Over the past several years, the State of Ohio received its share of the so-called tobacco settlement (shakedown) from the tobacco companies. It was in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and was supposed to be put into a trust fund so that the interest it made could be used for various worthwhile state projects, such as they are. I read in the paper several weeks ago that the fund is now, for all intents and purposes, depleted. The money was spent on school improvements.
I didn’t have to look far to see where the money went. There is new East High School and new Chaney High School in Youngstown. There are several new elementary schools. The old schools have either been sold to charter schools, torn down, or abandoned. This was an investment in education…an investment in the future.
What a crock!!!!!!! Here’s a news flash. If you couldn’t teach these kids in the old schools, you sure as hell won’t be able to teach them in the new schools. The two most glaring examples of this boondoggle approach to education is Volney Rogers Jr. High School in Youngstown, and Warren Harding High School in Warren.
Volney Rogers High School was for all intents purposes “new”. It was only 35 years old and in good condition. It was built on the Westside of town when I was in high school. St. Christine’s Catholic School, right down the street was built at about the same time, and is still up operating just fine…teaching kids the old fashioned way. 2 x 2 still equals 4 no matter what the age of the structure in which it is taught.
What is disturbing is that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the structure that was there. Only in the public sector can a 35 year old building be deemed insufficient to teach the same things they were teaching in one room school houses as late as 70 years ago.
Warren Harding High School is a magnificent structure that couldn’t be duplicated today at an acceptable price even if they tried. Instead of preserving the building, and fixing it up, they are tearing it down, and have built a new Harding High with construction that I guarantee you will be nowhere near the quality of the one that is being torn down. New construction, these days, usually means cheap and shoddy.
The new Chaney High School in Youngstown is 2 years old, and has a feature that the original Chaney did not have… a lock up room that serves as a jail cell to incarcerate violent students while waiting for the police. Although I haven’t seen it for myself, sources tell me that school is fairly beat up for being as new as it is.
I didn’t have to look far to see where the money went. There is new East High School and new Chaney High School in Youngstown. There are several new elementary schools. The old schools have either been sold to charter schools, torn down, or abandoned. This was an investment in education…an investment in the future.
What a crock!!!!!!! Here’s a news flash. If you couldn’t teach these kids in the old schools, you sure as hell won’t be able to teach them in the new schools. The two most glaring examples of this boondoggle approach to education is Volney Rogers Jr. High School in Youngstown, and Warren Harding High School in Warren.
Volney Rogers High School was for all intents purposes “new”. It was only 35 years old and in good condition. It was built on the Westside of town when I was in high school. St. Christine’s Catholic School, right down the street was built at about the same time, and is still up operating just fine…teaching kids the old fashioned way. 2 x 2 still equals 4 no matter what the age of the structure in which it is taught.
What is disturbing is that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the structure that was there. Only in the public sector can a 35 year old building be deemed insufficient to teach the same things they were teaching in one room school houses as late as 70 years ago.
Warren Harding High School is a magnificent structure that couldn’t be duplicated today at an acceptable price even if they tried. Instead of preserving the building, and fixing it up, they are tearing it down, and have built a new Harding High with construction that I guarantee you will be nowhere near the quality of the one that is being torn down. New construction, these days, usually means cheap and shoddy.
The new Chaney High School in Youngstown is 2 years old, and has a feature that the original Chaney did not have… a lock up room that serves as a jail cell to incarcerate violent students while waiting for the police. Although I haven’t seen it for myself, sources tell me that school is fairly beat up for being as new as it is.
Here’s the basic truth. Unless there is discipline and self motivation, you can throw all the money you want at schools, and learning will not improve; not for the students, nor for the government who is wasting your money
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