Requests for solutions

Requests for solutions

I putter around on the website www.Cleveland.com in their education forum. There is a lot of bickering that goes on in this forum. I have posted my blogs in the forum and have received some interesting responses. Occasionally a teacher will ask for suggestions on how to fix the broken schools. I guess they are writing from the premise that if a person has a complaint, they should offer a solution.

What I find in a lot of cases is that if a solution means facing the truth, those demanding solutions will not accept it. One person’s truth may not be the same for another. It’s all about perception.

Being a citizen of Cleveland bound by its residency rules, I have become passionate about issues that directly concern my family. I want the best for my children and will fight to make sure they get it.

Recently, a teacher new to posting on the education forum asked the “complainers” for their suggestions and solutions. She later mentioned that she taught 25 years in a parochial school. If I had to make an educated guess, I believe that her children, if she does have any, were spared from the Cleveland school system. Here is my response to her inquiry:

Parochial Teacher questions others in this forum “how to fix the schools”. She asks for suggestions. She asks how others would fix things. My response below:

The Cleveland school system was once a good school system. I am a graduate of the Cleveland school system.

In 1979, desegregation came to town. It did not work. It has recently been ruled unconstitutional by this nation’s highest court. Forced busing was the final coffin nail to the once credible Cleveland school system.

Living in this city, I have watched over the years as the inappropriate behaviors of the irresponsible have been rewarded with luxuries provided at the expense of the taxpayer. I have watched as governmental policies enable the dysfunctional lifestyles. As a testament, where else can you openly see direct TV dish’s on government assisted housing complexes? The needy don’t have to look for work; it would take time away from those good shows on cable.

Personally, I don’t believe the Cleveland schools themselves are broken. Rather, society along with the governmental incompetence and mismanagement is what I see is broken in Cleveland. I believe that the leaders of Cleveland and its school system live in denial of these problems. They go out of their way to reinvent the wheel to accommodate the irresponsible citizens with their inappropriate behaviors. They change proven school structures of old and experiment with things like K through 8 schools, uniforms, single gender schools, magnet schools. They hope that this reinvention of the wheel will solve the problems while still allowing the irresponsible to continue their lifestyles. Yet for some reason, education worked when I was in school. There were no uniforms, no uniform vouchers, and no free lunches. Parents were active with their children and with their schools. Responsibility was actually once the norm. Do you believe it’s the responsibility of the property tax owners to sustain the idle and irresponsible?

Nothing can be fixed as long as city and school leaders continue to live in denial of the irresponsibility that they turn a blind eye to. How many more high paid school officials will be appointed to pilfer the taxpayer money while testing their new theories? Only 7% of Cleveland schools are rated effective by the State of Ohio, yet the new CEO celebrated with cheerleaders on the steps of city hall.

Education is there for the taking. The teachers are willing. But if a student chooses not to learn, there is nothing that can be done. If a parent does not take responsibility for their children, there is nothing that can be done. Absolutely nothing can be done as long as our country continues to fuel the enabling policies in place to reward irresponsible behavior with “free” this and “free” that. What about the rights of the student who wants to learn but can’t because he is lost in the sea of the irresponsible?

Let’s examine the so called leadership of the city and its schools. Does the current school CEO live in Cleveland? No, he lives in Bratenahl. Did the prior school CEO pay property taxes to help the schools? No, she lived in a tax abated condo. Did the last mayor send her children to the Cleveland schools? No, they were allowed to attend the Suburban schools up the street. Leadership begins with setting the example.

These so called leaders were nothing more than idea people, implementing their theories and programs while exempting themselves from having to participate.

Do you believe it is morally right to only tax those working citizens who own property?
The Ohio Supreme court believes that the current method of funding schools is unconstitutional. In fact they have made this ruling more than once.

Suggestions you ask? How about first having the Cleveland teachers live in the city, (a residency requirement like all other city workers), How about the Cleveland teachers sending their children to the school system in which they work. The teachers would then have a vested interest in solving the problems of education in this city by becoming part of the solution.

The school CEO should be required to live in the city that fills his wallet. Or is this city not good enough for him?

Do these suggestions sound rational? Do you have any ideas on how a working taxpayer can get these changes to happen?

You fix the problems by stopping the rewards. You fix the problems by holding the irresponsible accountable. You fix the problems by voting out the incompetence now in office in this city, county and state.

Until accountability and responsibility are restored, if ever, then yes, shut the schools down and hold those irresponsible accountable. Education is a privilege.