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« Opinion
Youngstown schools have troubles that few have seen
Youngstown schools have troubles that few have seen
It is difficult to believe that as bad as things were the last time there was an election for the Youngstown Board of Education that they could be worse today.
If ever there was a time to throw the rascals out, this would be it.
But it’s never as easy to solve real problems as it is to come up with catchy adages.
Vindicator editors conducted endorsement interviews with four of the five candidates for the city board of education. One of the incumbents, Dominic Modarelli, declined to attend an interview, making him ineligible for an endorsement.
Those we talked to included Lock P. Beachum Sr., 75, a retired teacher and principal in the Youngstown school district who is seeking his third term, and Jacqueline Taylor, 58, a research economist at Youngstown State University who is seeking re-election. By conventional wisdom, they would be the “rascals” worthy of being thrown out.
But while Taylor and Beachum are not always on the same page, neither fits the rascal mold. Both are clearly invested in making Youngstown a better school district, and there is reason to give them another four years to do the best that they can to improve the district.
Youngstown is a school district that is nearing completion of a building program that will give it one of the best arrays of new schools in the state. Twelve new schools have been built, Woodrow Wilson Middle School is under construction and will open next fall, and 12 old buildings have been razed. The lion’s share of the cost has been covered by the state of Ohio.
The challenges
And yet, students are leaving Youngstown schools in droves — for charter schools, voucher schools and open enrollment districts — and the academic performance of those left behind continues to slide. Meanwhile, the district faces enormous financial challenges because a four-year, 9.5-mill emergency tax levy passed by city school district voters last year that was projected to produce $5.3 million a year is going to produce only $3.1 million.
This triple whammy of massive investment in new buildings, outward migration of students and significant losses in tax revenue is more the fault of misfeasance and malfeasance by legislators in Columbus than by members of the Youngstown Board of Education. Challenged by the Ohio Supreme Court to find a more equitable way of funding the operation of schools in the state, the General Assembly could have responded with true reform, but chose instead to placate the court by throwing billions of dollars into construction. At the same time, legislators pursued a policy of diverting more and more money from public schools to charter and private schools, a move that not only appealed to free-market ideologues in Columbus but to the charter school proponents who had been shoveling money into their campaign coffers.
But that’s an old story, and Youngstown’s problems are very much a fact of life today.
Of the candidates in this race, we believe Beachum and Taylor are two of the best, and we recommend their re-election.
Beachum can rightly claim that his voice has been one of those in recent years calling for Superintendent Wendy Webb and other administrators and teachers to be held to account for the district’s failure to meet not only what should be its educational goals, but its educational obligations.
Beachum gave Webb a 4 on her last evaluation, which was the median score of those given by seven board members. In his interview, Beachum made it clear that he is uninterested in hearing any more excuses for poor performance.
Taylor, on the other hand, gave Webb a 7.2, the second highest number among the seven members. That number would strike most observers as unrealistically high, given the district’s record, but Taylor defends it as fair. She acknowledges, however, that there is a need for corrective action. We will take her at her word that she will be not only fair but firm in demanding such corrections.
The challengers
The two challengers in this race are Rachel Hanni, 24, a recent graduate of Youngstown State University who has been doing substitute teaching in the district, and Andrea Mahone, 45, a community youth director for the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center.
Hanni is the daughter of Don Hanni III, a former board member who sometimes had the right instincts about what Youngstown students needed but whose combative style proved counterproductive.
We saw in Rachel Hanni an obvious desire to improve education in the city schools because, it became clear, she believes that the students deserve a chance at success. Too many students in the city schools face incredible challenges she said, and the school district must respond to their needs.
Mahone also, obviously, feels strongly about giving students the tools they need to succeed, and we were impressed by her suggestion that parents should be held to a higher standard and pressured to become more involved in the children’s academic lives. Between the two candidates, we felt Hanni was the stronger choice.
