Swing state education survey

Some poll results were released recently that delved into the minds of voters in swing states, and their attitudes towards various education topics. There was a lot of positive views expressed, that perhaps run counter to many of the news stories one reads in the local papers.

Here's some select findings

• Education is a top tier issues. 67% say education will be extremely important to them personally in this year’s elections for president and Congress.
• Education is a major economic issue. 34% of voters select “improving education at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels” as one of the top two priorities for getting America’s economy back on track, which ranks in the top tier with “reducing our dependence on foreign oil” (39%) and “reducing the federal budget deficit” (32%). These goals rank as higher priorities than reducing taxes and regulations on business, addressing trade issues, or modernizing transportation infrastructure.
• In light of the previous topic, law makers should note that 78% of voters say that increased funding for education is necessary, including 44% who say it is definitely necessary. Just 21% say it is not necessary.
• 55% say they would be willing to pay $200 more per year in taxes to provide increased education funding
• A note to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, at least half of voters feel it is extremely important to make sure schools continue to provide arts, music, and physical education classes for all students (59% extremely important)
• And a note to the union bashers. When asked which one or two of seven groups have the greatest responsibility for improving education, slightly more than half (52%) of voters hold parents of students most accountable. This notably surpasses the proportion who place responsibility on the shoulders of teachers (31%), elected officials (26%), and society in general (22%). School administrators (15%), students (13%), and teachers unions (5%) are cited least often.
• 90% of voters feel it is extremely (69%) or fairly (21%) important for their governor and state legislature to address the issue of education as a matter of state policy.
• 44% of voters say that the Democratic Party reflects their priorities on the issue of education very or fairly well, while 31% feel the same way about the Republican Party. Among the crucial bloc of independent voters, 40% feel that the Democratic Party reflects their priorities, while 26% feel that way about the Republican Party.

You can read the entire survey below.

College Board Education Survey Key Findings

Education News for 04-11-2012

Statewide Education News

• Schools expected to receive portion of casino taxes (Newark Advocate)

Licking County schools could receive $2.6 million in casino money in 2014, but treasurers are hesitant to count on it. The money -- which ranges from $129,000 for Northridge to $663,000 for Newark -- is based on estimated casino tax revenue and current enrollment of the districts. "We've not planned for it yet," said Heath Treasurer Brad Hall, whose district could see $170,000 in revenue. "It's not like you don't think about it." Read More…

• State Board of Education urges collaboration, but stops short of endorsing Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's school plan (Plain Dealer)

A divided state Board of Education on Tuesday rejected Gov. John Kasich's request to endorse Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's school reform plan. Instead, the board united around a watered-down resolution urging a collaborative process for reforming the schools. Read More…

• Drop in public preschoolers in Ohio is biggest in nation (Dispatch)

Ohio had about 18,000 fewer 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in high-quality public preschools last school year than a decade ago, the biggest decline of any state with public programs. And although the state didn’t lose ground in preschool enrollment between 2010 and 2011, enrollment didn’t grow, either, according to a report released yesterday. Read More…

• Ohio worst in nationwide preschool study (Dayton Daily News)

A new study of state-funded preschool education, based on state policy, ranked Ohio last out of 39 states evaluated. According to a study released Tuesday by the nonpartisan National Institute for Early Education Research, Ohio met the fewest benchmarks for quality preschool standards of any state offering state-funded preschool last year. Read More…

• ‘Friends’ & teachers? (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

When Facebook and other social networking sites first took off several years ago, local educators said drafting policies to govern how teachers and other school staff used the forums wasn't a top priority. "But times have changed and Facebook in particular has become bigger as more and more people use it," said Richard Buchenic, Hubbard Local Schools superintendent. "It needs to at least be discussed and given a closer look." Read More…

Local Issues

• Euclid, South Euclid-Lyndhurst school districts eye new learning methods (News Herald)

