Expensive union contracts drive school costs upward

Wow! THANK YOU SO MUCH for summarizing this as clearly and concisely as you have. I am a Westerville resident and the situation is the same here.

I'm sure some teachers and union members will chime in defending their salaries with statements like "but our children are worth it". Whether or not you buy into that line, it does not change the reality of the situation: this path is unsustainable. Your point about at least acknowledging this fact is dead on.

This is why we have all these levies every year. I wish school budgets were public information because then we could see all of our money actually going to the Unions. I have always believed the unions are behind these levies. If the teacher salaries are not increased yearly, then the unions get no increase. Unfortunetly, most of the people in the Big Walnut school district still are not getting it. They cry "it's for the children" and I'm like "you dummies, you are supporting the union and they don't give a **** about your kids". THANK YOU FOR A COMMON SENSE ARTICLE. SINCE NO ONE IS COMMENTING, SOMETHING IS TELLING ME THIS HAS BEEN CENSORED FROM OTHER PAPERS.

This article has put the spotlight on our greatest local problem with real estate taxes. The new governor of the state of New Jersey, asked the teacher's union to accept a pay freeze and they refused! The union are now blackmailing the taxpayers in New Jersey. We need a state law passed that disallows federal and state employees from entering "collective bargaining agreements". This should include police and other safety forces.

AmberG

School budgets are public information...you may have to ask for it if it is not posted on your district's website.
School Treasurers are normally very open about financial records. To see a gross overview of the budget, simply request the "5 year forecast." If you want something more specific, each district files some sort of annual report...ask for that. Hope this helps.

John Herrington

When a school district faces tough times programs and services are cut but teachers' salaries are not only left intact but continue to rise.

I though it was all about the kids?

I wish I could work only 180 days and always be guaranteed a raise.

On a side not, publishing a letter to the editor without a signature is sketchy.

How dare those teachers expect to make enough money that they don't need a second job - the NERVE of them!

Cru Jones,

ThisWeek sometimes suffers from formatting errors. I wrote the letter and the our website is EducateWorthington.org .
The paper version has the full version as well.

John Herrington

Bravo, Mr. Herrington, and thank you for something so concise. As you know, we in SWCS are a little further down the road than most other systems - and expect to fail sooner. We certainly appreciate this one last plea for sanity.

G.Formula,

While SWCS is further along than most (and suffers from different demographic issues than Worthington), it is far from unique. Eventually all 614 (or so) school districts will suffer from levy fatigue.
Eventually people will come to realize that this is not a funding issue but a spending issue.

John