The evaporation of public money entrusted to the care of C-TEC’s school board and administrators has been well-documented by the Advocate and discussed at length in blogs and comments. Those I’ve written, plus links to news reports, can be found at this link.
Bob Handelman, president of the school board, denied responsibility when asked by the Advocate about the school board’s role. This school board president - with whom the uppermost resonsibiltiy lies - believes himself, other board members, and administrators blameless for any of this. The buck, for them, apparently stops nowhere.
As reported by the Advocate 4/27/10, “board president Bob Handelman, a Newark school board member, joined the second session to defend the board's handling of the expansion, arguing C-TEC was guilty of nothing more than accepting bad professional advice. He's told us there's no evidence anyone in C-TEC acted in bad faith and there was no need to investigate what went wrong, nor any need for apologies.”
The fact is, Bob Handelman and everyone involved in C-TEC’s recent and present administrative blundering owes this community four things: 1) an apology for irresponsible management of public money; 2) an explanation of how things went so wrong in the decision-making processes and by whom these decisions were made; 3) resignations of those responsible; and 4) new administrative policies to prevent recurrences.
If C-TEC leaders think denial is their salvation, they are truly underestimating the intelligence of parents and taxpayers. To claim innocence - rather than to claim responsibility - rather than claim a firm resolve to do better - demonstrates delusion that won’t be forgotten.
Showing posts with label schools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label schools. Show all posts
Friday, May 7, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Inefficiency, duplication at the core of school expense
The average cost for an administrator of elementary and secondary schools in Ohio is $91,030. Those salaries cost taxpayers of this state $824 million each year, according to researchers at Underwood & Associates of Columbus.
The Brookings Institution has studied Ohio’s economy and concluded, among many recommendations for restoring Ohio’s prosperity, that this state must shift spending from school administrators to classrooms. It recommends 1) transparency regarding costs of districts’ administrations; 2) pushing districts to share services; 3) the mandating of administrative procedures; and 4) cutting the number of Ohio’s school districts by at least one-third.
I’ve been writing about it for many months and other writers had been preaching similarly long before me. “Recognizing that ‘local’ school districts are no longer local is the first step in a real fix for Ohio’s broken system, I wrote 5/11/10 at this link.
The essay advanced four ideas that I believe would save millions.
1 - Combine at the state level all administrative functions that do not directly involve individual school buildings. Top local school administrators should be building principals.
2 - Combine at the state level purchasing of supplies and provision of services such as busing. Services and supplies could be provided by private companies, selected by lowest and best bids.
3 - Pay school employees throughout Ohio the same, with variance according to the cost of living in each community.
4 - Remove state interference from the art and science of teaching. Let teachers take over that responsibility in full, but provide for ways to weed out incompetent teachers and financially reward the better ones according to a statewide measure. All schools would teach the same classroom subjects and offer the same extra-curriculars, as mandated by a commission of a-political persons with demonstrated expertise in education.
School administrators, under the present system, all do essentially the same jobs, each in their own little neighborhoods. It makes the state system a massive and inefficient conglomerate of disparate parts supposedly doing the same job. There is no reward for efficiency or cost containment. Run out of money? Bribe, threaten, and sweet-talk property owners for more taxes.
Oversight of Ohio’s public schools presently is a political process, guided not by management skill, not by educators, but by people skilled at getting elected to office. Meanwhile teacher/staff/administrator labor unions guide this “oversight” from the shadows. Never mind that all schools of Ohio should be doing the same thing for the same purpose, which is bringing students to a certain level of knowledge over a 12-year period.
I am not optimistic, Brookings Institution notwithstanding. To run Ohio’s schools with a modicum of business sense will require citizens to finally out-muscle the labor unions, a factor so far kept secret by the state’s education reporters.
The Brookings Institution has studied Ohio’s economy and concluded, among many recommendations for restoring Ohio’s prosperity, that this state must shift spending from school administrators to classrooms. It recommends 1) transparency regarding costs of districts’ administrations; 2) pushing districts to share services; 3) the mandating of administrative procedures; and 4) cutting the number of Ohio’s school districts by at least one-third.
I’ve been writing about it for many months and other writers had been preaching similarly long before me. “Recognizing that ‘local’ school districts are no longer local is the first step in a real fix for Ohio’s broken system, I wrote 5/11/10 at this link.
The essay advanced four ideas that I believe would save millions.
1 - Combine at the state level all administrative functions that do not directly involve individual school buildings. Top local school administrators should be building principals.
2 - Combine at the state level purchasing of supplies and provision of services such as busing. Services and supplies could be provided by private companies, selected by lowest and best bids.
3 - Pay school employees throughout Ohio the same, with variance according to the cost of living in each community.
4 - Remove state interference from the art and science of teaching. Let teachers take over that responsibility in full, but provide for ways to weed out incompetent teachers and financially reward the better ones according to a statewide measure. All schools would teach the same classroom subjects and offer the same extra-curriculars, as mandated by a commission of a-political persons with demonstrated expertise in education.
School administrators, under the present system, all do essentially the same jobs, each in their own little neighborhoods. It makes the state system a massive and inefficient conglomerate of disparate parts supposedly doing the same job. There is no reward for efficiency or cost containment. Run out of money? Bribe, threaten, and sweet-talk property owners for more taxes.
Oversight of Ohio’s public schools presently is a political process, guided not by management skill, not by educators, but by people skilled at getting elected to office. Meanwhile teacher/staff/administrator labor unions guide this “oversight” from the shadows. Never mind that all schools of Ohio should be doing the same thing for the same purpose, which is bringing students to a certain level of knowledge over a 12-year period.
I am not optimistic, Brookings Institution notwithstanding. To run Ohio’s schools with a modicum of business sense will require citizens to finally out-muscle the labor unions, a factor so far kept secret by the state’s education reporters.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Bully-proofing schools and neighborhoods
When I first wrote about bullies I entitled it “Our village failed a child.”
However, none of the events since then - including my own writing - have reflected that this is more than a problem for schools, and more than a problem for police, and more than a problem for parents of bullies. Nobody, including myself, has framed it as a problem for our village.
