Taking on 'the state' over schools

In the past couple of years, every time I would hear of a school district in financial distress I would feel bad -- until the school district where I send my children started having financial difficulties. Then I felt sick.
There have been nights when I literally lie awake in bed trying to figure out a way to solve this problem. Through my late night analyses as well as a few daytime phone calls, I have come to some conclusions.
First, being a member of a local school board is one of the most important positions in public service. There is little pay and great responsibilities. The decisions made by a school board directly affect the operation of a district. It is where the proverbial buck stops. And when the buck stops short, it is the board that must provide answers.
School board members are barely recognized when the district is running smoothly. But when trouble brews, it is the board members who face the wrath of angry and concerned parents. And you can't blame the parents. This isn't a business selling "widgets" they're concerned about. It is the well-being and future of their children.
Another entity
While the local school board holds a great deal of power and responsibility, there is another entity that plays a large role in the education of our children, the state.
When I first decided to take our school's problem to "the state," it felt like I was trying to contact some big, innocuous entity. That's exactly what it is. And, quite frankly, there isn't a person at "the state" who has a clue about what our local school districts are going through. What's worse, I can't find anyone at "the state" who gives a damn.
Oh, a lot of "state" people say they care, but the proof that they don't lies in a state school funding system that was deemed unconstitutional a decade ago. They say the wheels of government turn slow. The education of children don't even have a spoke on the wheel.
Speaking with one state representative, I realized after about two minutes that he had no working knowledge of how schools are funded. Shifting gears, I mentioned our district's struggle with rising health-care costs since this representative is on an insurance commission.
"You must have some really sick people in your district," was his response. Our children are not the only ones being ignored.
On a call to another state representative's office, I was greeted by a lovely young woman who worked as an aide. She informed me that while this representative cares a great deal about education, he is in the minority party and any ideas he presents would not be received.
Perhaps I'll explain to my children why they don't have music or computer class by educating them with another word for donkey and telling them that elephants do forget.
Task force
This lovely aide, however, did provide me with a list of people who serve on the Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Financing Student Success.
"Now I'm getting somewhere!" I thought. I had whittled "the state" down to a task force.
"What is the purpose of this task force?" I asked one member who I was able to reach.
"We have many objectives," he responded.
"Are your working on the school funding issue?" I asked.
"That is one of our objectives," he told me.
Being an objective, it seems, is as specific as he could get.
Meanwhile, every month another school district announces they will be running a deficit. Every week, we hear of cutbacks and layoffs in our school systems.
The reality of this news is felt everyday in schools where children find fewer classes and bigger class sizes; where buses have stopped running and extracurriculars have been cut.
Ohio's school funding issue is no longer a problem -- it is a crisis.
The time has come for legislators and "blue ribbon" members to deal with school funding. The future of Ohio's children depends on it.
gwhite@vindy.com