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Grassroots Dayton Daily Show: v.13 Education and the 18 school districts

Why do we have 18 school districts in Montgomery County? Why do we have several governments in many of these districts? Why do we insist on living on with lines on a map drawn for a different time, and a different place all these years later?

Are we getting the best education for our kids- all of them? Or have our lines on a map become more important than the results?

Greg Hunter and David Esrati give you five and a half minutes of their thoughts:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J25o2SsSLo[/youtube]

Enjoy!

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Robert Vigh

: That is why we have to regionalize. To stop those uncharitable foolish people from seeking advantages. That is not part of the politburo’s 5 year plan.

Joe Lacey

When the state created the districts that we have now, the income disparities between districts were not so great they are now.  Now the disparities create a problem for the state that in some cases consolidation would address.

Joe Lacey

“That is not part of the politburo’s 5 year plan.”  Mr. Vigh apparently believes public education is a Communist plot.

jstults

Joe:

Mr. Vigh apparently believes public education is a Communist plot.

He was referring to the silliness over in this thread:
http://esrati.com/?p=3878

Greg Hunter

Mr. Stults thank you for the analysis as I agree with your interpretation.  I think that what you say is exactly what happened.  When all of the “good people” leave then there are no role models and the good outweigh the bad and thats when society fails.

Greg Hunter

Yes I also remember the silliness as any attempt to discuss what the future holds in five years gets labeled as communism, which is poor way to stifle discussion of the what is “best” or the Greatest Good.

jstults

Greg:

which is poor way to stifle discussion of the what is “best” or the Greatest Good

(zing) ow! (conscience pricked), well played sir
 
We can probably agree on the Good plenty, agreeing on how we get there is another story…
 
What’s the Good you are aiming for here?  Better educational opportunities for urban kids?  More households in the city headed by successful professionals (two income or otherwise)?

Robert Vigh

I could make a decent case for public education being a communist plot. Quick form (for fun, dont go ape crap on this):
Communist manifesto requires Democracy to acheive Socialism to acheive communism. -> State run schools promote state power and control. Also promote democracy over individual rights and freedom creating heightened opportunity to transition to socialism.
Jstults, you do not need to worry about your conscience. The method in which Greg delivered his statements was reflected accurately with your sarcasm.
So my question which I thought was a good one was: How does regionalizing help the city of centerville? And does this happen with their consent or a simply majority surrounding them that demands it? These are practical application questions and implementation questions.
 

Joe Lacey

Answer to Mr. Vigh
The state creates the school districts.  Just as the state put Centerville and Washington Twp together in one school district and this created a region that does not help the more affluent Washington Twp the state can create or redraw other districts in the interest of public education which is the state’s job.

Robert Vigh

Joe,
I do not know the legal ins and outs. I was looking at it from a funding standpoint. For example, if it is the states job handle education, why do the cities fund %50? Why is it not all funded by the state? I also know that Centerville receives very little money and no subsidy from the state while Dayton receives a considerable amount. Since the state funds are pooled from all, the state is already re-allocating money from one group of people to another. So, I guess my point is that people adapt and make choices on where and how they want to live. To what advantage would the states re-arrangement serve the people? The state government is elected. So, what would get the elected official for Centerville area to agree to regionalizing when they outperform other areas? This is a valid question, yes?

David Lauri

I was curious how often the state of Ohio has changed school district boundaries.  My guess was that it doesn’t happen all that often.
 
I found only a couple examples, one of a small impoverished district being absorbed into Toledo Public Schools in 1968 and another of school districts in Leavittsburg and Braceville merging in 1970. If anyone knows of any more recent examples, say in the last 10 years, I’d be interested.
 
So just because the state has the power to create and redraw school districts doesn’t mean it’s a power that often or easily wielded.

Bruce Kettelle

As I understand it the State Board Of Education has the authority to modify district lines.  Under the current legislation it requires that both district (either side of the line to be changed) must endorse the change.  Because of the latter point I doubt there will be any substantive line changes until new rules are adopted by the legislature which will take a lot of voter support.

The more logical legislative approach would be an all encompassing state-wide boundary update to regionalize the 800 or so school districts.   There is a small group talking about this but so far it is not getting much attention.

Joe Lacey

Cities don’t fund education.  School districts fund education through levies that the state lets them put before the voters.  Money also comes from the state’s general fund but there’s no reason to believe that a countywide district wouldn’t receive the same share that the 18 districts combined currently receive.  The state’s rearrangement would serve the people through reduced administration costs by eliminating most of the 611 beauracracies and boards.  That would mean lower taxes for Centerville or more money directed toward Centerville classrooms.  There’s no reason why such an arrangement would hurt Centerville’s schools’ ability to outperform other schools.

jstults

Joe Lacey:

Cities don’t fund education.  School districts fund education through levies that the state lets them put before the voters.  Money also comes from the state’s general fund…

Don’t forget the Feds:

Significantly, said those who have been briefed, the White House wants to change federal financing formulas so that a portion of the money is awarded based on academic progress, rather than by formulas that apportion money to districts according to their numbers of students, especially poor students. The well-worn formulas for distributing tens of billions of dollars in federal aid have, for decades, been a mainstay of the annual budgeting process in the nation’s 14,000 school districts.
Obama Seeks Sweeping Change in ‘No Child’ Law