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We, the people of Ohio, want reform in education. This petition is to demand accountability and rid the system of redundancy.
Ohio currently has 603 separate school districts which each have redundant Boards of Education. This redundancy costs Ohioans millions of dollars annually while providing varied levels of education. A County School District plan would allow for a more consistent education while saving millions annually. Counties with smaller populations and school systems would be encouraged to join in a consolidated multi-county school district.
This petition will be sent to the Ohio Department of Education and the Governor's office telling them we want reform.
Governor Ted Strickland
Governor's Office
Riffe Center, 30th Floor
77 South High Street
Columbus, OH 43215-6108
We, the undersigned citizens of Ohio, want reform in education. This petition is to demand accountability and rid the system of redundancy.
Ohio only has 88 counties. Why then is there 603 public school districts? Trumbull county has 20, Mahoning has 14. Having multiple school districts causes disparity in education. Consolidation into county units would provide for a more consistent education.
With each district comes a Board which consists of a president, vice president, superintendent, treasurer, board members, and numerous directors of kickballs and paperclips. In addition to those fore mentioned, the board needs a support staff, so add in a receptionist, attendance secretary, secretaries and assistants to the administration, and so on.
Read the preceding paragraph again and envision at least 603 of every position listed. This includes all of the small systems with two schools, one elemenatary school, one high school with an integrated middle school.
All of this duplication of services is costing millions annually, not to mention the "emergency levies" every few years to feed this growing beast.
Using information gathered from the DOE, $23,501.00 is spent per pupil annually in Trumbull County solely for Administration. With 30,950 students, the total is a staggering $729,522,450.00 a year. For Mahoning County, administration costs $14,753.00 per pupil annually for a total of $488,722,631.00.
It's time to trim the fat. A countywide district would save millions annually, and could potentially reduce your taxes. Even further, Counties with smaller populations and few schools, such Hocking, Vinton, Jackson and Meigs could form a south-east Ohio consolidated school district.
Of course, concerns would arise regarding their districts representation in a county board. A simple answer would be electing two representatives from each district and a county elected superintendent and treasurer.
Of course it's not that simple, but the details can be worked out.
"Efficiency is doing better what is already being done." ~ Peter F Drucker
Thank you,
