Fact Sheet: Kasich’s Divestment in Education
Research Overview
This fact sheet offers our initial analysis of Governor Kasich’s executive budget’s impact on education. With this proposal, the state has gone from an unprecedented commitment to reduce the need for property taxes to pay for schools to an unprecedented commitment to further burden local taxpayers. At the same time, the Governor has called for a significant shift of money from public schools to private schools. In short, Governor Kasich’s budget increases local property taxes, kills jobs and abandons our children at a time when we must out-educate other states and countries to be competitive and position Ohio for long-term prosperity. Governor Kasich also further disadvantages our students from middle class and poor school districts, because we know that middle class and poor districts suffer disproportionately when the state cuts education and forces local school districts to make up the difference. Read the report (PDF). Read the press release.News Release: Kasich Budget Kills Jobs, Shields Wealthy, Hikes Middle Class Taxes
INNOVATION OHIO: KASICH BUDGET KILLS JOBS, SHIELDS WEALTHY, HIKES MIDDLE CLASS TAXES
Columbus, Ohio — Innovation Ohio, a progressive think tank headquartered in Columbus, today blasted Governor John Kasich’s proposed state budget for 2012-13 as “a job killer that would raise taxes on the middle class while shielding the wealthiest Ohioans from any sacrifice whatsoever.” IO Communications Director Dale Butland said: “At a time of already high unemployment, Gov. Kasich’s budget is certain to throw tens of thousands more Ohioans out of work and could strangle Ohio’s still-fragile economic recovery in its crib. And while he has no trouble asking for huge sacrifice from middle class families and the least advantaged, the Governor refuses to ask wealthy Ohioans to give up anything at all. ‘Shared sacrifice’ does not appear to be in his vocabulary. “Innovation Ohio has calculated that in K-12 education alone, Kasich’s proposed cuts — 6.1% ($395 million) less in 2012 and 4.7% ($305 million) less in 2013 than school districts received in fiscal year 2011 — could add over 7,000 Ohio teachers to the unemployment lines. That analysis will be posted later today on our website, www.innovationohio.org. The website also will be updated in the days ahead with additional analyses concerning other job-killing provisions of the bill, including what the Kasich budget would mean in lost jobs for police, firefighters and other workers. For now, we will simply point out that Gov. Kasich was elected to create new jobs, not destroy existing ones. “But it’s not just current jobs that are at risk; the creation of future jobs would also be adversely affected. By failing to make the necessary investments in education and training, the Kasich budget would make it very hard for Ohio to compete in the 21st century, or to create the kind of long-term, high-paying jobs Ohioans deserve. If we are to build a future that is worthy of our past, Ohio simply cannot allow other states and countries to outsmart our leaders and out-educate our children. “Most cynical of all is the shell game Gov. Kasich is playing by proposing huge cuts to local government funds. While vowing in his State of the State speech not to raise taxes, the Governor merely proposes to shift the burden from the state to local communities which, in turn, would be forced to raise taxes simply to maintain the levels of police, fire, and other services they currently have. If Gov. Kasich is allowed to pass the buck, middle class taxpayers will be forced to bite the bullet.”-30-
News Release: What We Hope Governor Kasich Will (And Won’t) Say In The State Of The State Speech
WHAT WE HOPE GOV. KASICH WILL (AND WON’T) SAY IN THE STATE OF THE STATE SPEECH
Columbus—Janetta King, President of Innovation Ohio, a progressive public policy think tank headquartered in Columbus, today offered some thoughts on Gov. John Kasich’s upcoming “State of the State” speech tomorrow. “Like all Ohioans, we at Innovation Ohio wish the Governor well in his first State of the State speech. We hope he and his Administration succeed. After all, if our Governor succeeds, our state succeeds –and we are all Ohioans before we are anything else. “Traditionally, State of the State speeches are thematic and give the Governor an opportunity to lay out both his vision for the future and the direction in which he intends to take the state in his budget and policy proposals yet to come. “With due respect, here are a few things we hope Gov. Kasich’s speech and budget will include –and some we hope he will avoid.”What Gov. Kasich’s Speech Should Do
- Inspire and Unite: Above all else, Gov. Kasich’s speech should inspire hope and bring our people together. Ohioans have suffered enormously during The Great Recession. We fully understand how hard things are and what a difficult time we are in. Berating our state’s competitiveness or bemoaning the jobs that have already been lost is unnecessary and counterproductive. Ohioans want to know how Gov. Kasich intends to help create new jobs and enhance opportunity for all Ohioans. We need to see a leader who believes in Ohio—and in us.
