Division I regional track finals
Fenwick graduation 2012
Ponitz graduation 2012
Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > October > 25
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Breaking News: Ohio charters constitutional
Just got this from the Gongwer News Service regarding the Ohio Supreme Court:
“Justices said in a 4-3 decision that the Ohio PTA and other opponents had not shown constitutional defects in the law that provides state financing for privately owned and operated charter schools. Justice Judith Lanzinger said in the lead opinion that such policy decisions are within the purview of legislative responsibilities.”
Wow, another 4-3 school funding decision. This is a big win for charter schools and school choice advocates. Had one judge gone the other way, the state’s entire program could have been invalidated.
I’ll post more shortly, but please post your comments.
UPDATE: Here’s a little bit more explanation of the case:
A coaltion of teachers unions, parent groups and school boards argued that charter schools violate the state constitution, which requires a “thorough and efficient” system of “common” schools. They argued that the state created a dual system that was unequally funded and held to different standards, diverting money that they said belonged to tradtional public schools.
The court rejected their arguments, saying the legislature has wide discretion in setting education policy and that charter schools are not that different from other sorts of schools — like vocational schools or magnet schools — that may be funded differently and exempted from some state rules. The majority decision also says the charter opponents did not meet a high standard of proof required to win a constitutional case.
Here’s an excerpt:
“The General Assembly is the branch of state government charged by the Ohio Constitution with making educational policy choices for the education of our state’s children. Our personal choices are not relevant to this task. The appellants have not shown beyond a reasonable doubt that the statute is unconstitutional on its face; nor have they met their high burden of presenting clear and convincing evidence of the statute’s unconstitutionality as applied.”
Permalink | Comments (20) | Categories: Charter Schools and School Choice
What 9.75 mills will cost you
(Board President Gail Littlejohn and Superintendent Percy Mack at Tuesday’s meeting)
There’s some confusion out there about how much the school board’s proposed levy will cost if voters approve it in May.
Treasurer Stan Lucas said Saturday that he estimates a 9.75 mill levy is needed to right the district’s financial slide, but the board has yet to decide for certain they will seek a levy that size. (A board meeting planned for this morning to consider levy options was canceled.)
In today’s story on the financial crisis, I reported the auditor’s estimate for the cost in new taxes of a 9.75 mill levy for the owner of a $100,000 home — $298 a year.
I saw one television station report the cost for that homeowner at $853 a year and a board member complained Tuesday that a different station reported a cost over $900 a year. At least one GOTB reader noticed the conflicting numbers and asked who was right.
When I asked the auditor’s representative to speculate, she guessed that the $853 figure was calculated without reducing the home’s worth to it’s taxable value (35 percent of its real value) and and a couple other adjustments. I’m not sure about the $900 figure. A mill is $1 for every $1,000 in taxable value of a property. There’s a decent explanation of how it all works here.
The auditor also gave me figures for lower millage amounts, should the board aim a little lower. Here’s what the same $100,000 homeowner would pay in new taxes at:
—5.75 mills: $176.10 a year
—7.75 mills: $237.35 a year.
By comparison, the 8.75 mill bond issue for school construction in Dayton that passed overwhelmingly in 2002 cost the $100,000 homeowner $274 a year in new taxes.
For a recap of the news of Dayton schools’ financial crisis over the past week, go:
-Here for today’s story and Tuesday’s blog post on the board’s vote.
—Here for the proposed cuts to begin in January.
—Here for the list of cuts proposed for July 1.
—Here for Sunday’s story on the cuts.
—Here to add your comments to the debate over the cuts.
Permalink | | Categories: Dayton Public Schools
Dayton schools move toward layoffs
By Scott Elliott
Staff Writer
DAYTON — — Dayton school officials Wednesday moved ahead with a plan for steep cuts — teacher layoffs, reduced high school electives, fewer sports teams — beginning January.
But Superintendent Percy Mack said the door is still open to avoid some cuts if administrators can cut elsewhere.
“This is the most difficult thing I’ve had to do in 33 years in education,” Mack said. “We have to do the things in this district to balance our budget so we don’t face a takeover by the state of our fiscal affairs.”
The board unanimously adopted a five-year fiscal forecast, with deep cuts this year and next, to stave off a deficit until the 2008-09 school year.
