There’s a reason I’m hesitant to join advocacy groups.
Since I was little, if there was something I was passionate about, I hunted down every fact, exposed truths, and worked to educate others, persuading them to open their eyes to injustice and also take action. I can’t count the number of groups I was involved with in my teens and twenties: animal rescues, save the children, food drives…
It’s exhausting.
As a parent, I’ve been forced to rein in my causes to fight for, if only because I cannot expend that much energy on them while still working and being a good mom. So I’ve been more careful with my choices, although anything directly involving my kids generally comes right to the top of the list.
The transportation debacle launched school issues to the top of my priority list two weeks ago, and I started speaking out regarding the need for improvements to our district’s transportation department. We’re still in a bit of a stalemate with that.
Fast forward a week. A friend alerted me to a special meeting of the Columbus Council of PTAs on October 8, where the Columbus Mayor would be present to discuss the district’s levy issue. The levy committee was also asking for PTA members to lend their endorsement to the levy, requiring a vote.
Getting into all of the details and problems with the levy would take 3-4 posts entirely, and completely bore those of you who don’t live in this area. So I’ll sum up: the levy asks for a LOT of money from a 24% property tax hike, gives some of that money to private charter schools and private businesses, limits the power of the elected school board, makes a lot of promises with no real details on who will benefit and how they’ll do it, and still has the strong chance of no accountability if they squander the money. Again. And they’re going to cut $200 million from the existing budget, without saying where those cuts will come from.
Also, it assumes that the way to fix failing schools is to throw more money at them to make the problem go away, which definitely isn’t an answer. If you’re really interested in learning more, there’s a lot of info out there. I’d be happy to share some links.
Anyway. I’m a PTA member at our local school, like many parents, so I agreed to go to this meeting, hoping that the superintendent or someone from the school board might be there so I could talk to them about our transportation issue. (None of them were in attendance.) I made arrangements to meet Aaron after work to hand off the kids so he could take them to gymnastics while I drove to the other side of Columbus for this meeting.
The Meeting
I was nervous walking into the room. I didn’t recognize anyone there at first, and I worried about speaking up against the school district. I thought I’d be the minority in the room. My friends arrived about five minutes later, and others recognized me from my earlier blog posts about the bus, so I didn’t feel quite so afraid.
The mayor was running late, and this group of parents were ready to get things moving. They had babysitters charging by the hour and others inconvenienced by their commitment to be at this meeting. Suddenly, one of the parents announced, “I’d like to move that this council NOT endorse Issues 50 & 51.” It was immediately seconded. The president of the council asked if we wanted to vote now before the mayor had a chance to speak, and the room erupted in affirmative responses.
It was suddenly clear that quite possibly everyone there was against the levy. The president suggested discussion of the motion. At that point reasons why people opposed the levy began spilling out. There were overall concerns about the lack of detail regarding the business plan, including measuring success and holding people accountable for meaningful improvement.
Some made the point that many of the commission’s recommendations for improving the district could be implemented without any money. Others explained that they had attended all of the focus group meetings for the levy, designed to allow the public to provide input, and felt that none of the concerns expressed by parents or community members were heard or addressed in those meetings.
Then the vote was taken. All in favor say aye: “AYE” echoed in unison around the room. All opposed, nay: …silence. Not a single person said nay. We had unanimously voted to not endorse Issues 50 & 51. I was hoping there would be those who felt similar to me, but I didn’t expect a one-sided vote. Were there no parents who felt strongly enough in favor of the levy to come speak their minds and vote? Or are most parents feeling the same as us and concerned that our kids won’t really benefit from the vague language?
At that point, it was asked how the public would be notified of our decision. Another motion was made to give a public statement on the council’s unanimous decision to vote no and why. The vote passed unanimously. You can listen to it here:
Music Hosting – Embed Audio – Columbus Council of PTAs una…
Here’s the link to the audio file for those reading this on mobile.
We then waited and waited for Mayor Coleman to arrive. A little over an hour after the start of the meeting, he finally showed up, having been briefed on his way there about the vote we had already taken. I was curious as to what he might say to help us better understand the design of this plan, perhaps giving us more details about the private partners or the plans to ensure the money isn’t being siphoned to private interests with little in return.
Instead, the mayor began by expressing his displeasure and disappointment with our vote and chiding us for our decision, saying he hoped we’d reconsider and vote again. Then, when parents told him how they’ve attended all of the meeting and spoke at them, and yet the public’s input was not considered for this levy, he said this was the first time he’s ever heard that the public didn’t feel they had input into the plan. When a gentleman near me gently challenged this, the mayor erupted at him, yelling defensively. You can hear all of it here:
Play Music – Audio Hosting – Columbus Mayor at Columbus C…
Here’s the link to the audio file for those reading this on mobile.
