Decisions, Decisions...

Too bad you weren’t at last Thursdays’ meeting. How do I know you weren’t? No one was. The board discussed changing the meeting times, days, location, even the newspaper that the district uses for public business. Yes you heard me right. The Falls News has apparently ticked off a few members. The timing is uncanny. Last month when the Falls News was chastising me, no one breathed a word of change. Now that last weeks paper printed details of my complaint to Marc Danns office, they must suffer. When I questioned our superintendent about this new development I was surprised to hear the following: The board president said he wasn’t pleased with them because he doesn’t have time to check his Email, therefore he cannot make a timely statement and get his side of the story in the paper. Yet last month and last week there were plenty of statements from him. Another member stated she wasn’t happy with some recent editorials…??? I haven’t seen an editorial from the Falls News in years that has moved my emotions in any way shape or form. Maybe it’s a journalist thing. Either way I fail to see how thier editorials affect our districts using them for publishing purposes. From what the board was told they are the cheapest, most reliable, effective way to go. Let’s compare: The Falls News goes to every resident and business in Cuyahoga Falls- for free no less, costs way less to run public notices, solicit bids for contracts, ads, etc. But the best endorsement? The community survey clearly shows that the Falls News is where our residents get their information about our district. This is one of those issues where you just go DUH! Besides the fact that the Akron paper appears to be on its last legs. I buy it more out of pity than for information.

I buy the Cleveland Plain Dealer for news. You can’t beat the PD for in-depth information articles. Some of the statistical comparisons they have done on educational issues are worthy of a local Pulitzer and are a breath of fresh air. The regular series the run on Ohio’s Sunshine Law and public records information is another example of the forward thinking going on in Cleveland. The more you educate and inform the public, the more open your government entities must be.

Which brings us full circle back to which newspaper to use. The article in last weeks Falls News was a surprise to me. I mentioned my complaint and opinion request to the reporter while talking about GPA requirements two weeks before the article was printed. She used a public record request to gather facts and write the article. In fact the board president appears to be the only person that made a statement to her. I guess what he really meant was he doesn’t have time to check his Email, consult with other members and then make a statement to the Falls News.

One of the reasons stated as to why I was censured was because I violated the Ohio School Board Associations code of ethics. Ethics are a touchy subject with this board. I seem to have a different set of ethics than some of the other members. Mine involve keeping the taxpayers informed of how the district is spending their money in the open meeting. And since we’re busy checking ethics violations, maybe we should check and see how ethical it was of our board president to be writing letters of recommendation for his buddy that applied for, and got, a coveted position in the district. I have a feeling that using your position to secure a guy a job that your wife baby sits for isn’t very ethical. Funny how no one felt a censure necessary in that case.

I know nothing will come of my complaint. It would need to be brought to the Court of Common Pleas by any fine citizen of our community and I just don’t have the time or energy for that.

Let Them Eat Cake

I’m so confused. I can’t figure out if this board wants to parent our children or not. I’m told time and time again that it’s not our job to raise other peoples children. Yet we have now made the decision to go above and beyond state GPA standards for participation on extra curricular activities. It didn’t matter that our administrators ALL recommended against it. It didn’t matter that will affect 17 athletes and about 56 kids involved in other extra curriculars.

But let’s get to some facts:

14 of the 17 districts we compete against in the Northeast Ohio Conference have GPA requirements of 1.5 or below.

All studies by major universities, regardless of biases or reasons for the study came to the same conclusion; Participation in any extra curricular activity, regardless of GPA, made for better college students and successful citizens after graduation. And considering only about 35% of our students as well as students nationwide actually graduate from college, it’s something we really need to think about. Is it really worth alienating 73 students from activities that lead to better people in the long run?

Children involved in extra curricular activities have lower instances of teen pregnancy, drug use, criminal behaviors and is directly correlated with lower drop out rates.

My favorite fact is this: 95% of Fortune 500 company executives participated in extra curricular activities yet only 47% of the same group were National Honor Society members.

I guess I have to be the realist in this situation. I have never been one to mince words. I was questioned whether or not I believed that all children should be capable of maintaining a C average. No I don’t. I can be selfish and say to myself, yes my children are capable of maintaining a C average therefore everyones child should be! But I know that the 4 kids that lived in the meth house over on 14th street probably had difficulties maintaining a C average. I saw on a list with my own eyes a girl that I know is a vibrant productive member of society, that lost her mom a few years ago and having a hard time maintaining a D average. I also know that there are kids that will excel in areas that do not involve academics, yet still become successful, productive members of society. This policy doesn’t appear to help anyone and it seems to hinder those who might need after school activities the most. I guess since life is so good in the village they must need a reminder of what life is like for many kids over here.

Speaking of the list, I was given the list of affected students at the start of the meeting I was expected to vote on it. Once again a board majority with an agenda railroaded an idea in, despite recommendations against it from district administrators, parents, and every national statistician I could find. I also heard some complaints from teachers that were miffed that a union leader read letters in support of this issue at the meeting but other members opposing views weren’t heard. But the worst part of the meeting was at the moment I offered a counter proposal. It was so outrageous I received four phone calls about it today. I offered a counter proposal of leaving the GPA requirement at 1.5 but requiring two consecutive semesters rather than the only the prior one, and a no F’s requirement. While I was trying to state the proposal, another member giggled, laughed and pointed. I found her conduct to be rude, childish and unprofessional. I put a lot of time and research into this issue and did not appreciate the disrespectful display. I am truly perplexed by these odd behaviors lately.

In closing I just want to say that three weeks ago I was all for raising the GPA requirement. After much research I have come to the conclusion that we need to focus on the children that aren’t participating at all. These are the kids that end up being the statistics we hate to read about.

From Bad to Worse

What a Thanksgiving! I wake to my name in the paper for being censured at the Tuesday night board meeting by my colleagues. Funny thing is, they made it a last second addendum to the agenda and gave me absolutely no time to prepare a response. Don’t get me wrong, I responded. But I plan on responding further.

About two months ago an executive session was held in the high school library after a public meeting. Items were discussed that concerned me as being outside the scope of what should be talked about behind closed doors. You see the law has set in place specific items that your board may discuss in private. At the next meeting during an executive session I brought this up to the board attorney with the full board present. His advice was this: You probably shouldn’t have done it and don’t do it again. I asked how we could remedy the situation and was scoffed at by the board. I then called the Ohio School Board Association for advice. Their legal counsel suggested that a complaint could be filed with Marc Dann’s office. “But” I was cautioned, “do you really want to embarrass the board like that?”

Then we held a public meeting in Columbus of all places. It was all open and the item was briefly discussed. Curious? Request the minutes. Although I bet you’ll find them scantily clad.

My reasons for being concerned about this item vary. First of all, I find it strangely coincidental that two months before an election this expensive project was discussed in private. Secondly, I think the board attorney should “probably” have been a little more precise with his answer. I think the “don’t do it again” says it all.

Despite the warning of the Ohio School Board Association, I have decided to file the complaint. Yes, I know it appears retaliatory. But the censure of myself and this issue are both tied to the same problem. Items discussed in executive session. What is confidential and what does the public have the right to know? I think my colleagues sometimes forget it is the tax payers money we are talking about. My money. Your money. I anxiously await Marc Dann’s opinion.

A rebel without a clue...Hah!

If you saw Friday’s Beacon, don’t fret! I am not in violation of anything. While the article gave the impression that I did something wrong, I assure you I didn’t. Well, unless you consider informing the public wrong. The reporter left the story in the board room and printed the opinions of my fellow board members. Then to add insult to injury he printed this statement: Patterson said that all she did was tell a reporter that a contract extension would likely be voted on soon. I didn’t say any such thing. I said a meeting was called by TWO board members and the reporter was notified as the law requires and she was given an agenda with attachments. The attachments are in the blog below. Once the meeting was called the items were given to the media making them an open public record.

It’s reporting like this that leads me to today’s’ Dick Feagler column in the Plain Dealer. He complains that bloggers do not know how to write a story because we aren’t in the trenches like beat reporters are. I admit I have not seen the face of a dead child that appears to be sleeping. Thank God. I don’t need to see it in person to have opinions and feelings about the why and how it happened. Another complaint he makes is that bloggers don’t pull all-nighters with politicians. Maybe it’s just the blogs I read but I see a plethora of functions bloggers attend, then write about. I think what ticks off reporters like Feagler is the fact that bloggers are unrestrained.

Yes you may have the occasional blogger that doesn’t know his or her @$$ from a hole in the ground. But when you find a good reliable blog, you know it. I think Feagler is jealous that bloggers really don’t have a worry in the world when they write. No editors to tell me I’m going to offend people. No finance department complaining that subscriptions are down. Nobody telling me I have to cover this or report on that. No leaning to one side or the other to please the new flavor of the week owner. It’s all me and my blog. I can be serious, I can be funny, I can make fun of people, and I can be sarcastic. I can make up my own words- and I have. I think what really irks him is the fact that I didn’t have to spend thousands of dollars on a college education to do this. And I’m arrogant enough and free enough to dare say that I write better than most, not all but most local reporters. Part of it is because I don’t have the restrictions I talked about above and part of it is because I truly love to do this and see the need.

