OHIO School District Seeks Bailout?

That was the headline in USA today - on Wednesday. Yes, it's true...and what's more it was our school district here in Olmsted Falls.

Here's the press release: "Last week, Olmsted Falls school district superintendent submitted an application to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland requesting federal funds in the amount of $100,000,000 through the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) Capital Purchase Program (CPP), part of the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. The
top-rated public school district, located 19 miles southwest of Cleveland, OH, has requested
$50,000,000 to cover ongoing operating costs associated with unfunded federal mandates
involving special education services as well as No Child Left Behind requirements. The Olmsted
Falls City School District has also requested $50,000,000 in capital to underwrite
bonds needed to construct much-needed school facilities and employ hundreds of local out-of work construction and trade workers in the process. Rising enrollment and strained finances have forced the suburban Cleveland district to take measures such as converting maintenance closets into classrooms." Sad but true. We also have many trailers outside our school buildings. These serve as full time homerooms and classrooms. There is no music room, the music teachers bring the instruments to the kids. Art classes are held on the stage of the gym in the primary school, often when gym class is going on behind the curtain. Again, sad but true...I could go on and on. But why bore people and there are so many other schools just like us out and around the country.

Though I don't know all of the exact details, state funding for education has been cut unbelievably. The state lottery money is supposed to go to the school districts in Ohio. From the money the lottery pulls in daily, little actually trickles down to the schools within the state. Although the mechanism for funding public education in Ohio has been declared unconstitutional 3 times, the State continues to force local districts to operate with a heavy reliance on local tax dollars – a reliance which varies significantly from district to district based on the business-to-residential ratio, & the overall wealth of the community.

We have lived her almost 14 years. In this time, we, like so many of other school districts throughout Ohio have struggled to get levies passed to keep up with the ever rising cost of education, with little contribution from the state of Ohio. In our community specifically we are mainly residential, with very few businesses. Therefore our commercial tax base is near non-existent. We also have a large development made up exclusively of retired & elderly folks that are a strong component of why the school levies do not pass - - higher taxes are not attractive to retirees on a budget (or anyone else for that matter). That is quite understandable in this economy when elderly struggle to pay for much needed medications or even go without.

Our school have been 1 of 15 public school district in Ohio to have received the top rating on the Ohio Department of Education’s Local Report Card for 9 years straight. Without new funds, the district will need to begin the process of dismantling the high quality educational program that has been built up over the years. Again, sad but true. This is something one takes for granted.

So this evening we went to the high school auditorium to attend out 6 year old daughter's Christmas concert. I looked around as it was going on and thought..."Wow, these music teachers really work hard." It was amazing to see that these 1st graders knew all the words to these 8 songs with motions & signs as well. All of these learned since they began school this fall. If you have dealt with 6 year-olds, you know you need to have the patience of a saint. In the audience were many teachers from the school there to support their kids. It made me realize how fortunate we are to have such a great school system and an administrator who can think outside the box. Whether we get $100,000 for our schools or not, I know we have people who care about educating our kids. So though many vehemently oppose Dr. Hoadley's move to request bailout money...I think it is a great start. While the original intent of the bailout $ was targeted at banking institutions, applicants now include public entities such as the cities of Phoenix, Philadelphia and Atlanta, and non-banking corporations such as auto manufacturers....why not request some money. After all, education is a business as well...............

Stay tuned for further info..................