RubberBuzz || Akron Unleashed: School Spirit

7.26.2005

School Spirit

When I was in school I learned a valuable lesson: Quitters Never Win. It's just that simple. Districts around the state are floundering for cash. Programs that enrich the lives of students are being cut just to make ends meet. We can all agree that something needs to be done to fix this hemorrhage, but none of us know for sure how best to do it. But making money costs money, and that's something that we don't have to spare.

Akron was one of the founding members of the group that filed Ohio's school funding lawsuit.

But now, the district has decided to drop out of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding.

School board members voted unanimously Monday to not renew the district's long-standing membership in the coalition of about 500 districts statewide that banded together in what is known as the DeRolph lawsuit...

Districts pay the coalition 50 cents per student each school year, which translates to about $14,700 for Akron.

The more I read about the state of our schools the more upset I get. Sports and music are pay-to-play far more then I care to think about. Trade programs are being shut down. Bussing is minimal. Classes are crowded. Kids aren't passing the graduation test. I don't know what qualifies as a crisis in Ohio, but this seems pretty damn close.

I'm not going to pretend like I have all the answers and spout out some smart-ass idea. This problem is big, really big, and it needs fixed. The municipalities of Ohio cannot afford to take care of the schools, charter schools cannot educate kids to pass standardized testing, districts cannot pass levies. The state needs to step in and provide some real solutions.

Sometimes I think of Ohio as a deadbeat dad. There are tons of kids suffering because the bastard won't pay child support. Instead he spends his cash on cockamamie ideas, like charter schools, that end up hurting the kids even more. Maybe Ohio will step up and do the right thing, but until then I fear we're in for some pain.

The BJ :: Akron to quit funding group

(joe :: School Spirit)

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