FOLLOW UP: ONLY 3 OF 17 STARK COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICTS APPLY FOR SORELY NEEDED FUNDS. DO LOCAL TEACHER UNIONS STAND IN WAY? ONLY ONE STARK COUNTY LOCAL UNION (CANTON LOCAL - AKA CANTON SOUTH) FULLY COOPERATED? HMM?

Back on January 19th, the SCPR published a blog dealing with the Canton Professional Teachers Union (CPEA) being the primary reason that Canton City Schools (CCS) passed on applying for up to $3 million in federal grants (stimulus funds) through a U.S. Department of Education Race to the Top program funneled through state departments of education (ODE - in Ohio).

The SCPR was getting different accounts of the CPEA's refusal to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was required to be filed with the ODE about two weeks ago.

James Carman, who is a board member for the Canton City Schools, pointed the finger at the CPEA and its president Pam Jackson.

Jackson told The Report that Carman has it wrong.  She said the decision not to apply for the grant was a "joint" decision between her (as the representative of the CPEA) and Doctor Michele Evans, superintendent of the Canton City Schools.


CLICK HERE to get up to speed with the prior statements of Carman and Jackson.

Yesterday, the SCPR received a phone call from Dr. Evans giving her version.

Evans' statement in and of itself was no help on clearing up what doubt lingers as to whether or not "the failure to apply" was a "joint" decision or totally the doing of the CPEA.  One has to understand that superintendents MUST maintain good working relationships with their bargaining units in order get anything done in local school districts.  Accordingly, on its face, Evans' statement was as ambiguous as this highly intelligent school administrator could make it.

But yours truly is skilled in "reading between the lines."  So what follows is the SCPR's interpretation of what Dr. Evans was really saying.

In the opinion of yours truly, Superintendent Evans was "ready, willing and able" to sign the MOU as instructed by her board of education.  However, the point became "moot" when discussions with Jackson made it clear to Evans that CPEA president Jackson was not going to sign the MOU.

The tragedy of all this is that the CPEA could have had it both ways.  If the Canton City School system is awarded a grant, and the requirements to implement the standards of Race to the Top proved (when fully known) not compatible with the productive functioning of the CCS, then the collective (the board, the administration and the union) could have said "thanks, but no thanks."

A Ohio Department of Education official told Superintendent Evans and the unions such, but the ODE was not agreeable to having such language put in the required Memorandum of Understanding.

Now the CCS and the union are in the position of hoping that Ohio is not granted participation in the first round of the Race to the Top funding and that there is a second round to get in on come June, 2010.

Another wrinkle to this "tail wagging the dog" scenario cropped up in the Marlington and East Canton school systems.  In those districts, the local unions did sign on, but insisted on inserting the "opt out" right language in the MOU which is a violation of ODE grant submission rules and therefore it is very likely that their applications will be rejected.

Beyond Canton Local, Marlington and East Canton,  fourteen Stark County School districts have rejected altogether applying for the stimulus monies.  Among the fourteen is the Fairless school system which is in a major financial crisis.  Why would Fairless fail to apply?

As an aside:  It will be interesting to track new school board member Charles Snyder - of "Vote No for Increased Taxes" fame on the Stark County commissioner imposed 0.5 percent sales/use tax increase and his actions on the Fairless financial crisis.

Another interesting case is the Northwest Local School District.  If there is such a thing as school district twins - Northwest and Fairless fit the bill.

Northwest is a district that has not had new revenues approved by voters for 10 years.  Last night the Northwest Board of Education voted to put a 5 year, 1% income tax levy on the ballot in May's primary election.  And yet Northwest failed to apply for Race to the Top monies. 

Stetler, the superintendent at Northwest,  tells the SCPR that Northwest chose not to apply because the money the district stood to get was not worth the effort and that getting the funds would subject Northwest to undesirable federal controls.   Moreover, Stetler said that he/the board never got to the point of asking the local teachers union, but that he fully expected that the union would have been troublesome.

An interesting side to this whole discussion is that the Ohio Education Association and the Ohio Federation of Teachers (both statewide union organizations) support applying for Race to the Top grants.

It does, in the final analysis, come down to the reality that changing how we do education in Stark County, Ohio and the nation is - to a large degree - in the hands of local teachers unions.

In the public mind, this kind of power in the hands of local teachers unions is not sustainable.

The SCPR believes that over time, the voting public will tighten and tighten the financial noose around the necks of school districts until local unions let go of their refusal to do meaningful change.

While the local teachers are warring against transformation; this is a battle they cannot win in a tough economy that is going not to rebound to its former glory anytime soon, if ever.  Because in the end the taxpaying public will have their way.

Local teachers unions think they are at war with school boards and superintendents, but they are not.  The general public is sick and tired of the poor results that are coming from public education and the public is fighting back.

This war is between local teachers unions and the tax paying public.

Right now, Stark County's teachers through their unions are choosing to be part of the problem.

If they want to survive long term; they had better get up and running on being a part of the solution!!!

INFORMATION ON TONIGHT'S MEETING WITHDRAWN FROM NORTHWEST BOARD OF EDUCATION WEBSITE?