Back to the Beacon. Just the facts. How you use information has always been a tactic of biased people. Leaving out important facts can be very misleading. For instance, in the example above of a dead child, most people assumed the child met a violent end. What if I were to tell you her heart just stopped? Still a sad story but the facts change your opinions of how and why she died. The beacon left out so many facts in Fridays article that it gives the appearance I did something wrong. I didn’t. And for the record, I spent the beginning of this week pulling all-dayers with our treasurer. She assured me she is not upset about the situation with her contract. I’m sure you wont find that in the Beacon Journal either.

Along with the dirt and the dust, we have a few cockroaches

Wow!! I cannot believe the lengths people will go to keep things under the rug. I had decided not to elaborate on the details of the treasurers contract in my last blog to give the Falls News Press the opportunity to do the right thing and print the details of the contract that was released to them with the agenda for the special meeting. What they actually printed was pitiful. I don’t blame the reporter. I know from my conversations with her that she had intended to inform the public. I’m not sure what happened in between our conversation and the printing of the paper but apparently someone put the pressure on to keep the details to themselves. So basically everyone on the board, and at the offices of the Falls News Press know what’s in the treasurer’s contract and superintendent’s salary increase is but felt it was OK to wait until after the election to fill in the rest of Cuyahoga Falls. Who is involved in the shrouding? My spidey senses tell me it was Phil Keren and Scott Shriner, as these are the two people generally responsible for keeping you uninformed. I guess your only recourse is to call them at 330-688-0088 ext.3110 and ask them what is in the contracts.

Just kidding you can always just click here (superintendent and treasurer) and see them for your self. You see, once these documents were released to the media as an attachment to the agenda for the Monday Oct. 29th meeting, they became part of the public record. My only regret is that I didn’t do this sooner. I foolishly thought our local paper would publish the facts. The facts are this: The board came to a tentative agreement at the Thursday Oct. 25 special board meeting and had already told the Falls News Press that we would be taking action on it that night. Then your board majority decided to let the Oct. 31 deadline pass and make the new contract retroactive and supersede the old new contract. Feeling that our treasurer was worthy of signing before the deadline and knowing that the contract was finished Bob Heath and I called for the Monday Oct. 29th special meeting, attached an agenda with details, filed it with our treasurer, and released it to the media. Unfortunately I did not hand deliver a personal invitation to each and every board member. Therefore, proper notice was not given and the meeting was cancelled. My bad, I admit.

Remember when looking over the contract that our treasurer has been responsible for much of the turn around our district has seen. She has renegotiated contracts with vendors that have saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, she performs the fiscal duties of our district as well as Schnee Learning Center and The Cuyahoga Falls Foundation, she also oversees the 4th largest budget, ranks fourth in years of experience yet is one of the lowest paid treasurers in Summit County. In fact the four treasurers that rank below her on the pay scale have fringe that exceed ours and more than make up for lower compensation. In doing comparisons all treasurers with budgets the size of Cuyahoga Falls earn $90K or more plus fringe and benefits.

Contrary to the claims of one incumbent, the turn around Cuyahoga Falls has seen is due to our treasurers skills and watchful eye on our finances. The Board of Education has not given direction to our administrators for two years. The successes this district can claim are due to employees who, despite their board who can’t even approve a contract on time or set meaningful goals, continue to give our children a quality education and keep our budget in the black.

What's under your rug?

Once again I feel the need to write a disclaimer. The statements in todays blog or any other blog I write for that matter, do not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs of other Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education members or employees of the Cuyahoga Falls City School District. I write this blog to convey my views and concerns to the citizens of Cuyahoga Falls so that they may make an informed decision at the voting booth. I also write to elicit feedback from citizens regarding current issues facing me as a board member.

I don’t know what to do so I’m going to blog about it. Last Friday another board member and I called a special meeting. It was scheduled for Monday night at 6 PM. I attached an agenda to the notification letter that stated the purpose of the meeting. The purpose was to vote on the treasurer’s contract and an addendum to the superintendent’s contract. Two items that would have taken all of five minutes to vote on. Why a special meeting you ask? Well, that was because there is a deadline for the treasurer’s contract. That deadline is October 31. Unfortunately it is also precariously close to Election Day. So even though the board and treasurer came finalized the details last Thursday, in plenty of time to meet the deadline, the board majority has chosen to miss the deadline and put it on the November 20th agenda. It could have been voted on last Thursday. In fact the newspaper was told it would be.

What’s most distressing to me is that the board member that agreed our treasurer was worth signing on time, he didn’t want to sign for a second proper notification. You see the original notice wasn’t hand delivered so the meeting couldn’t take place. Even though the board has held other special meetings without proper notification. But I guess when you can get a majority to show up with or without proper notification it really doesn’t matter. I asked the member to sign a second notification and he said that he would leave it up to the board president. Translation- He’s been talked to. I can hear it now. How dare he try to do the right thing. Don’t you realize people will be voting soon? My goodness it’s amazing how a weekend full of phone calls can change your mind.

I wonder why no one wants to get together and approve these contracts? I heard talk of needing a “clean copy”. That’s odd, the board has approved many contracts previously without a “clean copy” including the teacher’s contract that we still don’t have a copy of. I could be wrong but I am highly suspicious that your board is keeping something under the rug ‘til November 6th is over with.

Speaking of under the rug, there’s one more thing I’m a little unsettled about. Do our employees’ goals really fall under the guidelines of executive sessions? And do costly projects really fall under the category of a goal? Or could your friendly local school board be using new and improved ways to spend your tax money behind closed doors? I bet you’ll find out all about this doozy after November 6th as well.

Some people may question my motives in writing this. I think my motives are pretty darn clear. Election day is November 6th. You can make a difference by making an informed decision. If you like being informed like I describe above and spending like my last blog talked about- vote for it. If you want someone with a strong finance background and common sense- Vote for Molly Benedum!

Thoughts at Election Time

I'd like to preface this blog by stating that the opinions stated here are mine. The numbers and facts I cite in my blogs come from various sources of public record. I do not have time to list my sources in every blog. If you'd like to refute any number I use, feel free. I don't post it unless I'm confident my source is solid. The statements in todays blog or any other blog I write for that matter, do not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs of other Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education members or employees of the Cuyahoga Falls City School District. I write this blog to convey my views and concerns to the citizens of Cuyahoga Falls so that they may make an informed decision at the voting booth. I also write to elicit feedback from citizens regarding current issues facing me as a board member.

I’ve been pondering whether to write this blog. After all, it seems so outrageous that I should even have to. But I am told that the rumor mill has been grinding up some tall tales. I guess election time does that to people. I got a call today from someone who was under the impression that I want to close more school buildings. I thought this issue had been buried a long time ago but it seems that this bit of misinformation is once again making the rounds. First of all, I don’t have the authority to close buildings. Second of all, I have never said I want to close buildings. I have said that I feel this district needs to reconfigure. We have some buildings packed full and others nearly empty. We have an elementary school with more students than the middle school it feeds to. I’ve said it many times and I’ll say it again… I’m tired of some kids in this city getting the short end of the stick while other areas are pampered. I really find it odd that people are talking about me when I’m not even running for office. The caller felt it was a shallow attempt by the candidate to create a diversion from the real issues.

Another point the caller wanted clarified was whether I only support candidates from the City of Cuyahoga Falls. This one is easy. Yes. Silver Lake is overly represented on the Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education. The small village is about ten percent of our population, provides ten percent of our local revenues, and yet controls sixty percent of your board of education. I strongly believe my city needs fair representation on the board. The median income in CF is much lower than SL and I’m not convinced that the candidate from SL understands the financial burden of new levies on us mortals. I’m not sure former administrators do either. That leaves two. You figure it out.

One of them I will mention here. Molly Benedum. Contrary to popular belief, I did not know Molly before the school districts’ financial fiasco of 2005. She contacted me and offered her financial expertise because we shared a common goal. That goal is to see our tax dollars spent wisely and see to it that information is not only available to the average Joe, but that the average Joe can understand it. Only then should you be asked whether you support an issue or not. Molly knows school finance almost as well as our treasurer and I feel would provide a valuable service to the citizens of Cuyahoga Falls.

Don’t forget what your current members up for election have done for the last few years. One was responsible for being asleep at the wheel and letting our finances go to pot and then promising to either “resign after the new members are settled in or finish my term and not run again, depending on how things go.” I guess that was a lie. But alas, society has become used to lying politicians and it hardly fazes us. So let's move on and look at what has been done. Both incumbents have voted to approve the purchase of a 50-year-old money pit of a bus garage still not being used (and needing about another quarter million dollars dumped into the project before it is usable!), encouraged the CEO to explore the drilling of natural gas on school property in the heart of Cuyahoga Falls, but the real kicker was they gave the largest percent increase in salary to the superintendent and treasurer before they were evaluated, before their contracts were negotiated, and without them even asking! They then approved a replacement levy to be placed on the ballot, even as the CAT tax is performing better than expected. In fact it is performing so well that we went from a deficit two years out last October to smooth sailing for the next 5 years. So don’t let them fool you like they tried to do with the friendly caller. Our positive financial future is due to three things: Prudent budgeting by our treasurer, generous payments from taxpayers, and a better than expected CAT payments.