Mayor Coleman stayed for about 15 minutes, then decided he wasn’t taking any more questions and left. He didn’t have any answers for us. He knew few details on the plan, insisting that it would be handled after the levy passes. He couldn’t answer basic questions regarding the plan’s suggestions for recruiting and retaining teachers, even accidentally saying at one point that Columbus City Schools needed to get good teachers, before backtracking once he realized the insult he had just spoken.
He also reiterated the stale talking point used in the countless commercials and near-daily mailers that business and government were ready to help, but it was time for the parents and community to “step up” for their kids’ education.
Um, PARDON? Forgive the outrage, Mr. Mayor, but don’t you think it’s a little insulting to tell parents to step up? Never mind, don’t forgive the outrage – to belittle us and try to pin the blame for failing schools on us is wrong.
If you want to blame something, try blaming poverty, or segregation, or a minimum wage so low that parents work multiple jobs and leave their older kids to raise their younger ones. Why not work on improving those issues in city government first, since you proved you’re not the education expert you claimed to be in the Dispatch three weeks ago?
It gets worse. (Wednesday)
The next day, the committee that was formed at the meeting to develop a public statement for the media ran into problems immediately. (I was a part of this committee.) The first draft, including reasons some of the individuals present at the meeting expressed for their vote, was criticized for including the reasons, despite the vote taken at the meeting including the words “and why.”
Not an hour after that first email, my home phone rang. Caller ID said it was the Columbus Dispatch. I was working, so I ignored it, thinking it was likely a sales pitch. Instead, it was a reporter who knew about the meeting vote and wanted to get more information from me. How did he know my phone number? I ignored it and continued working. Soon I had a tweet notification, followed by an email, all from the same reporter.
A short while later another parent who attended the meeting sent me a link to a Dispatch article. It was vague, but already reporting that we had voted not to endorse Issues 50 & 51, without providing any of the concerns expressed, and then provided a rosy picture of the levy. It would seem someone from that meeting had already leaked the information rather than waiting for our official release.
I disagreed with the committee over the wording, arguing that the press release had no useful information to share without giving some of the reasons that individuals voted the way they did, especially since someone had already told the media. (No, I have no idea who it was.) Then there were thoughts about whether the Columbus Council of PTAs vote meant that we didn’t endorse it (as in, we don’t support the levy, which it was clear that was the intent) or if it meant that we just weren’t taking a position.
As you can guess, that same mysterious someone had told the press that as a group we had voted to not take a position on the levy. The press release was not going to happen at this point.
So much information was flying around the back-channels that by the end of the night, I was fed up with the half-truths. I carved out some time and emailed the Dispatch reporter back, giving him the whole story as witnessed by me, as well as the audio recording of the mayor that had been provided to me by another parent.
And then today.
I woke up this morning to more emails and a link to the same Dispatch article. It had been updated with some of the information I provided to the reporter, as well as information from other parents.
It also included statements from the mayor’s office, claiming our meeting “was a small sample that does not represent the membership of the organization,” and downplaying the vote. Seriously?
They were the ones who forced this vote to happen to begin with, because they thought the PTA important enough to flaunt as an endorsement. Yet when the vote didn’t go their way, they chose to make us look like a few radical parents who secretly got together for our vote. Wrong. It was a public meeting, advertised to all PTA groups, and the importance of the meeting was stressed in the invite. If those in support of the levy chose not to attend, then they chose not to have their vote count.
That’s the way democracy works – if it matters to you, then you’ll be sure to vote. The mayor had better hope they feel more strongly about going out to vote on election day.
The other insult in the article was the Council PTA president claiming that she voted no, discrediting those of us claiming it was unanimous. As you can hear in the audio above, she didn’t vote no. She did tell us, long after the vote and during a break while waiting for the mayor, that she was in support of the levy, but that support was not voiced during either vote. It was a unanimous vote.
Look, I know our school district has problems. That’s obvious. But if a business tried to present this school plan as a business plan to request investment funding, they’d be laughed out the door at the lack of details, along with the flaws in the few details that are in the plan. We’ve tried to throw money at the district’s problems before – we voted for the 2008 school levy, also full of similar promises, and that money vanished without better schools or any benefit to our kids.
Last week, when Aaron and I petitioned the school board and the superintendent for the need to improve their solutions with the transportation office, the superintendent, Dr. Good, had this to say to us in an email response:
While I’ve very limited opportunity to craft a more thorough response to your correspondence, please be assured that I (and although I do not speak for the Board, I know they share the sentiment) am very concerned, but highly committed to finding solutions that are effective while honoring our pledge to be prudent fiscal stewards.
Well then, if being prudent fiscal stewards is the game plan for transportation, then let’s make it the game plan for the entire district’s operations. You don’t need millions of dollars more to correct the school district’s problems. Often, the best innovation happens when resources are limited. It’s time to prove they can be creative thinkers.
And, like the new Common Core standards require for all students, please show your work.
Thank you! I attended this meeting and feel so disheartened by the lies and manipulation. So many of the members there made special arrangements for their children, missed family dinners, because they wanted to take the opportunity to be heard. I do not feel heard, quite the opposite, shut down, manipulated and lied to.
