supports and services to parents of children with special needs, and to the school districts who serve them. Ruiz, who has two children with  special needs, understands the daily challenges of parenting a child with a disability. The excellent supports, services, and interventions provided for Ruiz’s sons by Western Buckeye ESC through the years has played a vital role in helping them to be as successful as possible in academic  achievement.

“In the midst of their dis-abilities, they are finding their a-bilities to progress and be more successful,” Ruiz noted.

Ruiz’s recent testimony, from both a parent and professional perspective, was in support of ESCs and the positive impact they can make toward student achievement, especially for those students with disabilities.

Ruiz, who also serves as president on the Executive Board of the Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities (OCECD), included in her testimony concerns the coalition has regarding the governor’s budget proposal in reference to special education funding: to fully fund the six-weight funding over the next two biennia, believing that every student with disabilities be treated fairly and equally by providing them with least as much of a funding increase as received by those students in regular  education.

“Continued state funding for our ESCs must continue for them to provide successful shared services with the Ohio school districts in order for student achievement to move ever forward,” Ruiz stated, and also requested that the Ohio General Assembly restore at least the 25 percent funding cut to ESCs.