The price of mud
by M. Stewart
If you don’t know exactly what’s going on with Nick Trombetta’s charter school empire, don’t feel bad. I’ve tried to follow the newspaper accounts, but the business involves so many entities and sub-entities that at any given moment I’m not sure who or what is involved or affected. What is clear, however, is that we’re witnessing an education war that involves how public education tax dollars are spent in two states.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education doesn’t seem to understand what’s going on in Midland either. Earlier this week the PDE requested that the Midland Borough School District revoke the charter of the Lincoln Park Performing Arts School and ordered school districts with students attending Lincoln to recall them. Today we read about a letter from Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Gerald Zahorchak stating, “[I]t is imperative that you do not take any action at this time regarding students from your district who have enrolled in Lincoln Park.” Zahorchak cited an ongoing PDE investigation of Lincoln Park as the rationale for the about-face.
Quoted in The Review, Trombetta, who serves as superintendent of Midland schools and head of Lincoln Park and the National Network of Digital Schools, indicated that although the immediate crisis was averted, state investigators still have questions. He went on to say that he expects the investigation to result in little more than “suggestions” and “adjustments.”
All of this may or may not have an effect on what goes on in Ohio. If nothing else, Trombetta’s problems in Pennsylvania continue to provide legitimacy to East Liverpool Board of Education member Gary Bonnell’s very vocal opposition to NNDS and its Liverpool facility (BOSS). A few months ago, Trombetta announced plans to construct an impressive new BOSS building in downtown East Liverpool, but I haven’t heard a single word about it since.
On the one hand, I agree with Trombetta that reforming such an entrenched behemoth as public education cannot be done without a fight, but on the other hand, I am still waiting to see if his reforms are legitimate. The only objective data I’ve seen (BOSS student proficiency scores) suggest that there are significant problems with the cyber school model. As for Gary Bonnell’s conspiracy theories—one of which claims that Trombetta has installed “stooges” on the E.L. school board to do his bidding—we’ll have to wait to see what pans out.
Right now, it’s as clear as mud.
If you don’t know exactly what’s going on with Nick Trombetta’s charter school empire, don’t feel bad. I’ve tried to follow the newspaper accounts, but the business involves so many entities and sub-entities that at any given moment I’m not sure who or what is involved or affected. What is clear, however, is that we’re witnessing an education war that involves how public education tax dollars are spent in two states.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education doesn’t seem to understand what’s going on in Midland either. Earlier this week the PDE requested that the Midland Borough School District revoke the charter of the Lincoln Park Performing Arts School and ordered school districts with students attending Lincoln to recall them. Today we read about a letter from Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Gerald Zahorchak stating, “[I]t is imperative that you do not take any action at this time regarding students from your district who have enrolled in Lincoln Park.” Zahorchak cited an ongoing PDE investigation of Lincoln Park as the rationale for the about-face.
Quoted in The Review, Trombetta, who serves as superintendent of Midland schools and head of Lincoln Park and the National Network of Digital Schools, indicated that although the immediate crisis was averted, state investigators still have questions. He went on to say that he expects the investigation to result in little more than “suggestions” and “adjustments.”
All of this may or may not have an effect on what goes on in Ohio. If nothing else, Trombetta’s problems in Pennsylvania continue to provide legitimacy to East Liverpool Board of Education member Gary Bonnell’s very vocal opposition to NNDS and its Liverpool facility (BOSS). A few months ago, Trombetta announced plans to construct an impressive new BOSS building in downtown East Liverpool, but I haven’t heard a single word about it since.
On the one hand, I agree with Trombetta that reforming such an entrenched behemoth as public education cannot be done without a fight, but on the other hand, I am still waiting to see if his reforms are legitimate. The only objective data I’ve seen (BOSS student proficiency scores) suggest that there are significant problems with the cyber school model. As for Gary Bonnell’s conspiracy theories—one of which claims that Trombetta has installed “stooges” on the E.L. school board to do his bidding—we’ll have to wait to see what pans out.
Right now, it’s as clear as mud.
posted by M. | 1:03 PM
10 Comments:
The situation in Midland is very confusing. If the Midland school district were in Ohio the state would have pulled their charter when they became unable to provide an education for students in K-12. (that is not all bad as I will explain later) I am sure that sending the kids across the border to finish their high school education tends to be an embarrassment to the Pennsylvania State and Beaver County officials. If you remember some of the students were sent to Beaver, some to Western Beaver and to Ohio. I think Nick Trombetta did what he felt was necessary to find a suitable long-term place for his kids to finish their education.
If the school lost their charter (as what would have happened in Ohio) the state would have to assign the students to the nearest school district, that would have been Western Beaver. There would have been no recourse or discussion it would have just happened.
The charter school situation is another totally different topic.