Doing It For The Kids

I know it’s been a while. I wish I had the time to be on the computer as much as some of you can. I haven’t reported on the last few meetings so I guess I should fill you in on some details. Administrative raises were approved. 3% for the next three years. Another $500 in merit pay can be had each year if we meet district wide excellence. The cost is more than worth it if the results are achieved. Unlike some people, I believe in dangling the carrot for results. It’s a tactic that works as long as you’re using a carrot that tempts the subject. For instance, one of my children had a teacher that would allow the student to skip the “main” spelling test if they passed the “pretest” on Wednesday with a 100% score. I never saw that kid practice so hard for a test so he didn’t have to take the test. The goal was accomplished and everyone got something out of it. Merit pay has its benefits. Good teachers aren’t afraid of it. Good negotiating teams are. Oh! That reminds me- you really should check out this web site:

Union Facts.com

I listened to a speaker from this organization a few weeks back and was intrigued. What I find interesting is that the states with the poorest economies have the strongest union holds. Hmmmm….I’m sure that’s just a coincidence. Before you send me hate messages let me give you some background:
My dad was a bona fide UAW officer. I was brought up Union Strong, Union Proud. We had all the medical and dental care a person could want. I didn’t understand that GM was in this business to make a profit. My dad said they owed it to us for his time in the company and quality workmanship and such. I also saw other members of my family work as hard or harder and not get these benefits. Then I had some history classes and I learned that way back in the old days unions were formed to protect workers. People were literally worked to death. They were organizations that fought for rights and protections that are law today. Then I turned 18 and got a job and much to my surprise found out I was part of a union whether I liked it or not. To add insult to injury they took union dues out of my $80 paycheck. But they didn’t even meet with management when the department was eliminated. But let’s get back to the lessons of our fathers. GM realized that they could get non-union workers elsewhere and still pay a decent wage but cut benefits. Why wouldn’t they? The UAW realized if it was going to keep jobs i.e. membership in the United States major concessions would have to be made. Plants closed and new workers started paying for benefits. Then old workers did. Then retired workers started paying. What they realized is free insurance will kill a business. If a for-profit company cannot sustain free insurance benefits how is a school district supposed to? The difference is the school district can’t go to Mexico via NAFTA.

I’ll tell you what bothered me most about negotiations. No one fought for classroom resources, new books, building security, or updated technology. All the things I hear from teachers time and time again that these are the things they want. Nothing “for the kids”. It was all “for the raises and benefits”. Remember this at levy renewal time. I hope they don’t try to guilt trip me with the “do it for the kids” mantra. I just paid $200 for a field trip, $100 in school fees, and a $1000 property tax bill. Not to mention the money I’ve spent on school fundraisers. I don’t dare print that figure here for fear of being cut off from the checking account. I feel like the community has done and is doing its part “for the kids”.



BTW: Just to clarify something for people. A proposed bylaw change failed. Bylaw 0147 will stay as passed in 2002 and revised several times since. It was a nice re-election gesture but so transparent I actually lost respect for the member that proposed it. There are times when this position takes more time than a full time job. $125 per meeting with a maximum of 30 meetings per year. That's $3750 per year. No benefits. No fringe. Heck nobody's even tried to bribe me for a vote! Besides, you can relinquish any part or all of the board compensation if you so choose.

It's a bargain for the taxpayer. A changing of the guard in November could really impact how your tax dollars are spent.

Diatribes of Kellie, Part One

This blog is actually a response I wrote to an article in a magazine I receive- the American School Board Journal. Click on the link below, scroll down to "The Skill Set" and let me know you agree with my response or not.

American School Board Journal

I am writing in response to your Sept. 2007 issues article entitled "The Skill Set". While it may appear that the U.S. is falling behind the rest of the world, the reality is we are still world leaders and continue to turn out the best and the brightest. Global awareness is needed but an accurate picture is also needed. I'm not saying countries such as China and India to use your examples, aren't producing some skilled workers, but...

You cannot say an engineer from China or India has the same qualifications as an American engineer. Some recent recalls from China serve to support my argument. Standards and quality control are NOT a factor in countries where corruption, communist government controls, and a lack of technical aptitude based on life experience is the norm. A graduate from the most prestigious engineering university in China has not seen- let alone used- industry standard testing machines and tools commonly used in small machine shops to billion dollar companies across the U.S. Indian outsourcing allows for minimal training and the ability to copy procedures, but the lack of understanding why certain procedures are followed or particular materials used shows the true lack of education.

Two real life examples, embellished some and of course, names changed to protect the innocent. Both involve tool manufacturing. USA company has invented the GreatTool. USA’s engineers have worked tirelessly on the specifications for GreatTool and it must be made exactly to the specs to work properly. USA company sends the specs to the Chinese manufacturer with strict instructions to make GreatTool exactly to specs. The manufacturer, ChinaCrap Inc. discovers that they do not have the machines to make what USA asked for. But if they put an extra notch in the design they can make it easily and faster than they originally thought! Not only that, the owner of ChinaCrap has discovered that his cousin has cheap steel. So he tells his ChinaCrap engineers that they WILL use the cheap steel. He doesn’t care if USA needs pure steel, this steel is only 38% other metals and it’s his cousins. So China Crap makes it to their new specs. USA company receives large shipment of tools that break and USA company president scratches his head and wonders why this happened when the ChinaCrap engineers said the changes would work. And it was cheaper than the qualified, properly trained, detail oriented Americans would have cost. This example happens in all trades and businesses across the U.S.

The next example involves India. USA company needs sterile computer chips for their new cutting edge digital tire gauge. Same as above- exact specs must be followed. USA sends the specs to the manufacturer in India, IndiaINC. IndiaINC has a great web site but their offices are actually in a corrugated steel shack that cows roam in and out of freely. Most of the “staff” do not own shoes and live in a kind of poverty that Americans couldn’t begin to comprehend. On the way to work they pass signs on buildings that read “DO NOT PASS URINE ON THIS WALL” (by the way, not an embellishment!) in several different languages and Indian dialects. Their cities and country have no infrastructure, let alone plumbing, sewers, and knowledge of common safety practices and hygiene. IndiaINC’s engineers are glad to make the $7500 per year because most of the staff lives in tents and huts. Thank goodness American companies outsource! The owner of IndiaINC has facilities all over the country. He sneds out the specs but with over 800 dialects in India, much of what USA wants gets lost in translation. Not to mention sterile is something very few doctors understand in India, so needless to say IndiaINCs employees have never heard of such a thing and assemble the tire gauge one the back of Bessie with raw human waste running through open trenches from business to business downhill until it reaches the nearest body of moving water. (Again that’s not an embellishment!) When USA company receives their first shipment of tire gauges from IndiaINC, the receptionist, Fannie starts reminiscing about her uncle Lem’s farm and Richard, the obsessive compulsive, Purell toting, clean freak, immediately breaks out an ultra violet light and discovers oodles of germs and contaminants. So many that he dons rubber gloves and drags the shipment outside himself. When the CEO of USA company visits IndiaINC in person he sees the conditions and fondly remembers the company that used to do this work in truly sterile conditions back in Ohio but closed because the jobs dried up. Oh well IndiaINC does it wayyyyy cheaper. I’ll just tell USAs engineers to adjust the specs so that fecal matter is incorporated into the design.

My point is, you can’t pluck people out of third world conditions, communist and easily corrupted environments, stick a degree in a few hundred thousand of their hands with standards far below the civilized world and be expected to taken seriously. In the long run it catches up with you. People are quickly losing trust in “Made in China”. Let’s see, poison pet food, lead paint on kids toys, antifreeze in toothpaste, these are all things that happened because it was cheaper for these American companies to have poorly educated and dare I say- corrupt- Chinese workers make their products.

An engineering degree from China or India doesn’t hold a candle to an engineering degree from an American University. I would bet my last dollar if you were to administer to Chinese students the test to qualify for the Society of Professional Engineers you would see the number of actual qualified Chinese engineers fall drastically.

The innovators of the world are American. The progressives of the world are American. The people who set the standard of quality and workmanship are Americans.
As for U.S. children falling behind the rest of the world in K-12 education… don’t even get me started!

We the Special Interest Groups...

The only thing I have to say is everyone should read the following links. The first link is an article that appeared in Scene Magazine. The second is a link to Ohio Secretary of State's searchable database. You can search a contributor's name or a representative's name or both! The last link is a fun site I found a long time ago that helps people understand where the money is coming from and how it influences your representatives votes. Government really has become "By the Special Interest Money, Of the Special Interest Money, and For the Special Interest Money."

"Education at It's Worst"

Searchable database of Ohio campaign contributions.

OpenSecrets.org

A Fair Contract Indeed!

I couldn’t believe my eyes! Teachers took 2%, 3.5%, and 2.9% raises over the next three years. But realizing that $10 per month toward a premium doesn’t cut it with today’s rising insurance costs, the insurance contribution is now $40, $80, and $100 over the next three years. Still much less than most of us pay, but a positive step in the right direction. The taxpayers will be thrilled! Now maybe the voters will go for that bond issue for new buildings when the tobacco settlement money comes through.

