It’s almost time once again for Ohio schools to beg for funding from their communities. The case of Canal Winchester is particularly dire. According to the Columbus Dispatch”
Canal Winchester schools sent notices to 23 teachers that they will lose their jobs if the school levy does not pass on May 5.
This school district has already made major cuts to their budget, including bussing. In fact, due to their lack of school transportation, Canal Winchester has had to cancel classes due to the inclement weather much more often than other surronding school districts.
Without going into great detail, we all know that Ohio school funding is a disaster. There are many issues that I do not want to go into detail to at this point, but I simply wanted to say that pressure needs to be put on the state to develop a better way to fund our local schools. As it is now, the students are the ones that suffer the consequences of the inaction of the Strickland administration and the state legislature. It’s time to to pressure our government, and the far too influential National Education Association into figuring a solution that works for Ohio’s students.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Jason: Know that I say this with great respect for your dedication as a teacher, but this school funding debate is consistently mis-framed.
School funding is about employee pay. Only about 10% of the operating budget for a school district is spent on anything else. So when we’re talking about school funding, we’re talking about the number of employees, how much they get paid, and the cost of their benefits. Here in Hilliard, the number of regular classroom teachers has remained constant (in proportion to students) for a decade, as has the number of administrators. The classifications that have grown are tutors, aides, psychologists and intervention specialists.
As for pay, the system of using pay grids that consider (only) length of service and educational credentials is not in of itself the problem, but I think it is not well-explained to the public, and the tendency is to communicate base pay increases (which have recently been on the order of 3%) while leaving the step increase out of the story. As a result, most folks don’t understand how the two combine to create real pay increases on the order of 6-7% annually, even in these increasingly tough economic times.
Then comes the question of where the money to fund the system to come from. Don’t dismiss the fact that whether the money comes from property taxes or state income taxes, it’s still coming from the same people – the private and corporate citizens of Ohio. The difference between local property taxes and state income taxes isn’t who pay them – it’s who approves them.
Local property taxes must be approved by the people of the local community. School leaders hate that they have this accountability to their community. State income taxes are better in their mind because they are put in place by state legislators who can be ‘bought off’ with campaign contributions: note that OEA and the NEA are huge campaign contributors.
So I don’t mind having the debate about how well schools should be funded, but let’s get all the cards on the table.
Paul’s last blog post..Not Worth Mentioning
Paul-
I’m not necessarily disagreeing with anything that you say. The unions have gotten out of control in most sectors of our economy, and both the OEA and NEA are no exceptions. I also agree about the raises. I am totally fine with sticking with cost of living adjustment increases. We all choose our professions and I am fine with how I am paid and how much.
Your site was extremely interesting, especially since I was searching for thoughts on this subject last Thursday.
I’m Out!