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Waste Watchers
Springboro, OH
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Due U Know wrote: During 2012 property values in our school district went down; but our personal property taxes increased because of a MRDD levy; Clearcreek Twp government collected MORE taxes from homewoners than the government needed; but refused to give homeowners a tax holiday in 2013; but instead spent over $10,000 to conduct a community survey of "customer satisfaction" with the manner in which the Clearcreek Twp government spends our tax dollars; so that the customer satisfaction survey could be promoted to prove that voters in Springboro/Clearcreek Twp wants a fire levy on the 2013 ballot. Due U Know that the only thing proven by our local government actions is EXCESSIVE SPENDING and we all know that EXCESSIVE SPENDING proves the words of Ronald Reagan to be true: "Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other." Again, isn't the only thing proven by this silly SEA legal action against Springboro board representatives/community members is the EXCESSIVE SPENDING of our hard earned tax dollars that the union collects from our classroom teachers; and then uses our kids school tax dollars to line the pockets of teachers union lawyers, like Mr. Doll, who is both a union lawyer and a Centerville school board representative. Do You Know?....The Board of Education legal services has INCREASED by $200,000 based on upcoming negotiations and other legal needs?
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Oh Yeah
Springboro, OH
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way too many carbs mama wrote: <quoted text>
You are correct, but not 100% correct.
Parents indeed are the very first dietary role models in their childrens' lives. A lot of the time this is good, but not all the time.
Think about the people who live in and around your immediate neighborhood. It's not all that difficult to locate extremely overweight individuals who also happen to be parents of school age children. If the parents suck at monitoring their diets and overall health, how can you honestly expect their kids to do much better? These are the types of parents who likely hadn't learned to prepare any type of food from a recipe using basic wholesome ingredients - So thus, their kids likely will not learn these important skills, either.
Instead, such irresponsible slobs might consider "dinner" any and all sorts of crappy carb-filled fiberless sugary garbage they can conjure up at walmart. And of course they'll allow their kids to brownbag (oops!...sorry, girls!) Vera Bradley-bag this same crap for their school lunches. These are the type of irresponsible parents that fail to stress the importance of having SOMETHING REAL for breakfast each and every day before school. They don't bother to eat breakfast (no! Starbucks coffee DOESN'T count!) so why should they make their kids eat breakfast? The closest thing to the fruit/vegetable group you'll find in their house might be a bottle of Heinz ketchup.
So, yeah! I guess our teachers DO need to teach healthy eating habits and be positive role models for healthy living
(that is, assuming they're not obese as well!) Our Springboro Education Association public school teachers need to be positive role models for healthy speaking as well; building up our children, parents, and commuity members with spoken words of appreciation, instead of jeering and sneering in ridicule of good citizens who are working hard (with no extra financial compensation) to make Springboro a better place to live, work, play, and learn.
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Blah vs Children First
Springboro, OH
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Blah wrote: So much gloom and doom on this thread...
I wanted to check out topix due to a co-worker mentioning it. It seems like four or five people relentlessly bickering. Bestowing the label of excellence on districts that do little to provide for students beyond basic proficiency helps no one. Even in elite, affluent suburbs, communities are lulled into complacent acceptance of the status quo even as their children perform at a level nowhere near excellent. This phenomenon is nicely explained by Jay Greene, coauthor of When the Best Is Mediocre: State accountability systems and the desire to rationalize the lack of quality options have encouraged the elites to compare their affluent suburban districts to the large urban ones in their state. These inappropriate comparisons have falsely reassured them that their own school districts are doing well. This false reassurance has also perhaps undermined the desire among the elites to engage in dramatic education reform. As long as the elites hold onto the belief that their own school districts are excellent, they have little desire to push for the kinds of significant systemic reforms that might improve their districts as well as the large urban districts. They may wish the urban districts well and hope matters improve, but their taste for bold reform is limited by a false contentment with their own situation. Radio audiences laugh at the imaginary Lake Wobegon, where ALL students are above average, but Ohio has taken things to a level that some have described as Lake Wobegon on steroids, and the damage to the educational system is becoming evident. It is Time to take an honest look at state standards and to see how these “excellent” districts are truly performing. Parents, policymakers, and the general public no longer can afford to pretend that the emperor is clothed. It is time to take a look at the ugly, naked truth about the accountability system in Ohio.– www.oagc.com
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new to boro
Springboro, OH
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Hi everyone, Moved to Springboro just a few years ago. Trying to understand what's going on in the school district and with the board. Honestly, the schools seem fine (I have an elementary schooler), the board seems fine (I see they are making changes - assuming some good and some bad)...I see comments about the teacher's union - always an issue... So what's wrong with Springboro schools? I have no opinion yet. Just asking to understand.