That occurred to me when I reflected on why there was virtually no bullying in my rural school district many years ago. It wasn’t because there were no mean kids among us.
There were, however, three very influential forces: 1) there was always a teacher or an administrator watching when school took up, during recesses, lunch periods, and after school; 2) teachers had the nerve and felt the responsibility to punish misbehaving students; 3) people who lived in my village were looking out for the safety and welfare of kids and they had the courage and the will to help keep the peace.
Bullying and bad behavior by children were everyone’s problem, though it required time and attention and will power.
So why don’t we have a strong network of neighborhood watch groups? Why can’t parents organize to patrol problem areas? Why can’t the PTA get involved? Why aren’t parents standing up in city council meetings demanding police presence at problem areas? Why can’t individuals just do their own patrolling even without being organized or assimilated into a group? Why can’t teachers and administrators get out of the buildings to keep an eye on things?
I think these solutions - or perhaps better solutions - will materialize if and when everybody begins to see the children of our village as a personal responsibility.
However, none of the events since then - including my own writing - have reflected that this is more than a problem for schools, and more than a problem for police, and more than a problem for parents of bullies. Nobody, including myself, has framed it as a problem for our village.
That occurred to me when I reflected on why there was virtually no bullying in my rural school district many years ago. It wasn’t because there were no mean kids among us.
There were, however, three very influential forces: 1) there was always a teacher or an administrator watching when school took up, during recesses, lunch periods, and after school; 2) teachers had the nerve and felt the responsibility to punish misbehaving students; 3) people who lived in my village were looking out for the safety and welfare of kids and they had the courage and the will to help keep the peace.
Bullying and bad behavior by children were everyone’s problem, though it required time and attention and will power.
So why don’t we have a strong network of neighborhood watch groups? Why can’t parents organize to patrol problem areas? Why can’t the PTA get involved? Why aren’t parents standing up in city council meetings demanding police presence at problem areas? Why can’t individuals just do their own patrolling even without being organized or assimilated into a group? Why can’t teachers and administrators get out of the buildings to keep an eye on things?
I think these solutions - or perhaps better solutions - will materialize if and when everybody begins to see the children of our village as a personal responsibility.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Bullies don’t stop, nor should NCS
That Newark City Schools hit back at student bullies in some classroom exercises (reported in the Advocate 1/26/10) is to be commended.
I wrote 12/3/09 that “Our village failed a child” and that it was in part the fault of schools. Now Newark City School administrators have acted to end bullying. Likely they recognize what they’ve accomplished as only the beginning. Meanwhile, lots of folks are jumping in the Advocate comments sections saying it’s not enough. I agree.
Bullying is like obesity, like tooth decay, like bad attitude, like addiction. You can’t make corrections with one talkie-talk field day. You have to fight it. You have to keep fighting it and you have to keep your guard up every single moment.
Some of the commenters indicated that the confrontation of bullies lies mostly or only with school principals, and that some principals are intimidated by parents of bullies. I suspect there is some truth in that, and if it is true, then let’s face off with those parents. Let’s hire security guards. Let’s call the police to the offices of school principals. Let’s take these parents to court. Let’s draw a line in the sand over which these parents and their kid-bullies shall not pass.
Announce that line; make it stick. That line will stand once the word gets out. Meantime, don’t stop with one talkie-talk field day. Do it regularly and encourage PTA groups (do they still have these in Newark?) to take up banderillas.
Our village should now have learned that it should never again fail one of our children. If that takes some unaccustomed toughness on our part, so be it.
I wrote 12/3/09 that “Our village failed a child” and that it was in part the fault of schools. Now Newark City School administrators have acted to end bullying. Likely they recognize what they’ve accomplished as only the beginning. Meanwhile, lots of folks are jumping in the Advocate comments sections saying it’s not enough. I agree.
Bullying is like obesity, like tooth decay, like bad attitude, like addiction. You can’t make corrections with one talkie-talk field day. You have to fight it. You have to keep fighting it and you have to keep your guard up every single moment.
Some of the commenters indicated that the confrontation of bullies lies mostly or only with school principals, and that some principals are intimidated by parents of bullies. I suspect there is some truth in that, and if it is true, then let’s face off with those parents. Let’s hire security guards. Let’s call the police to the offices of school principals. Let’s take these parents to court. Let’s draw a line in the sand over which these parents and their kid-bullies shall not pass.
Announce that line; make it stick. That line will stand once the word gets out. Meantime, don’t stop with one talkie-talk field day. Do it regularly and encourage PTA groups (do they still have these in Newark?) to take up banderillas.
Our village should now have learned that it should never again fail one of our children. If that takes some unaccustomed toughness on our part, so be it.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Newark remains unstimulated
Federal “stimulus” dollars were supposed to create jobs as a means of undoing the damage to our economy by Wall Street sharpies, bankers, unregulated monopoly businesses of all stripes, and by government. But in Newark we are far from stimulated. In fact, as one commentator said, the people of Newark are selling hamburgers to each other for survival.
A tedious and uncertain trip through the federal stimulus brag sheet on the web reveals that two jobs have been created for the private sector locally. The rest of the $27,494,419 total in grants for zip code 43055 has created 26.58 additional jobs (on paper), all of them apparently are government jobs if indeed any were created.
A lot of that money went to schools and a lot to construction projects - projects the government would have to take care of anyway. So government feeds itself more of our tax dollars - as usual - as a way to stimulate our economy.
The two local jobs created (on paper at least) from a $171,787 grant went to Newark Townehomes, 11 Daugherty Circle in Newark. This is a HUD property I was told, and I think it’s owned by a corporation in Columbus, but I couldn’t substantiate that because whoever answered the phone wasn’t too talkative.
So there you have two jobs in the private sector for Newark out of all the billions nationally for bankers, stock brokers, auto manufacturers, auto dealerships and governments.
If you did not receive one of the two jobs and were are not already working for government or a school your financial outlook is probably like mine: It hasn’t been this bad for decades. Meanwhile, the greed of companies like Time-Warner Cable, property tax collectors, oil companies and other monopolies, seems boundless.