Euclid City Schools and the South Euclid-Lyndhurst School District have partnered in an effort to earn each district $130,000 in grant money to fund a blended learning program next year. Schools will choose a particular model of blended learning from six options. One school will be awarded for each model, meaning six districts out of 92 that applied for the grant will receive it, Euclid Curriculum Director Ted Lisiak said. Read More…

• National union: CPS exaggerated teacher cuts (Enquirer)

One of the nation’s largest teachers unions, the American Federation of Teachers, says Cincinnati Public Schools over-projected its expenses and doesn’t need to cut up to 225 teaching jobs as planned next week. The AFT reviewed Cincinnati Public’s budget forecast at the request of the local teachers’ union president, Julie Sellers. The AFT represents 1.5 million teachers nationwide and routinely does such analysis for its affiliates, including the 2,500-member Cincinnati Federation of Teachers. Read More…

The real story in Cleveland

Taken directly from Mayor Frank Jackson's "Cleveland Plan" document

The Plan: This is a bold, child‐focused plan prepared to address chronic and structural challenges – both academic and financial ‐ for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. It is designed with one over‐arching mission: Do what is best for Cleveland’s children. At the same time, it will help improve the future and vitality of the City.

Goal: Create educational excellence for every child in Cleveland. Within six years after implementation, The Plan is anticipated to triple the number of Cleveland students enrolled in high‐performing district and charter schools.

Worthy goals to coalesce behind, most people would agree. But how do those goals square with the Mayor's actual plans?

The Cleveland school district plans to cut about 600 teachers from its payroll by fall to trim a budget deficit, leading to shortened school days and cuts in music, art and gym classes.
[...]
The plan calls for school days for kindergarten through eighth grade to be shortened by 50 minutes, that time being shaved from art, music, gym and media classes.
[...]
The shorter day contradicts Gordon's long-term goal of having longer days or longer school years in some schools.

It doesn't just contradict plans for a longer school day, it contradicts the entire plan to provide "educational excellence for every child in Cleveland". How does one do that by cutting music, art, gym?

We can begin to see the real purpose behind the "Cleveland plan", one which the Mayor let slip in front of City Council

"...this is about whether or not we can pass a levy in November and to be perfectly honest with you I don't know if any of you would support a levy with the same old stuff you're not going to do it and neither would the citizens of the city of Cleveland."

This hasn't been some great secret, but we should stop pretending this is for the students, if it was, collaboration with stakeholders who actually do the educating would have happened from day one. Instead, the Mayor has spent a lot of time obfuscating the real crisis in Cleveland.

The Cleveland Municipal School District currently faces a large deficit of approximately $65 million, according to the Mayor.
[...]
The bulk of the deficit faced by Cleveland public schools is a direct result then, of the draconian budget enacted by columbus politicians and supported by Governor Kasich. Why Mayor Jackson has not called upon the Governor to restore funding to his schools, instead of seeking his help in denying teachers basic collective bargaining rights, remains a deep mystery.

Cleveland has only been able to pass 1 levy in 39 years, and with businesses, alleged by the Governor to be making threats, you can see why the Mayor feels like he had to engage in some old fashioned union busting.

Passing a bipartisan education reform bill is only the beginning of solving Cleveland's crisis.

The Cleveland teachers Union have moved a long way, and presented what should be viewed as an historic compromise, it's now time for Cleveland businesses to step up and support their schools, and for the state to step up and meet its constitutional obligations in helping Cleveland close its budget gap that the state helped create.

Maybe then we can really begin to talk about delivering "educational excellence for every child in Cleveland".

Charters spend more on admin, less on class

We observed that SB316 delayed, by 12 months, the requirement passed in the budget to rank schools based upon their classroom spending. As was noted at the time, this was an ill conceived, ill considered plan. As that plan now hits the slow track, research emerges that charter schools spend less in the classroom than traditional public schools.

One of the most frequent criticisms put to traditional public schools is that they waste money on administrative bloat, instead of channeling more funding where it belongs—the classroom. A much leaner and classroom-centered model, some say, can be found in charter schools, because of their relative freedom from stifling bureaucracy.