Exactly. The special meeting was advertised to the PTA chapters, plenty of advance notice was given for PTA members to make arrangements. (And some brought their kids, too.)
Those who showed were the ones who cared enough about the issue to come have their voices heard. The vote happened, the vote stands, and as representatives of the organization, we voted to not endorse the levy. If someone in the PTA is mad about the vote, they can only be mad at themselves for not coming out.
Thank you for attending the meeting, recording the discussion, and taking time to advocate for what you (and I) believe is right. You are one of the busiest people I know and I understand how difficult this must be to add to your schedule!
Thanks, Rachel! I can’t take credit for the recording – that was provided by another parent who was there. I simply agreed to make it public.
It’s a little unsettling how many of the parents who were present talked about fears of retaliation by the schools against their children – they were genuinely frightened. Which made me wonder what kind of thug district can have parents so afraid to speak out?
I really didn’t want to be in this position, but it’s impossible to sit back when you witness all of this happening and find out more than you ever wanted to know about city/school politics.
Why is everyone ignoring the fact that there are TWO issues on the ballot, not just a levy? I wish someone would discuss the Facilities Plan to improve conditions of the physical buildings. There are myriad of physical problems with our school buildings; they are dangerous and very, very old. Custodians polishing floors and emptying trash does not solve these problems. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, The issues are very different. It is possible to vote NO on the levy and YES for the funds to be raised to make our schools safe.
You’re right, there are two issues on the ballot. However, the Facilities Plan is part of the same issue with the levy. Sadly, you can’t have building improvements without voting in the public-private slush fund. Believe me, put each line item, in full detail, out individually for us to vote on, and I’d gladly approve improvements to school buildings.
Our elementary school has a lot of serious issues that need addressed, and so far the PTA have been the ones already paying for those repairs.
From their own website:
Official Language for Columbus City Schools Ballot Issues 50 and 51
Issue 50: Proposed Bond Issue and Tax Levy, Columbus City School District
(1) Issue bonds for the purpose of paying a portion of the cost of the local share of school construction under the State of Ohio Accelerated Urban Assistance Program and other school improvements by construction or renovation of two high schools, one middle school, six elementary schools, and one preschool center; other school improvements, including furniture, equipment, site improvements and emergency maintenance, and providing for warm, safe and dry learning environments for students in aging buildings; and certain technology improvements, each together with all necessary appurtenances, in the principal amount of $175,000,000 to be repaid annually over a maximum period of 36 years, and levy a property tax outside the ten-mill limitation, estimated by the county auditor to average over the bond repayment period 1.01 mills for each dollar of tax valuation, which amounts to $0.101 for each one hundred dollars of tax valuation, to pay the annual debt charges on the bonds, and to pay debt charges on any notes issued in anticipation of those bonds?
(2) Levy an additional property tax for the purpose of the current expenses of the school district including an independent auditor, early childhood education, expanding and replicating high performing district schools, hiring, retaining and training high quality teachers and of partnering community schools at a rate not exceeding 8 mills for each one dollar of valuation (of which 1 mill is to be allocated to partnering community schools), which amounts to $0.80 for each one hundred dollars of valuation, for a continuing period of time?
Issue 51: Proposed Independent Auditor, Columbus City Schools
Shall the position of independent auditor of the Columbus City School District be created in accordance with section 3311.60 of the Revised Code and shall a selection committee consisting of the mayor of the City of Columbus, president of the school district board of education, council president of the City of Columbus, auditor of the City of Columbus, and probate court judge of the county of Franklin select an individual to fill that position for an initial term of five years, subject to reappointment or succession, with the compensation for the independent auditor and the cost of the operations and functions of the independent auditor to be paid by the school district?
Source: Franklin County Board of Elections, August, 2013.
I’ve been talking to other parents who have kids in the district and they are really concerned about this. They are saying that those opposed to the levy purposly turned out as many opponents as possible to shew the the vote. And the only parents opposed to the levy are those whose kids already go to a good school. They don’t care about the other kids in failing schools.
Let’s be fair here, Jason. If you feel one way or the other, shouldn’t you feel free to encourage others who feel the same way that you do to come out and speak alongside you? That’s democracy. Let’s not forget that this meeting was arranged by the Mayor and the CCoPTAs, and was held in one of the poorer areas of town. This was not a bunch of rich parents in Clintonville, sipping on Mimosas as they decided “We’ve got ours, to hell with the other schools.”
Parents who are involved with the PTAs, generally speaking, are the ones motivated to see change. They are precisely the kind of people who want to see improvements to the school, and the ones who normally vote for school levies.
But that doesn’t mean that they’re going to blindly say “Yes,” to anyone asking for money for the schools. I’ve never voted against a school levy in my life – but I’m voting against this one, and it’s almost entirely because I don’t see any way to ensure that this money goes to the schools that need it.