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Please Explain
Lebanon, OH
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Just Watching wrote: Some of what I get out of this Warren County document is that Springboro "must continue to create a culture of high expectations and provide extra help." How is this going to be accomplished? Is there going to be more after-school help or intervention periods? Will there be administrators/teachers keeping track and identifying students for intervention or is that up to the parents? As for the AP and PSEO classes, how is that encouraged - are we going to suggest more students take these higher level classes even though they may not be prepared - if so, do we have tutors within the school to help?
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new to boro
Springboro, OH
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Hi, Just Watching...can you tell me about the 3 out of 8 children that are suffering educationally? I'm trying to figure out if my son is going to get a decent education in Springboro...and you may be able to shed some light. Is what's wrong with Springboro Schools the same as what's wrong with most US schools? Or is it something specific to our community or our administration? Any help is greatly appreciated! Just Watching wrote: <quoted text>
The fact that so many are so quick to bury the bad news to celebrate the good, is problem that we all face in this community.
You can't take all the credit for producing really smart kids, when the same system also produces 3 out of 8 children with less than a sterling education. We as a school district own the entire program, good and bad. We includes students, parents, teachers, administrators, BOE, and taxpayers, in other words all of us are in the same boat.
People tend to paper over the poor scores and concentrate on the good ones, human nature I suppose.
But those 2000 plus children who are not getting the education the taxpayers are funding need solutions, or we will surely cast those children adrift without the necessary survival skills in the not too distant future.
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Just Watching
New Carlisle, OH
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Reallocating resources from areas that don't support our mission as much as others, to areas that propel excellence, is one way to accomplish what you are speaking of in a general term. Better preparing our students to get on this track needs to begin in the elementary schools. It needs to involve the parents, the teachers, and the administration to provide the proper emphasis. Waiting until they are juniors in high school is a little late to begin pursuing the PSEO path if you have not previously prepared the child for the rigors ahead. More kids in college classes on a university campus will free up the necessary resources in the high school to implement the program.
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new to boro
Springboro, OH
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Maybe this is useful for this forum... From a school board member: "Everyone in the school community has more in common than they have differences. Let us meld that commonality to push forth a better school system than we enjoy today. We owe it to our children. Let us come together to push for real achievement and higher standards that we currently demand."
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Just Watching
New Carlisle, OH
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new to boro wrote: Hi, Just Watching...can you tell me about the 3 out of 8 children that are suffering educationally? I'm trying to figure out if my son is going to get a decent education in Springboro...and you may be able to shed some light. Is what's wrong with Springboro Schools the same as what's wrong with most US schools? Or is it something specific to our community or our administration? Any help is greatly appreciated!
<quoted text> The issues seem primarily systemic throughout our educational system. Those in charge understand that parents want to hear positive statements about their child's education and what is more positive than calling a solid C student Accelerated. The race to the top is a race to mediocrity that only involved and caring parents can arrest. Demand excellence rather than the lowest possible denominator. Educate yourself on what these terms they throw around actually mean. Proficient means failing. If we have this great staff that everyone claims, one would expect them to be leading the charge for true excellence. They certainly know the difference.
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Grapevine
Springboro, OH
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new to boro wrote: Hi everyone,
Moved to Springboro just a few years ago. Trying to understand what's going on in the school district and with the board. Honestly, the schools seem fine (I have an elementary schooler), the board seems fine (I see they are making changes - assuming some good and some bad)...I see comments about the teacher's union - always an issue...
