tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post1974666176968548030..comments2023-06-24T10:52:34.846-04:00Comments on EducateHilliard.com: Emergency Levy - An Idea Worth ConsiderationPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-82487434599437464832011-01-07T16:27:51.762-05:002011-01-07T16:27:51.762-05:00Yep, I saw that number for the first time this mor...Yep, I saw that number for the first time this morning as well. I'm preparing a blog article right now which will explain my position - probably will post tomorrow (I've learned to sleep on these things to see if I feel the same way in the morning).<br /><br />I think that by all means people should come to the meeting and tell the Board what they think about 6.9 mills. That number is not cast in stone until the vote on the resolution is taken, so there's always a chance that what is said during the Public Participation time could tilt the discussion.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-51812945984643683412011-01-07T15:56:40.393-05:002011-01-07T15:56:40.393-05:00Agenda for Mondays meeting contains 6.9 mill levy ...Agenda for Mondays meeting contains 6.9 mill levy request. Apparently not much discussion to take place. Paul, your thoughts on anyone making comments to a emergency levy or a lesser amount.<br />6.9 too much in my opinion.Ricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-39751034244484949822011-01-04T13:15:40.815-05:002011-01-04T13:15:40.815-05:00At this point I dont think anything but 4 mills or...At this point I dont think anything but 4 mills or a little less is appropriate. 4 mills will bring about 9mil which is a significant increase. Perhaps a flat raise of 750.00 average out would do the trick for the next 3 years until economically things get ironed out. If we have a permanent levy<br />that is simply going to go to nothing else but<br />salary increases. Nothing has been done since the last contract on medical contributions. Premiums are up double digits again for at least<br />the 8th year in a row.<br /><br />I think some programming , supplementals need to be looked at with the microscope now. IS it something we absolutely want to keep or a<br />like to. <br /><br />Funny, and the point WILL BE MADE. The District opened its mouth (NOT) one time during the work to the contract. At that point I think parents and students were treated WORSE than WIDGETS<br /><br />And once again, as there are those who dont see this as serious. JUST ONE COMMENT FROM THE DISTRICT or HEA< EMPLOYEESS WHOMEVER of "YOU DONT GET IT and the levy gets opposition faster<br />than Lindsey Lohan is in and out of rehab!Ricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-43756213567261269282011-01-03T15:36:24.812-05:002011-01-03T15:36:24.812-05:00The challenge with temporary levies is that if spe...The challenge with temporary levies is that if spending continues to grow, each successive temporary levy has to get bigger. That's what happened in New Albany, and they were recently faced with a situation where half of their local funding was tied up in one levy on the order of 25 mills. If that levy had been defeated, it would have decimated their school district. So last time around, they passed a permanent levy that funded what they viewed to be their permanent spending level.<br /><br />Of course, it is possible to build a portfolio of temporarly levies that are "laddered" in the manner used by many corporations (and the US government by the way). In other words, we could pass a 5 year levy for say 4 mills this year, then another one for 4 mills next year, and so on for five years. On the fifth year, the first temporary levy would run out, and we could choose to renew it at the same rate, or replace it with a larger or smaller levy as appropriate for the times. And we would have such a choice every year.<br /><br />I personally like that idea a lot, but it would take hard work to educate the community how this strategy works. But as you say, it would make the district leadership much more accountable.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-81218318557924050242011-01-03T14:36:42.317-05:002011-01-03T14:36:42.317-05:00I'm thinking that I might be in favor of nothi...I'm thinking that I might be in favor of nothing but temporary levies as opposed to the permanent ones that don't seem to have served the taxpayers very well. Seem it might keep the Board on a somewhat shorter leash when it comes to accountability. But, what would that do to the typical 3 year contracts with the bargaining units? Of course (and I realize I have beaten this horse to death already) the status of a levy did not affect the last contract much, if any, did it?<br />It will be interesting if there is any discussion of this approach next Monday...Hillirditehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04502059362611692461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-19177311475719062882011-01-02T15:53:57.607-05:002011-01-02T15:53:57.607-05:00"Schools are a professional services organiza..."Schools are a professional services organization, like a law firm or a barber shop."<br /><br />So where are the ethics that go with such an organization? The pay follows but not the ethics on standards. I would not work with an organization that has multiple standards for customers, yet the schools do. How would people feel if the law were the same way?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-8081708308300026122011-01-02T15:40:32.106-05:002011-01-02T15:40:32.106-05:00Paul - agreed and you are adept at the issues - it...Paul - agreed and you are adept at the issues - it is why we voted for you. The savings are in large part because there is not a union to contend with in paying wages and compensation. The diocese does assist members - but the cost per pupil is still lower. <br />As a taxpayer who is crying "uncle", HOW do we bargain with the unions to live in the real world? This household hasn't seen a pay raise in over 5 years (actually a decrease) and is spending more on healthcare than before - and we consider ourselves to have good healthcare. <br />Regardless of where our children go to school, Hilliard needs to have good schools. But the costs seem exorbitant.