BY CHRISTINE WOLFF and DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
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'Adequate funding does not assure quality education, but without adequate funding, there is no quality education'
STAN CORKIN, parent of two students and assistant professor at UC
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First, even out the money.
Then, get the politicians into the schools for more than token visits. Teach them to look beyond proficiency-test scores to see how well a child is doing, and make them fix the problems children bring from home.
That's a solid start for Ohio's new governor to begin solving the state's education problems, according to 22 parents, teachers, school administrators and business leaders. They met last week at The Cincinnati Enquirer to talk about issues they want addressed by Bob Taft and Lee Fisher, Ohio's major-party candidates for governor.
While they know reform is in the hands of the legislators, Ohioans look to the governor for leadership.
Education is a priority among Ohioans, recent polls show. The Plain Dealer in Cleveland found Ohioans ranked accountability of teachers and schools as the top interest area under education's broad umbrella.
Concerns about student achievement ranked high, too, according to the Plain Dealer poll, followed by interest in how school money is handed out and what types of education choices are available to parents.
The same topics proved ready fodder for the Enquirer's discussion group. Chewed on, too, were the dire impact of social issues on education, the need for many parents to beef up their role, a distrust of politicians and worries about serving all children equally.
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'How important is education?' How much are you willing to pay? Do we educate every child, or do we write off certain kids to take care of the rest?'
DENNIS MATTHEWS, principal of Withrow High School
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Often hopeful, often confident, the group believed solutions were out there. Yet panelists bristled with frustration, knowing that long-standing problems won't resolve easily. And a scatter-gun approach won't solve anything.
"For goodness sake, do some homework and know what you're talking about . . . and stop piecemealing the reform," Reading Schools Superintendent John Varis said he'd tell the candidates.
The solutions require a steady "jigsaw of efforts, many pieces of the puzzle," said Jackie Seymour, a parent and volunteer tutor in the Winton Woods school district.
"You have to come at it from many, many different angles," she said. "Let's work on anger management in the younger grades. Let's make sure we're teaching proper languaging. There's no reason we can't teach all children critical and analytical thinking. We have to stop children from having children.
"It takes a tremendous commitment, and this society has never really made it," Ms. Seymour said.
Money -- who gets how much -- hangs over all Ohio education issues, the group agreed. The state must find a way to fairly divide money among its 611 school districts. Ohio is under a court order to change its school-funding system, now based on property taxes -- a program faulted for creating a wide service gap between rich and poor districts.
But Ohioans in May soundly voted down an effort to pay for schools with a sales-tax increase, legislators' first attempt to comply with the court order.
"Every school needs the exact (same) amount of money," said Dennis Matthews, principal at Cincinnati's Withrow High School, which draws students predominately from low-income neighborhoods. "We have to decide: "How important is education?' and "How much are you willing to pay?' "Do we educate every child, or do we write off certain kids to take care of the rest?' "
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'I didn't know how good I had it until I did student teaching in (Cincinnati Public Schools). Put counselors in the schools. I don't have the skills to do that.'
NICOLE MENKE, studying to be a teacher
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Stan Corkin, a parent of two students in Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) and an assistant professor of English at the University of Cincinnati, agreed: "Adequate funding does not assure quality education. But without adequate funding, there is no quality education."
If politicians did a little homework, that could help stop the tendency of many "to reach out and grab the first bright, shiny pebble because it's easy," said Gary Conley, a Clifton resident and president of the Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Sciences in Carthage, which trains workers and provides improvement programs for Tristate manufacturers.
"I hope (the candidates) are more thoughtful and think about this problem with some degree of depth and sophistication," Mr. Conley said.
Asking politicians to fix something can backfire, panelists agreed. Too much change -- "constant, incessant, mindless change," Mr. Varis said -- accomplishes little except to force teachers to jump from goal to goal.
"I would like to have five, six, 10 years without any more reforms, so we could see what we're doing," said Ann Boyle, assistant superintendent in the Princeton City School District.
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'For goodness sakes, do some homework and know what you're talking about ... and stop piecemealing the reform.'
JOHN VERIS, Reading Schools Superintendent
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Inequitable funding has created serious problems for inner-city districts like Cincinnati Public Schools, where students bring more personal problems to school. Lawmakers should ensure, panelists said, that every school has enough nurses, social workers and counselors to help kids deal with problems including teen pregnancy, substance abuse and parental abuse or neglect.
At Withrow, there are just two counselors working with 1,700 students, Mr. Matthews said. Many CPS schools have no in-house nurses.
