Will you be voting for new school buildings? (Youngstown, Beavercreek: house, unemployed)

[JR_C]

Just a quick question. If your local school district has an issue on the ballot this November to build new schools, will you be voting for it?

I'm just curious because a lot of my company's work in recent years has been designing schools. We are working for a couple districts who are hoping to pass a bond issue this fall.

One of the districts we're working for is local, and I think there is a snowball's chance that it's going to pass. But, I'm curious about what the rest of the state is like.

[bethany12]

Ohio is one of the areas I have been interested in BECAUSE of the opportunity to vote against school spending. The school districts here (PA) are continually raising property taxes instead of cutting spending or putting a lid on teacher salaries.

I sincerely hope that your purple state moves to the red on fiscal responsibility. Otherwise, Ohio will be another Michigan or New York. There is no way that I would want to move to another school district that wants to waste tax payers dollars.

[rrtechno]

Sorry to be negative on this, but we have enough people in Ohio bashing the teachers and blaming them for tax increases, we really don't need out of staters joining in. I recently retired after 35 years of working in education with our young people, trying my best to help prepare them to become productive members of society and I am very proud of what those young people have accomplished. Many of those former students are making much higher salaries than I was making when I retired, using skills that I helped them develop. I was not in the field to make a gigantic salary. When I graduated from college I was offered a position in business at a much higher salary than I could make in the schools, but I turned it down. I know many people who have done the same thing and still are.

While I don't know you and your experiences, I know that many people who complain about the way schools are operated have not stepped foot in a classroom since they finished school, except possibly for an open house or PT Conference. They have no idea what is involved it operating a classroom, much less an entire school system. People complain about the costs involved and say school expenses should be cut. Please explain that to the electric company, and the gas company, and the fuel supplier for the buses, and the textbook companies, and the cleaning supply suppliers, etc. I know that the greatest expense, percentage-wise, for a school is salaries for employees. My question for you to consider is this, if you remove the expense for raw materials from a factory's budget, wouldn't that then move wages and salaries to a greater percentage? Remember that public schools don't purchase raw materials for their "products". And they don't have the option to reject anything that doesn't meet certain standards. They work and do their best to help all students.

In addition, there are many state and federally mandated standards that must be met ... and paid for. One requirement in a law in Ohio that was just modified was that every entrance to a school must have a walk off mat inside at least 15 feet long. This costs money. Sorry, it is just that simple.

I know many, many, schools that have reduced expenses much more than many people realize because all they know about school financing is the dollar amount on their tax bill. People here have complained about the "frills" that have been added to the classroom, the computers, the video projectors, the smartboards. They say they didn't have things like that when they were in school and students now don't need them either. But isn't our job to prepare students for the "real world", and aren't these the things our young people will be finding when they get out?

I'm sorry, IMHO, cutting back on education, or even having the mindset that it is in the best interest to do so, will do more to harm the chances for complete recovery in our country than anything else.

Sorry to get on this rant, but when someone says things like this around me, my mind just starts going in high gear with so much to say. I feel education has been getting the short end of the stick for so many years. People would think me totally crazy if I were to suggest that the general public should get to vote on a major league baseball players salary, or the price the gas and electric company charge, or the price of a loaf of bread at the grocery store, or the interest rate a bank pays on a savings account. We all would like to be able to do that, but it never gets suggested.

[JR_C]

Keeping in mind rrtechno's great post, we're not talking about wasting tax payers' dollars. This thread is about new school facilities.

If you're replacing new schools every 10 years, then you're wasting tax payers' dollars. But, if your schools are getting to be 40-50 years old, they are nearing the end of their useful life and will need replaced/renovated soon. If your schools were built 80+ years ago, they might have been built to last. But it might be prohibitively expensive to retrofit them with today's technology.

[rrtechno]

Sorry I got sidetracked. A few years ago, we passed a bond issue in our town to build a new school. The new pre-K-12 building replaced three existing ones, a 90 year old High School, a 40 year old Middle School, and a 50+ year old Elementary building. I was strongly in favor of replacing the buildings, (although I had some reservations about the new location) and voted for the building. I would do the same if I were in that situation today, even though I am now on a "fixed" income and my spouse is currently unemployed. I know that our kids need what is best in order for them to succeed and make this a better world.

[PhillytoCincy]

Originally Posted by bethany12

Ohio is one of the areas I have been interested in BECAUSE of the opportunity to vote against school spending. The school districts here (PA) are continually raising property taxes instead of cutting spending or putting a lid on teacher salaries.

I sincerely hope that your purple state moves to the red on fiscal responsibility. Otherwise, Ohio will be another Michigan or New York. There is no way that I would want to move to another school district that wants to waste tax payers dollars.

I was in Pittsburgh on business last week, and thats all the teachers did was complain about the schools in Pennsylvania. I also talked to many that lived in the extremely depressed areas of Beaver, Aliquippa and Ambridge, Pennsylvania that went over the border and worked in school districts like Columbiana, Poland and East Palestine, Ohio.

[PhillytoCincy]

Originally Posted by JR_C

Keeping in mind rrtechno's great post, we're not talking about wasting tax payers' dollars. This thread is about new school facilities.

If you're replacing new schools every 10 years, then you're wasting tax payers' dollars. But, if your schools are getting to be 40-50 years old, they are nearing the end of their useful life and will need replaced/renovated soon. If your schools were built 80+ years ago, they might have been built to last. But it might be prohibitively expensive to retrofit them with today's technology.

Exactly! The new schools here in Beavercreek are quite impressive. Also, you are not watching the old schools get destroyed, but if a school district needs a new school, then its nice to have a new building. But I have been in many school districts throughout Ohio that still have older buildings as schools that are in great shape.

[JR_C]

Originally Posted by Beavercreek33

Exactly! The new schools here in Beavercreek are quite impressive. Also, you are not watching the old schools get destroyed, but if a school district needs a new school, then its nice to have a new building. But I have been in many school districts throughout Ohio that still have older buildings as schools that are in great shape.

I worked on the project to renovate and add on to Chaney High School in Youngstown. Chaney was built in 1954, and had an addition put on in 1966.

As it turned out, renovating what was there was a mistake, and they should have started over from scratch. (because the school wasn't architecturally significant) The old building had to be almost completely gutted to make way for the new systems. And, even though the school had already had asbestos removed, they still found it everwhere. (Because it was is safe, until they had to tear it out. Not because the district was cheated.)

I guess what I'm saying is that even old schools that are well taken care of might need significant renovations or replaced completely.

[ImaMichigander]

I'm 36 and have an 8, 5 and 3 year old that I pay to put into private school. BUT I recognize that is a luxury and so I am ALWAYS in favor of more money for our schools and teachers, whether public or private.

Our children are our most valuable resource and I don't think we should cheap out on them or force them into buildings that are old, decrepit and unsafe.

The more money the better toward education, is what I think.

[000000]

Originally Posted by bethany12

Ohio is one of the areas I have been interested in BECAUSE of the opportunity to vote against school spending.

i was expecting more of this kind of selfish thinking to have to call people out on.