You really can't go home again

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Ohio used to be a fairly progressive state. In 1974, we were one of the first states to decriminalize sodomy. From 1983 to 1991, we had Dick Celeste as governor. In the great progressive tradition he raised taxes to fund services for the citizens. He also was one of the first governors to commute the sentences of women who had been battered and killed their spouses. Thanks in part to Celeste we had no executions in Ohio from 1973 to 1997. In addition we had Senators Glenn and Metzenbalm.

Ohio throughout the 50's 60's and 70's was a high wage high skilled state. Under Republican Jim Rhodes Ohio was committed to allowing anyone who wanted a college education to get one close to home and at a reasonable cost. That tradition continued under subsequent governors who built up a branch of community colleges.

Fast forward to today. Ohio has fewer college graduates than any midwestern state, one of the highest tuition rates in the entire country, close to the worst physical plants among elementary and secondary schools in the entire country, and now in Cleveland 8th grade classes with 48 students. Yes, 48 students. 48 inner city middle schoolers in one classroom with one teacher.

In addition, our Governor now wants to eliminate Medicaid. We will quite literally have people dying in our streets for lack of medical care mere yards from some of the best hospitals on the planet. Even places like Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi managed not to repeal Medicaid.

Lest you think Ohio is simply broke due to the recession, Ohio's median income for a family of four is $63,934 which is higher than the nation's and a mere $376 less than Pennsylvania's. That would be the same Pennsylvania which funds its schools at one of the highest rates in the country, subsidizes prescriptions drugs for its seniors, has much better roads than Ohio, and covers its children with health insurance at well above the poverty rate.

So who is to blame for this? The people of Ohio. Over the course of a decade and a half the Republican party has managed to ruin Ohio and render it unfit for young couples of any kind (gay ones are banned, and ones with kids would be nuts to move there). And what have the people of Ohio done? Returned this party to power over and over again. The Governor of Ohio has been Republican since 1991, as has the Senate. The House and every last constitutional office has been Republican since 1995. The Supreme Court has been at least 4 to 3 in favor of Republicans since 1995 and is now 6 to 1 in their favor. All of this has been with the majority of Ohioians voting for the winning candidates.

Ohio is in fiscal meltdown, and with the Medicaid gambit, moral meltdown as well. The state that used to be our manufacturing engine, was known for great libraries and decent schools, and showed the beginnings tolerance toward gays in the 1970's is now a vast wasteland of decaying schools, service sector jobs or unemployment, and government services which have been cut to the bone.

But, the people have their miniscule tax cuts and gays have been banned from marrying. Lord knows that is something.

I may have left Ohio in 2004, but Ohio left me long before that.

[Hissyspit]

1. You can extrapolate to the whole United States n/t

[realisticphish]

2. why leave

im sure as hell not leaving, not when we can fight back. i love it here, and ill be damned if im going to just give up on my state. and you will notice that almost half of ohioans voted for kerry. this is not a red state, by any stretch. a few thousand votes to one side does not negate the existance of the other half of citizens.

and, as someone else here said, you can extrapolate to the united states. ohio has always been considered a good guage for the whole of the united states. in other words, fix ohio, and you know how to fix america

:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[dsc]

5. I am a teacher

and it is all but impossible to find a teaching job in Ohio.

[NEOBuckeye]

7. I know what you mean.

I've heard nothing but talk about the state needing more teachers, but all I've seen are layoffs and cutbacks. A lot of the older teachers who came on board in the 1970s are supposed to be retiring soon, but many of them are staying on well past their retirement eligibility to max out their pay and benefits because health care costs keep climbing. Even when and where they do leave, the school systems don't have the money to hire new teachers to replace them. It's a real mess.

I graduated from college in 2000, and have been looking for a teaching job ever since. I work in a corporate office right now for lack of a better alternative. I hate it, but what can I do? Yeah, I could always sign on with one of the for-profit charter schools. But given that most of them are contributing to public school decay in the first place, I think I'd slit my wrists before helping them cause even further damage to public education. I've also considered moving out of state to NC or the DC area, but we'll see how things go over the next few months. Whatever happens, I still plan to do what I can to help ignite the fight to improve Ohio.