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-28745274464850995422011-01-02T15:04:54.952-05:002011-01-02T15:04:54.952-05:0090% of the money spent in our school district goes...90% of the money spent in our school district goes to compensation and benefits. I can find no financial information on parochial schools, but it wouldn't surprise me if compensation and benefits consume 80-90% of the funding there as well. Schools are a professional services organization, like a law firm or a barber shop, so the bulk of the money is always going to get spent on compensation and benefits.<br /><br />So almost certainly, the primary reason parochial schools run at a lower cost per student is that they pay their teachers and staff much less than is paid to unionized public school workers. At least that's the case for our daughter, who teaches in the parochial schools in another city.<br /><br />However, there are other differences. I take this from the <a href="http://www.cdeducation.org/dshare/Policies/Policies%20Consecutive%20Series/5000%20series%20policies%20-%20reviewed%208.06.pdf" rel="nofollow">Policies Manual</a> of the Columbus Diocese: <em>"Catholic schools are schools of choice. Any parent who wishes to have a Catholic education for his/her child agrees that the parent and child will abide by the policies and regulations of the school. If the policies and/or regulations are not adhered to, or if the school determines that attendance by a student will not be continued, the child may be asked by the principal and/or pastor at the elementary level and the principal and/or superintendent at the high school level to leave the school."</em><br /><br />The public schools have no such options. They must educate any and all kids who live in the district. For example, we have highly trained special ed teachers who might see only a handful of kids each day. For kids who don't have English fluency, we must provide ELL teachers.<br /><br />There is a dynamic with the parochial schools that we don't have in the public schools: parents have to pull out their checkbooks and pay for tuition. I bet that if the community portion of the funding for our public schools had to be paid by tuition checks rather through property taxes, we might see more interest shown by community members in the governance and operation of their schools.<br /><br />But also note that the policy manuals for Columbus Catholic schools says that the <a href="http://www.cdeducation.org/dshare/Policies/Policies%20Consecutive%20Series/3000%20SERIES%20POLICIES.pdf" rel="nofollow">tuition charged</a> (for elementary students in this case) is only 65% of the full cost for the first child (of a family the pastor certifies is a participating member of a parish), 55% for the second child, and 45% for additional children. Non-Catholic kids, or Catholic kids from families who don't participate in the parish life, pay 100% of the cost. The difference between full tuition and what participating Catholic kids pay is presumably made up via donations and fund-raisers. So if you gauging the full cost of parochial schools on what you pay in tuition, it may be a little misleading.<br /><br />There are no simple answers to this situation. To restore our public school district to a path of fiscal sustainability, everyone is going to need to make a sacrifice.<br /><br />We're not very good at that these days. Everyone wants everything cut except the programs and services partaken of by their own. I think everyone is going to have to feel a little pain this time around.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-47473442524378720532011-01-02T13:52:49.492-05:002011-01-02T13:52:49.492-05:00We moved to Hilliard for the schools and are fortu...We moved to Hilliard for the schools and are fortunate enough to send them instead to a parochial school. After one year at the elementary level, we had enough for many reasons. Why is it that the private schools can run with a per cost student ratio SO very much lower than the public schools? Unions, check. Out of line spending, check. Inability on all levels to control costs, check. And I love that the very things they (threaten to) cut in tough times are what affects the children the most(after school activities and sports). It is disgusting! If you want some good ideas on how to control spending, look to non-public schools and wake up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-6554551798467353152011-01-02T13:52:12.736-05:002011-01-02T13:52:12.736-05:00JTM: Thanks for the comment.
I see it this way: w...JTM: Thanks for the comment.<br /><br />I see it this way: we've been running the district for a number of years with the gas pedal shoved pretty much to the floor. We've let up a little every once in a while, but get back on the gas every time a levy has passed.<br /><br />So now we have to decide whether we're going to let up on the gas and coast a little (from a spending standpoint), or slam on the brakes and put everyone through the windshield.<br /><br />I'm advocating what I've always said - we need to make a painful reduction in the rate of spending growth, and be willing to pay a little more taxes while we're slowing down.<br /><br />To carry on with the analogy, the challenge is bit like when I got caught in a white out on the I-90 near Buffalo one winter. All of a sudden I couldn't see the road (like our current high degree of uncertainty), but I knew that if I slammed on the brakes, there would be some 18-wheeler behind who would run me over.<br /><br />So I slowed down a bit, turned on the flashers, and spent about as much time looking in the rear view mirrors as I did looking for clues as to where the road was leading ahead.<br /><br />We have to remember that a lot of time, money and energy has been put into building this school district, and it doesn't make a lot of sense to me to put it all at risk by just slamming on the brakes. Let's slow down and regroup.<br /><br />PLPaulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-30145330223365263482011-01-02T11:20:11.434-05:002011-01-02T11:20:11.434-05:00Paul - you stated in part... our current level of ...Paul - you stated in part... our current level of spending ($162m/yr), is greater than our current income ($157m/yr).<br /><br />It seem that somebody is living outside their means! That lack of self control and fiscal discipline is just plain irresponsible. <br /><br />And if our non-elected school administrators are being irresponsible with our money, it begs to question what else are they being irresponsible about?JTMartinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17810903181568364440noreply@blogger.com