I am not in favor of charter schools, one of the reasons is accountability:
1. Brick and mortar schools have elected board members, now before you start beating me, let me finish, they are held accountable or voted out in the next election cycle. You choose who you want, or don't want. Does anyone know who is on the charter school board, when their meetings are and if there is a problem who do you call?? Who appoints or elects these people?
2. Brick and Mortar schools in Ohio are held accountable by a school report card. Here is the web site for the BOSS report card. You decide.
http://www.ode.state.oh.us/reportcardfiles/2005-2006/BUILD/000417.pdf
3. Charter Schools siphon money from the brick and mortar schools. OK do the math...How much does a computer, printer, monitor, and dial-up line cost for a year? I am going to estimate say $1500 for a computer, and monitor, $500 for a printer/scanner and for the dial-up internet ($25 X 12 months) $300...adding them up to about $2300. Now before you tell me about how I am getting ripped off with a $2300 system, keep in mind that your Charter school just charged YOUR school district $5500+ for your child to be enrolled in their school system for one year. I know that they have to pay for the instructor and materials but you need to know that your kids won't be getting a new computer system every year. Now multiply that times the number of kids in the charter school. Now if you start little Johnny in Charter school when he is in 1st grade, your local school district (the one that you elect members and vote on taxes) will send the charter school more than $60,000.(and will probably be over $100K before little Johnny graduates in twelve years) Now most of that money is State foundation and there is a few Federal dollars in too. It really depends on the local tax base as the wealthier the district the less money the state sends. Lordstown for example gets very little State foundation money. The point is that local tax dollars are being sent to the charter school...without your accountability.
Just some final thoughts, If you want to make a difference, YOU HAVE TO BECOME INVOLVED. It really doesn't take up that much time.
All this goes to show how little the state is involved in education, other than throwing money.I think it was around 10 years ago when it was reported in the Pittsburgh papers that Midland students were being transported to East Liverpool and the PA education officials were "shocked" that such a thing could happen but nothing was done about it.
The cyberschools seem to have no accountability and no one seems to be demanding that they do so. The state sends them the same amount of money that a school district would obtain for that student. But the cyberschools do not have to provide a school plant with all its costly utilities and upkeep, transportation, cafeteria, staff that is required by the state,etc. The state should realize this when sending these monies. Then again, they are "shocked" when they discover this.
However, on another note, the state of Ohio comes into Columbiana County and decides that all these tiny little districts need new schools. They come up with a figure around 10 million per school with the taxpayers being levied for the rest. Five school districts, Wellsville, Southern Local, Crestview, Columbiana, and Leetonia receive 10 million apiece per school from the state.(Please keep in mind these are approximate figures.) That's 50 million dollars of taxpayers monies plus the levies in each district that are on property taxes just to provide for under 5000 students. If public education was a business it would have been bankrupt ages ago and closed.
In addition the state maintains a county Board of Education. Why do all the little districts have to provide and pay for a superintendant and treasurer? Why aren't these handled out of the county with each school receiving the same. That's just one little way the state and local school districts could save a ton of money.
If voting changed anything, it would be outlawed.
I have wondered since the "Trombetta Empire" began what he or many of the people who work for him know about education. If you look at the people who work for him at BOSS or PA Cyber School, you will see some qualified people. However, you will also see that many of them who have higher positions in either place have little or no place being the decision makers in people's education. Most if not all of these people are former teachers who are buddies of Trombetta or who have some way of giving the group an advantage. I don't mean an educational advantage, I mean some type of monetary or political advantage. There are no need to name any names because if you start going through the list of people and their experiences and credentials to operate an educational business, it's simple that they should not be the persons who should be running such a place. The previous person is correct in that more people need to get involved in this issue. I have many of my own theories about the hows and whys of what is going on with BOSS and Lincoln Park and the National Network of Digital Schools and who gains and benefits from these, but it's best if people do some of their own research and reach their own conclusions.
The long and short of it is why would a parent send their kid(s) to something like BOSS? Many different reasons are given to explain the rationale for enrolling a child in a cyber school. The simple reason is because the traditional schools are not doing what they should be doing. If they were, there wouldn't be an opportunity for such an entity to exist and grow into what it has, especially with the limited knowledge those who run it possess. The next 10-20 years of public education will be interesting and if school districts, parents, administrators, teacher unions, and anyone else who is involved in the education world don't wake up and make some changes, the cyber school and other ideas will become more common than a novelty.
To 9:28 commemts
Your comments about the State of Ohio coming into Columbiana county and deciding that they need new schools is true. The state sent out survey teams to all school districts in Ohio to see what it would take to provide an adequate education to all students. The building survey criteria was that if it took more than 66% to bring a school up to code, they would build a new building. At that time some schools were holding class in converted coal bins as they switched from coal to natural gas for heat. This may not have been the case in Columbiana County but it was in Southern Ohio. And no matter how much lipstick you put on a pig it is still a pig and not much you can do about that. That building survey was a direct result of the State's inability to provide an adequate education for their students. They knew an unfavorable Ohio Supreme Court ruling could bankrupt the state by building all new schools. The schools that you mentioned all received funds to construct new buildings, but the funds were contingent on local support. If the local voters do not approve of the increase in their taxes they do not get the money that is set aside for their construction project.
