here ya go....the "2 dozen' was pared down to 23, last I saw...

Job One in Ohio
March 29, 2007; Page A16
We've reported some good education news of late, but then there's Ohio, where new Governor Ted Strickland has decided that one of his first priorities should be an assault on public and private school choice.

As part of his first budget, Mr. Strickland is proposing to abolish a two-year-old voucher program that provides a $5,000 tuition scholarship for up to 14,000 children who attend schools certified by the state to be in "academic emergency." That can mean as many as one in three schools in some parts of the state, and in Columbus nearly one in two. The program is new, and was designed as a follow-on to the successful Cleveland voucher program.

Both programs have been major political targets of the teachers unions that supported Mr. Strickland's election, making him the first Democratic Governor in Ohio in 16 years. Mr. Strickland decided that the Cleveland program had too much local political support to take on, so instead he's trying to kill the statewide voucher plan before it can develop its own constituency.

The Governor is also proposing a moratorium on the creation of new charter schools in the state, saying charters have been "a dismal failure." In Ohio, some 80,000 students are served by 305 charters, which are public schools freed from bureaucratic and union rules. Unions and charter opponents have used the failure of about two dozen charter schools in Ohio to tarnish the entire concept. But unlike failing public schools, charters that don't perform can be put out of business. Failing public schools live on and on, trapping students year after year.


For the most part, however, charters are thriving in Ohio and many of them have waiting lists for admission. Large-scale research on charter performance is spotty. But a recent study by the Buckeye Institute found that students in Ohio charters performed better on six of nine academic measurements in math and reading than kids in traditional public schools. This was despite spending less money per pupil and having less-experienced teachers.

Mr. Strickland's other excuse for this assault on school choice for the poor is that the state needs to save money. Yet the voucher program costs a mere $13 million out of a $53 billion state budget that includes big new spending increases on education and bonuses for the public-school bureaucracy. The Columbus Dispatch reports that from 2001 to 2006, spending per pupil in Columbus schools rose to $11,918 from $9,078. As everywhere, the problem in Ohio schools isn't money; it's the status quo of union-enforced mediocrity.

We'd have thought that with Ohio's many other problems, a new Governor would have better things to do than deny opportunity for poor kids to escape the worst schools in the state.

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No individual can plan his own existence in their view.

So the state planners must arrogate to themselves the right to manipulate any sector of the economic system if the good of “society” or the “general welfare” is paramount.

Ipso- if the rights of the individual get in the way, the rights of the individual must be sublimated.

The Road to Serfdom
FA Hayek (interpretation)


Mortgage Backed Security survivor

Looks like an opinion piece, Imperator. Plus, it seems to be confusing charter schools with vouchers, two very different things.

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When they come a wull staun ma groon
Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear
Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears

Show me one modern industrialized nation with no public education - where the marketplace has completely taken over this role, and is carrying it out successfully.


The problem with you Ayn Rand fans is that you don't recognize that she wrote fiction. Yeah, it's easy to knock over a paper tiger if you're the one who creates it - reality is not that obliging.

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And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." --George W. Bush, Jan. 29, 2007

There aren't any, however some Scandinavian countries have brought market forces and competition into the schools which has driven them to succeed, utilize technology, and most importantly, keep the kids engaged. Parents have a wide array of options of where to send their children and it has forced schools to compete which has meant the kids have benefited from the schools trying to be innovative to stay ahead.

I live in a right to work state - so there are no unions here. Hasn't improved the schools the way competition from local charter schools has. There is now a Montessori elementary school in the local school district. They are experimenting with all sorts of magnet schools - technology, aerospace, arts, computers, etc.

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And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." --George W. Bush, Jan. 29, 2007

Exactly what charters do here!

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And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." --George W. Bush, Jan. 29, 2007

What US schools need is a 240 day school year, and a longer school day.
There is no reason why our schools should maintain hours and a school year based on the needs of farm children, when 98% of the children in the US aren't farm children.
We need a school system that takes into account the fact that most parents work, and one that addresses the needs of urban children, and suburban children, as opposed to the current system which is based on farm kids.

Yeah, it will cost more for the schools, but it won't cost as much as having to deal with the failures of the current school system.

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“ The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”

Adam Smith , The Wealth of Nations 1776

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics"
FDR's second Inaugural Address

Why should I do this for you? No, I'm serious. Why do I have to do that? Do you feel that if there is no such country, that it cannot be done?I'm not sure what Ayn Rand has to do with this, or what she does at all, so I'm not sure that qualifies me as an "Any Rand fan."

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If a neocon whines about big government wealth redistribution, just ask him what he thinks about the portion of that big government that sends aid to Israel.

Yes, I feel there is no such country - enlighten me. Show me where it has been successful.

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And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." --George W. Bush, Jan. 29, 2007

I agree - we also need to recognize that we are no longer educating our kids to become assembly line workers and farmers. There is a whole different skill set necesary for survival now.

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And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." --George W. Bush, Jan. 29, 2007

That assumes that schools are entirely driven by a profit motive. The problems of a profit motive for schools are so numerous I don't think I have time to list them. The last thing education needs is to be reduced to a profit motive.

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"There were no D-Day Heroes in 1973" - Cold Chisel Khe Sanh

A fair point, goober.

There'd be some significant expenses, though. A longer school day, without an increase in teachers, would push student loads (in middle and high school) to a level that IMHO would be far too much for an individual teacher to handle.

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When they come a wull staun ma groon
Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear
Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears

Answer my question. Why should I enlighten you?

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If a neocon whines about big government wealth redistribution, just ask him what he thinks about the portion of that big government that sends aid to Israel.

I don't see it as a profit motive, Diuretic, but as recognition that one size fits all is not a successful educational model.

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And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." --George W. Bush, Jan. 29, 2007

Well, I do like the idea of ending compulsory education. The problem is that schools would look for an excuse to kick out kids. You know that if you give that type of power to the schools, they will abuse it. I think it would be better if we gave that power to parents, and children (once they turn 18).

Children with ADD/HD would be protected this way, since the power is in the parents' hands.

I go to a charter school. It's amazing, and that's all I'll say.


Here's my guidelines:
1) Classes are too short
2) Computers do not help with education
3) Teachers should not have tenure
4) Classes should start later
5) School should be shorter (less electives being required or offered could shorten the day. School is not daycare.)

I'll edit this later.

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Sever the line to the guilty past
To the ones who brought us nothing
Spoke of futures brave and proud
And brought only hate and war.
Lined the roads with hollow praise
Marked the land with paper statues
Shadows fell on their futile ways
And then there was nothing more