So what's wrong with Springboro schools? I have no opinion yet. Just asking to understand. Easy to Understand with Simple As 1-2-3 refresher course: Number One - Our reform-minded BOE majority is doing what's right for our school children and community, bringing about much needed changes for our children's future, that have been ignored for several years by previous board members (including Don Miller) and former school district leaders. Number Two - Our status quo board member Don Miller and our Springboro Education Association is continuing their self-interest harmful practices of fighting against our children first budgeting implementation and the good work being done by our reform-minded BOE (as they stand firm doing what's right for our school children and community). Number Three - Only thing wrong with Springboro Schools is the tired old agenda of OEA/SEA politics of destruction in our children's classrooms, and school board member Don Miller's conflict of interest voting union interest first against our children first best interest.
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Great News
Springboro, OH
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new to boro wrote: Maybe this is useful for this forum...
From a school board member:
"Everyone in the school community has more in common than they have differences. Let us meld that commonality to push forth a better school system than we enjoy today. We owe it to our children. Let us come together to push for real achievement and higher standards that we currently demand." Finding ways to methodically advance student achievement should always be everyone’s goal. Implementing academic reforms will, for example, reduce the present need for so many of our students needing to take college remediation courses. This, of course, will immediately translate into money saved for parents whose students attend Ohio’s colleges. And, in order to meet this challenge of higher academic quality, the current school Board of Education and District are, or already have plans to, invest heavily in technology, professional development for teachers, new textbooks, as well as new computers for every teacher, plus much more. All this being said, there is a lot of work yet to be done to assure you (parents) that we will strive to do more than meet the minimum state requirements. The current Board of Education is dedicated to being advocates for every student striving to push the bar higher than other districts. Some say there’s no need to change because our district achieved an “excellent with Distinction” rating for our most recent school year. But we live in a world that is dynamic, a world of ever-evolving expectations and realities that require our constant attention. What once was an acceptable level of achievement is now a relic of the past that will ill serve our children and our taxpayers in the future. As parents, we all desire that our children be provided the best we can afford. We constantly challenge our children with the hope that doing so will help prepare them for the world and better lives than we ourselves enjoy. We are also highly cognizant of the importance of true learning and greatly value education and the promise of what it may bring. Everyone in the school community has more in common than they have differences. Let us meld that commonality to push forth a better school system than we enjoy today. We owe it to our children. Let us come together to push for real achievement and higher standards that we currently demand. http://educatespringboro.wordpress.com/2013/0...
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Great News
Springboro, OH
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Just Watching
New Carlisle, OH
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Great News wrote: Interest seems to be growing throughout the state. We are not alone in our travails. Progress is never as simple as wishing it so and thus it becomes. Breaking the cycle that has lead our children, parents, staff, administrators, and taxpayers to this point will require the will to see the point through. Opposition will be strong, as thoroughly entrenched opponents feels the threat to their status quo. The odd thing will be when the moment of insight becomes clarity, and the sudden realization that this could benefit everyone financially, professionally, and personally. There is no right or wrong, just how we approach the problem. Fifty years down our current path has lead us to nothing more than besting the state minimums. It is time to do better for all of our sake.
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new to boro
Springboro, OH
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Everyone, thanks so much for the information! I'm hearing positive things on this board now, which is encouraging.(that's not to say positive as in "we're great", but positive as in "we need some work.") I agree with all of you - from my limited information at this moment - and I have spoken to some teachers who agree...not good to assume the teachers are all resistant to change. I'd rather not bash the Teacher's Union or the teachers who support them, IMHO we should give the benefit of the doubt and agree to disagree and then move on. It sounds like we are moving in the right direction. I hope so, for my kids' sake. Just a side note, he told me "school is boring." Time to challenge them, Springboro! Just Watching wrote: <quoted text>
Interest seems to be growing throughout the state. We are not alone in our travails. Progress is never as simple as wishing it so and thus it becomes. Breaking the cycle that has lead our children, parents, staff, administrators, and taxpayers to this point will require the will to see the point through.
Opposition will be strong, as thoroughly entrenched opponents feels the threat to their status quo.
The odd thing will be when the moment of insight becomes clarity, and the sudden realization that this could benefit everyone financially, professionally, and personally.
There is no right or wrong, just how we approach the problem. Fifty years down our current path has lead us to nothing more than besting the state minimums.
It is time to do better for all of our sake.
