Strong Schools - Strong Communities

Another pro-public education organization is joining the fray in Ohio. Strong Schools - Strong Communities. ABC 6 News reports on their announcement

Deb Papesh, a Dublin City Schools parent, had this to say about the groups formation

"I believe Strong Schools, Strong Communities is looking at that to see what they can they borrow from what we did to help on a more global level," she said following the press conference.

Papesh thinks communities across the state can help each other with campaigns that center on funding issues.

Right now those involved with Strong Schools, Strong Communities say their job is to keep an eye on and testify for or against any new legislation that affects public education in Ohio.

They also say they’re prepared to activate their network in the same way the grassroots organization We Are Ohio mobilized in 2011 to push back against a legislative effort to limit collective bargaining rights for public employees.

Teacher Donna O'Connor had this to say

“We believe a child’s ZIP code should not hinder their access to a high-quality public education. We will advocate for a fair and sustainable and equitable funding formula and educate the public as to next year’s budget and policies that come out of our next session.”

We encourage you to follow them on Facebook, here at www.facebook.com/StrongSchoolsOhio. You can also receive a weekly text message update by texting "SSSC" to 51555.

Here's a video fo the press conferecne event

Part one

Part two

Part three

There's a growing resistance in Ohio, to the corporate education movement.

Local educators counter Romney

Yesterday, Mitt Romney came to town to host a lavish million dollar fundraiser at the New Albany home of Lex Wexner. According to news reports, the gathering was a who's who of Ohio's 1%.

Meanwhile, educators gathered in New Albany to hold a press conference to highlight Mitt Romney's anti-teacher, anti-public education agenda.

After the press conference concluded, a handful of Mitt Romney supporters, recruited from a local equestrian club perhaps, showed up late to counter the press conference.

Bloomberg news reports on the somewhat schizophrenic messaging problem Mitt Romney has

Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign asked Florida Governor Rick Scott to tone down his statements heralding improvements in the state’s economy because they clash with the presumptive Republican nominee’s message that the nation is suffering under President Barack Obama, according to two people familiar with the matter. Scott, a Republican, was asked to say that the state’s jobless rate could improve faster under a Romney presidency, according to the people, who asked not to be named.

What’s unfolding in Florida highlights a dilemma for the Romney campaign: how to allow Republican governors to take credit for economic improvements in their states while faulting Obama’s stewardship of the national economy. Republican governors in Ohio, Virginia, Michigan and Wisconsin also have highlighted improving economies.

Ohio media and now wondering if Ronmey has had similar conversations with Gov. Kasich.

Cleveland Plan Press Conference

In a downtrodden press conference that broke little new news, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, Representative Sandra Williams (D-Cleveland), House Finance and Appropriations Chairman Ron Amstutz (R-Wooster), Senate Minority Whip Nina Turner (D-Cleveland) and Senate Education Chairwoman Peggy Lehner (R-Kettering) spoke about the "Cleveland Plan".

The plan still has no sponsors, nor co-sponsors. The sticking points for the Democrats continues to be the anti-union SB5 like provisions, and the secretive, non democratic nature of the so-called "transformation alliance". For the Republicans the shadow cast by a plan that has many elements of SB5, and some of the charter school accountability measures that are opposed by some of the largest campaign contributors are sticking points.

Some of Jackson's continued rhetoric, for example "those concerned about the Cleveland plan & Senate Bill 5 shouldn't be", are signs that the Mayor still views his plan as a sacred cow, and not a starting place. That's a pity and might doom an enterprise to rescue Cleveland schools from academic and financial crisis that everyone recognizes and wants to deal positively with.

Bloomberg's brain dead brainwave

Billionaire Mayor of New York, and wannabe corporate education reformer Mike Bloomberg has suggested a radically absurd idea

he said, “you would cut the number of teachers in half but you would double the compensation of them, and you would weed out all the bad ones and just have good teachers.

“Double the class size with a better teacher is a good deal for students.”

Bloomberg's opinion is based upon a misguided and factually wrong premise, one he continues to hold to

Karen Matthews, a reporter with The Associated Press, asked, via Twitter, whether the mayor saw one teacher and 62 children as a good model. The mayor’s press secretary, Stu Loeser, shot back: “Are you asking as a journalist, advocate, or mom?”

No doubts haunt the mayor. In 2008 he insisted that class-size research was “unambiguous.”

“I don’t even understand why the subject comes up anymore,” he said, adding that all that mattered was teacher quality.

Let's examine class sizes and see if they matter. Michael C. Morrison, Ph.D. has analyzed 9,000 school districts to determine the impact on class sizes and graduation. His findings are unambiguous.

District probabilities for above average graduation performance are inversely related to district pupil-teacher ratios. As class size increases district probability for above average graduation performance decrease, controlling for district per capita income (a proxy for district socio-economic status) and district total revenue per student (a district proxy for programs and services).

Here's the graph of results

This isn't the only study of course, it's a subject that has been well and extensively researched. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found

“We find that assignment to a small class increases the probability of attending college by 2.7 percentage points, with effects more than twice as large among blacks. Among those with the lowest ex ante probability of attending college, the effect is 11 percentage points. Smaller classes increase the likelihood of earning a college degree by 1.6 percentage points and shift students towards high-earning fields such as STEM (science, technology, engineering and medicine), business and economics.”