Before his election, Obama & Company were on Ohio like flies on manure. Now he keeps in contact, with me at least, by sending incessant e-mails asking for donations for this Democrat project or that. There’s a red button to use for donating.
I’d really like to donate Mr. Obama and the Democrats a hamburger as a symbol of the two new jobs we’ve received in Newark.
Unfortunately, there’s no red button for hamburgers - and I couldn’t afford it anyway.
A tedious and uncertain trip through the federal stimulus brag sheet on the web reveals that two jobs have been created for the private sector locally. The rest of the $27,494,419 total in grants for zip code 43055 has created 26.58 additional jobs (on paper), all of them apparently are government jobs if indeed any were created.
A lot of that money went to schools and a lot to construction projects - projects the government would have to take care of anyway. So government feeds itself more of our tax dollars - as usual - as a way to stimulate our economy.
The two local jobs created (on paper at least) from a $171,787 grant went to Newark Townehomes, 11 Daugherty Circle in Newark. This is a HUD property I was told, and I think it’s owned by a corporation in Columbus, but I couldn’t substantiate that because whoever answered the phone wasn’t too talkative.
So there you have two jobs in the private sector for Newark out of all the billions nationally for bankers, stock brokers, auto manufacturers, auto dealerships and governments.
If you did not receive one of the two jobs and were are not already working for government or a school your financial outlook is probably like mine: It hasn’t been this bad for decades. Meanwhile, the greed of companies like Time-Warner Cable, property tax collectors, oil companies and other monopolies, seems boundless.
Before his election, Obama & Company were on Ohio like flies on manure. Now he keeps in contact, with me at least, by sending incessant e-mails asking for donations for this Democrat project or that. There’s a red button to use for donating.
I’d really like to donate Mr. Obama and the Democrats a hamburger as a symbol of the two new jobs we’ve received in Newark.
Unfortunately, there’s no red button for hamburgers - and I couldn’t afford it anyway.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
NCS employees, we don’t care about your convenience
Newark City Schools quandary over where to educate students while the high school campus is being rebuilt is the subject of an Advocate report (1/10/10).
It says administrators favor spending another half-million-or-so tax dollars on renting 16 classroom buidlings.
Another option, would be to schedule split sessions - difficult, but doable, the report says. The problem with that is “it ... hurts your activities” and the administration would have to “manipulate (its) staff so that everybody’s happy.”
This is the kind of fiscally irresponsible crap that property owners and income-tax payers are tired of hearing from NCS administrators.
We don’t care about your activities or your convenience, and we had hoped that a new superintendent and a new treasurer and a couple new board members might make a difference in the NCS attitude toward spending taxpayers’ money.
This is not a good omen.
It says administrators favor spending another half-million-or-so tax dollars on renting 16 classroom buidlings.
Another option, would be to schedule split sessions - difficult, but doable, the report says. The problem with that is “it ... hurts your activities” and the administration would have to “manipulate (its) staff so that everybody’s happy.”
This is the kind of fiscally irresponsible crap that property owners and income-tax payers are tired of hearing from NCS administrators.
We don’t care about your activities or your convenience, and we had hoped that a new superintendent and a new treasurer and a couple new board members might make a difference in the NCS attitude toward spending taxpayers’ money.
This is not a good omen.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
OK, C-TEC, who screwed up?
Now that Claggett & Sons has been awarded $3.8 million in taxpayers’ money to be paid by C-TEC, it’s time to get the rest of the story. It will prove what I wrote 11/23/09: “C-TEC’s problem is management.”
Who among those we entrusted with our tax dollars at C-TEC thumbed their noses at that trust and blew off - by mis-mangement - $3.8 million or more? Voters need to know how they mis-managed, and why they mis-managed; otherwise, corrections may never be made.
The Advocate report today (12/29/09) indicates the architectural firm may have to share some of the cost, maybe all of it. And this may not be decided for many months. Likely, the C-TEC board will try to deflect responsibility for any of this until “final resolution,” or something like that.
------------------
UPDATE
In today’s (12/30/09) report on last night’s C-TEC board meeting, another of my predictions came true, this one a no-brainer. (C-TEC board will try to deflect responsibility for any of this until ’final resolution,’ or something like that.)
Quotes from the Advocate report:
"I'm not in the position to comment; they are still evaluating all the issues," Rosati said. "I can't say anything else because the case is pending."
Superintendent Ron Cassidy, who is retiring Thursday, and the other members of the board declined to comment.
"We are still making decisions with our attorneys. We are still considering our options," Board Vice President Bob Handelman said. "Nothing has been decided."
---------------------------------
Taxpayer-voters cannot wait.
It can’t be said enough times: C-TEC is among this community’s most valuable educational assets. It has a long and proud history of providing local students with vocational education for the benefit of local employers.
Now this: an act of incredible disregard for management of public funds and perhaps years in the healing of public trust.
So who did it and why? And exactly what roles in this matter did individual board members play?
The Advocate has been zeroed in on this story from the beginning. The reporter has done a masterful job of keeping us informed, and the editorialist has been on target. You can access these reports and editorials here:
Board members defend C-TEC’s use of funds
C-TEC trial puts taxpayer money at risk
C-TEC’s problems require complete review
C-TEC’s legal bills exceed $1.5M
C-TEC at critical financial juncture
Board approves superintendent's contract
Claggett wins C-TEC lawsuit
Who among those we entrusted with our tax dollars at C-TEC thumbed their noses at that trust and blew off - by mis-mangement - $3.8 million or more? Voters need to know how they mis-managed, and why they mis-managed; otherwise, corrections may never be made.
The Advocate report today (12/29/09) indicates the architectural firm may have to share some of the cost, maybe all of it. And this may not be decided for many months. Likely, the C-TEC board will try to deflect responsibility for any of this until “final resolution,” or something like that.
------------------
UPDATE
In today’s (12/30/09) report on last night’s C-TEC board meeting, another of my predictions came true, this one a no-brainer. (C-TEC board will try to deflect responsibility for any of this until ’final resolution,’ or something like that.)