Beaver Local is in that situation right now.
Now to address just build one big school and ship all the students there. The state abandonded that plan years ago. Why? What the state found that if you come in and combine several school districts then the state had to support it. They found that just instead of having several small poor school districts they had one large poor school district that no-one wanted and they were forced to maintain. Since that time the state has allowed several "new" districts to be formed out of one larger district. How long does it take you to drive from Wellsville to Leetonia? How about from your house to Lisbon? Would you want to drive there to pick up or drop off your kids for extra-curricular activies? How long does it take you to drive from your house to your school? My point is that local schools mean local control and local support. How many times have you given money to another school district's fundraiser? Everyone tends to support their own school. It is a major part of their community and their life as it should be.
9:28 the real problem is that education in Ohio has not and is still not funded adequately. The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that time and again. Ask your school treasurer how the state decides how much money is budgeted per student. How it works is that whatever residual monies is leftover after the State-mandated Prisons, Welfare and other State social programs is divided by the number of kids in school. Our kids get the left-overs, is that what you want? Why does the State have plenty of money to build prisons and staff them, but no money for schools without a local match? Did you ever get to vote on a prison? Maybe the answer is Cyber-prisons???
I didn't say anything about a one county school, I wouldn't even consider it. However we do maintain a county Board of Education that provides services for schools that are not city schools. I suggested that instead of having to pay salaries for superintendants and treasurers that they also be maintained out of the county. Not the schools, the administration. But as for consolidation, Columbiana County is still operating the same number of school districts as it did 40 years ago but now has half the population. It just doesn't make sense fiscally.
Ok, what I understand you to say is having the County Superintendent and treasurer direct the local districts. No consodilation...or to consodilate?
The County Superintendent directs all districts that are local. The city and exempted village do not fall under his control. So East Liverpool, Salem, Lisbon and Leetonia do not fall under the control of the county superintendent. If you had the County Superintendent direct the day to day operations of each district he would not be able to do it then he would have to hire an assistant in every district. Same with the treasurer, ALL treasurers in Columbiana County have an assistant to help them with the finances. So the thought of eliminating those jobs and saving that money is not sound. Also remember that I spoke often about local control? The elected members of your board only directly hire the Superintendent and Treasurer. All the other employees are hired after a recommendation from the Superintendent or Treasurer. So if the County Superintendent does all the hiring you are left with no local control. The administrator salaries are a small slice of the fiscal pie. There is movement to merge Educational Service Centers (County) with other counties in lower population areas. (Jefferson County and I believe Belmont County are to merge)
As for consodilation, name ONE school district that is willing to merge with another.
The population has been shrinking in Columbiana County for generations now so that is not anything new. Where would you consodilate?
As usual, nothing is to be done. Oobladee
I told you so.
Actually cyber schools don't take money from the schools. Brick and mortar schools don't have to pay for that student to go to a cyber school. A brick and mortar school gets $5,500 for each student enrolled. The same for a cyber school. It's lost income certainly, but no more than when a student transfers to a different school. That being said it is much cheaper to send a student to a cyber school so I wouldn't be surprised if Congress eventually cut their funding dramatically.
8:21am
What you say is partially true. The part that it doesn't cost the home district any more money when a student attends Cyber-school opposed to "open-enrollment" to another school is true. The part that it doesn't cost the home school is false. School funding is a very complex situation as all schools are not equally reimbursed by the state foundation monies.
The poorer schools south of "Matt's Mason-Dixon Line" all receive the bulk of their funding from the state. Usually about 72-90% of the money comes from the state. Using your number of $5500 per pupil that would be about $3950 to $4950 per pupil. Now I don't have a problem with them sending that to the educating district. That was money that the host district would never see anyhow. But the educating district does not accept little Johnny for the state's reimbursement. They want the total amount of $5500. Where does that money come from? From your district. Just mulitiply that amount by the number of kids that have left. So if you have 100-200 kids leave, then you have a deficit before you begin. Also anytime little Johnny wants to come back, you better have a seat available for him, even if it means sending some of your "open-enrollment" kids back to their home district.
Now if you want to have a little fun call your local school board member and ask questions about what you have learned about state foundation monies. It is sad that many of the elected board members don't know funding as well as they should. No wonder the schools are financially strapped. The state doesn't help either as their budget never goes more than two years. Any predictions past two years is just an educated guess.
As for congress acting on reducing the amount for Cyber-schools that is not going to happen. Most Cyber-schools have money. They have hired lobbying firms to wine and dine the representatives that would make that decision. All with YOUR MONEY.
Hey get involved you can make a difference....
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