The Vindicator is endorsing Beachum, Taylor and Hanni with the hope that they will be able to work with the four other members on the board to improve Youngstown schools and with the expectation that they will be firm in demanding improvements.
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Comments
The problem with Youngstown Scools lies in the home . The children arrive at school educated in subculture . Making the parents responsible for the actions of their children would be a big step in restoring the learning atmosphere .
The Youngstown schools provide baby sitting service, breakfast, and lunch to the kids instead of the parents. The parents don't care if their kids get educated or not, after all they never got educated either. Fxing the schools is impossible in this environment.
Stan & UnionForever, Your posts state the facts, and they are excellent.
Youngstown desperately needs moral Black leadership, Mayor Jay Williams is doing a good job, but he's only one person.
On the other hand, Wendy Webb is aloof and inept, and she's not being held accountable. The scores Beachum and Taylor gave her are so absurd, I'm almost embarrassed for them.
And more spending more money per student is NOT the answer. The average paid per year, per public school student in the Mahoning Valley is $8,000, but Wendy Webb's students get over $24,000. per year, per student. Therefore, taxpayers should not be forced to pay for any additional programs.
What needs to be done, is to find someone willing to take over Wendy Webb's job, and to actually do it, by addressing the facts, which is the students must be held accountable for their actions, or non actions, and the parents/guardians too, as much as possible.
More facts are,..there are students in the Youngstown Schools who blatantly refuse to do their homework or any school work, and they are just left in a room with a teacher aka baby sister, to goof off as they choose, and that takes place every day.
Ask yourselves Beachum, Taylor and Webb,.. Why should the Black students care if they learn or not?,. They're obviously happy with just living very poor, but easy, irresponsible life styles, while you all keep blaming Whites for their dead end choices.
http://www.rateitall.com/i-2686049-young...
foxtrot, Thank you for more eye-opening facts.
America is morally and financially bankrupt, and yet the politicians keep mounting debt, including with the $24,000. given per each student, per year, in the Youngstown Schools, when clearly that excessive spending hasn't solved the learning problems, nor the liberal hopes;that the excessive spending will somehow also fix the out of control social problems based on personal immorality. But that will NEVER happen, and there will come a time, in the near future, when even the extreme social liberals will realize, it's the absence of God, combined with excessive greed, and the other out of control immoral life styles, that caused our many blessings, to vanish.
Congrats Rachel on your endorsement! We do need some fresh ideas & it seems like you might have the right ones! Good luck!
The #1 GREAT and WONDERFUL fresh idea for the Youngstown students who truly do, deserve a chance at success, would be for Rachel to work diligently to bring prayer back in school. A healthy and wholesome fear of our God, who wants ALL of us to be responsible, and to live by morals and values, would be the perfect motivation for students/administrators/parents/guardians, that puts all other fresh ideas in a far distant 2nd place.
Foxtrot's comments on the given website contain few if any facts.
Jessiedavid, please give me a source for your quoted per-pupil cost of $24,000. It is way off. The cost for a regular student in Youngstown Schools is close to the amount you gave for average schools.
You may be confused by the reports of Youngstown's account with the Ohio Department of Education. Their account holds funding, not only for their own schools, but also for every charter school, who receive their funding through the local public schools.
Every public school districts cost per pupil looks higher than it actually is because their funding includes the costs of students in charter schools.
Education_Voter, you are obviously either in a Youngstown Schools union or otherwise affiliated with that failed system. That review is 100% accurate.
Education_Voter, The information is from The National Center for Education Statistics, Office of Education Research and Improvements, U.S. Department of Education. The website is NCES.ED.GOV
The Exact cost per student in Youngstown schools is $24, 135.
And that amount is the highest paid per student in the State of Ohio. Of that amount 75% comes from the State, the Fed. Gov. 10% and 15% from the actual Youngstown school district.
Go to the site, and compare those figures with other local districts like Austintown.... You will see the severe difference in cost per student per year, because Austintown receives $9,258. per year, per student, and of that amount 48% is from the Township.