Quotes from the Advocate report:
"I'm not in the position to comment; they are still evaluating all the issues," Rosati said. "I can't say anything else because the case is pending."
Superintendent Ron Cassidy, who is retiring Thursday, and the other members of the board declined to comment.
"We are still making decisions with our attorneys. We are still considering our options," Board Vice President Bob Handelman said. "Nothing has been decided."
---------------------------------
Taxpayer-voters cannot wait.
It can’t be said enough times: C-TEC is among this community’s most valuable educational assets. It has a long and proud history of providing local students with vocational education for the benefit of local employers.
Now this: an act of incredible disregard for management of public funds and perhaps years in the healing of public trust.
So who did it and why? And exactly what roles in this matter did individual board members play?
The Advocate has been zeroed in on this story from the beginning. The reporter has done a masterful job of keeping us informed, and the editorialist has been on target. You can access these reports and editorials here:
Board members defend C-TEC’s use of funds
C-TEC trial puts taxpayer money at risk
C-TEC’s problems require complete review
C-TEC’s legal bills exceed $1.5M
C-TEC at critical financial juncture
Board approves superintendent's contract
Claggett wins C-TEC lawsuit
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Our village failed a child
The Advocate reported yesterday about an incident that put a wide and ugly spotlight on Newark Ohio. It concerns the mistreatment of one of our children and you can read the story at this link and see the WBNS TV report at this link.
That incident would never have occurred if our village hadn’t failed so miserably, including ...
1 - Every driver who passed without stopping - especially the school bus driver. More than 50 drivers passed. I can’t believe all of them failed to call the police; did anyone call and, if so, did the police show up?
2 - Every resident who lived along the street, saw what was happening and did nothing.
3 - The Newark Police Department for not patrolling the streets near schools.
3 - The Newark Police Department for not getting serious about this crime until it received media attention and worldwide exposure on the Internet.
4 - The Newark City Schools for not preparing students for bullies, for not teaching this victim how to react.
5 - The Newark City Schools for maintaining the attitude: It happened off our official property, so we are helpless and we can’t get involved. Not true. Administrators and teachers could maintain a presence along neighboring streets (the principal and teachers at Lincoln did so many years ago when my kids attended that school). They above all, should get involved - personally and professionally.
6 - The Newark City Schools for failing to follow up on this incident; that video tape was surely available to administrators, had they cared enough to ask.
7 - The parents of the bully, of course, who failed to supervise their child.
8 - The parents of the victim who should have known their child could be endangered on her way home and acted to protect her with whatever it takes.
There is a proverb: It takes a village to raise a child.
Only one person did not fail the bully’s victim. That was the person who held a video camera and recorded Newark as it failed one of its children.
Monday, November 23, 2009
C-TEC’s problem is management
Both of our sons graduated from Licking County Joint Vocational School and I am forever grateful for JVS instructors’ expertise and administrators’ patience and wisdom. My boys’ aptitudes were far better fitted to tradesmanship than academics and the long-term employment outcome has been a success, so far as that training contributed.
Since then, the school has changed a lot - different administrators and a whacky new name: “Career and Technology Education Centers of Licking County.” Maybe that name has to do with marketing and prestige; it sure doesn’t tell anybody what the institution is or does.
Because I am now and forever a cheerleader for vocational education, I let slide an Advocate report on 10/25/09 that addressed some of the financial miscues that have occurred and are occurring there. In view of the most recent operating levy failure and the excessive compensation for its new superintendent, taxpayers may wish to review this report: C-TEC at critical financial juncture
The long-overdue court decision on a lawsuit by Claggett & Sons regarding construction contracts could break the C-TEC bank. Even if it doesn’t, the matter likely will prove costly to taxpayers and may be read as a signal that the school board and administrators were careless in oversight and weak in judgment when they let all this get to lawsuit status.
On 11/15/09 the Advocate editorialized that C-TEC's problems require complete review, and demonstrated bad judgment in its idea for “a new Western Licking County strategy” because folks out there are “killing C-TEC operating levies by wide margins.”
The Advocate’s solution? Cut those people out of the C-TEC district and let them get their vocational education in Columbus, which would lessen the number of anti-tax voters. Such a solution fails to acknowledge that it would also lessen the number of taxpayers supporting Licking County vocational education, requiring each property owner in the smaller district to bear even more of a school-tax burden.
Meanwhile, C-TEC’s operating funds are substantial enough to pay the new superintendent, Joyce Malainy, a $113,262 salary. There is enough in the kitty to pay her $471.93 per day between now and her Jan. 4, 2010 start date as reported by the Advocate 11/18/09 Board approves superintendent's contract
When C-TEC goes back to voters, this example of hog-trough-ery will be remembered, if only by me. Paying anyone $471.93 a day is a slap at property owners who are tired of enriching the estates of school adminstrators.
Before C-TEC returns with another request for more money, it should not be predicated on finagling the voter base by cutting off students from Western Licking County. Consider instead - simply - better management of its affairs, especially concerning the use of our tax dollars.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Feedback on school suggestions
Immediately after I published my ideas on how the Ohio school system should be modernized and made efficient I e-mailed them to Ohio Senator Tim Schaffer and Ohio Representative Jay Hottinger.
Yesterday, Sen. Schaffer’s office advised me that he is sharing those ideas with the state K-12 Education work group of which he is a member.
Earlier, our Representative’s assistant told me that Mr. Hottinger would be taking a “careful look” at those ideas and will eventually respond.
I am honored and thankful that the ideas are being studied.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Ohio schools are no longer local; deal with it
Recognizing that “local” school districts are no longer local is the first step in a real fix for Ohio’s broken system.
Schools stopped being local when the state stepped in decades ago and decreed that authentic local schools should consolidate into district-wide systems. Since then the legislature and the governor have increasingly intruded in matters for which bureaucrats have no expertise. The ability to draw votes does not an educator make.
As the heavy hand of bureaucracy weighed ever-heavier, Ohio’s school system became one massive and inefficient conglomerate.
Thousands of expensive school employees will object, but Ohio must stop the inefficiency and massive expense of requiring each community to support “local” school districts that are no longer local. Schools of Ohio belong in a single, statewide system.