A new study, however, concludes that this hypothesis has it exactly wrong.

The study, released by the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education, at Teachers College, Columbia University, examines school spending in Michigan and concludes that charter schools spend more per-pupil on administration and less on instruction than traditional public schools, even when controlling for enrollment, student populations served, and other factors.

Researchers David Arsen, of Michigan State University, and Yongmei Ni, of the University of Utah, found that charters spend $774 more per pupil on administration, and $1,140 less on instruction, than do traditional publics. To come up with their estimates, the authors analyze the level and source of funding for charters and traditional publics, and how they spend money, breaking it out by function. They then use a statistical method known as regression analysis to control for factors that could skew their comparisons of spending on administration and instruction in various schools.

Of the extra $774 that charters devote to administration, $506 went to general administrative services, such as the costs of charter school boards, or the fees of the organizations managing the school.

While Arsen and Ni don't examine in depth the causes of charters' relatively low instructional spending, they speculate that a couple factors could be at work. An obvious one is that more than 80 percent of traditional public schools' spending goes to personnel costs, mostly salaries and benefits—which would presumably drive instructional costs up. Charters, on average, pay lower salaries for teachers with similiar credentials to those hired by traditional publics, and also employ a less experienced and less costly teaching force, the authors say, which would keep instructional costs down.

HEre's the paper in question for your review.

Is Administration Leaner in Charter Schools? Resource Allocation in Charter and Traditional Public Schools

Education News for 04-10-2012

Local Issues

• Cleveland City Council supports Jackson's school plan (Plain Dealer)

The Cleveland City Council approved Monday night a resolution in support of Mayor Frank Jackson's plan to overhaul the city's schools -- while urging the Cleveland Teachers Union and state legislature to follow suit. Jackson and the union are still locked in negotiations over certain aspects of the plan. Read More…

• Hilliard to create learning hub for students (Dispatch)

Hilliard students will soon be able to gather at one site to take online classes, college courses and participate in after-school clubs and programs. School officials announced at the school board meeting tonight plans to convert the district’s central office, at 5323 Cemetery Rd., to a learning hub for all students districtwide. Read More..

• Westerville schools plan would restore 80 of 204 jobs cut (Dispatch)

Westerville schools would restore about 80 of 204 jobs that were cut after a November levy failure, under a proposal that administrators presented to the school board last night.

But district officials still plan to eliminate the remaining 124 jobs next school year, of which about 80 are teachers. Read More…

• Newark schools looking to give students laptops or iPads (Newark Advocate)

Newark City Schools leadership can envision a time -- maybe just a few years away -- when every high school student is carrying a laptop or tablet in lieu of textbooks. The district plans to make that transition starting next school year and is deciding between Apple MacBooks and iPads for a specified subset of students. Read More…

• New court dates set for accused Chardon High School shooter T.J. Lane (Plain Dealer)

A Geauga County judge today set two key hearing dates that could decide when and where T.J. Lane is prosecuted in the slayings of three students at Chardon High School in February. In a brief hearing today, Juvenile Court Judge Timothy Grendell set a competency hearing for May 2. He also set a hearing for May 12, a Saturday, to determine whether Lane, 17, should be charged as an adult. Read More…

Editorial & Opinion

• The test comes later (Dispatch)

Children aren’t born knowing how to manage money and many have parents who are equally befuddled, so Ohio schools have a formidable task ahead as they fulfill a state requirement to teach basic financial literacy to all graduates starting with the Class of 2014. In Columbus, the district has had programs for decades to teach students starting in grade school concepts that some children might absorb from observing their parents balance checkbooks, compare interest rates, manage credit-card debt and squirrel away savings. But even stable family finances are no guarantee that children will learn these lessons: Suburban children can be equally unprepared. Read More…

• Think out plans for windfall (Warren Tribune Chronicle)

Mathews and Southington schools are wisely taking advantage of Trumbull County's oil and natural gas boom. Now the trick will be to spend the windfall wisely. Mathews Local Schools authorized a lease agreement with BP for the mineral rights to 87 acres that the board of education owns. The district should reap about $339,000 for giving BP the right to tap into the Utica / Point Pleasant shale formation to extract oil and natural gas from under the board's property near Baker and Currie elementary schools. Read More…

How corporate tax loopholes defund the American Dream

Note: This is the first installment in a series on how corporate tax loopholes undermine the middle class—and what can be done about it. You can read the second article in the series here, and read the third article here.