I grew up on the Near East side. I went to several of the poorest schools in the District. And I am the one who has consistently argued for the merits of keeping our children in Public Schools. Our daughters’ school is considered to be one of the better schools – but it doesn’t have a lot of money. Many of the improvements to the school have come out of the pockets of the PTA members.
I am offended at the suggestion that because I oppose this levy I don’t care about kids in other schools. I would be happy to vote for a levy – even of this size – if I thought it would help.
But a levy that specifically will give additional money to charter schools? One that doesn’t include accountability? One that doesn’t address the transportation problems in the district, or describe how these additional funds will actually go to acquiring and retaining quality teachers?
No. No, thank you.
I’m not saying they didn’t have the right do turn out opponents. They definitely did, if that is what happened. But if only representatives from a few schools show up, how is that a fair representation of the PTA members for all the schools in the district? Sure, only those who show up can vote, but if you’re a parent who works at night, like I am, how could I be expected to show up and make my voice heard. And if supporters had known there was a nefarious plot to shew the vote, more probably would have shown up. My point is this doesn’t really seems to be an accurate representation of the full PTA and people should stop trying to portray it that way.
Jason – please see my response below. When the Council President sends out social media requests saying they need at least 13 for a quorum, I am getting the impression, these meetings are not well attended.
Again, these are good discussions, but people need to find a way to make their voice heard.
The CCoPTAs had declared that 13 PTA members need to be present to represent a quorum for a vote to be official. Had all 30 in attendance been from the same school, I might lend thought to your conspiracy theory.
However, having only known one other attendee before walking into that meeting myself, and witnessing others introducing themselves to other people who they didn’t know after the meeting, the idea of a “nefarious plot” is absurd. A few people in the room did know each other. But to claim that the majority plotted together for a takeover is a stretch to begin with, and not grounded in reality when you look at the schools represented.
Believe me, after that meeting? I looked to see if there was an anti-levy group to join. Because I’ve done enough research and heard enough from the mayor and others to convince me this is a disastrously flawed levy. There aren’t any out there, and certainly none with the organization to reach out across multiple schools. Or spend a million dollars on spokesmodels and ads like the pro-levy group is doing.
There were people at that meeting who arranged their schedules to be there. Sometimes we have to make hard choices for things we care about, even if that means getting a babysitter or trading work schedules, or asking a trusted parent friend if they’re able to attend the meeting in your place.
I give up a lot for my kids, and I attended because I felt it was important to hear what the mayor had to say and express my concerns. I had serious concerns before the meeting, but was still willing to have my concerns addressed and be convinced this could work. I was not convinced, but rather the mayor provided me with more doubts about the validity of this plan.
While I’m happy to entertain many conspiracy theories, this one doesn’t really stand up at all. The PTA had no plans to lend endorsement until the Levy committee asked for them to hold the special meeting. So the intention from the beginning with this meeting was to hope for an endorsement.
Do you think those who wanted the endorsement would send the meeting notice out to those in good schools and not those in failing schools? It was sent to all, with a note strongly encouraging people to show up. The meeting was held in Linden, a poorer area of town with several failing schools nearby, so there really wasn’t an excuse for anyone from a failing school not to show.
And you’re making a huge – and false – assumption that those who are opposed to the levy are from good schools. I made note of several of the schools being represented at that meeting. Want to know how well they’re doing?
GAP REPORT CARD SCORES:
Clinton – A
Ecole Kenwood – F
Indian Springs – D
Dominion – F
Ridgeview – F
Brookhaven – F
Centennial – B
Columbus North International – F
Whetstone – F
Nearly all of them were D or F rated schools – hardly what you’d call “good.” And there were other schools I didn’t make note of. Different areas of the city were well represented in that meeting.
If people cared enough about endorsing the levy as a paid PTA member, then they should have been there or encouraged others with their views to attend. Those who attended did care about the details of the plan, and shared their concerns over what they felt wasn’t the right course of action for our school district. I think others were just as surprised as I was when they realized others in the room were against the levy as well. I was certain I’d be the only one.
Apathy on the part of any levy supporters is what led to the vote outcome on Tuesday night, and apathy is what has led to the failing schools problem we’re currently in. Money doesn’t fix apathy, but some righteous anger over mismanagement and a plan to pull additional funds from taxpayers into a black hole of a public-private scheme just might get things turned around.
Don’t blame those who made the decisions to take time out of their busy lives to be there. Blame those who couldn’t be bothered to show up.
Do you really think that parents in low-income areas have extra income to be “paid PTA members”? There are people out there who don’t have extra money to pay to be in the PTA, but that doesn’t mean their voices should be silenced because they are poor.
You are right Jason – but this meeting was a PTA meeting. So they should organize and find another way.
You’re absolutely right, Jason. There are people who don’t have money to pay for PTA membership, although it’s a low membership fee. We paid our $6/yr even when unemployed and on food stamps. I know there are people who are likely even worse off than we were during those years, and even $6 may be too much to spare.
