Missing News Journal Article

For those of you looking for my responses in today's Wilmington News Journal Election Edition, you will not find them in the printed edition. Somehow the page with my responses was replaced by the church directory page. The News Journal cannot explain how this happened but has apologized and the missing responses will be printed in Saturday's paper.

My responses are available online at http://wnewsj.com/main.asp?SectionID=49&SubSectionID=156&ArticleID=207764&TM=45066.07.

What does it mean to support our teachers?

According to some, because we don't support the school levy and because we point out the disparity between the pay and benefits of our teachers vs. the rest of the Clinton Massie community that we don't support our teachers. Interesting how the quickly the focus changes from "the children" to "the teachers" but that's another story.

That got me thinking about what does it mean to support our teachers?

Apparently providing a stable home for our children and teaching them manners, respect, and obedience so that teachers don't have discipline issues in the classroom doesn't count as supporting our teachers.

Apparently helping my kids with their homework and stressing the value of education doesn't count as supporting our teachers.

Apparently volunteering at the school, in the classroom and serving in the PTO doesn't count as supporting our teachers.

According to some, apparently the only thing that counts as supporting our teachers is to provide them with raises and benefits that we in the community do not get to enjoy and that the economy no longer suppports.

It's the "elephant in the room" but it is a discussion that has to occur.

We need more jobs not higher taxes

What this area needs more than anything else is jobs and economic growth. It we can get those two things, many of the other problems we face such as school funding will be greatly improved. Higher taxes mean fewer jobs and less disposable income. Businesses in the area will have less money to use for hireing additional workers or purchasing goods and services from other local businesses. Those that can relocate may choose to move to an area with lower taxes. Businesses that might consider moving to the area may not because of the higher taxes.


From an article titled What is the Evidence on Taxes and Growth by William McBride
Source http://taxfoundation.org/article/what-evidence-taxes-and-growth

William McBride states,"This review of empirical studies of taxes and economic growth indicates that there are not a lot of dissenting opinions coming from peer-reviewed academic journals. More and more, the consensus among experts is that taxes on corporate and personal income are particularly harmful to economic growth, with consumption and property taxes less so. This is because economic growth ultimately comes from production, innovation, and risk-taking."

The Ohio State Legislature has moved to reduce state income taxes to make Ohio a more business friendly state. The goal is to cut taxes to make Ohio more competitive with other states in order to attract new businesses to the state and encourage those already here to stay and expand. The same principle applies at the local level.

Why I don't suport the school levy

I believe the past superintendent and the board has done a good job of controlling and cutting costs over the past years. I believe the board is right in putting the issue before the voters to allow the community to decide if they want to provide the district with additional resources or not.

That said, I do not support the levy because the needs of the community are being overlooked. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the average wage in Clinton County has declined over $11,000 (42%) since 2007. I do not believe it is the best interest of the children of the district to take additional money out of already strapped family budgets. Over this same period an entry level teacher hired in 2008 would have continued to get 4.2% annual wage increases totaling over $6,400 nearly a 21% increase. Teachers pay 5% of the health insurance costs for a single plan vs. 18% for the national average. Teachers pay 15% of the health insurance cost for a family plan vs. 29% for the national average.

I believe the inequality between the salaries and benefits of those working within the school and those in the community must be addressed. This will mean salary cuts and higher contributions for benefits to be more in line with the reality the community faces. Staff reductions may also be required depending on the results of salary and benefit negotiations and other cost cutting measures. This is not a war on teachers; it’s the reality of the economy the community faces. The bottom line is it’s not fair to ask an already hurting community to take a 1% pay cut while teachers continue to receive automatic 4.2% raises.

Several years ago when the economy turned down my company laid off about ~10% of our workforce and those of us that were blessed enough to remain took a 5% pay cut. Most of us preferred to take the pay cut then to see more of our friends and colleagues laid off. I had no or virtual no raises for the next couple of years. I can’t remember the last time I saw anything near a 4.2% raise.

If the levy does not pass I will not support the traditional “make-em pay” cuts such as eliminating busing and requiring pay-to-play for extra-curricular activities. These types of cuts punish the community and often end up making the community pay more than the levy cost. Extra-curricular activities play an important role in education by providing motivation, team building, and understanding the relationship of hard work to success and failure.

Another area to be considered for reduction would be the ~$82,000 we pay for dual-enrollment tuition for ~25 students to attend college courses. I think it’s great that students can attend college and earn credits but in the reality of today’s economy I don’t believe we can continue to subsidize these courses.