Cleveland schools imperiled by $100 million deficit

[iconoclastic cat]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/06/04/cleveland.schools.ap/index.html#
District imperiled by $100 million deficit


CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) -- In his 24 years with Cleveland's school system, math teacher Gene Tracy has taken the good with the bad: improved test scores and attendance amid crumbling buildings, outdated textbooks and students who lag behind their peers.

He's stayed, mostly because of passion but also because of progress. A tax levied since 1996 gave Ohio's largest school district the cash to make those desperately needed improvements.

But this spring, the Cleveland district faced a sobering reality: There was no more money.



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Yeah, those vouchers and charter schools really help.

I know that I should feel very guilty about even suggesting that anything good could come of this situation, but I sincerely hope that the good people of Cleveland--and all over the great state of Ohio--take this situation to heart, think about their moral obligations to the 1 out of 4 kids in the state who dwell below the poverty line, and look at what Bush's policies are going to do to them when their test scores bomb.

Will Bush's policy of "achievement without support, or else" help you? Or will President Kerry's humane, logical, and ethical policies reinvigorate and restore the most essential institution of a democratic nation?

We're waiting for your answer, Ohio.

[dsc]

1. they have given it loud and clear

I live here and there is not an iota of a movement to help Cleveland out at the state level. At the city level they are attempting to find a way to impose an income tax but would need both state approval and a successful vote. The police and fire union already is trying to put their own levy on to pay to have the police and fire forces restored to their 2001 levels. I don't hold out much hope. Clevland is merely our largest disaster. Several school districts including bastions of wealth Beechwood and Hudson have also laid off teachers.

[iconoclastic cat]

2. Can you objectively gauge the voting mood?

Are the "bush leading" polls accurate, or are people just not picking up their telephones?

[dsc]

3. I think Kerry is in trouble here

but not insurmountable trouble here. I live in the Democratic part of the state so I can't speak to the mood of Republicans in general. But among Democrats there is a lot of close to panic at the state of affairs. We just don't see a level of effort and commitment that we feel is justified for our state. I definately think that the numbers in that poll stating that 62% of Kerry's voters list hating Bush as their main reason for voting for him are dead on. We are hoping that once Kerry gets paid staff here (June 15th) things will start picking up. I finally got a Kerry bumper sticker a few nights ago at a DFA meetup in Cleveland. This is despite being to several Stonewall Democrat meetings, HRC Meetups, and other places that such material would have been useful. I think that today Bush would win a narrow victory here.

[iconoclastic cat]

4. That pretty much goes along with what I have been hearing.

I can't believe that the people of Ohio haven't turned on Bush. Even the Republicans must know that he's hosing them. What gives?

I really hope that Kerry is a "good closer," as they say.

[many a good man]

5. Cleveland: textbook example on consequences of vouchers

Starve a starving school district and see what happens. I remember in the '70s when the School Board announced it would have to shut down if it didn't get a bailout, essentially ending free public education in the then largest city in Ohio. Democrats in the state capital grudgingly came to the rescue.

OTOH, vouchers are very popular there among parents who send kids to private (Catholic) schools because they would never send their kids to the cesspool of Cleveland Public Schools if they had the slightest choice. Parents would never live in the city limits of Cleveland if there were no other schooling options.

My brother is a Cleveland policeman and he says that the increase in health care premiums over the past five years has exceeded the total amount of all his raises. The city is once again in deep trouble but this time the state is controlled by Republicans-- so don't expect any help. Its too bad Ohio doesn't have a state Democratic party any more...