Imagine the cost-effectiveness if Ohio were to:
1 - Move to the state level all administrative functions that do not directly involve individual school buildings. The top local school administrators should be building principals.
2 - Move from the local level to the state level all purchasing of supplies and provision of services such as busing. Services and supplies would be provided by private companies, selected by lowest and best bids.
3 - Pay school employees throughout Ohio the same, with variance according to the cost of living in each community.
4 - Remove state interference from the art and science of teaching. Let teachers take over that responsibility again, but provide for ways to weed out incompetent teachers and financially reward the better ones according to a statewide measure. All schools would teach the same classroom subjects and offer the same extra-curriulars, as mandated by a commission of educational experts.
Such a system could be employed to relieve the unfair burden on property owners, eliminate the expense and frustration of levy balloting, reclaim from labor unions their stranglehold on public welfare, save vast sums on school administrative functions and purchase of services and supplies, improve classroom performance, and make educational opportunities and advantages equal for every student, every teacher, every community.
Friday, May 8, 2009
What do you want in a new leader for NCS?
One thing is certain about the selection process for a new NCS superintendent: We’ll be watching.
Voter-taxpayers slumbered many years - even long before the era of Keith Richards - not watching, not caring, while NCS bellied up to the trough. Until recent years, the Advocate didn’t publish anything about NCS except sports, PR handouts, and feel-good features. Meanwhile, the budget grew, salaries grew, extras grew, and unfettered greed had a long ride.
We awoke to find ourselves mired in monstrous debt for new buildings and footing bills for an excessively expensive educational machine that can’t fully bus students nor fund extra-curriculars.
It will be like turning an ocean vessel, but that’s the task for Richards’ replacement. It will require Obama-like fresh ideas, vastly different perspectives and values, thorough and honest transparency, and most of all the bringing of people back together - all this, preferably by employing Internet savvy.
“School Superintendency” in Ohio is a caste of its own. Official licensure requirements are long and narrow. To recruit a licensed superintendent seems to imply a small pool of candidates, likely most of them with the caste mentality. From such a pool, the probability of locating the miracle worker needed in Newark could be slim, the process tedious, and result uncertain-to-unlikely.
There seems, however, to be a way NCS might hire a person more fitting to our needs, including those who are not now school administrators, opening the door to consideration of NCS teachers, even local business managers.
If I’m comprehending Ohio Administrative Code 3301-24-12 http://codes.ohio.gov/oac/3301-24-12 one doesn’t even need a background in education to be hired as an alternative superintendent. Again, this is only my interpretation and I haven’t had verification from anybody.
Wouldn’t it be most rewarding for NCS to first search through Newark’s pool of talent to find a money manager who knows the community, its priorities, and its challenges? One who is honest, who will work for a reasonable salary, who will consider the limitations of taxpayers, who is a saver, not a spender? One who puts students as Priority Number One and considers in all school affairs the well-being and convenience of parents? One who speaks directly to constituents as does our President, rather than through a PR mouthpiece and a newspaper? One who can be so respected and forthright that he can do his job without the help of the Chamber, the Establishment, or the Advocate publisher - thereby eliminating the decades-long tradition of influence by smoke and mirrors?
Yes it would.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
NCS levy signals call to arms
Anyone who considers the passage of the $5.9-million-per-year levy a sign that the community is poised to kiss and make up with the Newark City Schools should go read the outpouring of rage in comments to the Advocate on-line news report.
The NCS tax take has grown by $230 a year per $100,000 value. That’s added to the $892 per year already in place, plus a 1 percent income tax, plus state and federal taxes giving Keith & Company a total of $12,693 per student, per year, plus an estimated 9.3% increase in state and federal aid over the next two years.
Still NCS will not have enough, they say, to fully bus students, or fully fund the extras for students, but they do anticipate having enough for staff raises which are needed because the NCS classroom teachers’ average salary is only $55,331 for nine months’ work before benefits - and NCS has only one employee for every 4.9 students, and the superintendent makes more than the governor of Alaska.
That Keith & Company strategized a winning shell game on property owners comes as a call to arms. Sitting in front of a computer screen screaming insults back and forth may be therapeutic, but it’s a lousy solution.
What has to happen next is state intervention into the rape of property owners. It has to happen before Keith & Company come back to rape again, and they will because it’s never enough no matter how much it is.
There are three people who are responsible for doing this, but who won’t do anything meaningful for property owners unless they are made to do it. One is State Representative Jay Hottinger, another is State Senator Tim Schaffer and the third is Governor Ted Strickland.
Jay Hottinger has practically grown to adulthood as our link to state government. Because of that, I think he is as responsible as any member of government for schools’ rape and re-raping of property owners in Newark, Licking County, and Ohio.
So here’s a suggestion for you guys sitting there moaning about having to pay yet another $5.9 million each year on top of an already-excessive tax bill:
Call Jay Hottinger’s office - 614/466-1482 - and ask him precisely what he’s going to do to solve the problem. If you don’t understand his answer, ask again.
Then call Senator Schaffer at 614/466-5838 and ask him the same thing. Ask the same question as many times as it takes until you understand it.
Then call Governor Strickland at the constituent helpline 614/644-4357 and ask him what he’s going to do to solve the problem. Make sure you understand exactly what he intends to do before you hang up.
When you have done so, please leave a comment here about your experience. The number and kind of comments received will indicate how serious you are about dealing with the problem, rather than whining about it.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Learn how much you’ll pay if the levy passes
What will be your total property taxes if voters approve the Newark Schools’ May levy request for 7.5 mills?
There is a calculator on the Licking County web site that will determine the amount for you. It’s fairly convenient to use once you find it and enter the information it needs.
Here’s how you do it: From the Licking County home page - http://www.lcounty.com/ - click on “eCounty” in the menu bar and select “Taxes, Real Estate and Collections.”
This takes you to the “OnTrac” page where you can search for your property by entering your last name, first name.
This will bring up a table with your parcel number. Click on the parcel number and you’ll see your address, property values and other data.
