Why Slashing School Budgets is Bad News

I could be just talking out my ass here, but I think the American education system is pretty broken.

I attend classes at Columbus State.  I'm surrounded by people who graduated high school with 3.5+ GPAs...who are completely unable to handle a simple English 101 essay, or comprehend both sides of an equation must balance.  I hear stories regularly from friends who are teaching college courses as instructors and graduate assistants...and am amazed their students have high school diplomas.

For whatever reason, high school has become a little safe bubble where nothing bad ever happens, not even a failing grade.  I think it boils down to a "survival mode" mentality in schools.  Too many teachers are worried about being the target of the next layoff and don't want to stand out.  Too many administrators are worrying about their budgets instead of education.  Too many politicians sticking their ill-informed noses into the education system and making changes to something they don't understand.

We need to figure out a way to improve education, to graduate people who are prepared with the knowledge--but more importantly the thought-processes--to move on, into business or high education or public service.  This is not going to happen in the current environment.  Too many people who would make excellent teachers, who want to teach, go into other fields because people like John Kasich make life too difficult.

School districts aren't hiring teachers.  So what's the point in getting an education degree?  An ENTIRE GENERATION of teachers are either passing up the chance to pursue their calling, or aren't being allowed to do more than substitute teach a couple times a week.  The new blood, the innovation, the passion that could save our country from mediocrity is being rejected.

But don't worry.  John Kasich is gonna save us.  He's going to break the teachers union.  He's going to cut so much funding all school districts will have no choice but to go bare-bones, stick to basics, not risk any changes.  And rest assured he's NEVER going to attempt education reform...that would be EXPENSIVE, right?  And besides, he'll use the old GOP cop out; "That's a local issue."

Too bad the local authorities don't have the money to solve the problems.

Ohio, nice work back in November.  Unless something drastic happens, you've helped usher in the fall of American supremacy within the next generation.

Kasich Hates Children, the Future

I just read the Dispatch's report on the effect Kasich's budget will have on school districts state wide.

All I can say is, if any of you people who voted for him last November were expecting enlightened leadership, this is proof that you were wrong.  And we'll be paying the price for generations.

The man claims the budget increases spending for education.  While this is TRUE, there is a slight increase in spending over the 2 year budget, it's NOT the full story.

But tangible property tax reimbursement?  A key part of many district budgets?  He's speeding up the elimination of that revenue.  Sucking away a HUGE source of income from many districts, especially those districts getting 2% of their income from that source (that money is being eliminated right away).

There's also this pesky problem with Federal money.  Stimulus money was being used by a lot of districts to plug gaps in budgets...that money is gone.  And with the attitude in Washington, I don't think any more aid is forthcoming (nor should Congress send more money...this is a state and local issue, not a Federal one).  But the Federal money is gone, and it was keeping a lot of districts from collapse.  Kasich's answer to that?  "It's not a good idea to operate on one-time money."

By now, it should be clear why Kasich is pushing SB 5 so hard.  The only way schools will be able to lay off enough expensive teachers is by breaking the union.

Well!  I feel good about raising children in this state, don't you?

Ohio House Bill 318: Income Tax Cut Delay

Thanks to an update e-mail from the Columbus Library I found out about House Bill 318, the bill designed to postpone the income tax reduction and give legislators a pay cut. The goal for this bill is to keep as much money in the state budget as possible (probably a good idea given the , and it looks like a pretty solid bill.

Key provisions include:

1. 2 year postponement of the last part of the income tax cut
2. Reduces legislator salaries and supplements by 5%
3. Eliminates statutory automatic annual pay increase
4. Various other rule and compensation changes

Now's the time to read the bill (linked again for you in these parenthesis) and then let your state Senator know how they should vote on this issue. Since, after all, they represent you.

A BIGGER Budget??

Sorry it's late today...don't hold it against me too much!

Evidently, the House Democrats are being even more optimistic with their revenue projections than Strickland was. You see, they've expanded the budget to $54.4 billion...with worthy programs, sure. But I dunno how wise the spending is, never the less. My inner conservative is coming out.

It's only the first round of changes before the full House vote tho, so...we'll see. Check it out at the Dispatch.

That's all I have today, folks...I'll be bringing you a round up of stories from around the Ohio blogs on Friday!