[dsc]

12. I know nothing about DC but can heartedly recommend NC

I literally had my pick of three jobs down here and that was with only one week of interviewing. NC is desperate for teachers and the salary isn't bad. In addition, there is more mobility here as the state, not the district, pays most of your salary. I wish you luck up there but the pickens are good down here.

[ultraist]

14. NC teachers are some of the lowest paid

But it is a beautiful state and the cost of living is good. If you consider NC, consider the Triangle area (the Chapel Hill and Durham areas are very liberal and Raleigh is fairly liberal) or Asheville. The other regions are too Republican.

NC has a Dem Governor and a Dem controlled State Legislature but we NEED more Democrats here! We have a good chance at swinging the state in 2008 and probably could have swung it this time, had the Kerry campaign spent some real money and time here.

[dsc]

15. actually pay is pretty good

While we aren't up to the standards in the north we are considerably better than many southern states. I make only about 10% less than I would in Ohio. If I worked in some of the bigger cities I would be making a little more.

[dsc]

17. kick for NEO buckeye

[NEOBuckeye]

6. Right on, realisticphish!

Things didn't go bad in Ohio overnight, nor will they improve overnight. But they won't improve at all if everyone who could make a difference decides to flee for greener pastures, although I certainly understand why people want to leave.

I'm all for staying here and fighting to turn things around.

[rockymountaindem]

3. Come to Colorado

We could use your efforts and vote. Move to Denver and you'll hardly recognize you're in a red state.

[Toucano]

4. Is this your best post EVER??

I say "YES"!

I was aware of most of this before, but you've really condensed it all in a nutshell right there.

A million thanks!

"I didn't leave Ohio. Ohio left me." I love that!

[Toucano]

8. kick

This post is worth more than the superbowl posts currently being discussed on page 1.

[dsc]

13. thanks

I really appreciate your praise.

[bobbieinok]

9. school decay sounds similar to CA's

[ultraist]

16. Letting schools fall into such depths is IMMORAL! And ending MEDICAID???

How cruel! It sounds like they are TRYING to kill off the poor.

[SoCalDem]

18. College used to be FREE for California residents..

When I lived in Indiana, my boss's daughter sent HER daughter to live in California when she was a sophomore in high school so she could get free tuition as a California resident.. I think she went to Berkley ..(She lived with an older sister in SanFrancisco)..

California had a real desire to see its citizens educated back then.. It was late 70's..

Now, classes that are needed to graduate are sometimes too full for kids to even GET, and sometimes even canceled.. That makes the kids take extra classes they really don't need so they can have enough hours to remain insured on parents' medical plans, and makes it take 5-6 years of NOW high tuition so they can graduate and then get their old after school jobs back... after amassing $40K of debt:(

[charlie]

10. They'll get to you eventually

Wherever you've moved to. The likes of Ohio are a bellwether for the remnants of community and sanity left in the nation.

We're in the grips of a national psychosis with plenty of momentum left before it plays out. The only difference between us and Mao's Great Leap Forward or Cultural Revolution is a matter of degree, not kind. Our stubborn belief in American Exceptionalism keeps most of us from recognizing that it's happening here.

[Toucano]

11. That's a good point.

Thanks.

[flobee1kenobi]

19. Re:why leave

While I am all for fighting to improve the situation in Ohio, I have to think about making a living also. Fighting may make things better in the future, but I have rent to pay, and no income due to the absolutely horrible job outlook in Ohio. Some people that I have talked to can't even afford to move to a state that has more jobs. I myself have looked for jobs in Detroit, Pittsburgh, Indiana, and Kentucky, as jobs in Ohio just aren't plentiful.

[dsc]

20. what do you do?

North Carolina has lots of teaching jobs and other service sector ones.