But this wasn’t a general school district parents endorsement vote. It was the PTA endorsement vote. If parents wanted to form a parent organization without dues, I’d fully support it. I wasn’t the one who ever decided dues were needed.
I’m a parent who works at night and I wasn’t able to go because of work. Are you saying that because I didn’t show up that I don’t care? Some of us have to live in the real world and have to have real jobs.
I understand that some parents work at night, Shania, and I apologize if what I was saying came off wrong. I was a 7p-7a worker myself for quite awhile. The point I was trying to make is that we all make decisions every day as to what is important to us. Had the school district not frightened me half to death by having my children missing for 3 hours with no idea where they were, I might not have gone to this meeting myself, since I already had other commitments that evening.
But that issue with transportation did change my priorities, and I shifted things around to be able to attend the meeting. My husband wanted to attend as well, but he couldn’t make it. Having me attend for both of us was the best we could do.
The meeting was announced over a week in advance. I understand that’s still not enough time for some employers to allow a schedule change or take a few hours off. I can’t speak for your work situation, as I don’t know you. Had it been me, and had I truly felt that I wanted to make sure I had a voice at a meeting that was important to me (and this is only speaking for myself), I would have asked other parents if they were going, and asked a parent who shares my opinion to stand in for me.
Work and life always get in the way for several things in our lives, and it really, really sucks to always be juggling schedules and pushing things aside and trying to carve out time for the thing that really matter to us.
But what happens on November 5? Will people not go vote because the real world got in the way? I hope not. Certain politicians in the state have made it harder to vote, with fewer machines and shorter early voting periods, and that’s not right at all. If work will get in the way, I genuinely hope those folks will choose to vote early or absentee. No matter your opinion on the levy or any other issue, we all have the right to our individual vote on November 5.
Your voice on the levy would have been welcome at the meeting, and I’m sorry that those in attendance didn’t get to hear your thoughts. Other parents from our school also couldn’t attend due to work and life obligations, and I know they were frustrated that they weren’t heard either, although I spoke for some of them. I hope you’ll continue to share your opinions with the people around you.
I also don’t understand how you can call this a conspiracy theory when the opponents’ intentions were posted online.
https://www.facebook.com/NoCheatersNoChartersColumbus/posts/643901062307687
I’m just trying to get answers and don’t appreciate my thoughts being portrayed as conspiracy theories.
I only just saw that FB group today, thanks for sharing! But the post you linked to is for a meeting that happened last night, not Tuesday.
As for using the phrase conspiracy theories, allow me to explain. Your first comment included “those opposed to the levy purposly turned out as many opponents as possible to shew the the vote.”
Definition of conspiracy: 1. a combination of persons for a secret, unlawful, or evil purpose 2. any concurrence in action; combination in bringing about a given result.
Definition of theory: a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural and subject to experimentation, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact
So, in this case, claiming that parents purposely had a “nefarious plot” (your words) to gather up people to come vote on this issue one particular way, would be an accurate description of a conspiracy theory. It insinuates that there was advance planning to create a certain outcome, which from what I witnessed, couldn’t be further from the truth, and this theory can be seen as insulting to those who did attend with only the intent to speak their conscience and participate in a fair vote.
I’m sorry you weren’t able to attend the meeting. Your opinions regarding the advantages you see from this levy would have been welcome, I hope.
I attended and my kid is in a failing school!! And she does not get to attend classes with a bunch of gifted kids. She is in classrooms that are over crowded, lack resources, where some children discipline issues and no respect. Last year she did not have an algebra teacher for just over nine weeks, instead a revolving door of substitutes that did not teach.
I rearranged my schedule to be at the meeting. If people felt strongly about their view, they should have been there.
Until I see how my tax money will benefit the children, I will NOT support it. Per pupil spending in failing schools is over the top. Throwing more money in the CCS black hole is not going to help. I want to see a detailed plan.
The Mayor said we need better teachers. I agree – we do need some better teachers, how is that going to happen? He said the would get a good recruiter because CCS HR is not equipped to recruit “the BEST”.
My thoughts — Oh good – hiring a recruiter? Hopefully a highly paid administrator.
A parent then said we do have some very good teachers though. — The Mayor said yes we do have good teachers. We need to keep them and retain them.
My thoughts — Has anyone every asked the good teachers their ideas? Or why they are unhappy? Or why they leave the district? Does it cost money to do that?
Seriously, whatever opinion you have, get to the meetings — I have attended multiple and it has not been easy or convenient.
But whatever your view, the dialogue is good and turning on each other is not the way to resolve issues, it just distracts folks from educating themselves on ISSUE 50/51.
I’m a little surprised to realize that the district doesn’t conduct exit interviews when a teacher chooses to quit and go elsewhere. I think there would be a lot to be learned from asking why teachers leave.
Is it just because they live too far away and found something closer? Or, is it because they don’t feel they have enough support from administration? Or because they don’t feel safe, or have the resources they need? Asking some basic questions would help the district identify patterns for why good teachers are leaving and maybe – if they’d listen to what’s being said – make changes so that good teachers would want to stay.
