My response to the Ohio Education Assn.

Today I was interviewed by the candidate screening committee of the Ohio Education Assn. The OEA represents teachers in the 20th District. I was also allowed two minutes for both opening and closing statements. The interview lasted approximately 30 minutes. These are my respones to the questionaire.:

Key educational issues
1. Describe what you consider to be the three most important issues facing-Ohio's public schools and explain why you chose those three issue
*Funding All funding formulas must satisfy the Supreme Court’s demand to provide adequacy and equal opportunity and be approached with a broad perspective to include consideration of diminishing finite financial resources as well as the cost of post-secondary education for prospective teachers. This will require a general and sweeping re-establishment of priorities.
*Privatization Any conversion of operating funds to profits typically decreases the amount of services delivered. Historically, Ohio’s public schools have served us well with adequate funding and citizen support. Private contracting may suit some needs but only with rigorous oversight.
*Labor Relations Collective bargaining helps teaching professionals resist the economic pressures of the labor market and establish long-term relationships in their districts. A cooperative agreement between labor and administration promotes the common mission to provide the highest quality education for every student.
School Funding
2. What recommendations would you offer to improve school funding and decrease the reliance on local property taxes to fund public education?
*I fully support the provisions of the Education Amendment to define the cost of a quality education, commit adequate state resources, set local property tax ceilings and fund necessary safety and security partners.
3. Ohio's tax law does not allow school districts to collect on increases in property valuation because of the state's tax reduction factors (HB920). Would you support legislation or an amendment to the Ohio constitution to give school district voters the authority to repeal or modify the tax reduction factors?
*Yes. Promoting and allowing voter/citizen involvement in school issues is desirable.
4. What would you do to improve higher education funding and increase access to and completion of higher education funding in Ohio?
* 1) Implement or Extend tuition freeze at state universities. 2) We must lead with the message of education as a top priority in order to build public/political support for redistribution of funds from other areas and generation of new revenues (taxes) dedicated to higher education, current economic pressures notwithstanding.
5. Do you believe that the Ohio General Assembly has imposed unfunded mandates on local school districts? If so, how would you address the problem? *Certainly the federal government has through NCLB requiring more staff and resources for compliance. Since the State of Ohio did not effectively rebut the program’s requirements they could be perceived as levying an unfunded mandate. Any provisions to reject unfunded mandates in any branch of government should also be applied to education, perhaps even more stringently.
Retirement Systems
6. Would you support a plan that would require employers and/or employees to increase their contributions to the state retirement systems to cover post-retirement health care?
*Maybe. I support the Health Care for All Ohioans Act which would satisfy this need.

7. Do you believe that the General Assembly should take action to restrict pension system investments in order to advance public policy goals?
* I see pension funds as trust funds earmarked for that specific purpose. Funds, properly invested are intended to increase the security of the beneficiaries. Advancing public policy, however noble does not seem to be in line with that purpose.
Collective Bargaining and Employee Rights
8. Do you support collective bargaining rights for public education employees under ORC section 4117?
*Yes, I support collective bargaining for all employees regardless of career path. Successful collective bargaining contributes to a sense of community vital to public education.

9. Do you support allowing local school districts to subcontract with private groups to provide educational or educational support services? Why or why not?
* When the role of public education is recognized and secure, private contracting of specific services may be done successfully. It must however be under strict oversight, be financially beneficial to the school district and not compete with the fundamental role of public education.

10. Would you sponsor or support legislation to repeal statutory provisions allowing school districts to privatize school busing services? Why or why not?
*Don’t know. Volatile fuel prices currently make any predictions about transportation costs impossible. I tend to support district operation of school busing due to the important role of “bus driver”, especially in rural districts. Security/safety issues may best be served by in-house operations as well.

11. Do you support the rights of teachers to evaluation and due process prior to the termination or non-renewal of a teaching contract? *Yes, unconditionally.

12. In your opinion what is a fair state minimum teacher's salary?

* I don’t feel it appropriate for me to assess the monetary value of a teacher’s work. Recognizing that geographical location may affect cost of living there may be some variance. Generally speaking a teacher’s salary should reflect the education and training needed, as well as continuing study and personal commitment and the community’s need to retain effective teachers. I personally don’t know any teachers who I would judge to be overpaid.

13. What elements do you believe should be included in the evaluations of teachers and other education professionals? Do you believe that student standardized test scores should be a factor in teacher evaluation and/or compensation?

* Performance based evaluations are present in most workplaces. As a self-employed small businessman my evaluations are reflected by our long-term relationships with our customers and our ability to generate profit. As a parent of a school-aged child my view would include many considerations, standardized test scores would not be one. Any evaluation should be developed locally to reflect the particular conditions and needs of a school or district.

Vouchers and Charter Schools
14. Do you support the use of public tax dollars to support vouchers, for-profit charter schools or tuition tax credits to parents who send their children to private schools or home schooling them? Why or why not?
* Funding our public schools requires a dedicated pool of resources. Public tax dollars should not leave the system. Opting out is a personal choice and must not impact our ability to fund an adequate and equal education for all Ohio students.
15. What legislation would you propose to improve the financial and academic accountability of charter schools? Do you support shutting down persistently failing and/or unauditable charter schools?
* I would support legislation that would promote consistency of standards comparable to public schools within the same district and establish strict fiscal and administrative oversight. Control over such schools should fall to the local board of education and should not adversely impact the public schools in the district. Obviously charter schools that cannot be audited or persistently fail should be subject to due process.
Additional issues
16. School safety is a major concern for students, parents and educational employees. What proposals would you offer to assure safety in educational settings such as K-12 institutions, MR/DD's, youth correctional facilities and other academic institutions?
*The proposed Education Amendment recognizes and provides funding for these needs, that’s the first step. With these additional resources available consultations among the involved parties, students, parents, employees and safety and security personnel should develop a somewhat standardized, comprehensive “emergency school guideline” for implementation.

17. Numerous studies show that smaller class sizes can improve students' academic performance. Would you support efforts to aid school districts in reducing class size? What policy initiatives would you support to help address closing achievement gaps in Ohio?

*Adequate funding would be most effective in reducing class size, something everyone agrees on. As a father of a child with ADHD and anxiety disorder I have had a first hand look at the challenges a diverse student body faces. Policy initiatives such as Universal Design for Learning would greatly aid this need.

18. How can policymakers help to improve parental involvement in Ohio's public schools?
*The lack of general involvement in community and political structures is growing rapidly.
The message we carry must place education as a priority and stress acceptance of personal and community responsibility for success. The electoral process is unfortunately exclusive rather than inclusive and that must be changed.

19. What do you think will be the major issue(s) in your campaign?
*Health care.
It is my perspective from personal experience as well as from conversations with voters that health care is a major concern. In order to create jobs we must solve this crisis. To keep struggling local governments and school districts afloat we must solve this crisis. To provide immediate stop-gap help for the 1.5 million uninsured and the 1.5 million underinsured Ohioans we must solve this crisis. I support the Health Care for All Ohioans Act. I have served on the state council of the non-profit SPAN Ohio writing and supporting this legislation since 2004. The HCFAOA is fully-funded and extends full comprehensive health care to every Ohio resident and worker without exemption. I urge the OEA to join in this effort.