The Dayton Public Schools, in Fordham's hometown, rang out 2009 with an announcement that it faces a $5 million budget shortfall caused by rising home foreclosures and delinquent property taxes.
A mere two weeks later the head of the Dayton Education Association announced that she couldn't support the district's participation in the state's "Race to the Top" application. Her logic, "The requirements of the grant itself ask for too much???????.Too many strings."
Thus, the teachers union vetoed (as both the superintendent and the school board president supported Dayton's participation) the district's chances of garnering millions in federal dollars to help meet the educational needs of the very students those teachers are paid to educate, while also encouraging some needed reforms. Dayton is perennially one of the state's lowest performing school districts.
This is like a starving man refusing a steak because he is asked to cook it for himself.
To appreciate how truly bizarre this decision is, consider the following:
-The state's other big urban districts (and their teachers unions) supported Ohio's application. It is worth???? noting who joined Dayton in opting out ???????? Youngstown, the state's lowest academic performing district and the first one to be placed under the watch of the state's newly formed Academic Distress Commission.
-Both the head of the Ohio Education Association and the Ohio Federation of Teachers have been downright effusive in their support of the state's application for the money. "This is just a wonderful opportunity to raise the level of student achievement in the state of Ohio," said Sue Taylor, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers.
-Fully 70 percent of Dayton's charter schools submitted documentation supporting the state's application. These schools apparently see this as an important opportunity to help raise scarce funds to pay their teachers and educate their kids in times of great fiscal uncertainty.
My colleagues and I have been skeptical of Ohio's Race to the Top application as we don't think the state's plans will be nearly as reform-minded and as bold as the aspirations of the president and Secretary Duncan.
We also realize that even after signing on to the application, teachers unions have ample opportunity to scuttle Race to the Top's reforms. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports of that city's participation, "In Cincinnati, the union and school board inked a special side agreement emphasizing that the application does not trump the current contract, and any steps promised in the application will be pursued through negotiations."
But seeing the Dayton teachers union veto federal money in light of a $5 million budget shortfall is hard to swallow ("unconscionable" says the Dayton Daily News). This decision is truly destructive to the district, its children, and ultimately to the city of Dayton. It also goes against the self-interest of the teachers themselves who will no doubt face lay-offs around the corner as the district is forced to make cuts.
Unfortunately, Ohio law requires these cuts to be made based on seniority, so the old guard that made this pathetic decision in Dayton will remain untouched while new blood will get tossed aside. Webster's defines bankrupt as "sterile: depleted." The DEA is bankrupt.
--Terry Ryan