It doesn’t seem like the district knows how to properly accept criticism or learn from their mistakes. Until they start accepting their mistakes and taking active steps to correct those mistakes, history will continue to repeat itself.
That make no sense. For what purpose and what to gain?
Wow. Thanks for the report and for the head’s-up!
Thanks for all of your comments! I hadn’t seen the report card. I will say that both my children attended Indian Springs, Dominion, Whetstone, Ridgeview and Centennial. I was an active PTA member and they both received full academic rides to college but if I may give my two cents worth, I can’t afford the levy! P.S. I was sipping Mimosas most of the time, 🙂
As a parent of two students in the district, my wife and I made sure to attend the meeting. We are members of a PTO so we did not participate in the vote. But we agreed with the outcome. I did not realize the mayor was attending alone and expected members of the partnership and school board members to attend in order to explain to me why I should vote for a levy when the last two I have voted for have not yielded results for my kids and their fellow students.
Every person who commented at the meeting had a main concern and that was Accountability. We have personally witnessed $1,000,000.00 baring spent on a promised school for my kids that never materialized. Instead my son was moved to a “better” school (by the district) and so far the results have forced my wife and I to research charter schools in order to achieve the results that the district promised me with this forced change. As far as a conspiracy, I knew only two other people at the meeting and they were not PTA members.
The bottom line is that the levy asks for funds, promises vague returns, and the mayor provided no indication that he even knew how those returns are measured or what success looks like. I had the distinct impression that someone presented the plan to him and told him it was great. He stated that in the past, he was not hands-on involved in the school district and based on his answers to simple and reasonable questions, I don’t believe he is hands -on still.
Thank you for sharing your insight. We have to hold the powers that be accountable. Kudos to you and the others who stood up and asked questions.
Thank you for this very important and insightful piece. You r spot on…. As a former ccs teacher, I believe these issues are about furthering business, charter and political agendas only…. Ccs has majority excellent teachers… Issues in ccs are about social and economic issues outside school (which spill over into school), and about political, govt efforts/agendas to slowly and systematically dismantle public schools… These levy issues are poorly planned, poorly defined, and will not benefit kids nor families of ccs….
The correct word is rein in not reign.
Ha, how’d that ‘g’ get in there? Damn you, autocorrect! Still, one oops in 2214 words? I think I’m ahead of the Dispatch on that one.
Thanks for serving as editor. Hopefully the post provided more for you than just a wrong word! 😉
Yes, it did. It was an excellent post and was put on FB, by a friend of mine. I am glad I got the chance to read it. Keep up the good work.
Thank you!
It said rein…
It does now, but the error was there previously. I edited it after Gen pointed it out, along with adding links to the audio files for those who were looking at the post on mobile devices and couldn’t see the embedded audio.
Benefit of writing online: edits are possible at any time! Which is good, considering my brain gets ahead of my fingers far too often. That ‘g’ gets into rein far too often, probably because I used to write about kings and queens in college and a brief period in grad school. Or because I keep seeing TV ads for the new series Reign on the CW. 🙂
A tip of the hat to you for caring Christina. . I would just add that I take all the high-stakes testing results with a huge grain of salt. The high-stakes testing results in 3 things according to education expert/historian Diane Ravitch—- it narrows the curriculum, incentivizes teaching to the test and pressures educators to cheat hence all the cheating scandals nationwide.
Testing is needed to see where kids are at but the high stakes aspect is turning children into commondites because it quantifies education and makes it possible to have a market-based education system. And a market-based education system allows people like David Brennan of White Hat to extract a huge sums of money from the system.
Schools are a reflection of the community they are in for the most part. I think the focus should be on addressing poverty.
I don’t need the state of Ohio to tell me whether or not my kids’ school is good or not. I can tell based on the experiences they are having. Besides that, the state continually raises the bar.
My children went to a Columbus school with a high percentage of children who were ESL students. Last year the school went down some letter grades because the ESL students didn’t do well in Math. It was the first year the state tested the school’s ESL students in Math. It’s a good school and most of the parents there are happy with the education their children are receiving. So I cringe when I hear Mayor Coleman and other politicians continually saying our schools are failing.
I’ll be voting no on this levy and hope the district comes back with a better plan next time.
