The moment I heard that the Lorain’s school levy was defeated I ran to my laptop and began to write. Most of what I had to say wouldn’t have passed the censors. I was livid and my writing reflected that, but you will never read those words, because I deleted them. I was fuming and I wrote what amounted to a rant. I was going to give the voters of Lorain a piece of my mind. When I reviewed what I had written I realized that what I had to say would accomplish nothing. I just couldn’t understand how anyone could say no to a child’s future. The main reason I chose not to share with you my words of anger was, I offered no solutions.
For the past several years I have studied the state of education in the public schools. Over all, the public school systems from coast to coast are in disrepair. However there are some states that seem to do better. I spent a lot of time googling school rankings by state. I was going to cite some of the stats I found, via the internet, but they really just confuse the issue. Most of the rankings do seem to agree that states like Connecticut, Vermont and Texas seem to always rate toward the top of the list. The one thing they all seem to have in common is wealth. The sad story is, the schools that seem to do the best consistently are in areas that have more money. I realize that money is not always the answer, but the statistics show that it certainly helps.
Ohio is certainly not a state that is wealthy, and most of the statistics rank Ohio toward the bottom in education. So we need to figure out a way to save money by not raising taxes and not cutting teachers. The answer seems so simple to me. We have too many school boards. I know, I know; no kidding! In the state of West Virginia, where I come from the school districts are broken up by counties. I know Ohioans don’t want to admit it but in some of the stats West Virginia ranks higher in education.
A very good example of too many school districts is Knox County Ohio. The Population hovers around 60,000, and there are no less than 4 separate school districts. I wonder how many total members are on all of those school boards. Why can’t we consolidate those boards into one? In Ohio we should have 88 total school boards. Just think of how much money we could save, just by eliminating the politicians.
Could someone please explain to me why my plan would not work? Is simplification of our school administrations to easy? What am I missing? I don’t have all the answers but I truly believe this plan would work. Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity is, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” My fellow Lorain Countians we have been doing the same thing over and over again. It’s time to do something different.
I want to hear what you think. Just respond below. You can also email me at ksalisbury42@hotmail.com or friend me on Facebook.
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Kevin,
ReplyDeleteWhat's your plan? All you offered is to combine school boards. How much is being spent now? How much will it save? How much time do those people have to dedicate to school board issues? You do realize being a school board member is a part time job, don't you?
It sounds more like a "thought" than a "plan".
The Big wages comes from the Superintendent's salary. Median wages of Superintendent is $138,000 a year multiply that by amount of school boards in Ohio. There are 15 just in Lorain County. Here is a listen of all the school districts in Ohio. That is a lot of money to save. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_districts_in_Ohio
ReplyDeleteKevin, $138,000 is nothing to sneeze at, but if you eliminate every superintendent of every district you will save each district $138,000.
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't come close to solving the problem...
...plus, who will do their work?
I think the problem is the amount of money being spent on kids who DON'T want to learn.
Of course my opinion isn't "politically correct".
$138,000 x 613 school districts equals around $84,000,000. Not to mention eliminating all those school boards and consolidating them into 88 school districts. That is a big chunk of change to pay teachers with. Think of all the other facilities that could be combined. School bus garages, all the supporting staff of all the boards. That is just the beginning.
ReplyDeleteKevin, you quite simply don't understand the math. Any way you slice it, that only saves each school district $138,000. To assume that 613 districts can be converted to 88 without additional costs is crazy.
ReplyDeleteDo you realize you're expecting people to work 7 times harder for the same money? Is it even possible for someone to work 7 times harder?
C'mon, your thought isn't coming close to being a reasonable plan.
What is common about the successful districts? The children come from families that care.
It's not an absolute, but it answers a lot of the questions.
This is what I do know. It has worked in other states. Before you ask which state. I simply can't remember. I just remember seeing a report on it somewhere. After I find it I will report it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure you understand the math either. 'Any way you slice it' it will save money. I have always been a supporter the Lorain Schools Consolidating and now they are taking those first steps and I think the naysayers will change there tune in a few years when they see how much money it will save.