Kudo’s to Rootstowns’ school board and teachers for agreeing to a truly fair and equitable contract. Knowing that this August 85% of school levies failed across Ohio, they did the right thing by trying to cut the cost to the taxpayer. We cannot continue to pay for unsustainable perks and fringe benefits. This contract is something that I think is precedent setting in the state of Ohio.

The contract for Cuyahoga Falls was the best we could get and avoid a strike. While we will receive insurance premium payments in years two and three of our new contract the $120,000 in payments over the next three years doesn’t even begin to offset the added $1.4 million in liability due to an increase in the maximum claim on dental from $1500 to $2500. I personally would have liked to see a percentage put on insurance payments, so if the district sees another large increase like a few years back, everyone will absorb the cost. But although the raises are based on percentages, insurance will remain fixed and extremely low. No step increases in the insurance department either. And rather than an attendance bonus, I would have liked to seen a “didn’t use the insurance bonus” Oh wait- we have that too. The buyout program. But not many people use this option because our district is one of the last men standing that still offers FREE insurance. I’m sure at $10 per month we will still have very few buyouts, as you will not find cheaper insurance anywhere. In fact it has been my experience that the people that take the buyout have a spouse in the education field with the same lucrative benefits. In fact one teacher told me that he left the private sector making a higher salary because nowhere in the private sector could you get benefits totaling 50% of your salary AND summers off. I voted yes on this contract because I was promised that no new general fund levies would be needed for the next two years. The CEO would only promise two years because that’s the cycle of the state budget.

I want to give you an example of what an average teacher in Cuyahoga Falls makes. Please don’t get mad at me as I am just reporting the facts as I see them. I am using a teacher with 10 years experience, a BA+150 hrs. with a base salary of $50,758.

Base Salary $50,758
Medicare $736
Workers Comp $700
Retirement $7,106
Medical $10,676
Prescription $3,918
Dental $1,091
Life $110
Total actual cost of one Cuyahoga Falls average teacher $75,095

This is the amount paid by the taxpayer via the board for one year. This amount does not include the following perks:

First of all what is tenure worth? It most definitely is worth something. After all most of us aren’t guaranteed a job just because we kept our job. So this item does have a value. I’ll leave it to those smarter than me to come up with a dollar amount for this one. So what is the guarantee of knowing you’ll have a job with guaranteed percentage raises including step increases for not leaving your guaranteed job worth? My personal opinion is, knowing you have a job until you retire is almost priceless, worth at least $250,000 over a 30 year continuing contract.

Next up- summers off. This is also worth something. This dollar amount is a little easier to come up with. 15 weeks vacation. Yes, I’m counting Christmas and spring breaks. And I don’t want to hear about the things that need to be done on these breaks because we all have to do things and we don’t get that much time off to do it. Most of us with full time jobs and two weeks of vacation and the 10 common holidays off, work an average of 1,928 hours per year. A full time teacher works 1,314 hours per year. That’s a difference of 614 hours. Using our average teacher salary that means summers off are worth a whopping $23,712.68. WOW! Even more than I had suspected. But this is slightly unfair as it uses an hourly wage as its basis. So I’ll try to be fair and use the logic that ¼ of the year is a vacation (actually 15 weeks, I gave 3 weeks as 12 month worker time off) therefore ¼ of the total board paid amount is what summers are worth. That totals $18,773.

The attendance bonus is worth between $275 and $500. I would have liked to see this item taken out of the contract but it was not to be. Take heart in the fact that now a teacher can only miss three days now to qualify for it rather than the previous contracts eight days. Geez I need a bonus for going to work like I was hired to do. In my opinion this perk encourages people to come to work sick and spread it to our kids and other faculty and send it home to me. For a lousy five hundred bucks.

Let’s get a grand total so I can rest my weary wrists.
$75,095 Taxpayer funded salary and fringe amount.
$??? Tenure = continuing contract = job guarantee
$18,773 Value of summers off
$0 This average teacher missed too many days :o(

$93,868 Total teacher compensation…so far...

Add to this total, your tenure value, plus the value of accumulated sick leave buyouts, early retirement notification bonuses, and the many stipends and extra duty contracts offered.

My total, dividing all other perks with 30 years, is an average $104,000 per year on our current average teachers salary and fringes.

Permission to Blog Freely, Sir?

I don’t usually rehash things but a comment was made on my last blog stating that “it’s a crying shame you’re allowed to have this blog”. Strange considering it came from someone who blogs, none the less the comment was made. So tonight I went to his blog and checked it out. Seems a lot is going on regarding his comment and subsequent comments. I would like to clarify a few comments made about me. First on censorship. There has only been one comment I have ever censored/deleted from my blog and it was the “God hates fags” web link. I refuse to allow something that hateful and wrong to be posted here. Other than that, this blog has had free reign.

Next on my reasons for this blog. People have made a lot of assumptions about me without bothering to click on the Email link and ask me themselves. My reasons for this blog were talked about in the beginning and I am not going to post a refresher course for newbies. Suffice it to say I am secure in my reasoning for this blog. I guess I am to assume that being professional means I should not have an opinion, and if I do have an opinion I should not voice it. I had opinions when I ran for this office. I voiced them during my campaign and I was elected by a majority of votes. So I can only assume that a lot of people liked what I had to say. I wish all board members, city council members, state and federal reps would blog. It would make deciding whom to vote for a heck of a lot easier. Instead of little post card sound bites at election time, you might actually get to know your representatives if they blogged.

What a novel idea! Let people know how you think so they can make an informed decision. Keep people up to date on what their elected officials are going to be voting on. Let people know what is being discussed at meetings. Since another blogger mentioned the gas wells at Bolich and Newberry, I’ll use that as my example. I never claimed I could or did single handedly prevent the gas wells from going in. I have told people from day one that I can't change anthing alone. It is hearing the voice of many, from the public- that's you voters and taxpayers- that can change the minds of administrators and board members. But- I do credit this blog for informing people and getting them involved before a vote was taken. I can assure you that most in the administration and board was in favor of the gas wells before the public forum was held. But thanks to an informed public making an excellent presentation of how much they loved their neighborhood and felt the small dividends were not worth the dangers and looks of ugly wells, the project was dropped. Back in 20 B.B. (Before Blogs) these types of actions were reported on after the fact. Usually as a shocking headline that would have went something like this:

GAS WELLS TO BE INSTALLED NEXT TO SCHOOLS
Neighbors outraged that $1000 per month was worth more than the safety of their children and neighborhood.

The position I hold on the school board did not suddenly put me above others, nor change my views on the changes that need made in education. They are views that I had and expressed before, during and after being elected. I am “allowed to have this blog” because I live in the greatest country in the world. Your biggest fear should be to ever have to live in a society that doesn’t allow these types of liberty’s and freedoms. John J. Chapman said it best: “Attack another’s rights and you destroy your own”. In the communistic view suggested, if I weren’t “allowed to have this blog”, 50% of you wouldn’t be allowed to vote, another 12% of you wouldn’t be allowed to own property or vote, and most of us would be in prison for searching and receiving information over the internet. You don’t have to like this blog, but you do have to like the fact that we’re all allowed to have opinions and voice them if we so choose. I am grateful to those before me who understood how important our freedoms are and were willing to give their life so that we may enjoy them today. It’s that attitude that allows me to have this blog.

Equitable [ek-wi-tuh-buhl] –adjective 1. Just and right; fair; reasonable: equitable treatment of all citizens.

Alert!!

Thursday August 9ths special board meeting is NOT to vote on a negotiated contract. Sorry to burst your bubbles but it will be a quick, boring meeting.

“It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself” Eleanor Roosevelt

I guess it’s time for a new blog. First of all I have been asked several times about the status of the CEO’s evaluation. The Ohio Historical Society has deemed that it cannot be destroyed and it has been made a part of the public record. I am about to explode from keeping mum on negotiations. So I guess I’m just gonna let loose and tip toe around what’s actually going on and just point out a few facts on life. Many statements were read at the board meetings by teachers stating that they wanted what was “fair and equitable” and that’s fine with me. The Beacon Journal did a great article this weekend. Be sure to check it out. Anyway you decide what is fair and equitable.

The average household income in CF is $42,263 annually. Keep in mind that household part!

The average employee in CF works a 12 month year with an average of 2-5 weeks vacation. Sick days and personal days were “use it or lose it”. Some hospital employees could carry over 5 days from year to year.

An average insurance benefit was impossible as it varied so widely. It went anywhere from 10% for government workers to 30-60% for corporate workers to 100% for self employed and small business employees. I also talked to four people that had no insurance because the premium was 100% employee contribution and they couldn’t afford it and buy food, clothing and shelter.

The average doctors visit co-pay is $25.00.

Everyone I talked to that held a professional license paid for their own license renewal and continuing education if required, sans some hospital employees that had c/e paid for. Many people buy supplies they prefer to use rather than use what is provided by their employers.