We have not had a PTA at Walnut Ridge since 1999. We have yet to receive our charter, so we could not vote for or against an endorsement of the levy. We ARE in support of Issues 50 and 51, and I am encouraging parents in our school and within our feeder pattern to vote FOR both issues. I am certain that the details of the CCS budget are indeed accurate. I would challenge that the needs of CCS students are a reason to justify the budget. Our kids at Walnut Ridge come to us with tremendous challenges. It is an unfair comparison to match a typical CCS students needs to one coming from Bexley of New Albany. The cost to educate a child in Columbus is alarming, but what is happening in our neighborhoods is alarming as well. The blame for these issues does not lie with the children, and so in my opinion, the children should not be punished. I respect that there are differences of opinion within this group and the rest of the city. You objections in many cases are valid concerns. I do feel that there are misconceptions being forwarded, and I will also admit that the campaign for the levy has been less than articulate on some of the pros to voting yes. I am in our school building almost daily. I know first hand the challenges our children face. I can’t look them in the eye and say that I voted no due to the malfeasance of some adults starting back before they were even born, in some cases. I have spoken with Dr. Good, who I feel is a competent leader for our district. I hope that he remains. If there are people who are currently serving on the board that need to pay for their actions (or inactions), I would encourage the people to express their displeasure by voting them out. Now is not the time to be sending messages to children, but that is what you will be doing by voting on this levy. The adults, by and large will remain in place. But if your children are already in overcrowded classrooms, working with antiquated, or no textbooks, in schools with inadequate heating/AC systems, being taught by substitutes who could care less about their future; what do you think will happen when a failed levy forces CUTS to the system? How do these cuts make the current situation any better? I am voting yes for Issues 50 and 51. For those of you who are considering voting no, please visit a school before making a decision to cast a vote. Talk to the children. Talk to the teachers. Talk to the parents (yes parents actually participate in the school during school hours). It may change your heart. This is a great blog, and I encourage you to keep posting about issues relative to our students! I found this by way of columbusunderground.com. Kudos!
Hi James,
Thanks for your comment. I’ll agree with you that our children shouldn’t be the pawns in this levy, but I’ll also offer up that I don’t believe our children gain much at all even if the levy wins. New layers of highly-paid administration, recruitment firms, committees – lots of money going to upper-level administration that doesn’t need to be there. How much will really reach our kids?
I do visit one of those schools you mention all the time, and I do talk to the parents and teachers. My children already are in classrooms with inadequate heating and no A/C. One of them was in an overcrowded classroom last year for part of the year until the principal and parents demanded another teacher for that grade. Guess what that school was promised in 2008? They were told they were on the list for building improvements. But after that levy passed? They were dropped from the list. What guarantee do we have of it happening this time when those in charge of many of the same people? Our school’s PTA has already kicked in a lot of money for basic fixes in and around the school, and we’ll likely be asked to continue doing it even if this levy passes.
What do I think will happen when the levy fails? Well, they’ll continue making the $200 million in cuts they had already planned to do even if the levy passed. It doesn’t matter if it fails or passes, they’ll be cutting anyway. They’re good at creating threats designed to scare the public into voting for the levy. I was even affected by that fear tactic until I started digging deeper into the details for this levy, only to find few details and the promise of more administrative bureaucracy.
What else do I think will happen when the levy fails? I think the district will likely ramp up their scare tactics before the vote, leaving many parents afterwards completely terrified for their kids’ schools. At that point, it’s important to focus that fear into action. Apathy has been a part of this district for too long, and it’s time parents stood up and demanded accountability from their school district administrators. If the school district tries to make cuts that affect students, it’s up to the parents to use that new empowerment to say, “NO. We will not let you hurt our kids to make a point, when there are plenty of other ways to make cuts. You ask students to be innovative, well, now it’s your turn to find a better solution.”
Also, there’s something the school district isn’t telling you. Look at their financial records. There’s an estimated $51 million in cash surplus projected by the end of 2015 with the current budget. (Meaning even if the levy fails.) They have the money to do better.
I fully expect that if the levy fails, they will come back with another levy in the spring. Only my hope is that this one will be done right, with greater parent involvement, no money for charter schools, and a clear, detailed plan on how that money will be spent. I will then happily vote for, and encourage others to vote for, that levy.
And just to be clear: before our current school, my oldest went to another school in the district. That school was one of the worst performers, and received a completely renovated building a few years ago, with additional classrooms and teachers added. Guess how well it’s performing now? Even worse that before.
Money and fancy new facilities do not fix the problems in the system. You’re right that some of our kids are starting out with tremendous challenges. But this isn’t a problem caused by education, it’s a problem caused by poverty. Poverty, inequality, a living wage, and safe home environment are all issues that need to be fixed before a child can have the full potential to learn, and they need to be fixed. But those can’t be fixed through a school levy, or when a child is at school. The mayor should be focusing his time on fixing those issues in his city and not on a school levy with a high price tag and lofty goals but no actual details. As someone who has previously worked for the city, you should know these issues are not being addressed enough.
Our kids deserve better. We need leaders and administrators who think smarter, not with more dollar signs, and we need a city government committed to addressing their own issues of poverty and unemployment before getting involved in the matters of schools.
James,
I applaud your passion for the issue, and agree that punishing the kids by voting “no” is the wrong message, what I don’t think you’re taking into consideration is the question of “Will voting ‘yes’ actually help the students in the schools?”
In many cases, I don’t think the answer is ‘yes,’ counter to what the levy proponents have been saying. $200 million in cuts to the currently in-place budget are scheduled to happen even if the levy *does* pass.
