While our community is divided regarding this particular levy at this particular time, we are not divided in our concern for all children and the success of all children in school. I consider public schools the very bedrock of our great democracy. The challenges confronting public education are interwoven with the challenges facing all larger urban communities - poverty, affordable housing, affordable health care, better job opportunities, safe neighborhoods, and alcohol and drug abuse.

Let me underscore that I, personally, and the other members of the CBC are longstanding, ardent supporters of CPS. The CBC has a history of financially supporting every school levy. In fact, we came into existence to help our public schools reach high academic achievement. We still support that goal through adopt-a-school programs, mentoring students, and cleaning up and repairing schools. We will continue to do these and many other things.

We do not support Issue 32, however, because solid financial stewardship has not been demonstrated by the school board. The district is over $20 million in the red and cannot account for those funds.

Other traditional supporters of CPS levies also are reluctant to support this levy. They feel past promises of past levies haven't been kept, student achievement results haven't been reached, and CPS leadership has not demonstrated appropriate fiduciary responsibility.

To this end, we supported Mayor Charlie Luken's call for an unbiased group of citizens to study CPS's financial situation to bring clarity and assurance that every dollar is being used in the most effective manner. When this has occurred, our community can come together with the full knowledge of how much school funding is needed, and where, when, and how these dollars will be spent to achieve our shared goal of highly educated children.

There are those trying to move forward without this clarity and transparency. We believe that path leads to greater frustration in the community and thus, a long-term negative impact on our children.

We remain strongly committed to Cincinnati Public Schools, but we cannot support this levy renewal until there is more clarity about use of existing and future funds.

---

Phillip R. Cox is president and chief executive officer of Cox Financial Corp. He is also chairman of the board of trustees at the University of Cincinnati.

Want your voice here?

Send your column or proposed topic, 400 words or fewer, with a photo of yourself, to associate editorial editor Byron McCauley at bmccauley@enquirer.com