Go to the menu bar and click on “tax” and select “calculators.” You’ll be asked to select the proposed levy. Once that’s done, the additional amount you’re going to pay will appear.
To find the total tax if the levy passes, you need to add this additional amount to the amount of your existing property taxes. To find that number, go back to the menu bar and select “tax” again, then under that, select “taxes.” Bingo! Here’s your present tax bill. All that’s left is to add the two figures.
There is a calculator on the Licking County web site that will determine the amount for you. It’s fairly convenient to use once you find it and enter the information it needs.
Here’s how you do it: From the Licking County home page - http://www.lcounty.com/ - click on “eCounty” in the menu bar and select “Taxes, Real Estate and Collections.”
This takes you to the “OnTrac” page where you can search for your property by entering your last name, first name.
This will bring up a table with your parcel number. Click on the parcel number and you’ll see your address, property values and other data.
Go to the menu bar and click on “tax” and select “calculators.” You’ll be asked to select the proposed levy. Once that’s done, the additional amount you’re going to pay will appear.
To find the total tax if the levy passes, you need to add this additional amount to the amount of your existing property taxes. To find that number, go back to the menu bar and select “tax” again, then under that, select “taxes.” Bingo! Here’s your present tax bill. All that’s left is to add the two figures.
Monday, February 16, 2009
NCS, hire someone who will spend wisely
Just when I get the notion that the Advocate is half-way concerned about the condition of taxpayers, along it comes with another editorial right out of the local chamber of commerce play book (Support Newark levy now and in May).
Property owners were counseled to spend 7.5 additional mills because this would somehow "restore our pride in Newark."
The Advocate's bongo player forgot to mention that Governor Stickland's plan for Ohio schools would send a few more million tax dollars to NCS and federal stimulus money, some of which is for schools, is in the pipeline.
The Advocate failed to justify the fact that NCS is sucking from our property taxes 69%. This compares to Newark city government, 9%; Licking County government, 7%; JVS, 6%; and 9% total for Senior Citizens, Children Services, Mental Retardation, and Mental Health levies.
The Advocate editorialist failed to ask what has gone wrong in this community that schools should operate on such a disproportionate budget. Never mind how important are our kids. Just what ask what is causing this.
Well, for one thing the superintendent is making more than twice as much as the city mayor, figuring benefits. That, obvious to everyone except school administrators, is a travesty in use of public money.
As I pointed out 11/12/08, "The Newark median earnings for men is $32,542/yr and for women $24,868. Median-wise they have a $566/mo mortgage payment, plus taxes and insurance. The average property tax in Newark is, according to Rates.Banks.com, already $1,321.539/yr, and Keith Richards - making $201,433 a year with 30 days vacation - is asking Average Joe go out to dinner one time fewer each month so he can pay more in property taxes "for the sake of the kids."
Not only did the Advocate fail to get into that, but it also failed to mention that NCS administrators added 83 employees to the teaching staff between 2006 and 2007, resulting in a pupil teacher ratio of 12.79. Am I the only one in town who thinks this might be excessive? Or is this perhaps one factor in the chain of levy failures?
Forgotten too was the fact that Newark City Schools will pay $4.37 million dollars this year in interest on debts totaling $109,750,905 because voters were boondoggled with a lot of construction and renovations that might better have been spread out in a long-term plan. Taxpayers are staring down the barrel of $109.7 million debt to pay for Richards' Folly over the next 25 years, even if during that time they never spend another nickel on construction or renovation.
These are the kinds of decisions that have been made by Superintendent Richards, and taxpayers are being asked to bail him out with 7.5 mills added to the 69% of our property tax bills. And don't forget the wage earners and pensioners who are donating part of their income to keep NCS afloat.
Advocate, don't come at taxpayers like we're a bunch of child abusers and ne'er-do-wells because we have said enough is enough; we're spending all we're going to spend on the lavish lifestyle of NCS. The programs that are being cut and should be cut are programs that never should have been started in the first place.
It's past time for the Advocate and all the other accusers to admit that what NCS needs, instead of more money, is someone at the top who can be trusted to spend it wisely. We need a superintendent less versed on bullying and boondoggling. We need a superintendent who can take the money we're sending to NCS and use it to get the job done.
Property owners were counseled to spend 7.5 additional mills because this would somehow "restore our pride in Newark."
The Advocate's bongo player forgot to mention that Governor Stickland's plan for Ohio schools would send a few more million tax dollars to NCS and federal stimulus money, some of which is for schools, is in the pipeline.
The Advocate failed to justify the fact that NCS is sucking from our property taxes 69%. This compares to Newark city government, 9%; Licking County government, 7%; JVS, 6%; and 9% total for Senior Citizens, Children Services, Mental Retardation, and Mental Health levies.
The Advocate editorialist failed to ask what has gone wrong in this community that schools should operate on such a disproportionate budget. Never mind how important are our kids. Just what ask what is causing this.
Well, for one thing the superintendent is making more than twice as much as the city mayor, figuring benefits. That, obvious to everyone except school administrators, is a travesty in use of public money.
As I pointed out 11/12/08, "The Newark median earnings for men is $32,542/yr and for women $24,868. Median-wise they have a $566/mo mortgage payment, plus taxes and insurance. The average property tax in Newark is, according to Rates.Banks.com, already $1,321.539/yr, and Keith Richards - making $201,433 a year with 30 days vacation - is asking Average Joe go out to dinner one time fewer each month so he can pay more in property taxes "for the sake of the kids."
Not only did the Advocate fail to get into that, but it also failed to mention that NCS administrators added 83 employees to the teaching staff between 2006 and 2007, resulting in a pupil teacher ratio of 12.79. Am I the only one in town who thinks this might be excessive? Or is this perhaps one factor in the chain of levy failures?
Forgotten too was the fact that Newark City Schools will pay $4.37 million dollars this year in interest on debts totaling $109,750,905 because voters were boondoggled with a lot of construction and renovations that might better have been spread out in a long-term plan. Taxpayers are staring down the barrel of $109.7 million debt to pay for Richards' Folly over the next 25 years, even if during that time they never spend another nickel on construction or renovation.
