Why does education make people act so stupid?
In my school district, voters would recall the board and can the superintendent in a Milford minute. But Ohio makes them fire-proof - even if they poison public support by cutting busing to punish parents for failed levies.
At City Hall, five council members stepped in an open manhole by proposing a tax hike - in an election year (see editorial). They can't wait to give $100 million to a school district that has no plan yet to spend the money, but just gave fat raises to administrators.
(My theory is that the mayor removed that manhole cover. When the Five Amigos balked at Mayor Roxanne Qualls' proposal for a $5 million transfer, she sent letters to 1,500 ''friends,'' accusing the gang - including campaign rivals Phil Heimlich and Dwight Tillery - of weaseling out on ''quality education.'' Then when they folded and fell for taxes, she wondered why they were in such a hurry to cross the street.)
And then there's the Ohio Supreme Court decision to trash our entire school funding plan, nullify local control and dump the mess in the lap of a new King of Schools - a rural county judge who was elected by about 9,000 of Ohio's 11 million residents.
The court endorsed $10 billion in school repairs statewide, and ordered ''equity'' that could cost $4 billion to make every school as ''adequate'' as Ohio's wealthiest districts.
To get a handle on that: $10 billion is more than all the income taxes and sales taxes Ohio collects in a year.
No wonder the ruling was scorched as a ''meat axe,'' ''downright stupid,'' ''socialism'' and ''the Pearl Harbor of school finance.''
I prefer ''The Mother of All Levies.''
Because if this one goes through, public school spending will be permanently hard-wired to our paychecks, with no chance to vote on it again. Neighborhood schools will be run by the same folks who do prisons, license plates, orange barrels and Medicare.
Ohio does a pretty good job on stuff like prisons. But I don't want to call Columbus to find out if my kid's school is closed for a snow day.
A local school board can be a disaster. Take Milford's word for it. But giving school officials bottomless ATM machines will not make them geniuses.
What's at stake here is the same thing we fight for in house-to-house levy campaigns; the same thing Cincinnati Public Schools is trying to grab at City Hall:
Unlimited cash with no accountability.
Taxpayers are getting wise. They know now that more money won't fix every problem. Instead, it often delays reforms by rewarding mediocrity. Voters are catching on that education funding in Ohio has grown 2 1/2 times faster than inflation - including millions for ''poor'' districts - with no visible results.
The public is beginning to realize that we're in a struggle for control of schools. It's the Thomas Jefferson model of local control vs. Stalin-style statism.
The education lobby, led by powerful unions, is making a last stand to erase local control and turn public schools into another entitlement program, so they will not have to answer uncomfortable questions about test scores, quality and accountability. If equal spending is a ''right,'' no demand can be wrong.
The lawsuit that won billions for schools was financed by 50 cents per student taken from 500 districts - including districts that can't afford to provide an ''adequate'' education, but can afford to cover $1 million in lawyer fees. Taxpayers picked up the bills for both sides - and it's only the beginning.
The coalition that sued Ohio received ''seed money'' from the state's biggest teachers union, the Ohio Education Association. Salaries make up 85 percent of most school budgets. Figure it out.
You don't hear much about that because bringing up the obvious self-interest of the unions is ''teacher bashing,'' and anyone who dares to question higher taxes for an autocratic, mismanaged, over-regulated school system is labeled ''anti-education.''
It's the same mindless mush we hear in local levy campaigns. If you aren't ''for'' more money, you're ''against'' kids.
Wrong. Taxpayers have a right and a duty to focus on the three R's:
Reverse the Supreme Court. Let Ohio voters pass a constitutional amendment that protects local control and blocks massive taxes that could turn out the lights on our state economy.
Recall provisions. Let voters remove local board members - and supreme court justices - who abuse the public trust.
Require reforms, starting with vouchers, charter schools and an end to prevailing-wage laws that bloat repair and building costs by 15-20 percent.
Let's not be stupid. This is not multiple choice, with ''more money'' for every answer. It's simple True-False: Is Ohio spending enough? True. Will raising taxes to replace local control with state-run schools improve education? False.
Peter Bronson is editorial page editor of The Enquirer. Call 768-8301, or write to 312 Elm Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
