Husted and Co. Hate Poor Kids

OK, they don’t hate poor kids. They hate investing in keeping poor kids healthy. It’s pure conjecture at this point as to whether or not they actually hate the kids themselves…

From today’s Dispatch:

The governor’s plan to provide health insurance for some of Ohio’s neediest families likely will be dropped by House Republicans to pay part of their proposed increase in state aid to higher education.

What does John need the money for?

House Speaker Jon A. Husted, R-Kettering, needs roughly $150 million to fund three higher-education initiatives: $100 million in new scholarships; $34 million more in funding for state colleges and universities; and the rest to at least partially restore grants for students attending private schools.

Translate that last part as: paying off charter school magnate David Brennan.

There are some things listed that are good goals and worth spending money on (job training for those who are disabled), but the devil is in the details:

? Restoring the state voucher program to current law, allowing 14,000 students in failing school buildings to get up to $5,000 in state money to attend a private school.

? Restoring, at least to a large extent, state funding for online charter schools. Strickland proposed cutting per-pupil funding for e-schools by more than $2,000 to $3,295 in 2008.

? Allowing for-profit companies to operate charter schools, which the governor would ban. Strickland’s proposed moratorium on new charter schools also is headed for a serious revision.

Wonder if David Brennan was present or on speakerphone in the GOP “closed door meetings”? It sounds like his henchmen are doing his bidding. It also sounds like Ted is pretty limited in what he can do. This is why state house and senate seats are so vital in the coming years.

I would like to know my Representatives source when he says:

Charter schools run by for-profit companies are “some of most successful,” said Rep. Jon M. Peterson, R-Delaware, vice-chairman of the Finance Committee. “The model itself isn’t a distinguishing characteristic.”

Unless there have been significant improvements since last year, there doesn’t seem to be evidence to support Peterson’s claim:

(PD) At the end of the last school year, Ohio’s charter schools remained far behind traditional public schools in proficiency test scores. Despite some gains, the charters continued to trail even the maligned urban districts they were supposed to outclass.

There are many who are more on top of this issue than I and maybe they’ll stop by to give us the lowdown. Pho? Jill? Buehler? Anyone? Buehler…