Michael Morrison has detailed further studies on the subject, here.

As for Mayor Bloomberg, he doesn't practice what he is preaching

There’s a final oddity. Among the so-called meritocratic elite, low teacher-to-child ratios are beloved. The mayor’s daughters went to Spence, where classes hover from 10 to 15. Trinity, Dalton, Riverdale, Horace Mann: All charge $35,000 or more per year, and classes rarely exceed 12 in the lower grades.

Imagine if they packed those billionaire's kids into classrooms of 63!

The People's Road Trip

People’s Road Trip to Kick Off from Cincinnati, Events to Encourage Ohioans to Vote NO on Issue 2 to Stop Senate Bill 5

Tomorrow, We Are Ohio will launch the People’s Road Trip in Cincinnati, with trip stops planned all across Ohio. Workers who will vote NO on Issue 2 to stop SB 5 will speak at each stop to encourage Ohioans to vote early. Doug Stern, the Ohio firefighter featured in the first television ad for We Are Ohio will join the People’s Road Trip and will speak at all the stops.

“Issue 2 will affect the safety of not just fire fighters, but our communities as well,” said Doug Stern, Cincinnati firefighter. “The heart of this bill takes away firefighters' professional voices. Issue 2 supporters keep putting forth pension and health care provisions. But the reality is those are nothing more than the magician’s pretty assistant, designed to distract voters from the real issue. The truth is Issue 2 will strip public employees like me from having any real input on safe working conditions and proper staffing levels."

People’s Road Trip Schedule:

Tuesday, October 4

10:50 AM: Hamilton County Board of Elections, 824 Broadway, Cincinnati

1:00 PM: Dayton Cultural Center, 40 S Edwin C Moses Blvd, Dayton

3:00 PM- (TENTATIVE) Regional Proud Ohio Worker press conference

5:00 PM: Lima We Are Ohio Office, 43 Town Square (near Main and Market)

Wednesday, October 5

10:00 AM: (Near) Lucas County Board of Elections, 12th Street (near the corner of 12th and Washington), Toledo

NOON- (TENTATIVE) Regional Proud Ohio Worker Press Conference

3:15 PM: AFL-CIO, 3250 Euclid Ave., Cleveland

6PM-8PM: Community Forum- Bethany Christian Church, 3940 Martin Luther King Drive, Cleveland

Thursday, October 6

10:15 AM: Mahoning County Board of Elections, Oakhill Renaissance Place, 345 Oak Hill Ave Youngstown

2:20 PM: Steubenville Fire Department, 115 South Third Street, Steubenville

2:45 PM: March to the Jefferson County Board of Elections, 117 North Third Street, Steubenville

4:30 PM: (TENTATIVE) Regional Proud Ohio Worker Press Conference

Friday, October 7

10:00 AM: Washington County Board of Elections, 205 Putnam Street, Marietta

12:30 PM: (TENTATIVE) Regional Proud Ohio Worker Press Conference

4:00 PM: Franklin County Board of Elections, 280 East Broad St., Columbus

On SB5, full repeal or no deal

In a surprise move that could only have been prompted by terrible internal poll results, Governor Kasich (R), Speaker Batchelder (R) and Senate President Niehaus (R) sent a letter (below) to the We Are Ohio campaign asking for compromise on SB5. The letter, as you can see is rife with condesension and mistruths. Worse than the letter however was the revisionist press conference that followed shortly afterwards.

The We Are Ohio campaign issued a press release almost immediately and held a press conference of their own

Today We Are Ohio once again stood firmly with the 1.3 million Ohioans who signed petitions to repeal SB 5 by telling the extreme politicians who passed it, to repeal it. Following a press conference held by Governor Kasich, Speaker Batchelder and Senate President Niehaus, We Are Ohio issued the following statement:

“We’re glad that Governor Kasich and the other politicians who passed SB 5 are finally admitting this is a flawed bill,” said Melissa Fazekas, spokeswoman for We Are Ohio. “Just like the bill was flawed this approach to a compromise is flawed as well. Our message is clear. These same politicians who passed this law could repeal it and not thwart the will of the people. They should either repeal the entire bill or support our efforts and encourage a no vote on Issue 2.”

We Are Ohio is a citizen-driven, community-based, bipartisan coalition that has come together to repeal SB 5, the unfair attack on employee rights and worker safety. We Are Ohio includes public and private sector workers and employees, police officers, firefighters, teachers, nurses, pastors, small business owners, Republicans and Democrats, local elected officials and business leaders, students, Moms, Dads, family members, and your neighbors.

Senate Minority leader Cafaro (D) also issued a statement

"Governor Kasich and Republicans in the General Assembly have finally admitted that Senate Bill 5 went too far. If they thought they could destroy collective bargaining in Ohio and get away with it, they have been proven wrong. More than one million Ohioans have already sent a strong message that Senate Bill 5 should be repealed.

"The time to negotiate was during the legislative process, not 197 days after Senate Bill 5 was first introduced in the Ohio Senate. Unfortunately, it has taken too long for the Governor and GOP leaders to acknowledge they overreached."

Our sources indicate that no one from the We Are Ohio campaign intends to aquience to these political games and attend a Friday meeting. The message has been made clear by 1.3 million supporters of repeal. A message the Governor's desperate ploy highlights.

Without repeal there is no deal.

Letter to We Are Ohio