Let me repeat, if the levy does pass, $200 million from current budgets will be removed to help pay for new programs.
Air-conditioning will not be put in to all of the schools, only some. New technologies will not be put in to all of the schools, only some. And while I will be the first to say that having air-conditioning and new technology certainly needs to be something we see in all of the schools (not just some), putting the technology into a school that is failing is more often than not a band-aid on a gaping chest wound.
Money needs to be spent on basics, on tutoring, and on retaining teachers. Money also needs to be spent on transportation – not on a plan to increase money for charter schools and to fund a new layer of administration.
I’ve been a voter in the City of Columbus since 1996. In those 17 years, I have never voted against a school levy, because I firmly believe that schools need every bit of funding they can get. But I also believe there needs to be a solid plan that will actually make a difference, and I don’t think this particular set of Issues has that.
I *don’t* want to punish kids for the mistakes of adults from decades ago, and I would happily vote for a levy of exactly this much money – or more – if I had faith in the plan behind it. But I don’t.
Christina,
Thank you for your hard work in providing this forum.
I am a former elementary school teacher and have adult children. My stake in the outcome is that we will have an educated community that will be able to thrive.
I am so glad to see that parents are getting actively involved in this school levy discussion. We always hear that the parents don’t care and leave parenting up to the schools. I was unable to attend the meeting but from what I can gather … parents care and are being critical thinkers on this issue.
We have to get this one right. There is too much at stake. Our students are the primary concern but let’s not forget seniors on fixed income and tenants who are likely to end up paying in higher rents. This impacts more than the students.
I have been reading statistics that private schools costs per student is lower with much better results. This tells me it is not a money issue but financial management one. Maybe clean house first and hold all culpable. I’m not sure what the answer is and it is probably because I have not seen a sound plan. What I do hear are empty promises. I know one thing for sure we don’t need more PR campaigns running the show saying “trust us”. Nor do we need those who advocate who don’t live in the district reading a teleprompter. Which leads me to ask where is the PR campaign money coming from if not from the taxpayers. Does anyone know?
I say the district has to prove they can manage what we gave them as recent as 2008 , ethically and honestly ! The CCS district needs to once again earn our trust … it is up to them and NOT up to the Columbus voters yes vote.
I understand there is a meeting tonight at 7:00 at Whetstone Library…free and open to the public arranged by the League Of Women Voters. Hope this forum won’t be accused of a conspiracy!
I was glad to see this particular decision by the Council of PTAs. But, I think that the Mayor may have gotten something right in questioning the size/representativeness of PTAs in Cols. I have seen something of a movement to turn PTAs into PTOs (to make them more exclusively into fund raising groups with no larger advocacy connections). Many of the schools my kids went to had no parent group, or had one so ineffectual that they were always begging for someone to take it on and make it into something (like a fund-raising group). I think we need to be wary os some of the divide and conquor tactics of CCS (furthering the meme that those who come to PTA meetings are the parents who "really care," meanwhile discounting those parents who express their caring and advocacy in other ways). CC PTA has an opportunity to lead the way in broadening communication and connections among parents–recognizing that many are involved in many different ways.
Christina…thank you for researching the information pertaining to the levy. I hate being bullied and I believe that none of this money will go toward repairs in buildings. I am 49 years old and never had A/C in my buildings, and I grew up in Norfolk, VA, and it was HOT and HUMID! Why must every building have it here in Ohio? We don’t live in Florida. Maybe we should allow the children to return to school after September 5th, when it cools off a bit, because Columbus for the most part is pretty cold weather. No matter how many calls I receive regarding the levy, my vote will still be NO! I don’t have an extra $945 a year for taxes. Currently my taxes are $5500! Does anyone care that most of US can’t afford this much of an increase!!! Where will these poverty ridden children live when their rent exceeds what they can afford. Their landlords will have to raise their rent in order to cover the 24% increase that will be accessed to his/her property!
Mayor Coleman is absolutely worthless, partially because he’s too used to getting his way, and mostly he’s in the vest pocket of the Wolfe family. He attended the meeting believing he would be hailed a hero. But this is what he gets for thinking HE was the reason for the meeting.
“But if a business tried to present this school plan as a business plan to request investment funding, they’d be laughed out the door at the lack of details, along with the flaws in the few details that are in the plan.”
So true – this has been the discussion in my household since the beginning.
Perhaps the biggest danger in this levy is the complete lack of a definitive strategy and the potential to suck the remaining dollar of patience out of property owners. This will damn any future levy to failure even if the golden solution is revealed. In past years, it was always *after the vote* that the miscalculations and shortages were “discovered”. This time, the marketing has been so lackluster and the presentation so sloppy that the truth is overflowing the banks.
Thank you for writing about your experience. Very enlightening. The Mayor has done a good job with city during his tenure, but it’s time for him to go.
There are many reason we are looking to move out of columbus and we aren't even part of the school system. Coleman is such a tool