Superintendents act as if school funds belong to them

Superintendents act as if school funds belong to them

EDITOR:

I love it when I see superintendents of schools crying about losing their money to community schools (“Schools question rules for funding,” The Vindicator, Jan. 26). The nerve of these people who are supposedly highly educated and very handsomely paid,

For the record, Mr. and Mrs. Superintendent, it is not your money. That money is the taxpayers’ money. The money should follow the child.

My suggestion is for superintendents to follow the lead of most businesses. If they are losing to the competition, identify what is making the customers (the families) leave. In this instance, they should call the parents and invite them in to talk about why they are leaving their fine schools. How many of them have done this?

My other suggestion is to make the necessary cuts in staffing. If a district has fewer students, it can better allocate its money.

The biggest hypocrite of them all is Austintown Superintendent Doug Heuer. On one hand he laments the fact that he is losing students to community schools while on the other his district has adopted an open enrollment policy to take kids from other districts.

So when a student from Youngstown city schools chooses to take advantage of this policy is Heuer going to feel the same way and not accept the money from the taxpayers in Youngstown?

I would also like to point out that all public school districts receive money from parents who can afford to send their students to private schools and those that choose the home school route. They have been receiving this money for years and have not had to educate one of these students.

LARRY LONG Jr.

East Liverpool

Where do aspirins come from?

EDITOR:

Where is your aspirin made? That sounds like a reasonable question to ask. Try getting a reasonable answer or any answer at all when you call the corporate office on your aspirin bottle label.

China makes the majority of generic aspirin sold today. The same country that just sentenced two men to death for adding melamine to baby formula in order to pass a protein level inspection test.

How do you know where your over-the-counter medicine is made without a country-of-origin law? There is a country-of-origin law for clothing. Why not a country-of-origin law for over-the-counter medicine?

KEVIN FLAHERTY

Poland

A whole lot to love

EDITOR:

I would like to encourage citizens of the Mahoning Valley to take in all that Youngstown offers.

I am most appreciative for these recent successful endeavors, to name a few: the screening of a locally produced film featuring local actors, “Fine-Tuned,” shown at the Oakland Theater in downtown Youngstown, First-Night Youngstown 2009 including a variety of artistic venues, open-house at the Artists of Mahoning Commons (Ward Baking Company building) full of lovely holiday gifts, S.M.A.R.T.S. holiday gift shop in the DeYor center, a spiritually uplifting interfaith service for Martin Luther King Day, the YSU MLK diversity breakfast, and, finally, an amazing symphony performance combining two Youngstown treasures — the works of the Butler Institute of American Art and, of course, the symphony itself.

There are so many talented people who work very hard to bring the arts to our community, but remember, if you don’t go, you won’t know.

LINDA LUCARELL MILLER

Youngstown

Lakeview seeks levy renewal

EDITOR:

I strongly believe if Lakeview Local School District residents take a few moments to review the following information, they will use good judgment and vote “yes” for our 3.15-mill school tax levy renewal on Tuesday’s ballot.

This renewal levy comes at a critical time for us. Our financial forecast indicates our balance will be only $30,000 as of June 30, 2009. Our state foundation revenues will be identical to last year’s total. Our February settlement of real estate taxes will be equal to last year’s settlement. While our revenue remains constant, there are inflationary pressures in most of our expenditure areas. Lakeview has scored “Excellent” on the last two state report cards and “Excellent with Distinction” on the ’07-’08 state report card, one of only 74 districts in the state, and one of two districts in the four-county area. This type of education is not a luxury, but a necessity to keep our youth competitive in the job market and appealing to the universities as they pursue higher education. This has been accomplished by Lakeview spending $8,273 per student, while the state average is $9,622. Lakeview’s per pupil expenditure ranks below the Trumbull County average as well. Our taxpayers continue to earn a superior return on their investment as Lakeview ranks 16th out of 20 in Trumbull County in total school millage.

Lakeview’s performing arts programs continue to be ranked among the very finest in the state. At adjudicated state competitions, our performing arts consistently earn “superior” ratings. Our athletic and extracurricular programs involve hundreds of students and we are highly competitive in all arenas.

ROBERT A. WILSON, superintendent

Lakeview Local School District

Cortland

What are we saving?

EDITOR:

In a short period of time we in America have become “Europe.” We are expected to sleep in a 50 degree bedrooms when it’s 25 degrees outside. We have become self-absorbed, angry and dominated by a government that rules by committee.

In Ohio we have abundant energy all about us. Yet we are conserving energy in ways that may well affect our health. Children will have more infections, the elderly will have more aches and pains, with accompanying depression.

That politicians deny the people the fruits of this great nation is frightening. Perhaps Cicero, the great Roman philosopher, was right when he said that governments are the enemy.

RAYMOND S. BONIFACE, M.D.

Poland

Dig we must

EDITOR:

Wouldn’t this be an ideal time to reintroduce the long-discussed but not-forgotten plan to build the Lake-to-River canal? This area has so much potential, especially now.

ANNE PACHOS

Cortland