One person receives an attendance bonus and he works for the government. Big surprise there! Many receive performance bonuses and some receive Christmas bonuses.


No one I talked to had a guaranteed job. All cited job performance, attendance, meeting goals set by the employer, efficient department operations, and customer satisfaction among the reasons for continued employment. No one kept his or her job because of longevity.

When asked if they wanted to pass a new levy every two years in addition to ALL renewal levies and continue to run our district status quo the answer was a resounding NO.

Now, let me share some more facts that may startle you so make sure you are sitting down.

The average teacher salary in CF is $48,000. An average teacher in CF receives $25,000 worth of benefits annually on top of wages. In addition to that many draw extra wages from the taxpayer in the form of stipends and extra duty contracts. That comprises coaching, club leadership, various continuous improvement committees, heck we even pay someone at each building to haul the DVD players from storage to classrooms and back.

One last thing I want to say. Remember the year 2005? Let me give you a refresher course. The district found itself about five million dollars in the hole. We let go of 90 teachers and a couple administrators. We closed two school buildings, and passed a levy that put a strain on many people struggling to get by. Wages and benefits are 85% of our, and most school districts budgets. I can tell you this- the five million dollar deficit didn’t happen solely because of the other 15% of the districts budget.

Fuzzy Math Again?

It’s been a while. I needed a summer break so I took a month off. I guess it’s time to get back into the swing of things. I have many people ask me if the board is off for the summer. No we are not. It is business as usual for the Board of Education. No rest for the wicked, as grandma used to say.
I’ve had a lot of emails and phone calls regarding the high school dance team. It seems a much-loved coach’s job is on the chopping block so a certified employee may take over as per union contract. I only know one thing. There are many girls involved in this “club” and I hope the involvement continues. I can’t speak as to whom is the better candidate as their qualifications are not something I can compare. I thought about requesting they compete in a dance contest but this would probably be deemed unprofessional. So I will use this as a litmus test. Please realize that the board really has no say in the employment procedures. This is a duty assigned to the CEO. We can give input and opinions, but for the most part these things are a done deal before the board knows anything is happening. This has been a successful program for ten years. Built and babied by the same person. I’m always told if it aint broke don’t fix it and it seems to be a good policy to me. So like I said, this year will be a litmus test for me. I hope the district continues to have a successful program.
As usual it gets murkier. We are hiring an interim high school principal. Besides having been my high school principal and partying all weekend together at my high school reunion, he is the father in law of above mentioned 10-year dance team coach. So my vote at the Aug. 1st board meeting should come as no surprise to anyone.
But regardless of the above connections let me tell you why this interim stuff bothers me. I have always wanted people to try to save money. So I made a suggestion. We have an administrator that is retiring effective Dec. 31. We have created a temporary position for this person to fulfill the contract and employ a new guy. The new guy will cost us $75,000 plus the cost of the new position created for the old guy. (Approximately $60,000). My suggestion was to ask the old guy to stay an extra 6 months, eliminating the need for the new guy and the created position. It would cost about $60,000. And give us plenty of time to do one of two things. Either begin a search to fill the old guys position when he finishes the school year, or plan B and my favorite plan by the way: Retool the high school for 3 principals instead of 4. My main argument for this the fact that there are half as many kids there than 20 years ago but the same amount principals and double the administrators overall. That would be a savings of over $125,000 per year!! We could survive with one main principal and two unit principals serving two grades each. One unit gets even year grads and the other gets odd year grads. Woo hoo the money we could save!
But I have a feeling we'll be working on important issues such as if the board should get as raise from $80 per meeting to $125 per meeting. Thats a grand total of $1350 per member at the maximum of 30 meetings per year. So I guess the $6750 the district would save by the board not taking the raise seems substantial to some members but $75,000 and more isn't worth considering. Hmmmmm......

More Survey Results

First off, let me say that I have been trying to get the survey posted on line for several weeks now. Our technology department has assured me that it can be put up lickety split once permission is granted from above. Once again humans are bogging up what technology can do instantly. I hear your pleas to see what it says and I understand. I know your tax money paid for it and you want to see the data. I am doing my best to get it posted on the district web site. If I must resort to scanning it myself and posting it, I will.
But for now I am once again going to give you some highlights from the survey. This time around I’m going to give you the low down on what the low priorities and dissatisfaction with the district numbers are. To make this list, the percentages of the bottom 2 satisfaction/priority section of the survey had to total 25% or more. I know this is a much lower threshold than the previous list but I figure if a quarter of respondents are dissatisfied or think an item is low priority, it’s an area we should look closely at.

Low priorities are:
Air conditioning 39.2%
Building use for community functions 27.3%
Public relations employee 42%
Public relations specialist 51.5%
Bussing for high school students 46.4%
Dissatisfaction areas:
Maintaining small class sizes 32.1%
College entrance guidance 33.3%
Counseling and social services 34.1%
Life skills instruction 31.5%
Parental involvement training 40.4%
Public relations employee 39.5%
Efficiency of bussing 28.5%
Life skills courses 29.7%
Workplace preparation courses 32.7%

Not too bad. Another thing that really stands out to me is how our community seems to be in tune with what is going on inside and outside our school buildings. They really seem to know what it’s going to take to send our kids into the future armed with the necessary tools to succeed. So tell me, what do you think so far?

The Survey SAID...

The results are finally in and now that I’ve had time to go over them I feel safe in saying there was nothing earth shattering in it. But quite a few surprises. Uniform dress being the biggest one for me. 67% somewhat or strongly agree we should consider uniform dress. That doesn’t necessarily mean uniforms. But a strict common dress code such as khaki or navy dungarees (I love that word), a BELT, shorts and skirts to the knee cap, etc…
I know, dream on. But it would solve the over revealing, walk holding your pants up look. But people would actually have to enforce the rules and there is the problem. But I like the idea anyway.
First let’s talk about what items were on the high priority list. To make this list the item had to get 65% or more of the 2 highest priority votes. A simple majority wont make my high priority list!

Keeping the public informed 76.2%
Maintaining small class sizes 68.1%
Safety and security on school grounds 85.6%
Upkeep and maintenance of buildings 71.7%
Career/ vocational education services 76.2%
College entrance guidance 84.4%
Counseling and social services 69.5%
Drug awareness and prevention 72.6%
Academic extra curricular activities 66.6%
Life skills instruction 66.5%
Quality of school libraries 74%
Quality of school lunch programs 65%
Special ed services 70%
Tutoring 69.4%
Safety of neighborhood walkers 81.2%
Safety on the busses 81.3%
Safety at pick up/ drop off 81.2%
College prep courses 89.1%
Computer literacy and technology 88.6%
General life skill courses 69.4%
Language arts 69.6%
Math 92.1%
Science 88.2%
Social studies- history civics government 82.2%
Workplace preparation courses 73%

The “how are we doing” section related to the same items above aren’t as high but I’m working on a simple to read chart to sort that all out. Now lets cover what made the strongly/ somewhat agree list. Same criteria- 65% or over:

CF buildings are safe 79.4%
CF should implement all day kindergarten 66.1%
CF should consider elementary after school programming 70.8%
CF should maintain inside open enrollment 77.9%
CF should consider uniform dress 67%
The quality of CF schools affects property values 90.7%

I’ll do the next blog on the problem areas people perceive and the least preferred/ low priority items. For now let’s focus on what people overwhelmingly want and expect from us. Here’s a few final statistics that scored the highest vote in its respective category excluding the “don’t know”:

34.3% prefer K-5, MS 6-8, HS 9-12 configuration
46.6% have no school aged children in the house
22.9% are between the ages of 40 and 49
28.4% earn between $51,000 and $75,000 annually
57.8% have lived in CF more than 20 years
76.2% say the Falls News Press is their school info source
42.5% prefer a county sales tax as a school-funding source
49.1% say we do not need new school buildings
30.1% say there is a need for district wide reconfiguration
28.8% vote for nearly all school tax issues
79.7% use the Internet at home
57.7% think bussing to state minimum should be first cut made if needed
42.4% think the pay to play fees should remain the same

That’s a lot to digest! I think you’ll find the next results I post as surprising as some of these are.

Self Censoring Sucks

First I just want to say that I was thrilled to see so many people show up for tonights meeting that we had to move it to the library. Although once again I wasn't surprised to see so many people considering we were presented with an informational session regarding health care costs and... THE SURVEY RESULTS ARE IN!! More on that later when I've actually had a chance to study the data.

I don't have much to say because as it turns out, everything I write is an unfair labor practice. So the best I can do for now is say - talk quietly amongst yourselves. Feel free to start a topic or hijack the blog for the next few days with your own agendas. I know there are plenty of them out there.

Change Is A Good Thing?

