Senate President’s response to 43 urban districts’ letter asking the legislature to give priority to funding public schools over privates.
A May 10 article in Cleveland.com by Laura Hancock points to a letter written by 43 urban school districts requesting the legislature to give priority to funding for public schools and calling for accountability requirements for private schools. The response of the Senate President is included in the article.
The last three paragraphs of the article divulge the Senate President’s disparagement toward public education:
“Senate President Matt Huffman, in whose chamber the two-year budget bill is currently being vetted, said Wednesday afternoon that Senate is considering expanding to universal vouchers. He believes people walking with their feet from lackluster private schools is strong accountability.
He also said that he doesn’t buy into the idea that the Fair School Funding Plan has a six-year plan, even though the plan’s architects built it that way. He said too many school districts are sitting on significant cash reserves.
‘One of the issues with 600 school districts is we get the big 8s and the rurals, and the rural who have money and the rurals who don’t have money,’ he said. ‘And then we have the suburban schools, who don’t allow open enrollment from the urban schools. So there’s a lot of different kinds of public schools and even schools within districts. It’s hard to make a generalization.’”
Contact with legislators and other State officials regarding education issues is important—essential and encouraged. Testimony during legislative committee hearings is imperative for the record; but when legislative leaders have decided to pass bills before they are introduced, citizens’ efforts seem futile. That is why the checks and balances of the three branches of government is so efficacious.
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