These are the kinds of decisions that have been made by Superintendent Richards, and taxpayers are being asked to bail him out with 7.5 mills added to the 69% of our property tax bills. And don't forget the wage earners and pensioners who are donating part of their income to keep NCS afloat.
Advocate, don't come at taxpayers like we're a bunch of child abusers and ne'er-do-wells because we have said enough is enough; we're spending all we're going to spend on the lavish lifestyle of NCS. The programs that are being cut and should be cut are programs that never should have been started in the first place.
It's past time for the Advocate and all the other accusers to admit that what NCS needs, instead of more money, is someone at the top who can be trusted to spend it wisely. We need a superintendent less versed on bullying and boondoggling. We need a superintendent who can take the money we're sending to NCS and use it to get the job done.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Now we see the real "fix" to school funding
The bad news about Strickland's school tax plan is that it offers absolutely no relief for property owners, as I reported a few days ago.
The other bad news as reported by the Columbus Dispatch this morning is that it lowers taxes on businesses and industry by 3.1% for many years.
Meaning home owners will have to pay even more to make up the difference.
And, of course, proposing a business tax reduction pits the little homeowner against the high rollers who own our state legislators.
Now it becomes evident to the little guy what Governor Stickland meant when he said he would "fix" school funding.
The other bad news as reported by the Columbus Dispatch this morning is that it lowers taxes on businesses and industry by 3.1% for many years.
Meaning home owners will have to pay even more to make up the difference.
And, of course, proposing a business tax reduction pits the little homeowner against the high rollers who own our state legislators.
Now it becomes evident to the little guy what Governor Stickland meant when he said he would "fix" school funding.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Strickland's school funding idea stinks
So much for the great school-funding fix, promised years ago by Gov. Strickland. Once all the BS is filtered out you can determine whether over-burdened property owners are going to get a break. And the answers are:
Will it end levy requests? No.
Will it offer more money to Ohio schools? Mostly the wealthiest.
Will it mean lower property taxes? No.
All this according to today's Columbus Dispatch.
As for the rest of his proposal about changing Ohio schools, some ideas seem good, some very good, but nothing about it relieves property owners from providing ever-greater wealth to schools.
Silly me. I hoped he would live up to his campaign promise to fix school funding.
Will it end levy requests? No.
Will it offer more money to Ohio schools? Mostly the wealthiest.
Will it mean lower property taxes? No.
All this according to today's Columbus Dispatch.
As for the rest of his proposal about changing Ohio schools, some ideas seem good, some very good, but nothing about it relieves property owners from providing ever-greater wealth to schools.
Silly me. I hoped he would live up to his campaign promise to fix school funding.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Superintendent Richards is not a good manager
Newark city schools is again talking about a tax issue for the May ballot. I agree with Advocate editorialists who say Newark city schools can't win any kind of new tax at the polls. (Read it at this link.)
Had they tried for an income tax earlier they might have won it. Now, it's too late for any kind of tax for two reasons: The economy has a lot of folks scared and they aren't buying much of anything, least of what they will buy will be new taxes; and the other reason is that confidence in the NCS superintendent and board has eroded even further to a very deep and well-deserved low.
Superintendent Richards and his gaggle of school-board puppets failed to hear soon enough the very clear feedback given to them, if they heard it at all; and they all failed to act quickly and decisively when told over and over that taxpayers are tapped out. The argument that some folks are too selfish to "give to the kids" patently ignores the incredible property-tax and income-tax burdens already in place. Taxpayers are giving mightily to local schools, but some parents/teachers/administrators still can't see new tax requests as new taxes piled on top of these already-excessive taxes.
It's a never-ending treasure hunt for NCS and Superintendent Richards, so it is now suggested we somehow owe "the kids" another whopping 14.5 mills, which is the amount suggested for the May ballot.
Superintendent Richards is not a good money manager, though he's paid more than twice the amount paid to the city mayor by a public that expects a lot more for a lot less. If you need further proof of his lack of fiscal finesse, go take a long look at the NCS treasurer's pages and click on the 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report - posted January 5, 2009.
On page 151 you can see that the cost per pupil has risen over the past 10 years from $6,092 to $11,696 - almost doubled - while enrollment has dropped by nearly a thousand students - from 7,433 to 6,538. During those same years the teaching staff has risen from 427 to 511, changing the pupil-teacher ratio from 17.41 to 12.79.
This is the kind of management - of guarding the public's money - that we're getting from Newark city schools and Superintendent Richards.
Now there's yet another factor that enters Richards' bottom line. He sold the community a few years ago on the notion that we should construct new school buildings and renovate others. Voters were sold an incredible load of debt, the lenders of which now expect to be repaid.
How much debt? As of 6/30/2008 the outstanding balance on long-term debt stood at $75.6 million. But wait. By the time the library bonds are paid off in 2023 and the school improvement bonds are paid off in 2034, Newark city taxpayers will have been milked for $109.7 million dollars and while we're paying on this, we're also paying for school operating expenses. And in 2034 - or earlier - guess who will be needing more money for buildings now needing repair or replacement?
So now, the debt load for Richard's folly is a big part of the vice being felt by NCS, or so it seems to me.
As I've said before, it's past time for Superintendent Richards to retire again. He is no longer believable, he is no longer seen as competent, he is in the eyes of many citizens the opposite of a community asset.
His departure would not solve the financial pinch which he has created. But it would clear some air if we were to have a skilled manager and a good communicator at the helm. In the interim I would indeed like to see the state come in and reset NCS priorities and expenditures. It would be a good launch pad for the future of our local schools.
Had they tried for an income tax earlier they might have won it. Now, it's too late for any kind of tax for two reasons: The economy has a lot of folks scared and they aren't buying much of anything, least of what they will buy will be new taxes; and the other reason is that confidence in the NCS superintendent and board has eroded even further to a very deep and well-deserved low.
Superintendent Richards and his gaggle of school-board puppets failed to hear soon enough the very clear feedback given to them, if they heard it at all; and they all failed to act quickly and decisively when told over and over that taxpayers are tapped out. The argument that some folks are too selfish to "give to the kids" patently ignores the incredible property-tax and income-tax burdens already in place. Taxpayers are giving mightily to local schools, but some parents/teachers/administrators still can't see new tax requests as new taxes piled on top of these already-excessive taxes.