Mack’s plan calls for 58 teacher and 19 bus-aide layoffs among 135 job cuts that would come in January. The plan eliminates many high school and middle school sports teams, reduces high school electives and cuts middle school foreign language, among $9.4 million in total cuts.
Mack said he hopes to revise the plan within two weeks, seeking to minimize layoffs and academic program cuts.
School board President Gail Littlejohn asked the community to rally around the district.
“When I joined this board in 2002 as president I found a neglected school district,” she said. “Textbooks were outdated, many by decades. Teachers and staff were lacking professional development. Our schools were in a major state of disrepair. It’s too important to let that neglect ever happen again.”
As Dayton school leaders seek to curtail classroom cuts, potential labor strife continues to simmer.
Teachers told the Dayton school board this month its offer of a one-year contract with no raise was not enough and gave it until Nov. 1 for a better proposal or they would consider striking. The last contract expired in June.
Union President Pat Lynch was unhappy Tuesday about what she said was a lack of communication from the administration about its proposed cuts.
“Dayton students need every Dayton teacher,” she said.
Lynch said the union was not notified about Saturday’s meeting, in which cuts were first spelled out. District spokeswoman Jill Moberley said the union was mistakenly not notified when an automatic e-mail was sent to a prior union leader. Lynch took office this summer.
School board President Gail Littlejohn said Tuesday the board asked administrators to consider pushing some of the non-academic cuts planned for next year up to January.
About $9.4 million in cuts, to come after schools return from holiday break, is key to a five-year fiscal forecast the board adopted Tuesday.
Another $12 million in cuts next year include closing three schools and 141 teacher layoffs among 198 more job cuts.
Next year’s plan also includes $4.5 million in non-academic cuts, such as layoffs for custodial, grounds, maintenance staff — which could be moved up.
The cuts for next year could be stopped if voters approved a levy the board will place on the May ballot for a projected 9.75 mills. A levy that size would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an additional $298 a year in property taxes as estimated by the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office.
The board is facing a $24 million deficit next year thanks to declining revenues, a situation that accelerated when the board lost a $16 million ruling by the state regarding charter school enrollment. Board members, who were hoping to hold off on a levy until 2008, said that triggered the urgency for cuts now.
The board meets again at 7:30 a.m. today in the Wurlitzer Room at 136 S. Ludlow St., to review options for a levy.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: Dayton Public Schools
Fordham Foundation: “We were naïve”
In the midst of all the Dayton school news, I didn’t want to overlook the latest in a pretty amazing charter school story going on in Cincinnati and some good reporting by my friends Jennifer Mrozowski and Denise Amos Smith, with their colleague Sharon Coolidge, at the Enquirer.
It’s a story that has the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, perhaps the most respected and influential voice for school choice in the nation, trying to explain how it was hoodwinked.
You might recall that a couple months ago the W.E.B. DuBois Academy, a charter school admired by nearly everyone who came in contact with it for going into a low income neighborhood and dramatically raising test scores with a tough, high expectations program, nearly closed when the state began questioning its finances. Fortunately, the school ultimately was saved.
On Tuesday, the Enquirer reported the financial problems were more than just a funding dispute with the state — the school’s well-regarded founder Wilson Willard was indicted on theft and fraud charges.
Willard was a Fordham poster child for everything that was good about charter schools — he and other DuBois staff were frequent speakers and guests at Fordham events promoting school choice — and when Fordham became a charter sponsor in Ohio, it jumped at the chance to take over management of the school.
But even Fordham, which is deeply plugged in, politically well connected and known for it’s critical eye and tough love as a charter sponsor, missed the financial games Willard apparently was playing and were unaware of a long-running state investigation of the school.
Fordham’s Dayton-based vice president, Terry Ryan told the Enquirer Fordham ran a background check of Willard that showed nothing.
“We thought we were taking over what was the top (charter) school in Ohio,” he said. “It’s fair to say we were pretty naïve.”
UPDATE: Terry Ryan clarified the timeline for me. Fordham takes over sponsorship of DuBois in July 2005. The criminal investigation of Willard begins in autumn of 2005 and Fordham learns of it in December of that year when it has trouble obtaining past audits for the school. In June DuBois’ funding problems become public and Willard is demoted. He later left the school. Criminal charges against Willard finally came last week.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Charter Schools and School Choice
