What's John Kasich hiding?

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It's being widely reported that Governor Kasich and his legal team are refusing to fulfill a public information request made by legislators.

State Reps. Debbie Phillips, D-Athens, and Matt Lundy, D-Elyria, said yesterday that they are considering legal action after being rebuffed in a public-records request, filed April 6, for 17 items of information related to education funding.

Kimberly Kutschbach, Kasich's assistant chief legal counsel, said Monday in a letter responding to the Democrats' query that the governor's office "does not have any public records responsive to your requests" for 16 of the 17 items.

This is becoming a commonplace response from the Governor. We have heard from many sources that their requests receive the same response. We too received a similar response recently

Your request for emails, spreadsheets, memos, documents from "said" employees is vague and overbroad. Therefore, it is denied.
However, you are welcome to amend your request so that it is more specific.
Thank you,

Lisa Iannotta
Chief Legal Counsel
Department of Administrative Services
30 E. Broad Street, 40th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
(614) 728-3475 Direct Dial

We had simply asked for "a list of employees who provided the analysis and generated this report, a copy of all emails, spreadsheets, memos, and documents from said employees regarding this report. Thanks" in reference to the DAS SB5 savings report.

What information is the Kasich administration now saying it doesn't have?

Among the items Kasich's lawyer said the administration didn't have: research that shows Kasich's new school-funding formula will improve student achievement; a copy of the formula itself; a list of charter schools in academic emergency or watch; and projections of cost-savings from eliminating the "last-in, first-out" rules for educators.

A request for communications to and from the Fordham Foundation, a pro-school choice think tank, was deemed too broad to fulfil.

What is more troubling? That they claim not to have this information in order to obfuscate legitimate requests, or that it genuinely doesn't exist?

If it is indeed the latter, it's an admission that they intend to blow up public education in Ohio and have done no research or analysis as to the effects, nor what they are planning to replace it with.

Has there ever been a more reckless budget?

This week in education cuts

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Top 3 Today

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Your top 3 news stories today

  1. NEW STUDY: RECKLESS BUDGET COSTING 29,000 K-12 JOBS
    29,133 jobs directly at risk
  2. Two House Dems threaten legal action after funding-info request is rebuffed
    More on this tomorrow. Stay tuned!
  3. Monday, Apr. 25 SB 5 referendum petition signing!
    The workers strike back!

School district field-tests 52 (yes, 52) new tests on kids

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To see where public education is being driven, let’s look at a school district in North Carolina where students in every grade were used as guinea pigs this spring to help field-test a total of 52 -- yes, 52 -- new standardized tests this spring, kindergarteners included.

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New Study: reckless budget costing 29,000 K-12 jobs

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Policy Matters Ohio have just released a report: Economic impact of education cuts in the Kasich budget proposal: An input­output analysis

The $2 billion in cuts to Ohio’s primary, secondary and higher education proposed in House Bill 153, the biennial budget bill for fiscal years 2012-13, may be expected to eliminate 47,291 jobs across the public and private sector as the economic impact sweeps through suppliers and local busines

ses. Policy Matters Ohio commissioned a study of the direct, indirect and induced impact of the cuts to education that are proposed in Ohio’s biennial budget for fiscal years 2012 and 2013. Public schools are labor intensive, so spending cuts go directly to payroll. The proposed cut of $1.821 billion to primary and secondary education (as compared to funding levels of 2011) will result in the loss of 29,133 direct jobs. As schools cut purchases from suppliers, another 1,835 jobs will be lost. As laid-off workers spend less on household purchases, 12,387 more jobs will vanish from grocery stores, day care centers and restaurants. In total, the economic impact of the proposed spending cuts to K-12 education will destroy 43,355 jobs. This is in addition to drastic quality reductions to one of the most critical services society provides for the next generation.

Economic impact of education cuts in the Kasich budget proposal: An input­output analysis

Does Class Size Really Matter?

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If you’re a good teacher, the number of students in your class shouldn’t be a factor – at least according to a growing chorus of self-styled education reformers. In a recent speech to the National Governor’s Association, Bill Gates said the nation could improve education – even in an era of extreme budget cuts – by lifting caps on class sizes, by identifying a school’s top teachers, asking them to take on more students, and then paying them more to do so.

But more than 30 years of research shows that smaller class sizes are better – including a study that was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

[readon2 url="http://neatoday.org/2011/04/20/does-class-size-really-matter/"]Continue reading...[/readon2]