tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post5506646921596072474..comments2023-06-24T10:52:34.846-04:00Comments on EducateHilliard.com: Ignore FrictionPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-79955102026239743122008-07-01T19:52:00.000-04:002008-07-01T19:52:00.000-04:00Paul, in response to your revenue/expense idea com...Paul, in response to your revenue/expense idea comment<BR/><BR/>1. We need to elect to the board <BR/>and to our city council, eventually the mayoral post, regular everyday people making just a average wage with little insider connections.<BR/>Unfortunatly this takes money to get elected. We have too much hand holding, explaining away,and a loyal inner circle who will just make the regular taxpayer pay more and more. Vote for no incumbents if necessary<BR/>2. Economic uncertainity will be with us for at least the next two years and perhaps beyond with the<BR/>energy issue. It fuels (sorry bad joke) increases in our everyday lives. We need compensation adjustments in th education system<BR/>3. Every school system needs to go on a diet and exercise program meaning cost control (diet) and communication and respect to the electorate (exercise)<BR/>4. The first question any office holder should hear is, are you going to vote no on any more unfunded school mandates for the next 10 years. If they wont commit<BR/>tell them to take themselves off the ballot, and be rude if necessary and tell them you will recall them if they dont !<BR/>5. Compensation increases including the dreaded step should be limited<BR/>to 2.5% increases max.for the next <BR/>5 years or until we get a better method. You will hear we will lose the best, garbage ! Private sector deals with it everyday, and ALL<BR/>district employees should perform<BR/>not just be protected.<BR/>6.Administration reduced by 15%tommorrow<BR/>7. Start a Hilliard Taxpayer PAC<BR/>of independent everyday people<BR/>Question every expenditure. It is the peoples money at township, <BR/>city and school levels.<BR/>8 Get a new Supt. of schools<BR/>9.Eliminate immediatly all admin.<BR/>who are retired and are double dipping. Give someone else a job !<BR/>10. Zero tolerance for job actions in the school buildings. Parents have the right to ask questions professionally.<BR/><BR/>I have about 60 more but wontbore anyone anymore. The alternative is to maintain the status quo, give out unrealistic compensation and<BR/>let the HEA run the school district<BR/>We need to pass about 4.5 mills and make budget cuts. Reopen the <BR/>HEA agreement, if they go on strike so be it, and hire new staff.<BR/>NOt easy, but who is in charge?<BR/>I am not one to enjoy paying 10 mill increases every 3 years to<BR/>fatten the "for the kids" group wallets any longer<BR/> It is not for the kids when you threaten their programs, but give out raises that are out of step<BR/>(sorry should have not used the word step )Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-25540444221317760792008-06-29T19:48:00.000-04:002008-06-29T19:48:00.000-04:00All good points. ThanksAll good points. ThanksPaulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-62305122707011469352008-06-28T11:45:00.000-04:002008-06-28T11:45:00.000-04:00Paul, your agenda would not address the big pictur...Paul, your agenda would not address the big picture. I doubt enough would be raised in impact fees to make a difference. <BR/><BR/>What needs to be changed is the paradigm for teaching in Ohio. It would be difficult to do this in any one school district. We need to treat teachers as professionals, not as assembly line workers with a blue collar contract. We need to expect a certain amount of professionalism and for them to take responsibility for their own collaboration time and professional development. We need to be able to pay market rates for white collar professionals. We need merit pay and the ability to get rid of bad teachers. Ultimately, we need to consolidate school districts to get the economy of scale. We need inflationary increases, not 3x inflationary increases. We need to move towards private sector benefits. We need to get rid of severance, separation and other types of expense that people won't see in the newspaper reports. We also have to keep our side of treating teachers as professionals. We need to eliminate duty periods, we need to allow collobation during the day rather than watching the lunch room. <BR/><BR/>Eventually, as more and more districts respond to status quo levy requests with no votes, the state will step in and mandate reform. A no vote in Hilliard, Columbus, New Albany and so forth gets us to that day a little sooner.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-51623699150713065752008-06-27T22:32:00.000-04:002008-06-27T22:32:00.000-04:00Valid points, but the value of the public educatio...Valid points, but the value of the public education is to get the people motivated and engaged in solutions. <BR/><BR/>Just voting NO doesn't help. Vote NO if you wish, but do so prepared to offer a reasonable, implementable, alternative approach.<BR/><BR/>Here's <A HREF="http://www.savehilliardschools.org/MyAgenda.htm" REL="nofollow">my agenda</A>, published a year ago. I'm working on ideas relative to the spending side - which will necessarily be about personnel costs - and hope to publish soon.<BR/><BR/>Your ideas on this topic would be much appreciated.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-55751558732245236712008-06-27T16:38:00.000-04:002008-06-27T16:38:00.000-04:00At the risk of redundancy, we do not have a school...At the risk of redundancy, we do not have a school funding problem in Ohio, we have an expense problem. It doesn't matter how you tax or what you tax, the incomes in the state cannot keep up with school district expenses in the state. There is a systemic problem that must be addressed. We can no longer afford the retirement programs, health care, sick leave and so on.<BR/><BR/>Training the public in school finance is a worthy goal, but I can be as educated as the treasurer and still be unable to afford additional taxes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-73576883098709142412008-06-27T07:09:00.000-04:002008-06-27T07:09:00.000-04:00No, but they (the administrators that is) are educ...No, but they (the administrators that is) are educators and should understand how to develop a training class by drawing on financial experts.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-69387158830616973312008-06-27T01:12:00.000-04:002008-06-27T01:12:00.000-04:00I've never understood why our school leadership - ...<I>I've never understood why our school leadership - leaders of an organization whose mission and expertise is teaching - turns over the crucial task of educating the community about school funding to a citizen's committee who are neither financial experts nor educators.</I><BR/><BR/>Are there financial experts in our school leadership? I've seen no evidence of this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-11437091972323571122008-06-26T16:57:00.000-04:002008-06-26T16:57:00.000-04:00Thanks for the correction!"the Principal is my pal...Thanks for the correction!<BR/><BR/>"the Princi<EM>pal</EM> is my <EM>pal</EM>"Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05960574627644930183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4289345346387194350.post-88710856065645228652008-06-26T15:51:00.000-04:002008-06-26T15:51:00.000-04:00Good points, Paul.I hate to be nit-picking, but I ...Good points, Paul.<BR/><BR/>I hate to be nit-picking, but I think you mean "principles" instead of "principals". :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com