A Cathartic Digression by Jim Kimmel

From Jim Kimmel

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Subject: Re: Dream on, Bobby, maybe you can get a loan from Tom Noe to fund this one!

Nothing will really change in Ohio education until schools are funded by something other than real estate. If politicians really had guts they would use a mandatory sales tax of some kind. People are still buying gas at $3.00 per gallon. so a couple of % points for schools would be very acceptable to most Ohioans-except the tight fisted Plutocrats who believe that their manhood is in their wallet instead of down where it should be. Maybe that is the problem.The good thing about a sales tax is that if you have a bad year and earn little you will buy less and pay less tax. Next year when Taft leaves and you find a better job (sorry I just had to be sarcastic) you would spend more and thus pay more taxes. Right now all our "fearless" leaders are rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic and pointing their fingers at each other. Of course those at the bottom of the food chain(schools, teachers, students, homeowners) get hurt the worst. Yes, some companies would not want to come to Ohio to have their home office or factory- or would they mind IF we had a good sensible system of educational financing and well funded schools.? Too many business leaders do not think things through but act on negative reflex because they only see the near term.Or maybe they are just greedy and have things JUST FINE for themselves and want to keep the status quo.

A Cathartic Digression

by Jim Kimmel

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----- Original Message ----- Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Subject: Dream on, Bobby, maybe you can get a loan from Tom Noe to fund this one!

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Posted on Tue, May. 16, 2006, Akron Beacon Journal

Fedor noted, 10,000 teachers have been laid off statewide this past year as districts such as Akron cope with inadequate resources. It is cruel to watch schools slash their budgets, and then demand that they pull together the money to pay for new classes in foreign languages.

Core subjects

Strengthen school curriculums and repair the funding system? If Ohio wants to pursue excellence in education, it must do both

State Sen. Teresa Fedor welcomed the ``beautiful rhetoric'' last week at a joint hearing of the House and Senate education committees. The Toledo Democrat had in mind the broad and necessary consensus supporting tougher curriculum requirements for high school graduates. Business leaders were particularly vocal in backing the ``Ohio Core'' initiative of Bob Taft. The governor, among other things, wants to beef up math, science and foreign language courses.

The business community, including the Greater Akron Chamber, has joined with foundations, education and civic organizations to form Tapping Ohio's Potential, a coalition dedicated to winning legislative passage of the governor's proposal. Hard to imagine a duck more lame than Taft, his approval rating having fallen into single digits at one point not long ago. Yet the governor, to his credit, has gamely pressed ahead, making the case for an advance that Ohio must make.

The legislative hearing provided a forum, in part, for revisiting discouraging trends, for instance, a mere 19 of 100 Ohio ninth-graders moving forward to complete a college degree on time. As things stand, 35 percent of first-year college students in the state require remedial coursework in math and English. The governor rightly wants to set the bar higher. So do business leaders in the thick of global competition, grasping keenly the importance of a skilled work force. As the president of the Ohio Business Roundtable put it, ``nurturing talent is job one.''

One element of the Taft initiative involves a $20,000 signing bonus and loan forgiveness for teachers who focus in needed areas. That promising incentive highlighted a concern, one articulated by Teresa Fedor. If the state senator applauded the soaring words, she also pointed to the hard realities.

The state must strive for excellence, or as the governor stressed: ``We must be serious about developing Ohio's young people for the competitive world economy.'' Yet, as Fedor noted, 10,000 teachers have been laid off statewide this past year as districts such as Akron cope with inadequate resources. It is cruel to watch schools slash their budgets, and then demand that they pull together the money to pay for new classes in foreign languages.

In that way, Fedor correctly emphasized the need to repair a school funding system that punishes districts. The truth is, Ohio can both fix the funding mechanism and strengthen its core curriculum. What shouldn't be assumed (as one business leader did) is that voters will look more kindly on school levies because the state has improved course requirements. The essential nurturing of talent isn't so easy. What is required is a broad and influential coalition articulating honestly the case on both counts, marrying beautiful rhetoric to sufficient resources.