tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13368104.post114489444618907876..comments2024-03-06T05:30:41.694-05:00Comments on Pho's Akron Pages: Pho Endorsement: For Local Issue 1Scott Piephohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05849171870929674248noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13368104.post-1145127320219087612006-04-15T14:55:00.000-04:002006-04-15T14:55:00.000-04:00PAA:Much as I appreciate your comments on the othe...PAA:<BR/><BR/>Much as I appreciate your comments on the other post, I have to disagree with you here.<BR/><BR/>The AkronWatch site isn't so much an endorsement of Plusquellec and his "cronyism," it's an indictment of a system that forces localities to compete with one-another for employers by handing out ever-sweeter incentive packages. It all sucks. The Radisson redevelopment shelled out any number of incentives to David Brennan -- hardly a Plusquellec crony. Roetzel and Andress is probably majority Republican. When you look at the deals, you have to weigh what would happen if those employers left the city altogether.<BR/><BR/>As far as your charge that APS discriminates against poor white kids, I'd like to see some specifics. The most successful cluster after the last round of acheivement tests wasn't Firestone, it was Ellet. Poor kids -- of any race -- come into a school system with more challenges than middle-class kids. The rise in test scores across the board shows APS is doing well with all of them, despite the escalating fiscal roadblocks thrown up by the state. <BR/><BR/>Finally, they can't discriminate based on economic class because No Child Left Behind won't let them. They have to bring up the test scores for a number of subgroups, including poor kids. If they did ignore poor kids, they wouldn't have met Adequate Yearly Progress last year.Scott Piephohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05849171870929674248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13368104.post-1145118155297788382006-04-15T12:22:00.000-04:002006-04-15T12:22:00.000-04:00http://akronwatch.org/good site about how plasquel...http://akronwatch.org/<BR/><BR/>good site about how plasquellic's robbing the schools<BR/><BR/>and secondly.....<BR/><BR/>akron public schools decide who they educate based on culture and class...even today they're denying poor white students an equal opprotunity for an educationAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13368104.post-1144945417000466182006-04-13T12:23:00.000-04:002006-04-13T12:23:00.000-04:00Thanks Pho. It does make sense. I'm still torn ab...Thanks Pho. It does make sense. <BR/><BR/>I'm still torn about whether to vote on it or not. My kid participates in sports. They are definitely going to close that down if the vote doesn't go through. On the other hand though they won't even allow the boosters to support it for a y ear if the vote falls flat - so that seems more like a threat and punishment kind of thing and that puts me off. <BR/><BR/>I am a homeowner. I have a tough enough time making ends meet. Lots of families on my street are renters. It seems as if they will be voting on whether or not I have to work harder to meet my tax oblivations. That puts me off too. <BR/><BR/>I've also been watching Oprah this week on public education and I intend to get the Time Magazine edition on this topic too. That also makes me think we have to do something else and not just throw tax money on the problem.<BR/><BR/>I'll probably hold my nose and vote for it because I don't want my kid to be penalized. But it still doesn't feel right. Thanks for covering the issue in such depth on your blog.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13368104.post-1144898351341242642006-04-12T23:19:00.000-04:002006-04-12T23:19:00.000-04:00Thanks for the question, Anon.Basically, all the c...Thanks for the question, Anon.<BR/><BR/>Basically, all the costs are fixed. You don't use 29/30 of a teacher to teach the class. It costs the same for lights, heat janitorial, etc. The textbooks are already purchased -- usually on cycles of five years or more. The only immediate savings is lunch, but that's a funding stream that can't be diverted to any other use (basically it's an agriculture subsidy -- whole other subject.)<BR/><BR/>You can save money by laying off a teacher, but you can't do that without affecting class ratios until you lose one class in one grade level in one building. You could conceivably move kids around from building to building get the optimal mix, but it causes a lot of disruption, plus transportation costs that the state doesn't reimburse.<BR/><BR/>The School Board has been scrambling to right-size the district. That's one way they've been able to lay off as many staff as they have but only bumped up class ratios once. <BR/><BR/>And of course, there's a political price to be paid for closing a building. There are a lot of hurt feelings in Central Hower over the high school closing. It had to be done, but while the rest of Akron is pissed that the School Board isn't consolidating fast enough, the people in the neighborhoods losing schools are pissed they are the ones who lost out. <BR/><BR/>But at the most basic level, the loss of one kid results in lost money that exceeds by far the money saved. I hope that answers your question.Scott Piephohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05849171870929674248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13368104.post-1144896967421091392006-04-12T22:56:00.000-04:002006-04-12T22:56:00.000-04:00It doesn't cost any less to teach a class of 29 th...<I>It doesn't cost any less to teach a class of 29 than to teach a class of 30. Such are the odd wrinkles in education economics.</I><BR/><BR/>OK. This is the part I wish someone could explain to me in plain English. How come? How come it doesn't cost less to teach a class of 29 than it does a class of 30?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com