It's a never-ending treasure hunt for NCS and Superintendent Richards, so it is now suggested we somehow owe "the kids" another whopping 14.5 mills, which is the amount suggested for the May ballot.
Superintendent Richards is not a good money manager, though he's paid more than twice the amount paid to the city mayor by a public that expects a lot more for a lot less. If you need further proof of his lack of fiscal finesse, go take a long look at the NCS treasurer's pages and click on the 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report - posted January 5, 2009.
On page 151 you can see that the cost per pupil has risen over the past 10 years from $6,092 to $11,696 - almost doubled - while enrollment has dropped by nearly a thousand students - from 7,433 to 6,538. During those same years the teaching staff has risen from 427 to 511, changing the pupil-teacher ratio from 17.41 to 12.79.
This is the kind of management - of guarding the public's money - that we're getting from Newark city schools and Superintendent Richards.
Now there's yet another factor that enters Richards' bottom line. He sold the community a few years ago on the notion that we should construct new school buildings and renovate others. Voters were sold an incredible load of debt, the lenders of which now expect to be repaid.
How much debt? As of 6/30/2008 the outstanding balance on long-term debt stood at $75.6 million. But wait. By the time the library bonds are paid off in 2023 and the school improvement bonds are paid off in 2034, Newark city taxpayers will have been milked for $109.7 million dollars and while we're paying on this, we're also paying for school operating expenses. And in 2034 - or earlier - guess who will be needing more money for buildings now needing repair or replacement?
So now, the debt load for Richard's folly is a big part of the vice being felt by NCS, or so it seems to me.
As I've said before, it's past time for Superintendent Richards to retire again. He is no longer believable, he is no longer seen as competent, he is in the eyes of many citizens the opposite of a community asset.
His departure would not solve the financial pinch which he has created. But it would clear some air if we were to have a skilled manager and a good communicator at the helm. In the interim I would indeed like to see the state come in and reset NCS priorities and expenditures. It would be a good launch pad for the future of our local schools.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Newark Schools achieve distinction - for being toxic
Newark High School is in the 8th percentile for toxicity in the air among 127,800 schools nationwide. Only 9,296 have worse air.
Carson Elementary is in the 3rd percentile, with only 3,210 having worse air, which is an improvement over the former Conrad Elementary, in the 2nd percentile with only 1,103 out of 127,800 having more dangerous air to breathe.
These facts are from a report by USA Today, a summary of which was published by Editor & Publisher.
Polluters most responsible, according to the report, are Owens Corning, Modern Welding Co. of Ohio Inc., Safety-Kleen Systems Inc. of Hebron, Meritor Heavy Vehicle Systems Llc of Heath, and American Electric Power of Conesville.
Chemicals most responsible, the report said, are formaldehyde, 33%; chromium and chromium compounds, 31%; lead and lead compounds, 10%; ammonia, 9%; and cholorine, 5%.
This is ironic in the extreme, after so much was made over second-hand smoke that smoke-haters pushed through a statewide law to clean up their restaurants' air.
That Newark's air is crappy has never been a secret, something everyone can see and smell, but nobody has the guts to square off with the polluters. Nor will they until citizens get up and make it happen.
There was never a more urgent or important service we could provide for our kids than to give them good air to breathe.
Carson Elementary is in the 3rd percentile, with only 3,210 having worse air, which is an improvement over the former Conrad Elementary, in the 2nd percentile with only 1,103 out of 127,800 having more dangerous air to breathe.
These facts are from a report by USA Today, a summary of which was published by Editor & Publisher.
Polluters most responsible, according to the report, are Owens Corning, Modern Welding Co. of Ohio Inc., Safety-Kleen Systems Inc. of Hebron, Meritor Heavy Vehicle Systems Llc of Heath, and American Electric Power of Conesville.
Chemicals most responsible, the report said, are formaldehyde, 33%; chromium and chromium compounds, 31%; lead and lead compounds, 10%; ammonia, 9%; and cholorine, 5%.
This is ironic in the extreme, after so much was made over second-hand smoke that smoke-haters pushed through a statewide law to clean up their restaurants' air.
That Newark's air is crappy has never been a secret, something everyone can see and smell, but nobody has the guts to square off with the polluters. Nor will they until citizens get up and make it happen.
There was never a more urgent or important service we could provide for our kids than to give them good air to breathe.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Judge Hoover will be judged
Newark School Board proved its incompetence in yet another way when it failed to agree on a person to fill its vacant seat.
Thus was the decision handed to Judge Hoover, who has reopened the field of candidates for all who wish to be considered, an excellent decision.
The judge's choice might influence the NCS tradition of an obstinate, self-centered, and tone-deaf administration - for better or for worse.
No matter who he chooses, it's not going to be the final solution for NCS mismanagement: It can't counteract the votes of the superintendent's Three Puppet People already occupying NCS board chairs.
It presents, instead, to the judge and to the community an opening for another voice of the people to sit beside Mark Christenberry for improved administrative decisions that affect the quality of education and community pocketbook.
Will the judge give the superintendent a fourth puppet or will he anoint a representative of the people who will, with Mark, listen to citizen-taxpayers? The judge will be judged by a very interested community.
Thus was the decision handed to Judge Hoover, who has reopened the field of candidates for all who wish to be considered, an excellent decision.
The judge's choice might influence the NCS tradition of an obstinate, self-centered, and tone-deaf administration - for better or for worse.
No matter who he chooses, it's not going to be the final solution for NCS mismanagement: It can't counteract the votes of the superintendent's Three Puppet People already occupying NCS board chairs.
It presents, instead, to the judge and to the community an opening for another voice of the people to sit beside Mark Christenberry for improved administrative decisions that affect the quality of education and community pocketbook.
Will the judge give the superintendent a fourth puppet or will he anoint a representative of the people who will, with Mark, listen to citizen-taxpayers? The judge will be judged by a very interested community.
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