Nicole Menke, who is studying to be a teacher at the University of Cincinnati, remembers her disbelief when she looked around the inner-city school where UC assigned her.
"I come from one of those wealthy suburban districts. I didn't know how good I had it until I did student teaching" in Cincinnati Public Schools, Ms. Menke said. "Put counselors in the schools. I don't have the skills to do that."
Panelists decried the public's support of stadiums, saying sports has surpassed education in many minds.
"We're dealing with a society that talks a good game. Everybody believes in (education), because it's good to say, "I care about kids.' But what it comes down to is the almighty dollar, and until that becomes secondary, we're really wasting our time," said Mr. Matthews, whose children attend suburban Sycamore schools.
"The only thing that gets built is two coliseums for million-dollar ballplayers. Schools are important, but they're just not important enough" to lawmakers and the public, Mr. Matthews said.
Mr. Varis agreed: "We have buildings that are 80 years old. If they were stadiums, we would have rebuilt them three times by now."
Others stressed that teaching, too, is key.
"We're so emphasizing facilities, at least in my district, over teachers, that you have this teacher-parent-student triangle that is being neglected," said Rick Friedman, of Montgomery, a parent in the Sycamore Community School District. "You could have the greatest facilities in the world, but if you don't have outstanding teachers, you don't have good education."
The group lamented politicians' and the public's tendency to judge a school district solely on its performance on state-mandated proficiency tests.
"I would ask for more leeway in the interpretations of scores," Ms. Boyle said. "If my students are weak in reading and math, I want to have the luxury to focus on that. If a (national standardized test) score is a better snapshot of a child's performance, let me use that to talk to parents."
Politicians and educators should visit schools, stay longer than a morning and see what students face, CPS teacher Gwendolyn Womack said.
"We need to spend a week with you, and you spend a week with us," Ms. Womack said, to the suburban educators. "The best-kept secret is Taft and the Queen City Vocational School. Scholars are at that school, but we have misjudged these schools because of where they are.
"I would ask legislators to spend a week, a day. . . . Walk the walk. Come in and stay a few days," Ms. Womack said.
Lawmakers must create more incentives to stop "green flight" -- higher-income families moving their children to more desirable districts, said David Nordyke, who opened a charter school, Harmony Community School in Bond Hill, this fall.
"We have to be flexible in the delivery of services," Mr. Nordyke said, who operates Harmony inside an old five-and-dime store in Swifton Commons. "Maybe not all students need to go to a building. We can do it in homes or in smaller groups. I don't see designs that promote creative thinking."
Some panelists panned charter schools, saying it's not fair that the new breed of schools are free of some state mandates that are forced on regular public schools. There should not be different rules for different schools, Mr. Varis said.
Two charter schools opened this fall in Hamilton County. Ohio lawmakers approved a charter-school law last year to increase competition and accountability among public school districts and to give parents more choices. Charter schools -- also called community schools -- operate free of many state requirements, but they're publicly funded and open to all students.
Public-school advocates also chastised their private counterparts for "dumping" low-achievers and misbehaving students into the public system. Private schools should work harder with struggling students -- the same way public schools must, Mr. Matthews said.
"When a kid doesn't come to school and is 35 times late, don't tell him to go to Withrow," Mr. Matthews said. "Work with him."
Ohioans want a governor who will strongly push lawmakers to come up with a funding solution quickly because, without one, districts see their financial stability wobbling. Skeptical voters aren't willing to approve local tax increases when they feel the issue is one for legislators, panelists agreed.
"We're even in greater dire straits here because (the public is) thinking, "I might not have to pass this levy because the help is coming, the help is coming.' But how many years are we going to wait for the cavalry to come?" said Debra Spencer, a Spanish teacher at Lebanon High School and a Loveland resident.
The governor must help lawmakers see that it is as important to spend money on students as on prisoners, said Rachel Hutzel, a Lebanon parent and an assistant Warren County prosecutor who handles child-abuse cases.
"It is very, very expensive to deal with the effects of no education," said Ms. Hutzel, noting that many prisoners cannot read or write. The new governor should provide the leadership to "fund children like they matter as much as convicted felons," she said.
Panelists would tell the future governor to lead with integrity, remembering the children and the consequences of neglecting education.
"Be a thinker: Think with (your) own mind and own heart, not the loudest voice or the flashiest lobbyist," said Robin Solazzo, principal of South Lebanon Elementary School.
Taft's education platform
Fisher's education platform
Readers on panel
