5/2/09

Columbus Dispatch

Catherine Candisky

 Although several statewide education groups have endorsed Gov. Ted Strickland’s school-funding and reform plan, some of the local school officials they represent don’t share that enthusiasm.

“His initial budget will kill us,” said Dee Dee Harshbarger, president of the Riverside Local Board of Education in Logan County.

The district recently let go five teachers and cut $500,000 from its budget.

“We have to pass two levies in May to stay afloat,” Harshbarger said.

Under Strickland’s education plan, the district would get no additional state aid next year and would need to hire four additional teachers and build four more classrooms to meet new requirements for all-day kindergarten and smaller class sizes, Harshbarger said.

“You’ve got to slowly implement this,” said Ruth M. Nau, a member of the Noble Local School District board in Noble County.

The women were in Columbus yesterday for a gathering of the Ohio School Boards Association.

This week, the association’s 30-member board of trustees passed a resolution endorsing the governor’s plan. It also has been backed by the Ohio Association of School Business Officials, the Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools, and the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding.

Rick Lewis, executive director of the school boards association, said Strickland’s plan “is a good start, not the end.”

“What we’re counting on is (not having to implement) the components until the funding is available.”

The association also wants restoration of the right of a district to reduce its staff because of financial constraints.

That provision was added by Democratic leaders in the House before that chamber approved Strickland’s education plan along party lines this week.

The governor’s plan, which is included in his two-year state-budget bill, is being reviewed by the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans.

Many of them say they do not think the plan will be able to deliver on its promise of providing schools with billions more in state aid over the next 10 years.

The plan also eventually calls for 20 more days of school each year, all-day kindergarten statewide, smaller class sizes and the replacement of the high-school graduation test with a college entrance examination, end-of-course exams and a senior project.

Strickland told the gathered members of local school boards that although state revenue has declined, “if we are committed, (the plan) will be sustainable … education is that important.”

He said he needs the local officials’ help to get the legislature to pass his plan, and he urged them to contact their legislators and write letters to their local newspapers.

“This is our moment, and I think we dare not miss the opportunity,” he said.

Speaking to reporters and school-board members after his speech, Strickland said the state will work with districts to help them implement his plan’s components as they are able. “We don’t want to ask schools to do things they can’t do,” he said.

High-performing districts won’t have to meet all the requirements, he said. “Why fix it if it’s not broken?”

As for the sustainability of his plan in the years ahead, Strickland said he made “painful decisions” to cut state aid to worthwhile programs in his first two years in office and will continue to do so because education is his top priority.