Chamber studies program

An official suggests cutting 45 Mahoning Valley school districts to three.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
BOARDMAN -- The Regional Chamber is working on a program that would provide free tuition to area high school graduates for college or vocational training.
Tom Humphries, chamber president, mentioned the idea Wednesday along with a plan to push for the consolidation of school districts and governments in the Mahoning Valley.
Humphries said at the chamber's annual meeting at Mr. Anthony's in Boardman that he has spoken to other area leaders about starting a free-tuition program similar to one in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Graduates of the city school district there receive free tuition to any Michigan university or college if they have been in the city schools all 13 years. Tuition payments are prorated for attendance for fewer years. Students who move into the district in their final three years of high school are not eligible.
The program is paid for by anonymous donors. It distributed its first round of scholarships last year.
Already, the number of students going to college, public school enrollment and property values are up, said Marty Dodge, a spokesman for the Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Humphries said he's still working on funding and other specifics of the local plan, but it would apply to all students in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. The tuition would apply only to schools in those counties, including Youngstown State University and branches of Kent State University.
Humphries said the Mahoning Valley needs an eye-catching program to gain national recognition.
"Don't be surprised if we try to get something done this year," he said.
Other ideas
He's also moving quickly on efforts to consolidate governments and school districts. He said he will ask his board of directors next week to support both efforts.
Groups of business leaders, formed by the chamber 18 months ago, have been examining ways to make schools and governments more efficient. Their goal is to free up more money for improving education and creating jobs.
Humphries said the campaign may push to create one central administration for all schools in a county. Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties now have a total of 45 school districts, each with their own superintendent.
He noted a study done by WYTV that said 90 million a year is being spent on administration of the districts in the three counties.
"What if we cut the number [of districts] to three and moved 70 million or 50 million to the classroom?" Humphries said at the chamber's annual meeting at Mr. Anthony's in Boardman.
Consolidating governments
As for local and county governments, there are many opportunities for savings, he said.
He wouldn't commit to one course of action but mentioned revamping county government, combining services and consolidating local governments.
He noted that regionalizing government would save money because only one accounting system or human resource department would be needed for an entire county.
He pointed to the WYTV study that said the population of Mahoning and Trumbull counties fell 7 percent from 1984 to 2004, but the number of local government jobs increased 17 percent. Pay at private employers increased 59 percent during that time, compared with 124 percent in local governments.
Humphries said the first step in the campaign will be to educate the public, so it can help force changes. The campaign could take years, but it will be important to be persistent, he said.
He said an effort to bring a charter form of government to Mahoning County failed in 1997 because supporters gave up too soon.
Humphries said that's why he wants the support of his 28-member board of directors and other business leaders who have been meeting on the issues.
shilling@vindy.com