{"id":85262,"date":"2017-03-13T07:24:19","date_gmt":"2017-03-13T12:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=85262"},"modified":"2017-03-14T08:29:23","modified_gmt":"2017-03-14T13:29:23","slug":"local-school-officials-talk-state-issues-with-rep-riedel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2017\/03\/13\/local-school-officials-talk-state-issues-with-rep-riedel\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmaker talks to school stakeholders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: This is the first in a two-part series on local school officials’ attempts to have input into state education\u00a0issues.<\/em><\/p>\n

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

Local school officials have been holding sessions with state lawmakers to receive information on Governor John Kasich\u2019s biennial budget proposal, as well as\u00a0provide input on Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requirements and state funding — especially the disconnect between funding for charter schools and accountability for those schools.<\/p>\n

\"State
State Representative Craig Riedel (R-Defiance) speaks with school officials on Friday in the First Federal Lecture Hall of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio.<\/strong> Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A nearly three-hour meeting was held on Friday between State Representative Craig Riedel and school officials in the First Federal Lecture Hall of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio.<\/p>\n

School officials who attended included Van Wert City Schools administrators Superintendent Ken Amstutz, Assistant to the Superintendent Bill Clifton, Treasurer Mike Ruen, Middle School Principal Mark Bagley, Assistant Middle School Principal Darla Dunlap, Elementary Principal Kevin Gehres, Assistant Elementary Principal Justin Krogman, and Early Childhood Center Principal Lori Bittner (also a Crestview Local Schools board member), as well as Van Wert City Board of Education member Scott Mull, and two Lincolnview administrators: Superintendent Jeff Snyder and Treasurer Troy Bowersock.<\/p>\n

Riedel first provided information on the governor\u2019s biennial budget, noting that he did not agree with much of what the governor is proposing, at this point.<\/p>\n

The first-term state representative noted that Kasich\u2019s approximately $70 billion budget, as proposed, includes approximately $20-25 billion for education, the second largest portion behind the approximately $30 billion earmarked for Medicaid and related health costs.<\/p>\n

The first concern for school officials was a proposal to require business externships for educators and board members, with Riedel saying he thinks that is something that will get removed from the budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the legislators I\u2019ve talked with, my impression is that externships will get knocked out,\u201d the state representative said. \u201cI haven\u2019t spoken with a legislator that likes the concept (and) I\u2019m almost certain that that\u2019s going to go away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruen noted that the requirement seems especially unneeded for school board members, since approximately 70 percent of board members statewide are either working for a business or own their own. That includes all five VWCS board members, he noted.<\/p>\n

State funding was the next topic, with Riedel saying that it is his understanding that approximately 54 percent of school districts will likely see a decrease in funding from the current budget proposal.<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t set well with school officials, with Bowersock saying Lincolnview, like many school districts, has essentially been flat-funded for 10 years, which he said already amounts to a decrease in funding as costs increase with inflation.<\/p>\n

Snyder and Ruen both spoke out on the millions of dollars being given to charter schools, with little or nor accountability.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I see the amount of money that goes to charter schools, that just blows me away,\u201d Snyder said, adding that such schools are not part of the State Grade Card system, nor do they have to conduct all the tests that public schools are required to do.<\/p>\n

Ruen also wondered why online e-schools are given facility funding, when they essentially don\u2019t have any brick and mortar facilities to maintain, something that Riedel didn\u2019t have an answer for.<\/p>\n

Ruen also wondered why the Ohio General Assembly has not cracked down on charter schools — especially those that have misused state funds for personal purposes, while students may only spend an average of five minutes a day in the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see why that\u2019s so difficult for that decision to be made,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While both Riedel and school officials acknowledged there are charter schools that are providing their students with a great education, it\u2019s the ones that are not doing so that concerns school officials.<\/p>\n

Ruen said it \u201cmakes absolutely no sense\u201d that legislators have not taken steps before this to provide more accountability for charter schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing that makes sense to me is that our politicians have been bought off,\u201d the VWCS treasurer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re receiving state dollars you ought to be accountable and you also ought to be a part of state testing,\u201d said Amstutz. \u201cThere\u2019s not a level playing field (between charter schools and public schools).\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting that only about 30 percent of charter school students graduate, compared to nearly 95 percent for public schools, the VWCS superintendent asked: \u201cWhere\u2019s the accountability piece?\u201d<\/p>\n