- Position Ohio for the Future: Gov. Kasich should outline a policy agenda that builds on Ohio’s strengths and positions our state for the 21st century. As our nation emerges from the recession, states which are unafraid to make smart, long-term investments and adopt innovative, forward-looking policies will be best situated to compete, prosper and thrive in the decades ahead.
- Endorse Fairness and Shared Sacrifice: Ohioans are all in this together. If sacrifice is required, Gov. Kasich must reassure us that everyone will be asked to share in it. He should tell us that no less will be asked of the wealthy than will be asked of the middle class and the least advantaged. In a word, the Governor should show us that he believes in fairness.
What Gov. Kasich Should Not Do
- Don’t Make Unemployment Worse: Like physicians who take the Hippocratic oath, the Governor should “first, do no harm.” Ohioans elected Mr. Kasich to help create new jobs, not attack workers or pursue a partisan political agenda that will destroy existing jobs. Throwing even more people out of work –through policies that result in lay-offs for thousands of police, teachers, nurses, firefighters and other public employees –risks stalling the fragile economic recovery that has finally begun in Ohio.
- Don’t Make the Deficit Worse: Closing an $8 billion deficit will be hard enough; Gov. Kasich should not stubbornly insist on even more tax cuts (including eliminating the estate tax for wealthy Ohioans) that will only decrease revenue, swell the deficit further, and subject the middle class and the most vulnerable Ohioans to even more painful budget cuts to make up the difference. Similarly, pursuing policies that jeopardize or cause Ohio to forfeit federal transportation or education funding will only deepen our budget problems.
- Don’t Pass The Buck to Local Governments: It is being reported that Gov. Kasich intends to slash local government funding –which pays for police, firefighters, libraries and other important community services—by up to 50%. But this would only shift the burden from the state to local communities and force them to raise local taxes to pay for these services. Reducing state taxes but increasing local taxes by the same or a larger amount isn’t a tax cut at all. It’s a shell game. And shell games are for street-corner hustlers, not Governors of great states like Ohio.
- Don’t Eat Ohio’s Seed Corn for the Future: Ohio can’t create long-term, good-paying jobs or hope to compete in the 21st century economy without a skilled and well-educated workforce. Draconian cuts in K-12 school funding or policies which lead to sky-rocketing college tuition bills and make getting a higher education even harder for middle class families are the very definition of “penny-wise and pound foolish.” Philosophically, “equal opportunity for all” is something on which conservatives and progressives should be able to agree. But equal opportunity cannot be achieved by starving the education system that provides it.
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News Release: Innovation Ohio Says Facts Don’t Support Senate Bill 5
INNOVATION OHIO SAYS FACTS DON’T MERIT ENDING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FOR TEACHERS
Columbus, Ohio — Innovation Ohio, a newly formed progressive think tank in Columbus, kicked off its organizational launch today with a stinging indictment of the attempt to strip Ohio teachers of their collective bargaining rights. Under the terms of Senate Bill 5 —introduced by State Sen. Shannon Jones and supported by Gov. John Kasich and many conservative law-makers — teachers would effectively lose many of the collective bargaining rights that have been in place since 1983. Supporters of the bill say the change is necessary to control costs and balance. At the news conference, Innovation Ohio said that SB 5 would result in “relatively minor short-term state budget savings,” all of which “could be achieved through the current collective bargaining law.” Innovation Ohio also released a report released a “Ohio Teachers and Collective Bargaining: An Analysis.” Among the report’s findings:- Far from being uncooperative or unyielding, Ohio teachers have made one of the largest financial sacrifices in the country, resulting in an average pay cut of 4% in 2008-09, the worst year of the recession. The national average was a pay increase.