This weeks meeting was the best ever! We had our very own attendace bonus! I'd like to see that kind of turnout for every important issue we discuss. It was standing room only. Everyone wanted to hear what the Plan for Excellence committee was submitting as their recommendations for next year. I was so happy to see around 75 people show up to see the presentation. It doesn’t surprise me. Transportation, configuration, boundaries, bell times, increasing instruction time, all day kindergarten, hiring a communication specialist, and many, many other important issues were discussed. Much to my surprise the only citizen comment made regarding these recommendations came from a high school student. He made the point that it was stated several times at public dialogues that the high school bell times would remain unchanged. But it turns out the times were changed. Starting next year the recommendations are as follows:

Elementary 8:45- 3:20
Middle School 7:55- 2:50
High School 7:45- 2:40
You think you have middle and high school tardiness and elementary kids arriving way too early now? Just wait ‘til these times kick in! Madam Kellie predicts many high school kids will be hungry and paying the consequences of severe tardy overages. As you can imagine Mr. High School was not happy. He made some excellent points and I hope his input will be considered, as he made some very good points.
I have been waiting for several weeks for the numbers on the amount of district students we bus. I don't have them yet but I suspect we are disrupting the schedules of a large portion of the non bussing populace to make it convenient for about 500 people. One offering of a solution was to add more kids to bussing! It’s like these people have never heard of cutting back! It was readily admitted to me that we could eliminate a few busses if we did zoned neighborhood pickups. Yes that means putting your elementary Johnny on the bus with your middle school Jane. And like I said before and cannot say enough: Your start and end times can be closer, therefore not inconveniencing the much larger majority of driving and working parents.
The communications specialist is another biggy that no one commented on. We have fewer and fewer students each year yet we have new and improved reasons for continuing to add administrators. The job description here can be done on a part time contracted consultant basis. Biggest bonus is… WE WOULDN’T HAVE TO PAY BENEFITS. Benefits are the only area on our district profile report where we are above the state and similar district averages in expenditures. Benefits are going to put us back in the same position we were in two years ago if we are not careful. We faced a 42% increase a few months ago in premiums and administrative costs, but our dear CFO negotiated it down to a mere 28.8%. Now I’m no math whiz but it smells like more money from the taxpayer to me. I’d say we should consider contracting out any services that we possibly can just to avoid paying benefits and fringe.
Of course these are just my sensible opinions. I will fully disclose that I am completely biased because they are after all my opinions. But I have the unique gift of looking at things from all perspectives. If we are “celebrating” neighborhood schools, then start treating them as neighborhood schools. Do we really need to bus kids 8 blocks? I’m sorry but prepare yourselves because I’m gonna say it- We have a lot of little chunky monkeys that need to walk more, not less. I have not received one phone call, E-mail, or letter in support of the changes. The new proposal would put my kids on a bus and save me gas. But the larger portion of our population would be adversely affected by the time changes being considered to accommodate bussing. It’s not worth it financially or aggravationally. Yes I made that word up. I do that sometimes when it is needed. Somebody else made up all the other words we use. Why shouldn’t I get to add one to Websters?

Levies for Dummies

Let’s talk about levies. I never cease to be amazed at the number of people who are clueless about how they work. For those of you who get it, bear with me or skip this blog.

First you need to know a levy can expire or be continuing. A continuing levy never expires. The only way we can stop paying on a continuing levy is to put it back on the ballot for voter removal. I don’t know of any school district willing to do this, so obviously a regular citizen would have to take it upon him or herself to do it. A pretty daunting task for Joe Schmoe. Needless to say it rarely if ever happens. Next we have expiring levies. They are put on the ballot for approval with a set amount of years. Usually 5 years. All CF levies are either continuing (3) or expiring 5 year (3). We also have one, 20-year bond issue passed in 1998 due to expire in 2017.

Now it gets hairy. I am going to use the last new levy CF passed as my example. In May of 2005 the voters of CF passed a 7.9 mill levy. We now find ourselves in May of 2007 and are actually paying 7.3 mills. Huh? See back in 1976 the State of Ohio passed a law that said the dollar amount passed at the time of a school levy will stay that dollar amount. So forget about those confusing mills for a minute. Think of it this way. If a new levy passes today, and because of the value of your home, your actual new tax amount is $250 per year. Next year your home value rises (hopefully) but you still pay $250. After 5 years you are still paying $250 on the levy but your home value, it is assumable has gone up. Now one of many things can happen. There is simple, confusing and confusinger. The district can let the levy expire. Simple. Hah, fat chance! They can ask for a renewal. A renewal will simply keep your rate at that $250 per year. You’re just renewing what you’re already paying. They always back this one up with the familiar “it’s not a new tax” mantra. But really it is a new tax because I voted for a 5 year expiring tax. What they really should say is “we didn’t ask for a large enough or long enough tax last time.” The other common thing districts ask for is a replacement levy. A replacement levy should really be called a restorative levy. Now the amount you pay goes up. The county takes a look at the current value of your house. We already know it has gone up in value over the last 5 years. So now your $250 is $325.

Now I don’t want you to think these are the only things a district can do. There are many variations of the above that can happen that I will cover in “Levies for Dummies part 2”.

A quick myth I want to cover is the renters don’t pay property taxes myth. Surprisingly to me many renters believe this myth as well as the many property owners who tell me to stick it in my ear when I attempt to debunk this one. Renters pay property tax. It’s as simple as that. I will break it down in simplistic terms. Pretend you own your home and three other houses in CF that you rent. A new tax levy has just passed. All four of the homes you own are valued at exactly $100,000. Your new tax amount is $250 per home per year. Now if you are a really nice person with a trust fund from Uncle Bill Gates, you write a check to the county each year and pay all your taxes yourself. But if you are a normal person trying to survive in this world, you are now going to raise the rent in your three rentals. Probably $50 per month per house. Renters usually take a harder hit when a tax levy passe because not many landlords only raise the rent for the amount of the tax. They round up. They didn’t have new math. I know, I rented here for 5 years. If you don’t believe me, ask any of our local landlords. We have plenty from what I’m reading and seeing.

Now I’m going to give you some gobbledygook. But I think these are numbers that are important for you to know. Our district will “earn” almost fourteen and a half million dollars for the January through June 2007 period. This is only from local money. Property taxes. The rest comes from the State and Federal coffers, which is also your hard earned dollars in different tax forms. To give you another example of how millage amounts are actually disappearing revenue for a district we must go back in time. Back in 1976, all CF current continuing levies were combined into one giant 31.8 mill levy. Wow! This amount was the entire local contribution for the next 8 years. But as you know from the example above, the cost of doing business went up yet the money the district collected remained the same. That same 31.8 mill levy is now actually a 7.3 mill levy. What was 100% of our local money 30 years ago is now 21% of our money. Or look at it this way: Imagine trying to live today on the same amount of money you made 30 years ago. That’s what the case would be if we did not have the 6 other levies and a bond issue on our tax bill right now.

I’m not promoting either side. I just think it is important that people understand the entire scope of the problem when voting. My personal feelings are a sales tax or earned income tax would take care of part of the problem. At least then if money were approved by the voters, it could grow with inflation. I know many spending problems exist within the walls of education that need fixing too. But give me a break. One blog at a time!

Board Member 101: Rule #1, Do Not Repeat Mistakes of Former Board

I want to start out with this week’s meeting agenda. First up is a presentation from our Six-District Educational Compact. For those of you not in the know- this is a vocational education sharing program between the Falls, Hudson, Kent, Stow, Tallmadge, and Woodridge. Next is a presentation from the High School Business Department. Last but certainly not least is… Transportation. We will finally get to hear where the wheels on the bus go ‘round and ‘round to.

Now let’s talk about what everybody else is talkin’ ‘bout. Levies and evaluations and bell times and bussing. Ok I can’t really talk about all that on one blog and since I’m not allowed to talk about levies on here we can scratch that one. But it was nice to see the Falls News print a fair and balanced 3 “For” and 3 “Against” letters. Then there was the seventh letter.

The writer feels the evaluation is the boards “latest folly”. He opines that the board has failed “Board Member 101” despite the many training sessions we have attended. He then goes on to point out that the board has only two jobs- to hire and supervise the CEO and CFO and to set policy. He then goes on to say that the board minority, meaning Mrs. Gunter and myself, are somehow to blame for the problems of this board. I must respond to this outrageous claim. I put the two jobs in bold to remind everyone as I write that this is the point I am referring to.

Let’s start with the first part- to hire and supervise. A board hires and then directs its employees. In February of 06, I asked this board to set goals. As a member of the minority I was ignored. Then talks of raise came about and not only I, but also the board attorney expressed concerns that goals had not been established, nor had evaluations been conducted. The board majority ignored these concerns and handed over raises anyway. Is that what the voting taxpayers wanted from their elected officials or is this what the professors of “Board Member 101” expected? We are a board of education expected to give direction and set policy that benefits the voters of this district. The professors of “Board Member 101” are former school administrators who now still earn a living off taxpayer money teaching propaganda to newly elected board members on how to behave in a board room. They say things like “support the decisions of the board”. So if the board decides to jump off a bridge I should follow? With this philosophy I am supposed to say it was OK to be bullied into a new contract and a raise because a majority was willing to give in to threats of leaving for greener pastures?

Now let’s do the next part- to set policy. A board majority also passes policy in our district. So once again meaningful changes cannot happen in this department until our district has a board majority that is setting policy that will make a difference. We have policies coming out the wazoo “against” certain things. Bullying, drugs, weapons, etc. But no clear-cut rules, and more importantly consequences for when these policies are violated. There seems to be rules and exceptions and much is left to the discretion of teachers and principals. I have said many times that we need to have some clear cut guide lines and consequences but the majority representing you and setting policy do not think it is important.