Negotiations Bear Fruit on Transport Budget

So you remember me blogging about Strickland's transportation plan? Negotiations between Senate Republicans, House Democrats, and the Governor's office created a compromise bill. Main items? (From the Columbus Dispatch)

• Truck speed limit will rise from the current 55mph for commercial vehicles to 65mph like the rest of us.
• Construction zone cameras are nixed, no ifs ands or buts.
• Cops still won't be able to pull you over for not wearing your seat belt (they have to have another reason to pull you over).
• The Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati-Dayton rail line is moving along, with the Senate Republicans agreeing to let the Controlling Board have the final say (letting the planning/approval process move forward in time to compete for federal funds.
• Strickland wanted to raise the cost of regular vehicle registration $5.75, but that was rejected. Other fees like vanity plates WILL go up to raise State Patrol funds.
• The negotiating teams also worked out extra unemployment benefits for some workers (though I'm kinda lost on why this is in a transportation bill).

Total price tag? $9.6 billion. I don't see anything that gets me all riled up...but I haven't tracked down the actual legislation and dug through the details, either. I'm mostly curious to see what happens with the rail line...we really, really, really need to push mass and rapid transit much more than we typically do.

Ohio Legislature Lame Duck Session

I've gotten so busy trying to figure out how to get the interactive portion of this blog up and functioning, I've sort of forgotten about the local spin this blog is supposed to have. Let's fix that, shall we?

A few interesting things have come out of the Ohio Legislature's lame duck session this month. Normally, you'd hear "lame duck" applied to outgoing President Bush. It also applies in this case because, in theory at least, many of the people at the Statehouse will be leaving office after this month, making it a group of "lame ducks."

Three of these bills got the kebosh from Governor Strickland--a tax credit for film making, paying bonuses to recent war vets from the rainy day fund, and eliminating the "golden week" for voter registration/voting (where you can show up at a designated spot to register, and then vote at the same time).

Another bill sort of tries to address human trafficking, by making it a first degree felony to force people into prostitution. However, this is merely an ammendment to another bill, one that would force abortion clinics to display "No one can force you to have an abortion" signs. (Satire warning) I would hate to see the Ohio legislature do anything that didn't somehow advance a productive, conservative agenda.

A more useful bill is one that will allow Cuyahoga County to buy up some of the multitude of foreclosures they have and use them in a land bank to help neighborhoods recover. Good to see someone taking action on that, since the empty houses in Cleveland are now legendary.

And now there's one less legal way to get your buzz--or hallucinations--on. The Ohio legislature did in fact add salvia to the list of controlled substances, right along side heroine and marijuana.

Other interesting noise out of the Statehouse is all about the budget cuts: another 5.75% across the board, except for education, veterans aid, and prisons. This is starting to scare me. The governor is talking about federal aid and a lack of fat left in the budget. The Columbus Dispatch did a story not long ago about what some of these cuts could look like, and it's not a pretty picture.

It's not just state agencies that would feel the hurt, it's all the poor communities that rely on state grants and other funds to operate. What happens when counties can't pay their deputies, road crews, crime labs, prisons, and health departments because the money from Columbus has dried up?

Unless some of that half a trillion dollars I keep hearing about from the Obama transition team trickles down to states in the form of Medicaid, education, or public works help...we could start looking like a third world nation here in the "Heart of it All."

Columbus Government

Since I've moved, it's time to get acquainted with a new set of government officials. Let's start with the Mayor of Columbus and the City Council.

The city's website is pretty simple: http://www.columbus.gov/. I love it when it's that simple. The main page here has all kinds of links that are just pretty spiffy. The central features have some interesting news bites...hrm. Have to look into that.

The Mayor's Page has a lot of the same information as the main city page, but also has contact info for the Mayor.

The City Council has a main page, that branches off into all sorts of information about the council and it's individual members.

City Attorney has his own page.

As does the City Auditor.

Clerk of Courts has her own webspace.

And a list of Judges.



I think that covers it all. Now to update my sidebar links...



...and Now for Some News....

McCain, Clinton Win in Florida, from NPR

Army Balks at VA Help for Soldiers, from NPR

Afghan MPs Back Death for Blasphemy, from BBC

EU Leaders Call for Transparency, from BBC

Organizations Worried Over State Budget Troubles, from WVXU