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A little honesty please
Lebanon, OH
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"Dr. Kohls and the council, developed the philosophy and methods to Children First Budgeting. The philosophy is a zero based budget process applied by the Springsboro Ohio Schools. The plan turned a projected $30 million deficit into a $10 million surplus with no additional burden on citizens property taxes." Give a little credit where credit is due. The teachers agreed to a pay freeze for multiple years and agreed to pay more of their health care costs. A majority of the money saved was due to the teachers giving up pay and benefits. As for the kids first and making all of the changes this past year, again a little honesty is needed. 1st - Technology (wireless internet) had to be put into the schools because of the requirement starting in 2014 to test electronically. Without that requirement who knows if the board would have spent the extra money. Actually I know - they wouldn't have. On those same lines, they bought extra computers - again their hand was forced due to the upcoming state requirements to test electronically. 2nd - Buses had to be bought so that busing could be maintained within the district (something that many of the board members fought to bring back). Again, their hand was forced on this issue as well, if not, they wouldn't have spent the money. 3rd - The board has bragged about how they focused on the kids and bought new books but again this was required due to the new core curriculum that is being flowed down from the state. This distric has a lot of work ahead to figure out budgets and educating our students but let's be honest with why changes are being made and stop implying it is all about the students - we all know it is all about the $$$.
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truth to power
Springboro, OH
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[QUOTE who="A little honesty pleaseThis distric has a lot of work ahead to figure out budgets and educating our students but let's be honest with why changes are being made and stop implying it is all about the students - we all know it is all about the $$$. [/QUOTE] Yeah! It's all about the money, alright! It's obviou our board cares not iota about Boro's kids! I heard our board's majority has plans to ransack the budget surplus, then head on down to Monday's grand opening of the Horseshoe Casino! ;-)
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ursmarterthantha t
Springboro, OH
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A little honesty please wrote: "Dr. Kohls and the council, developed the philosophy and methods to Children First Budgeting. The philosophy is a zero based budget process applied by the Springsboro Ohio Schools.
The plan turned a projected $30 million deficit into a $10 million surplus with no additional burden on citizens property taxes."
Give a little credit where credit is due. The teachers agreed to a pay freeze for multiple years and agreed to pay more of their health care costs. A majority of the money saved was due to the teachers giving up pay and benefits.
As for the kids first and making all of the changes this past year, again a little honesty is needed.
1st - Technology (wireless internet) had to be put into the schools because of the requirement starting in 2014 to test electronically. Without that requirement who knows if the board would have spent the extra money. Actually I know - they wouldn't have.
On those same lines, they bought extra computers - again their hand was forced due to the upcoming state requirements to test electronically.
2nd - Buses had to be bought so that busing could be maintained within the district (something that many of the board members fought to bring back). Again, their hand was forced on this issue as well, if not, they wouldn't have spent the money.
3rd - The board has bragged about how they focused on the kids and bought new books but again this was required due to the new core curriculum that is being flowed down from the state.
This distric has a lot of work ahead to figure out budgets and educating our students but let's be honest with why changes are being made and stop implying it is all about the students - we all know it is all about the $$$. Cmon wake up. The district never had a 30 million dollar deficit. It was a hoax to get more cash from you. The wage freeze and pipleine dollars are the reasons for the turn around. And you idiots that want esc services, well you are idiots. How in the world can the land of retire rehires be cost effective. Stay out of Springboro, wcesc!
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masterofconcrete pourers
New Carlisle, OH
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So, when will you bums vote for a levy? That's original topic, duh!
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Why no answers
Ravenna, OH
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Just Watching
New Carlisle, OH
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truth to power wrote: <quoted text>
Yeah! It's all about the money, alright! It's obviou our board cares not iota about Boro's kids!
I heard our board's majority has plans to ransack the budget surplus, then head on down to Monday's grand opening of the Horseshoe Casino!
;-) Somebody better start caring about the 2000 plus kids who are not getting the education they deserve. Do you notice that no one provides an alternative reading of the data? What are they going to say in refutation, 42% is good enough to pass? Spare us the snarky comments and tell us how you would reallocate our existing resources to apply them where they are needed most urgently. Our junior high school, in math and reading, is in a horrid state according to the scores on the OAA tests. While some children are doing very well, an unacceptably large percentage is performing abysmally below the 63% mark. The snide and dismissive comments will not save these 2000 plus children's futures.
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Taurus