If memory serves me correctly, the letter writer is a former board member whose lessons in “Board Member 101” led us to financial disaster and two neighborhood school closings. Anyone needing a refresher course on “screwed taxpayer 101” see this blog. (Scroll to “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly Truth). He’s right about one thing. The next election will be very important. We need responsible money minded people that understand the impact the districts spending has on the education of kids but the impact our spending has on the taxpayer as well. The one mistake he makes is assuming students are a part of his constituency. Their parents are and they are also taxpayers. I want to give my kids every opportunity the world has to offer. Unfortunately I can’t afford to. I must draw the line and say we only have so much money to fund your activities with. The same mentality should apply to all taxpayer funded agencies. There is not a money tree in my back yard. I cannot endlessly fund you.

We dump more money than ever into public education yet enrollment continues to drop, administrative employees and costs continue to rise, yet not surprisingly to me, graduation and standardized test scores have remained flat for the last 30 years! Yes I said 30 years! The obvious conclusion is throwing money at the problem is not going to solve it. Innovation, dealing with reality, and leading kids into the world with a grip on a profession or vocation as well as the knowledge you need to perform basic daily functions like banking and bill paying and credit sense is a must in today’s world. The middle class jobs of General Motors and Ford are gone along with their benefits and retirement packages. No longer are people doing fairly well with few skills or an 11th grade education.

As for the letter to the editor in Monday’s Beacon Journal, the writer states that is no is no bank account in Columbus with my children’s names on it. I beg to differ. That account follows my family to whatever city I chose to open enroll my children in or move to for that matter. If my local public school is failing, that account can even follow my kids to private school. Districts need to strive to succeed academically and fiscally or watch the flight of desperate parents and their money continue.

Opinions Are Like ....

Everyone is bugging me to write about last Wednesday’s meeting. I had to wait because I would have been too cruel to too many people. I’m sure some of you will find the following cruel anyway. But I assure you it is not as cruel as it would have been had I wrote this blog last Thursday. I am not naturally a politically correct person. Writing without offending someone is virtually impossible. An opinion letter in today’s Beacon Journal (scroll to T minus Imus) from a Falls resident said it beautifully: Don’t say anything, you’ll offend someone, Don’t hear anything, you wont be offended, Close your eyes, you wont see the hypocrisy.

I was shocked at the army of Silver Lake residents in attendance. But the motive became clear a few minutes into the meeting. It’s the start of the campaigning season. A member of the public asked Mrs. Gunter to resign. Before I go into specifics, I want to clarify a few things. I call this person a member of the public because he is not a home owner or renter. In fact he has no idea what it is like to support a family, pay property taxes, city, state and federal income taxes, insurance premiums, etc, etc, etc… He twice ran for school board and lost, is a politician’s dream lackey, and lastly, our superintendent was his high school principal and Mr. Public Member absolutely admittedly worships the ground he walks on. That said he made the following statement, the grammar belongs to the speaker. As usual my comments are in red:

I just have a few comments and questions that I would like to share regarding the Board evaluations of Dr. Holland and the subsequent newspaper articles related to the evaluations. To start I would like to remind this Board that on September 22, of last you year, you voted to give Dr. Holland a four-year Contract extension, some of the reasons that you cited for giving him this contract were things like his outstanding performance as he led the district out of financial disaster, your desire for continuity in the leadership of this district, and Dr. Holland's sincere desire to remain a Black Tiger. (I did none of this and the “desire” was so sincere that our superintendent applied for two jobs subsequent. Do you think that was on the boards’ minds while evaluating?)

Now, almost 6 months removed, we have all this controversy that comes out about individual board member evaluations and whether or not they are fair. So I think that the community deserves some very direct answers from the Board and specifically one board member for his or her evaluation of Dr. Holland. I am only singling out this one board member because (as I prepare to run for school board again and) as I read each of the evaluations and the comments contained in them, this person is the only one who fails to show any hint of objectivity in their evaluation. I am very interested to know what has changed from Sept. 22 of last year when this person sat at that table and excitedly voted yes to renew Dr. Holland's contact and Feb. 13 of this year when this person submitted their evolution of Dr. Holland to the Board's attorney. The public deserves an explanation as to why this board member voted yes to approve a contract worth close to a half a million dollars (because when dealing with a frightened-of-losing-the-superintendent board majority, you agree to vote yes to negotiate the BS out of the contract, my little grass hopper) to a man that he or she has deemed to be grossly inadequate, so inadequate that this Board member rated him as such in 34 of 39 areas of evaluation. (Here are copies of the evaluations for those who are interested) I would also like to know how Dr. Holland, the man that this Board member has deemed to be so inadequate and down right unprofessional has made it through his entire professional career of more than 20 years without having anything less than outstanding evaluation, evaluations that are actually done by qualified professionals. (Oooh, that hurt)

I also question why this Board member at the March 21 Board meeting chose to congratulate Dr. Holland, the man that she deemed to be inadequate and unprofessional a month earlier for not getting the Hudson superintendentcy, ( <--- not a word) a position that would have taken his alleged inadequacy out of Cuyahoga Falls. (What was she supposed to do, say ha ha?) It just doesn't make sense to me. It seams that someone is talking out of both sides of their mouth.

As I conclude, unless there are some very compelling reasons that this person can come up with to explain their actions, it seems to me that they have clearly have lost all objectivity as a Board Member and it has clearly become their goal to slander the superintendent, opening the district to a tremendous amount of legal liability, liability that the taxpayers should not have to assume. (LOL! Opinions on an evaluation do not equal slander! I hope you are not looking to be Public Member, Esq.) In addition, I would say that not only this persons lack of objectivity but their highly unprofessional behavior during board meetings (for instance the time that this person quacked like a duck in lieu of a yes or no vote) (Grrrr ruff ruff) tells me that this person no longer deserves the privilege of holding this office. A privilege that in my opinion, this person has abused time and time again. It is time for this community to step up tell this person and other public officials that this conduct is not okay. With that being said, I want to publicly ask Ms. Barb Gunter to resign. Without objectivity and a clear sense of right and wrong you are of no use to the children and taxpayers of this district. Thank you

First of all I want you to know Mrs. Gunter has no intention of resigning. Talk about losing objectivity! Objectivity was lost on him when he assumed that his opinion of the superintendent should be Mrs. Gunters’. Walk a mile in her orthopedics before you rush to judgement! You have no idea the personal experiences each member has had with the superintendent. I guess you’ll have to wait until she is up for reelection to show her your personal dissatisfaction. The Falls News sums it up best this week in their editorial.

Next up in the firing line was the survey. It seems quite a few residents who couldn’t bother to read about or come to meetings regarding the survey, couldn’t understand why there was so much in the survey and why it was formatted the way it was. I will explain once again why the survey was so daunting for all of you that were perplexed by it. This board agreed that this was a costly undertaking but a very important one. The only way to know what the public wants and expects from us is to ask them. We put each and every piece of information into it that we could think of. The work sessions where input from the public could have been garnered, were posted and advertised! Where were your regiments then? I suspect garden club. If it was too confusing throw it out! But I believe this board did one hell of a job getting all the information we could into this. We were putting a lot of money into it and wanted to get the most out of it. We have 5 members. Everyone wanted to know something different. I wanted to know financial priorities. Another wanted to know how people thought we were presently doing. Another wanted input on reconfiguration. Another thought all of our ideas sounded great and had nothing to add. Get involved next time and maybe you’ll understand it better!

If I Could Save Time In A Bottle....

