Ohio needs credible alternative for public schools

Jill Miller Zimon has a post up on an arrest in California of the founder of a charter school network. Apparently, the schools themselves weren’t for-profit, but the schools used the services of a for-profit company, owned by the same person. Clearly a conflict of interest. Jill writes about how this might affect Ohio:

Mary Taylor’s been publishing audits that indicate a problems with the charters. But she’s also been the benefactor of their profits. How will she interpret what’s going in California, for herself and her responsibilities?

Let’s not forget another readon why I dislike the profit aspect: because so many of the profits go to politicians.

By that logic, we should never have any Democrats doing anything about the public schools. Why should anyone trust Democrats to regulate public schools when they receive so much from teachers’ unions? In the public school system, we’ve got politicians giving raises to teachers, who give some of it to their unions, who contribute some of it to politicians in an attempt to get more money for teachers and to protect the monopoly teachers’ unions want on public funds, thus guaranteeing a more or less permanent revenue stream to Democrats.

The solution for Ohio is broad reporting requirements for spending and education results for all schools, public, charter, and for-profit. The legislature has to be smart enough to properly regulate all schools that receive public money. Then let parents decide where to send their children and where to spend the money earmarked for those children. Public schools fail and waste money too. There needs to be a credible alternative.

Trackback | Posted by Brian | Sep 5, 2007 5:28 pm | Permalink | Bookmark
Categories: National, Ohio, Politics, News

Posted by Jill | Sep 5, 2007 7:01 pm

Brian - if you’re going to state that logic says this:

“we should never have any Democrats doing anything about the public schools. Why should anyone trust Democrats to regulate public schools when they receive so much from teachers’ unions? In the public school system, we’ve got politicians giving raises to teachers, who give some of it to their unions, who contribute some of it to politicians in an attempt to get more money for teachers and to protect the monopoly teachers’ unions want on public funds, thus guaranteeing a more or less permanent revenue stream to Democrats.”

and you want to be seen as credible or at least fair, you cannot NOT state how much money Husted, Taylor, Mandel and many others in the Ohio legislature and Ohio politics have received more than $3 million JUST from David Brennan.

Please - I have never argued for or against the unions - I specifically don’t rely on any arguments connected to them for my reasons to dislike for-profit education systems. So don’t do me the disservice of implying that I’m shilling for the unions. That’s not the case and you know it. Likewise, you know how the GOP uses charter school profits.

Please - just be, well, you know - fair and balanced. Seriously, okay?

Posted by Brian | Sep 5, 2007 7:44 pm

Jill, I think I am being fair. Your post talks about the influence of money on one side only- the for-profit side. I’m balancing that by saying that applies to the unions on the public side as well. I’m not saying that one side is purer or better than the other. That seems to be your point.

Now you’re saying that I need to mention the amount of money Brennan (and family and associates and PACs) has contributed to Ohio Republicans, but you don’t say that I would also need to mention the amount of money the teachers’ unions contribute to Ohio Democrats.

I’d be happy with a common set of rules for everyone, which is what I called for in the last paragraph.

Posted by Jill | Sep 5, 2007 10:51 pm

Brian Brian Brian

Come on. You seem to be an intelligent, sentient being. My post does not “talk” about the influence of money. My post re-states what I’ve written a zillion times: I don’t like for-profit education corporations because they use their profits to influence politicians. The post is not “about” the influence of money, even though yes, I mention that as one of my biggest peeves about the for-profit charters. If I wanted to write about that point, I would. How do you think I come up with 57 reasons to vote for or against anything? By taking the small, individual points and writing a whole post about them. The post to which you link is not about that one point, even though I mention that that’s one of my main peeves.

If you wanted to actually BE balancing what I wrote with something you’re writing, then you would have said, it’s only fair to note that, on the other side, union members choose to take their earnings and let their organizations do the exact same thing as David Brennan does.

Of course - the main problem with that argument, IF you want to be discussing the money that goes to politicians (all of which I would LOVE to see stop), is that the money from the unions is money given to the unions by people who actually work to educate our kids. Brennan doesn’t do anything of the sort. He takes money that is PROFIT, he takes money that would otherwise go into his bank account, and gives it to politicians, rather than back into education.

The teachers etc. and union members, on the other hand, take their actual earnings, for, you know, actually teaching kids, and the unions use the money to influence laws connected to how they, you know, TEACH.

Brennan seeks to influence how, you know, he gets more opportunities to, you know, make money. Since that’s his prime motive.

Now - I just did a quick search on the Ohio Sec’y of State’s website. I put in OEA and ran the numbers and then I put in David Brennan. The amount of money given to politicians by these two entites are not even close - Brennan is tens of thousands of dollars in front of OEA.

I’m a neophyte at this kind of tracking mostly because, on the principle of the thing, I do not believe in lobbying with money - regardless of the donor or the recipient.

But if you want to get into a unions versus White Hat, David Brennan argument, you can start with the SOS numbers.

Posted by Columbuser.com » Charter school enrollment rising | Sep 6, 2007 12:52 pm

[…] post: Ohio needs credible alternative for public schools.) Trackback | Posted by Brian | Sep 6, 2007 12:52 pm | Permalink | Bookmark Categories: […]

Posted by Rick | Jan 10, 2008 12:27 pm

Comare the results of private -vs- public schools in the Columbus area. The debate is over! The Columbus Public School system has failed and continues to fail.

One has to ask, Why are treacher unions so against allowing the public to choose between private and public education? Isn’t competition suppose to be a GOOD thing? With competition comes higher standards, results and economies of scale.

I will answer this question. Teacher’s Unions fear competition knowing that it will end their monopoly on education.

Here in Columbus the school board presents smoke and mirrors …. we need more money, we need to combine the middle and high school, rich school districts are geeting better books, on and on. Never do we hear… the kids don’t attend class, the kids don’t complete their homework, the adults don’t demand a change and don’t supervise their children.

Now… if it were a loosing football season the parents would be demanding the head of the football coach on the eand of a spear!

Rick

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