Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > April > 15 > Entry
Charter funding lawsuit headed to Supreme Court
Last year I wrote about how state lawmakers stepped in to stop a settlement deal that would have brought $14 million to Dayton to correct what urban districts insist was an improper revision of the way their money is re-routed to charter schools.
On behalf of urban districts, Cincinnati schools sued and won but the state appealed. The appeals court has now reaffirmed the lower court decision that the state owes urban school districts somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 million.
But the Ohio Board of Education last week decided to appeal again, this time to the Ohio Supreme Court.
So the case lives on. I wonder what it would mean for Dayton if it suddenly received $14 million. How would they use it? Would it affect the plan for a fall levy? I guess there’s no reason to worry about that now.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Post your comment | Categories: Charter Schools and School Choice, Dayton Public Schools
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By dps graddyoueight
April 16, 2008 5:00 PM | Link to this
Shoot, I know how DPS would spend that dough - put rims and hydraulics on all the school buses and put a banging system in Welcome Stadium so we can really rock tha house yo. And if there’s any left we can build an extra wing onto Purdy Mack’s retirement home in GA.By null
April 16, 2008 3:12 PM | Link to this
How sad.By Barb
April 16, 2008 2:41 PM | Link to this
Don’t forget a few people would give DPS a high rating because there are new buildings and these people think that equates to a better education. They will fill out a survey saying this very thing if they are not asked to have any accountability in their child’s educational process. DPS will grab that like a bone and show how they have done so well their accountability has improved.By Avoice
April 16, 2008 9:50 AM | Link to this
Wow DavidSS2, you stole my thunder! Of course this is how DPS would spend the money. It is how they have been spending general fund money for the past decade with no one to check up on it. Of course there would be more nepotism. Percy has to hire a few more buddies from Georgia. It is true that there would be more people hired that do not teach children. In fact, DPS is doing this as we speak. The local media would not investigate this and the system would continue on without anyone calling foul over the bloated mess. Several administrators and assistants would travel to a conference on the West Coast and they would hear about the new way to fire more teachers, hire more specialists to train fewer teachers and increase classroom size. Next these same people will not meet with parents at Ludlow 1 and 2 due to the fact that the district is in a crisis and the administration is too busy to hear parents concerns. The foolishness would not end and parents would look for other ways to educate their kids. Your tax dollars are at work.By Oldprof
April 16, 2008 8:41 AM | Link to this
Scott, your memory might serve—the board announced that the levy last year was earlier and larger than they’d anticipated due to the state board renegging on these funds. Still more evidence that Susan Tave Zelman and the OBE need to be benched; they can’t even track enrollments accurately, and then they waste public funds on interminable legal wrangling. Their job is to fund schools reliably, and if there is any valid argument about funding, they’re not doing their job.By DavidSS2
April 16, 2008 8:28 AM | Link to this
How would the district use 14 million dollars? Additional assistant supeintendents? More people in the Reynolds buildings downtown to ease the workload on the highly educated staff? Assistants for the over-worked athletic director for the sports they should have cancelled due to money shortage? Preserving buildings that should have been replaced. Reinstation sports at all levels because it improved education so much and there are lots of friends and buddies who was closet coaches and friends who want coaching jobs for the pay. Implement a study on how to reduce the number of teachers in the classrooms to save money in the future by increasing class size and cutting building staffing who are in contact with the kids all day long.By Mary
April 16, 2008 7:34 AM | Link to this
How would they spend $14 million? My “educated” guess is raise salaries, build swimming pools, equip more football stadiums with new turf, and put in new competition gym floors, but do absolutely nothing about academics and class sizes. That is what school districts do already with their money.