TOLEDO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT CHARGED WITH RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

This is an economic issue, don't you think? If schools are funded by property taxes, and the school resides in a poor neighborhood, guess what? It's under-funded. And their response to the situation is that they will pull funding? Oh that makes sense now doesn't it?

I can tell you I tried to get a job teaching with a Philly inner city school, but would they hire a Computer Science teacher? Hell no! Coup I teach an AP Computer Science course in one of these schools? Hell no! Why? Because they don't have the goddamn funding for it! Give them some money, the means to hire teachers, get rid of the stupid certification requirements, get them the books and equipment they need. But no, it is far easier just to point a finger and call it Racial Discrimination! Our government makes me sick!

Ohio educators question governor’s school funding
Written by Michael Miller | Editor in Chief | mmiller@toledofreepress.com

Some Ohio educators and lawmakers say Gov. Ted Strickland’s new school funding formula could fall far short by underestimating the cost of paying teachers.

Some education officials say the average teacher earns about $54,200, instead of Strickland’s projected average of about $45,000, The Columbus Dispatch reported Saturday.

That 20 percent difference would create a shortfall of $993 million at current staffing levels, the equivalent of 109,000 full-time teachers. More conservative pay estimates project a deficit of several hundred million dollars.

The proposed formula relies partly on teacher salaries to determine how much funding districts will receive.

School district superintendents, treasurers and teachers said Strickland’s salary estimate does not reflect reality because it averages salaries by district.

They also criticize the formula because it considers charter schools, which sometimes have lower pay scales and which would be funded separately from the public school plan. During the last school year, all but two of the 199 districts with average teacher salaries below $35,000 were charter schools, state data show.

“If you’re going to have two formulas, then why are you crossbreeding an average salary?” said David Varda, executive director of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials.

Strickland spokeswoman Amanda Wurst says the governor believes his estimate is accurate and is open to talking more about it.

Teacher advocates suggest a better calculation would be to average all teacher salaries at the state’s traditional public schools.

They’re also concerned that the formula will not help _ and might even hurt _ districts that already face huge funding disparities, especially poor, rural areas, Varda said.

The Ohio Supreme Court has repeatedly declared the state’s current funding formula unconstitutional because it relies too heavily on local property taxes.

Strickland’s plan would invest an additional $275 million in local school districts over the two-year budget cycle to shift more of the financial burden to the state and away from local taxpayers.

State lawmakers have raised concerns about whether the plan, which also recommends sweeping changes in operations and curriculum, would be another unfunded mandate and whether it could hold up as unionized teachers negotiate wages.

State Superintendent Deb Delisle, who oversees the Ohio Department of Education, told lawmakers she hopes her department could help districts work with unions and find ways to save money outside of their labor contracts.

Thank you my beautiful almost perfect Mom (smile)

Thanks Siebra for this yet one more much needed reality check...

EDUCATE!!!EDUCATE!!!EDUCATE!!! (smile)