Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Before Lisa Reade can put her spin on the survey lets all state why we didn't support the levy with the district's own questions:

Question #1 - If you voted ''no'' on November 8th for Issue #23 (School Bond Issue)...... What are the reasons why you did not support the bond issue?

Post your reasons:

Need for understanding

I voted no on the school levy because we could not afford more taxes. My husband and I received a note from the Social Security office a few days ago and our combined increase for 2006 will be $62 per month. In the same week we received a notice of an increase in our gas budget of $17 per month. My husband works a part time job that thankfully allows us medical and prescription coverage over our current Medicare expenses. However his portion of the health care premiums went up a little over $40 a month for this coming year.

It is not as though we didn't plan for a secure retirement. My husband and I both worked and both of us put money back for retirement. However the last fifteen years of my husband's career was more of a nightmare than coasting into our golden years. He was laid off twice and downsized at least three times. Each of these companies had promised huge retirement checks and none of those promises were very apparent in the offers made to my husband when his company went out.

Going into 2000 we both felt good about our future and those years we planned to spend together. Then the Dot Com bubble burst and a portion of our ''growth'' portfolio seemed to disappear over night. Then 9/11/01 and that took an even larger portion of our savings and investments. Now even our blue chip stocks like General Motors and General Electric are going down the drain. This is not to mention the corporate scandals like Enron and World Com. In a time when your investments were suppose to grow to provide for future inflation many of us out here were experiencing huge losses.

Fortunately we had put a large portion of our retirement funds into fixed income and low risk investments. This type of investment protects your assets but in the end your net worth or income trends downward year after year.

Truly the classic definition of a ''fixed Income'' existence.

My husband and I may have 20 years left to live. To be able for us to provide for ourselves in that time we must reduce our standard of living and find ways to conserve our small amount of wealth.

Despite the financial problems my husband and I have experienced over the last decade or so I know we are much better off than many of our friends living here in Pickerington. We do not have a mortgage payment and our only debt is a small credit card payment.

Our largest single expenditure each year is our property tax. That expenditure has increased every year over the last five or so years. The rate of increase of the property taxes has been higher than the rate of increase in the value of our home. Even what we thought was a secure investment (our home) it is effect losing value each year.

What is so upsetting is the attitude displayed by the younger people of this community and how they see none of the problems we are all facing. We have people that support our schools and they continue to demand bigger buildings and more and higher pay for our teachers. It seems that the teacher's union is all about raising our taxes and building bigger monuments to themselves.

It seems to me that many in the education system think they should be protected from the very same job markets forces that are affecting the taxpayers that pay their salaries. Until they show some kind of understanding for the community and our problems I am not very inclined to make more financial sacrifices for their well being.










By Barbara Blair

From the Columbus Dispatch

What are we paying for?

Despite all of the Taj Mahal?’s and the ?“special memories?” we provide for our school children do our school actually prepare our young adults for life? This article below from the Columbus Dispatch shows a failure of the college bound students what about those in the community that do not attend college? What test do we have for them?

Does providing our teachers with tenure and 90% retirement plans directly correlate to good performance of the students they teach? Does a teacher that has a secure job result in good performance from the children they teach? Is advanced degrees and high pay resulting in good student performance? Why do the educators ?“NEED?” all of this space to teach these children?

It appears we are losing ground on Public education here in Ohio.


REMEDIAL COURSEWORK
Students not ready for college, report says
Monday, December 05, 2005
Chris DeVille
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Graphic
Unprepared for college

More Ohio high-school graduates need remedial courses in their first year of college, according to a report released today by the Ohio Board of Regents.

The report says that in fall 2003, 41 percent of students took at least one remedial class in their first year at Ohio public colleges and universities, up from 38 percent in 2000.

''Our data still show that there are large proportions of students who are not taking the right courses in high schools,'' said Darrell Glenn, director of performance reporting for the Board of Regents.

High-school students should be taking a core curriculum of four English classes and three each in math, science and social studies, Glenn said.

''That?’s kind of a minimal standard, and we find that maybe two thirds of our incoming freshmen have taken those classes in high school,'' he said.

Glenn recommended that college bound students go beyond the core curriculum and take four math and social-studies classes.

Some school districts cannot afford to offer enough courses, but part of the problem is students choosing lighter loads.

''It just runs in lock step. Students that took the better coursework have better remediation rates,'' Glenn said. ''It might be the case of the family not really knowing the consequences of not taking the best courses that you can.''

College enrollment in Ohio is up, as some state universities, such as Ohio University, have relaxed their admissions standards in recent years. But some state schools, such as Ohio State University, have become more choosy.

''A lot of the schools that are talking about becoming more selective, they?’re not trying to close a door,'' Glenn said. ''I think they?’re really trying to send a signal and change behavior.''

Get our money's worth continued

The study, ''Making the Transition From High School to College in Ohio,'' also shows a correlation between poverty in school districts and a need for remedial classes in college.

For example, 58 percent of students from Columbus Public Schools needed a remedial class, compared with 19 percent of Bexley graduates.

In 2000, the state spent $15 million on remedial classes for college freshmen. Glenn said the current cost is similar.

The problem is not news to the Ohio Department of Education, said press secretary J.C. Benton.

In July 2003, the state Board of Education formed a task force to reshape education in Ohio to better prepare students to graduate from high school and succeed in college.

The task force presented its plan in November 2004, including an emphasis on a ''new three R?’s'': rigor for students, relevance to the community and world, and relationships that ensure students are known by adults who understand their needs and care about their success.

Prior to 2001, the state education system had no consistent, clear expectations for students at every grade level, Benton said.

Now, ''there?’s no mystery in what the academic content standards are,'' Benton said. He also pointed to the new 10th grade proficiency test, which he said has raised the bar from the previous ninth-grade requirement.

Benton said the state is working to implement the task force?’s goals, which include creating a more personalized learning environment through smaller high schools, providing students with a strong curriculum and expecting them to complete their coursework.

The state also hopes to improve its 86 percent graduation rate while continuing to bridge the gap between high school and secondary education, Benton said.

Glenn said students should expect more of themselves as they look toward college.

''There might be a belief out there that, ?‘It doesn?’t really matter what I do in high school. Some college will let me in,?’ '' he said.

''While you might get in, you?’re still not ready.''

cdeville@dispatch.com