Teachers Union Votes to Support School Levy
The Twinsburg Education Association voted to officially endorse the Twinsburg Schools levy, Issue 69.
The Twinsburg teachers union has officially declared its support for the upcoming levy for the Twinsburg City Schools.
The Twinsburg Education Association recently voted to endorse the levy at its executive committee meeting, according to a TEA press release.
“The teachers are already showing support by displaying signs, attending events and knocking on doors, President Nora Suder-Riley said in the release.
The district is asking residents to support a 4.9 mill continuing operating levy. If approved it will cost the owner of a $100,000 home $150.06 annually, according to the district's data.
If Issue 69 is approved, it will create $3.8 million each year for the district, in addition to the recent $3.2 million in cuts and changes. Combined they will fill the $7 million hole in district operating expenses.
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Dave
7:50 am on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Of course the teachers union would support the levy. I'm surprised it took them this long to do it. Did they think the levy passing was a done deal and now realize it may be in trouble? Did they wake up and say, oh yeah, maybe we should endorse this?
What the story above does not continue tell you is that EVEN WITH the levy passage, the district will be coming for more money in 2014 because the on hand cash balance is projected to be $1.8 million. The current on hand cash balance is $25 million. The district is projected to spend $4 million dollars more than revenues each of the the next two years. 25-8 leaves 17. What happens to the $15 million dollars that leaves only $2 million dollars left in two years? Before we give this school board/administration more money, I think we need to have them revisit their budget and make sure they are doing every thing they can to run as efficiently as they can. And most importantly, they need to do a better job of telling the residents the truth about their finances. They have shady math and accounting going on.
VOTE NO ON THE SCHOOL LEVY!!!
Matt Cellura
9:52 am on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
This is no surprise, the teachers have secured $600,000 in step raises for next year, why wouldn't they support this. The benefits and special perks given to both teachers and administrators in this district are disgusting.
Dave
11:26 am on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
There is so much more the district can do to curb spending before they ask for more money. Especially a continuing levy that does not expire (i.e., they continue to get the money even if the state increases funding.
Rocco
11:16 am on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
For those that aren't supporting the levy, I encourage you to contact our new state representative (either Schmida or Roegner after election day) and our state Senator Frank LaRose and ask them to focus on education funding. There are 123 levies for new money on the ballot in Ohio this election because of cuts to the local government funds and the elimination of the tangible personal property tax. I think the school board has made plenty of cuts already, especially the elimination of block scheduling. My family moved here because of the schools and I am supporting the levy.
Dave
11:39 am on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
I have talked to Senator LaRose regarding school funding and his response was we will have to wait and see. I took that as we will wait and see what Governor Kasich says to do, and we all know what that will be. I've asked Roegner her opinion on school funding, and I got all the talking points about she wants outstanding education for our children, excellent teachers, etc. But she woud not say she supports increasing school funding. I've talked to Schmida on my doorstep and his number one priority is to increase school funding, hopefully back to historical levels but at least more than is now being given to school districts. So I guess you know who I am voting for.
The problem I have with the Twinsburg levy is that they did not go as deep as they could have, and they cannot account for where all the money is going over the next two years. My guess is that they are trying to get the money now in case the state cuts funding even further. But as the consultant the school board hired from the Ohio Dept. of Education said, no one knows what school funding from the state will look like in two years. Add to that the cuts in federal money to states for education that will be coming if Romney is elected and/or the Republicans gain a majority in the Senate. I don't know when it became fashionable to decide that funding education was an unwise use of our tax dollars
VOTE NO ON THE SCHOOL LEVY!!!
Rocco
12:42 pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Dave, that's my biggest issue with it all and I'm glad to hear you have talked to all three. I think Treasurer Aho is aggressive with how fast the money will dry up from the state but I don't blame him or the board. There is no real guidance coming from the state. The state legislature increased the size of the budget. It is balanced, but at the expense of a lot of cuts that I feel were too extreme. It burns me the most the increase in money to charter schools that have underperformed while Twinsburg has lost money. Again, I'd rather err on the side of caution and vote for the levy, but it's obvious you've thought through your decision and I appreciate you taking it one step further to talk to our reps.
Matt Cellura
1:00 pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Dave, good to know you have educated yourself on this, I applaud you for that. The state has cut funding, but something had to be cut to balance the budget. The state can not cut federally mandated programs which have increased tremendously these past few years. And looking at the funding lost, the numbers are not excessive. The majority of lost money has come from stimulus money. Regardless of funding, the district, its employees, and unions have not done enough to operate in the positive. And for those in staunch support of the levy, realize that it does nothing to increase our coffees and according to their own calculations we will be broke in 2016. Does that make sense to anyone?