By Amanda Litvinov and Dwight Holmes

As more middle class Americans than ever before wring their weary hands over whether to pay down their student loans or make their next mortgage payment, corporations are also experiencing a history-making moment. They’re sitting on record profits, and are taxed at historically low rates.

Between 2001 and 2010, corporate profits in America increased by 125%. Meanwhile, the median family income went down by 4.6% in the same time period. How was such growth in corporate profits possible, given the economic meltdown that started in 2007? Here’s the quick and dirty answer: They stacked the deck.

For decades, some of the nation’s most successful companies and CEOs have financed and lobbied enough politicians to curry a shocking level of influence over how laws are written and which ones pass. They’ve molded a system in which they can keep an ever-increasing share of profits for themselves, stunting the paychecks of working Americans and putting more burden on small businesses.

See the sources for the information used in this graph.

On top of that, corporations are contributing less in taxes to the federal government and to the communities where they conduct their business, meaning less money for serving the public good through education and other services. (A recent report shows 30 of the most profitable Fortune 500 companies pay more to their lobbyists than they do in federal taxes.)

“The middle class is being harmed by the structure of the economy, the structure of the tax burden, and the erosion of social services, including education,” said Robert Kuttner, a co-founder of the Economic Policy Institute and distinguished senior fellow at the non-partisan public policy center Demos.

When corporations don’t pay their fair share in taxes, Kuttner said, there are only three alternatives: “You either cut the services, you add to the deficit, or you make someone else pay—in this case, the middle class.”

We’re not talking chump change here. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that in the past three years, the federal tax revenue lost through corporate tax loopholes is $222.7 billion, which represents a loss of as much as $9.8 billion to public schools. State tax revenue from just the 265 largest companies saw losses of $42.7 billion in three years, roughly $15.4 billion of which would likely go to public schools if the loopholes were closed (see source 1 below).

Our economy was once much more balanced. Between 1948 and 1973, as productivity increased, worker wages grew at the same pace—in other words, American workers got a fair share of the growth. Between that and programs like the G.I. Bill and Social Security, America’s thriving middle class and vibrant public education system astonished the world. Then things changed. It’s more accurate to say that things were changed, by small but powerful groups, including ALEC and other right-wing organizations, and business leaders who wanted to see their companies’ already healthy profits grow exponentially.

To be clear: The concentration of power now in the grips of corporate America and the resulting unprecedented economic inequality we see today is no accident. For the past 30 years, we’ve all been trudging down a path that was carefully plotted for us by those who bought political influence for the express purpose of putting business profits above the well-being of America’s middle class.

They promised us tax cuts would lead to more revenues, greater investment and more jobs. Instead we have unprecedented deficits, falling family incomes, and four job-seekers for every open position.

Americans’ optimism about their children’s futures has reached an all-time low for good reason. Working hard and playing by the rules just doesn’t pay off like it used to; in past eras, greater equity in the distribution of income made for an economy that worked better for everyone. Our best hope for restoring balance is to demand change from our elected leaders.

“We need adequate levels of public spending that are not financed by taxes that come out of the pockets of the middle class,” says Kuttner. “And there are two sources to get those revenues: From wealthy people in their role as individual tax payers … and corporate income taxes.”

Raising our collective voice is the only hope we have in countering the other voices lawmakers hear every day—those of corporate lobbyists and influential business execs who are asking for even more tax breaks. Do you think they have your sons’ and daughters’ educations in mind?