Ohio State just lost another football national championship.
Boo-hoo.
Maybe it’s a curse. Maybe when the State Legislature gets serious and deals with the un-constitutional school funding system [1] the curse will be lifted.
Educating children should come before winning football games.
I’d rather live in a State with the best schools in the country, with students performing in the top percentile, than in the home of the National Champion College Football team.
If any of you agree with me, please donate to my campaign [2].
It’s time to change our priorities, starting with laptops for every student in Ohio [3].
It’s time to stop giving tax abatements to companies [4] when we need those taxes for our schools.
Given a choice between a Nobel prize [5] winner and the Heisman [6], I dream of the day when the former comes first.
Since when does the United States House of Representatives have anything at all to do with the funding of education in the state of Ohio? What office are you running for exactly???
Matt,
Since the Republicans introduced “No child left behind”
Wasn’t that a federal unfunded mandate?
Matt,
David’s point is that education’s importance is frequently overshadowed by things of much lesser significance.
In my time spent with David, one thing he is endlessly passionate about is education, not just in Ohio, but across the country. The Ohio examples are there just so they resonate on a more personal level.
Re: NCLB…More Bush/McCain pandering to people who weren’t going to ever vote for them anyway. Holy crap, man, Ted Kennedy WROTE the thing…
And no, it wasn’t an unfunded mandate. It has been awhile since I’ve looked at the numbers, but the last time I did, there was LOTS of money still sitting in a pile to be allocated for NCLB…
Seth: I can see your point on that…I wish David would be a little more clear about what he’s passionate about…
Matt- NCLB- started in Texas- according to what I’ve read, and Gail Littlejohn now works for the company that got it started. Hardly a Ted Kennedy thing.
I’d find you the info from the DDN site- but the search tool there is worthless.
Now David, you should know that “boo-hooing” a Buckeye loss in the National Championship hits pretty close to home…
But your point on Ohio’s school funding system is valid. Ohio is doing a poor job of preparing students for the worlds of work and higher education. The inequities in Ohio’s (unconstitutional) funding system create a wide disparity between the “have” and “have not” districts. What is needed is an effort to learn what works from the schools that are excelling, and determine what it will take to reapply those effective programs to the schools that are failing…and then fund appropriately. Instead, NCLB punishes schools that are failing by removing even more of their funding. Competition works in sports and in business, where the goal is to find and exploit your adversaries’ weaknesses. It doesn’t work in public schooling, where the goal is to provide an excellent education for ALL students.
I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on how you can help to improve education in Ohio and elsewhere if you are elected.
Ironically, Ohio has an excellent higher education system. Ohio State University, the state’s official Flagship University, is known not just for Heismans, but for Nobels as well (a current faculty member is a Nobel Laureate in Physics, and several Laureates have been faculty members over the years). Other public Universities, including Dayton’s own Wright State, have excellent programs, faculties, and facilities. Ohio needs to do a better job of preparing its students for these excellent higher education opportunities.
And finally, let us not boo-hoo the Buckeyes loss in the BCS Championship – rather, let us celebrate the effort, discipline, and excellence that got them into the game…along with celebrating the improving atheletic graduation rates in the program and the committment to community service that is being instilled in these young scholar-atheletes. We can excel both academically and atheletically! Go Bucks!