UPDATE:  01/11/2010 at 11:30 AM

A source tells the SCPR that he believes that the removal from the Northwest Schools website calendar was inadvertent.  The source has provided the SCPR with a copy of an email response to the source from Northwest superintendent William Stetler.

Here it is:

ORIGINAL POST

As Northwest Schools (Canal Fulton area) resident tells the SCPR that back in December, the Northwest Local School District Board of Education (BOE) passed a resolution setting up a series of meeting designed to deal with the question of what the Northwest Schools are to do about its dire financial condition.

Originally, The Report is told, tonight's meeting was on the school website calender.

So, the source posed this question?

The source also included a copy of a BOE resolution setting the series of meeting, to wit:

 

What does the SCPR think is going on here?

Although the meeting of the 11th is clearly a public meeting, the administration and the BOE wants it to be as private as possible by structuring the publicity factor "low-profile."

The SCPR will be surprised if the committees will be engaging the public at all on the 11th.  More likely, attendees will be told that this is a "work session" open to public view, but that the committees will not be taking input or be in dialogue with the public.

The Report might be wrong about this, however, yours truly  believes that the hope is that nobody from the public will be attending.

If The Report is correct about the structuring of the publicity factor as being indicative of a desire to discourage public attendance, then the conclusion to be drawn is that the BOE is not sincere  - as various members have said over the past year - that they are intent on building public trust.

NORTHWEST SCHOOLS SERIES: VOLUME 1 - DID THE BOARD OF EDUCATION NEED TO SPEND $13,000 THEY DON'T HAVE TO FIGURE OUT THAT THEY HAVE A TRUST PROBLEM?

Recently, the Northwest schools decided it need to get out in the community to do a survey to document what almost certainly the board members already intuitively knew: Northwest schools have a community credibility problem.

So you have a school district on financial "life support" that somehow could did up $13,000 plus to learn what they already knew but did not get into the core of the opposition group of voters to the 10 time failed levies.

Over a period of time the SCPR is going to be slicing and dicing that survey for which the field work was done June 11 through June 13, 2009.

It might come to mind to SCPR readers that this series only pertains to Canal Fulton, Clinton and Lawrence Township readers of the blog.

But hold on a minute.

There are problems out there across Stark County with all of the 17 school districts. Jackson and Plain schools only recently passed "survivor" level levies. Soon they will be back for more. Minerva, Fairless and Norrtwest face immediate financial crises.

However, there are more waiting in the wings. Most likely all of the remaining districts with North Canton at the head of the list.

Lake schools have to be particularly nervous given the fact that they were bounced by the voters 70% to 30% on a school bond issue within the past year.

So all you readers need to be applying the lessons of this serious to your own school district.

BACK TO NORTHWEST.

To the SCPR, to get rejected by the voters in 10 straight elections is proof enough in and of itself to establish that the voters do not trust the judgment of school administrators and board members to take their word for it that more funds are needed to keep the schools afloat and that they will be spent judiciously and wisely.

The SCPR has scanned through through the "Northwest Local Schools 2009 Community Survey" (NLS2009CS) and over the coming weeks and, perhaps, months will go over the survey with a fine toothed comb.

What strikes the SCPR right out of the gate is how clearly "cherry-picked" the participants of the survey were. Obviously, this survey went in the main to school district constituents who support the schools election-in and election-out. Knowing him as yours truly does, yours truly can see from the make up the survey that Northwest superintendent William Stetler has the major role if not the only role in working with The Impact Group of Hudson, Ohio to put the survey together.

Stetler is a "pollyanish" type who is typical of superintendents these days who are more politician than they are administrator. No doubt there are strong political and public relations factors to getting school levies passed this day and age. However, it has come to a "political and public relations" approach because school administrators and board members have not stayed in close contact with the basic attitude of school district voters.

Also interesting is how The Impact Group describes itself, to wit:

The SCPR's initial take on this believed to be Stetler public relations/political based survey, is that it is not designed to get to the core of community dissatisfaction, but rather to finesse the matter enough to get a "survivor" levy passed.

Stetler really (in the opinion of the SCPR) wanted to try again this November to get a levy passed as witness by the calling of and holding of a special board meeting to air out reported "community interest" in going right back at it with a November effort even in the light a increased voter opposition in November, 2008.

But the Stetler "closet" (in the sense he referred to a phantom groundswell - noted by their absence at the August 5th "special" board meeting) effort failed and the board wisely decided to embark on a "rebuilding public trust" initiative before trying again.

The SCPR has already suggested a mechanism that the board (if they are up to a "roll of the sleeves" effort) can implement to really and truly turn things around in the school district so that passing levies will again be doable. Not easy, but doable.

The same can be done throughout Stark County. Alliance, Canton, Massillon, Jackson, Plain and Lake could be difficult because the populations are significantly larger than most Stark school districts but by employing focus, determination and persistence; even the larger school districts could really get into the nitty gritty of their constituents.

Even though is not impressed with the selected base of The Impact Group survey on the Northwest schools, in the coming time period the SCPR will be parsing the survey with an analysis of what it says about Northwest schools from a cherry-picked - on the whole - respondent group.