The times, they are a changin’. No, I’m not talking about the times we live in. I’m talking about school start and stop times. Looks like those rumors of this happening have proved to be true. Funny how you get lambasted for “spreading rumors”, yet time and time again they aren’t really rumors. The proposed time changes are 9AM til 3:30 at the elementary level and 8AM til 3PM at the middle school level.
So far we have had two public meetings regarding the time changes. We used the super-sized Post-It notes that so many meetings have. Silly me assumed that the positives and negatives were being noted. I questioned why the comments were noted as “Strengths” and “Opportunities for improvement”. When I questioned it another board member told me that the facilitator of the meeting doesn’t believe in negatives or weaknesses. Now I’m not of the yarn toed hippy generation so I was a little perplexed by this slant on things. Especially when most of the parent comments seemed to be how these changes would negatively affect them.
A few things concern me. The main negative effect I heard about was drive time to work and explaining to the boss that 9:15 or 9:30 will be the new starting time. I know that is going to go over well. In fact I know an attorney that is going to be thrilled to tell a judge that court can’t start until 10 AM because his paralegal can’t get to court with him until then. And I’m sure the judge wont mind telling the jails to hold the prisoners an extra hour and having the prosecutors office change their hours as well. And what about doctors offices and the post office and every other business and governmental entity.
“Get morning childcare in addition to after school care” they said. Yeah, that’s a walk in the park. I just lovvvve having other peoples kids at my house in the morning. It makes getting my kids ready for school so much easier. Oh yes, there are people you can pay. That’s an extra $25- $50 per week. More than the cost of a levy!! And I can tell you right now that this school district cannot be involved in setting up morning parent provider networks as suggested. I don’t know many people that will leave their kids with just anyone, but I assure you that this district cannot shoulder the liability. Please don’t try to convince me that someone wouldn’t sue us if a morning provider turned out to be a bad person. I don’t even want to touch morning parent providers with someone else’s ten-foot pole.
Another negative was the 1-hour difference in start times between elementary and middle school. This means middle schoolers who might typically help with getting younger siblings off to school when mom and dad leave for work would now have to leave with mom and dad, leaving little Sally to watch out for herself.
“But this will make it easier on bussing:” they said. But an excellent counter point was made when a gentleman asked, “what percentage of our students are bussed? Are we inconveniencing 90% of parents for a mere 10% that are bussed?” Oddly enough it was a question that for the first time in administrative history no one had an answer to. Apparently once again, no one thought about what segment of the community would be most affected by this. When we closed Sill and Newberry, it was sacrificing the few for the greater good. Now the sentiment seems to be let’s turn an entire cities schedule upside down for the few that are bussed.
“Well… actually we are doing it to improve academics” they said. This proposal adds 15 minutes to the elementary day and 20 minutes to the middle school day. OK. I can go for that. But how about leaving the middle school proposal as is and starting elementary at 8:30 AM or the current 8:45 and dismissing at 3:15 or 3:30? Parents have expressed to me that the earlier drop off time is crucial to them. After school care is much easier to come by. But then another voice piped up and stated that middle schoolers need more sleep, not less, to excel academically. So I say how ‘bout middle school from 8:30 to 3:30, elementary from 8:45 to 3:15, and use neighborhood bussing where middle schoolers and elementary kids ride together.
“Oooooh scary” they said. Children do it across the US and the rest of the world for that matter. Kids ride with their siblings. My cousins do it and much to everyone's amazement- live through it every day. There are even districts that add high schoolers to the mix! Oh and guess what there is a bonus! You fill each and every non special education bus up with kids. No more running big giant busses with 2 – 10 kids on it. You assign each bus to its capacity. Then the 15 minutes between elementary and middle school start and end times works for bussing, but more importantly works for parents who drop off and pick up as well. I also feel it is the most cost efficient way to bus. If you add to it designated stops rather that curbside pick up you save even more! I guess if everyone is on this school board to push an agenda, I might as well push one too. Mine is the taxpayer-stake holder-funder agenda. I push the agenda of that very important majority. And that majority seems to conflict with the Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education majority most of the time. Where is the fiscal prudence that was promised? I think it got lost in the agenda schematics.
Is this a done deal? Don’t ask me. I’m always the last to know. Besides I’m the same person who was told that “Newberry wasn’t closing” and “rumors get started over the dumbest things” Only to have someone show up at Newberry the next day and announce it was closing. I was also given false information regarding building student populations that were slanted to under populate Newberry and Sill. Am I leery, distrustful, and cautious? You better believe it. I have no reason to feel otherwise.

These Rules Are Made for Breakin'

This dictatorship by our board president and his minions has reached new levels. Let me ask you all a question. Do you have the authority to refuse an evaluation from your boss? Do you get to decide whether it is fair or not?
In February the board president handed the board an evaluation form and instructed us to evaluate the superintendent individually. We were to turn them in to the board attorney by the 14th of February, said attorney would tabulate the scores and present the board with a composite evaluation composing of the five scores averaged into one with comments from members included. The superintendent was to receive his evaluation from the board president by March 1st.
We followed all the set rules and received back a composite score evaluation. I was then told that certain board members didn’t think this was a true reflection of our CEO. It wasn’t fair they said. They proposed that we give our evaluations individually. They refused to sign the composite evaluation. This was at the March 7th meeting. Our board president had already let the deadline slip by! I shouldn’t have been surprised yet I was. At this point the CEO also declined to accept the evaluation. For the first time in my entire life I was speechless.
Now I didn’t necessarily like other members’ comments or scores myself but this wasn’t my evaluation, it was the boards. So I was willing to accept that. But I am not willing to change the rules after the game has begun. That’s what they want to do.
The board agreed on a procedure and I followed it. I can’t help it some members did not like the outcome. But since it was obvious the board was going to remain dead locked forever regarding this issue I offered a compromise. I moved to have the board president explain to the media why there was no evaluation given to the CEO this year and have the completed evaluations destroyed. The motion passed 4-0 with 1 member abstaining.
Then this Monday morning our board president released the evaluations to the Falls News with the following statement, my comments are in red:

Press Statement: April 9, 2007
At the April 4, 2007 meeting of the Cuyahoga Falls City School District’s Board of Education, the Board passed a resolution directing the Board president to provide the public, through the media, an explanation as to why there has been no written evaluation of Superintendent Dr. Edwin Holland for the 2006-2007 contract year, and to dispose of (actually it was “destroy”) all evaluation forms.In an effort to produce a written Board evaluation document, each Board member had submitted individual evaluation forms to the Board’s legal counsel in February. The individual evaluations were compiled by the Board’s legal counsel who issued two written drafts of a composite evaluation. (Actually he submitted one written draft as was expected. The second draft with the individual scores arrived days later after a board member requested it that way).Several of the board members stated that the draft composite evaluation was not an accurate representation of the majority opinion (? Board majority was not in the instructions!) and therefore a consensus on the draft composite evaluation could not be reached. No written evaluation was finalized or signed by the Board of Education or the superintendent. (It was finalized when it was returned as a composite from the attorney, I’ve found nothing that says a signature is needed.)Although a written evaluation for the superintendent was not approved for the 2006–2007 school year, Board members provided Dr. Holland with a verbal evaluation (I must have missed that portion of the meeting) regarding his job performance. Several Board members indicated that he is meeting or exceeding expectations, and this was reflected in the majority of individual evaluation forms. Pursuant to the Board resolution of April 4th, these forms will be submitted to the district records commission in accordance with law. (Why bother now?)The Board is working in conjunction with the superintendent to establish goals for the 2007-2008 school year. (Well, we voted to anyway) The evaluation process for the upcoming school year will in part be based on these goals.

Suddenly the phrase “board majority” has entered the picture. Never before in the history of our school district has a superintendent been evaluated by a majority vote. This evaluation wasn’t supposed to reflect the positions of the majority. In fact it was the board majorities idea to do this evaluation in the manner and format that it was. If it had been agreed upon from the beginning to evaluate based on the board majority, I wouldn’t have wasted my time filling out the form. I could have predicted this outcome. But our board president told me that we were to fill out the forms and get them to the attorney so he could average our collective scores and comments. I did that. Now that the majority of the board has voted to destroy the completed evaluations, then released them to the media, I’m not sure I can enter into an agreement with these people in the future. Twice now regarding this evaluation they have reneged on their own decisions. And I guess my attorney client privilege only applies to levy memos, not documents that are sent to the attorney sealed and meant for his eyes only, as these individual evaluations were.
This board member was betrayed, bullied and violated. I do not know how to work with people I cannot trust, even when a vote is taken.

Woo Hoo! Surveys Hot Off the Press!

Who would’ve thought that a survey could cause so much controversy? To the nice lady in Silver Lake that is concerned I might cry foul if the results aren’t to my liking, fear not! I am not ashamed of myself and I hereby promise to accept results of said survey as they come in whether I like it or not. You see, my intent is not to verify any preconceptions. My intent is to find out what this district needs, wants, and is willing to pay for. I do not fear the results as some people seem to. I embrace the opportunity to make changes according to what the funders want. Now I’m not a member of the Gallop Poll board as the letter writer claims to be but I am a member of society. I have a stake in this district and a right to be heard.
Now let’s talk about the cost and my seemingly thrifty ways. I’m not against spending money. We obviously have to spend money to operate. But there is spending and there is waste. Money spent on a survey that can garner input better than any committee or public forum ever could is money well spent. Money spent on consultants to reorganize administrative offices is waste. If you don’t like where you sit, drag your desk down the hall. I guarantee this survey costs less than the money the district has paid to the “Plan for Excellence” facilitator.
I wasn’t going to brag about this but under the circumstances I feel I must do something to justify my asking for more money for this survey. I recently placed three district surplus items on E-bay. I put together the ads and listed them out of the kindness of my heart and brought in over $18,000.00. Not bad for a couple hours work. I think this amount more than covers the added cost of the surveys.
I must tell you the hell I was put through to get a letter to the editor put in the Falls News. Let me explain something to you. Therese Dunphy sent a letter to the Falls News stating that the district had decreased expenditures by 12.2 million dollars from fiscal years 05 to 06. What she failed to mention was from FY 04 to 05 there was an unusual one time increase of expenditures of over 12 million dollars. There was never a decrease in expenditures. There was an increase in expenditures in 05, then back to normal spending levels in 06. Funny thing is, everyone involved was real reluctant to set the record straight. It has taken almost a month to get my letter printed. Why would a paper print something so misleading and then make me present exhibits with witnesses to state the facts? It’s as if they didn’t care that people were fed a line of crap from an elected official.