Riedel acknowledged that legislators haven\u2019t done enough in making charter schools accountable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere appears to be a need for more control,\u201d the state representative said, while noting that is beginning to happen now at the state level.<\/p>\n

While noting he is \u201cpro-choice\u201d when it comes to allowing parents to decide what school they want to send their children to, Riedel did note that the Ohio Department of Education is beginning to look at misuses of funds by some charter schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething is going to happen, guys, it\u2019s coming to a head,\u201d Riedel noted.<\/p>\n

He also said he feels any money recovered from those misusing funds should go to the public school district that charter school students would have attended otherwise, adding that a bill has been introduced that would do just that, if adopted.<\/p>\n

While Riedel also noted that State Representative Matt Huffman of Lima has introduced a bill that would help parents who want to send their children to a private school, Snyder said that, without such schools being required to undergo state testing requirements, no one really knows whether private schools are doing a good job or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your measure?\u201d the Lincolnview superintendent said. \u201cHow do you know they\u2019re doing well at all?\u201d<\/p>\n

Snyder said he opposed taking money from public school districts and giving it to private schools without making those schools as accountable as public schools.<\/p>\n

Although Riedel said private school money would not come from public schools, Amstutz was not convinced.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you give money there, you\u2019re going to take money from somewhere,\u201d Amstutz said. \u201cIt\u2019s a shell game.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said that private schools should not be able to turn down students who want to attend, since public schools don\u2019t have that option. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the option not to accept students; they shouldn\u2019t either.\u201d<\/p>\n

A case in point, Ruen noted, was a student with physical disabilities that stem from a near-drowning incident who attend a Toledo school at a cost of $70,000.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Private schools) would never accept a child that expensive,\u201d the VWCS superintendent said, noting that the district receives money to pay for such costs, but nowhere near enough to pay all of the expenses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t complain about choice, but it\u2019s not a fair playing field,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Ruen also asked whether the legislature had any plans to use some of the state\u2019s $2 billion Rainy Day Fund to provide more funding for schools, noting that the Van Wert district has only about 50 days of carryover to pay for unexpected expenses.<\/p>\n

Riedel, who said he was not very supportive of the governor\u2019s budget as proposed, added that he feels some of the Rainy Day Fund could be used, but felt the fund balance should remain at least $1 billion-$1.5 billion.<\/p>\n

He said the state had to borrow approximately $3.5 billion from the federal government during the Great Recession of 2008, and, adding that Ohio had to pay a large sum in interest on that money, which he called \u201chighway robbery,\u201d Riedel said he does not want to see a situation where the state has to borrow from the federal government again.<\/p>\n

One big problem during the recession was the state\u2019s unemployment formula, Riedel said, noting that problem has still not been addressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to get that unemployment formula fixed,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

The state representative said he also does not like the governor\u2019s push to virtually eliminate the personal income tax, while increasing and broadening the state sales tax.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a fan of that,\u201d Riedel said.<\/p>\n

School officials didn\u2019t get much positive from Riedel on the possibility of getting setback rules relaxed for wind turbines.<\/p>\n

Snyder, whose district gets significant funding from the Blue Creek Wind Farm — and would benefited from a wind farm planned in the southeast portion of the county that didn\u2019t happen because of the setback rule changes — was supportive changes to the setback and other regulations preventing wind energy companies from putting more wind farms in Ohio.<\/p>\n

Riedel said he feels the only way such changes will be made is if the decision-making for such action is given to township trustees. That didn\u2019t make school officials happy, since trustees are the most vulnerable to NIMBY (not in my backyard) pressure from neighbors of potential wind farms.<\/p>\n

At this point, that issue remains unresolved at the state level, although Kasich is putting pressure on lawmakers to make the state more accessible to alternative energy.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow: Crestview\u00a0school officials testify before the Ohio General Assembly on school issues and hold Education Roundtable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: This is the first in a two-part series on local school officials’ attempts to have input into state education\u00a0issues. DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor Local school officials have been holding sessions with state lawmakers to receive information on Governor John Kasich\u2019s biennial budget proposal, as well as\u00a0provide input on Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requirements […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-02 10:52:46","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85262\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}