Board backs consolidation, free-tuition initiatives

Consolidating school districts would help pay for the tuition plan.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Regional Chamber's board unanimously supports an ambitious plan to provide free tuition for college or vocational training for all Mahoning Valley high school graduates.
And that's just to start.
The board also voted Wednesday to give Tom Humphries, chamber president, the authority to begin work on creating charter governments in local counties and consolidating school districts.
The proposals are ambitious but business leaders believe the Valley's work force must be better educated to compete in today's economy, Humphries said.
School consolidations would free up money to help make this happen by providing free education. Savings would be achieved by reducing the number of school administrators in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, Humphries said.
Also, the county government change would help the area by reducing money spent on government, he said.
Here's the goal
The goal is to place the charter issue and a tax for the free-tuition program on the November 2008 ballot.
Humphries said, however, that a tax may not be needed if the consolidation of school districts saves enough money to fund the program.
He is considering asking state legislators to pass a law to force the consolidations, rather than ask the school districts to adopt the matter voluntarily.
Such a law would limit funding to a limited number of administrators. If districts want to have more administrators, they would have to pass a tax levy.
The three counties have 45 school districts, each with their own superintendent and other administrators. Humphries thinks districts can operate more efficiently if one superintendent oversaw all schools in the county.
He cautioned, however, that the chamber is early in its investigation of the issues.
His first step is to hire a vice president of government affairs to oversee all three issues. The post has been vacant since Greg Sherlock moved out of the area last October.
Humphries said he wants the new hire to be devoted to promoting the issues for 18 months. The clerical staff of the chamber also will assist, he said.
Humphries' goal is for the free-tuition program to create national attention for the Valley.
It would provide tuition to vocational programs and universities in the Valley. Included would be Youngstown State University and the branches of Kent State University.
A charter form of government replaces county commissioners with a county executive and county council. Humphries thinks this would streamline county operations.
He said he hopes to have issues on local ballots this November for the authorization of an official committees to review the charter proposal.