- States with no or limited collective bargaining laws have lower student achievement and far greater volatility in wages than collective bargaining states.
- Under Ohio’s current collective bargaining law, teachers not only sacrificed financially, but also endorsed a landmark education reform law (HB 1) which, among other things, more than doubles the years needed for tenure, makes it easier to fire ineffective teachers, allows for lay-offs in cases of district financial hardship, and includes student achievement as part of a new and nationally-acclaimed teacher evaluation system.
- There is no evidence that ending or eroding collective bargaining for teachers would improve student success, or that ending it is necessary to institute still-needed reforms.
“Facts are important – especially when passing major legislation or radical changes to long-standing public policy. If the proposed changes to the current collective bargaining for teachers won’t significantly impact Ohio’s budget deficit, and if teachers are already agreeing to the kind of reforms we need to improve the system and student performance, there is no compelling reason to repeal or weaken a law that that has been in place since the Reagan Administration.”
Former State Representative Steve Dyer, an acknowledged expert on education policy in Ohio, appeared with Butland and took questions from reporters.-30-
Ohio Teachers and Collective Bargaining: An Analysis
Research Overview
Ohio’s path to economic prosperity begins in the classroom. Our leaders must work together to prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s jobs, rather than pursue an ill-advised assault on collective bargaining justified by the false claim that teachers’ ability to negotiate wages and benefits has contributed to Ohio’s projected budget deficit. The opposite is true. During the depths of the Great Recession, Ohio teachers made great financial sacrifices – among the largest in the country. They also served as willing partners in reforming how educators are evaluated and compensated and their efforts in the classroom have resulted in improved student outcomes. In short, Ohio’s teachers have worked with school districts and the state to make Ohio schools better and our education system more financially sustainable. If our political leaders fail to recognize these realities, they risk undermining and trading long-term success for minor short-term state budget gains. In fact, research shows that eliminating or effectively crippling the state’s collective bargaining system will be as likely to add to state and local budget woes as cure them. Press Release: Innovation Ohio Says Facts Don’t Support Senate Bill 5 Read the report (PDF).News Release: Innovation Ohio Launches Today
INNOVATION OHIO LAUNCHES TODAY
Columbus, Ohio — Innovation Ohio, a new non-partisan but avowedly progressive think tank with offices in downtown Columbus, begins operations today. Innovation Ohio, which is comprised of leaders in business, academia, politics and public service, will have a two-fold mission. First, it will advocate and advance progressive public policies (especially in the areas of the state budget and jobs, education, health care, and energy) that strengthen the middle class, protect the less advantaged, equalize opportunity, and provide businesses with the tools they need to innovate, compete, and create well-paying, long-term jobs. Second, Innovation Ohio will provide rapid response policy analysis and commentary to ensure that that reckless, ill-advised or counterproductive proposals originating elsewhere do not go unchallenged. Innovation Ohio will not urge the election or defeat of candidates for any political office, nor pursue a partisan agenda. It will, however, deploy an army of academics, practitioners, and policy experts to ensure the progressive voice is heard and included in the public policy debate. Innovation Ohio President Janetta King commented on the rationale behind the formation of Innovation Ohio:“With conservatives now dominating every branch of Ohio government, the conservative policy agenda is often the only game in town. Innovation Ohio aims to change that by bringing a progressive perspective and progressive policy alternatives into the public debate. We are not, however, a partisan organization. Our staff, Board, and associates will be comprised of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are united in the belief that we cannot move Ohio ahead if we leave some of our people behind.
“We believe in creating sustainable economic growth, in equal opportunity for all Ohioans, and that the benefits of a resurgent economy should not be restricted to those at the top, but enjoyed by those on every rung of the income ladder.
“We believe in bringing the private and public sectors together, in replacing short-term thinking with long-term planning, and that innovative, practical problem-solving is more productive than partisan bickering and ideological shouting matches. Above all, we believe that only by protecting and expanding the middle class will Ohio be able to build a future that is worthy of her past.”
A mission statement can be found here and answers to Frequently-Asked Questions can be found here.-30-
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