From the monthly archives: May 2011
If it seems that the majority of Ohioans are wondering if legislation titled the “Budget Bill” wasn’t the best vehicle to try and reform public education, it’s because people across the state are beginning to understand all of the contradictory language spread liberally throughout the 4,000+ pages.
A significant reform measure that could have a dramatic effect is the inclusion of prescriptive measures for the evaluation of teachers. The bill requires that 50% of the annual evaluations be based on student academic growth (i.e., value-added test scores), consider vaguely worded factors such as quality of instructional practice, communication and professionalism, [...]
Full Story... →John Kasich’s nonprofit organization (wink, wink, nudge, nudge), One Ohio United, has now produced two videos promoting their agenda. Both videos have chosen to reference a ten-year period of historical data in order to (unnecessarily) pad the statistics. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics figure prominently in the ads, used to point out the loss of jobs since the year 2000.
In their second video, the job loss graphic is one of their “Four simple, accurate lines.”
Well, we’ve got our own Four Lines from that same Bureau of Labor Statistics information that One Ohio [...]
Full Story... →(Sorry, I was in court this morning, and had to tend to some legal matters.)
The “We Are Ohio” campaign held a press conference today to give the media an update on how the petition circulation is going:
“We are pleased to report 214,399 signatures have been collected in the first month,” said Melissa Fazekas, spokeswoman for We Are Ohio. “The unprecedented level of support from communities all across the state is staggering. While we continue to struggle to keep up with demand for petitions, we know this campaign is a marathon, not a sprint. We believe these early numbers [...]
Full Story... →Ohio’s unemployment rate dropped from 8.9% in March to 8.6% in April as the State made a net gain of 8,600 jobs. Over the past twelve months, Ohio has 67,000 new jobs.
Service-providing industries increased 9,800 over the month to 4,287,200. The most significant gains occurred in professional and business services (+7,100) and trade, transportation, and utilities (+4,200). Other industries gaining jobs included government (+1,900), information (+1,100), and financial activities (+600). Leisure and hospitality (-2,900), educational and health services (-2,100), and other services (-100) experienced over-the-month losses. Goods-producing industries, at 809,300, were down 1,200 from March, driven by a [...]
Full Story... →On Monday we reported that Kasich was escorted to the front of the line at the BMV – and today someone just posted video.
Not only does it show Kasich with his posse (told you so!) but it also shows Kasich asking a young man: “Is this your mother?” It turns out it was (obviously!) his girlfriend.
Two more voters that will never vote for Kasich again. Keep it up, Governor.
Full Story... →Senator Sherrod Brown is up for reelection in 2012 and we found out today that Ken Blackwell has nearly a 2:1 polling advantage over his closest GOP rival to challenge Brown next year.
I thought I’d give you a quick preview of what we can expect if the Republicans decide to run Ken again…
Don’t listen to the detractors, Ken. Everyone at Plunderbund is rooting for you!
Full Story... →I had a short twitter ‘discussion’ with Matt Mayer of the Buckeye Institute earlier this week regarding Kasich’s plan to force college professors to teach more classes and spend less time doing research.
Matt seems to think professors who were hired specifically for their research abilities, who are often funded by grants from private industry and who bring notoriety and a great deal of funding and revenue to their Universities, ought to be spending more time teaching Chemistry 101 instead of working on research with their grad students.
Here’s a short list of reasons why this is a [...]
Full Story... →Like the rest of the state, country and world, Toledo faced a budget crisis last year. To help save money, Mayor Mike Bell and the city council worked with the unions representing city workers to temporarily override existing, collectively-bargained union contracts.
One group, the Toledo Police command officers, was forced to accept SB5-like changes to their health and pension benefits. The union fought against the changes and took their case to the State Employment Relations Board, which ruled in favor of the city.
Under the “exigent circumstances” imposed by the city, command officers were required “to pay their 10 percent [...]
Full Story... →John Kasich’s gotten a slight bump in the poll, but that’s largely because independents in heavily Republican areas have moved off the fence about him. Meet the new “enthusiasm gap,” where Democrats oppose Kasich stronger than Republicans support him.
Yes, buyer’s remorse is real in Ohio, and it’s Republican. That’s why SB 5 seems virtually destined to be repealed this November (so long as it gets on the ballot.)
Full Story... →The Plain Dealer reported yesterday that John Kasich is planning to show the pro-charter school/anti-teacher union movie “Waiting for Superman” around the state. According to the paper the screening “is by invitation only, is co-sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Cleveland Partnership.”
Well guess who got an invitation?
Me!
But I didn’t get it from the Governor’s Office or the Chamber, nope. I got it from the far-right, anti-union, Koch Brothers-funded group Americans for Prosperity – a group that has been working in Ohio trying to push through Kasich’s [...]
Full Story... →Budget Watch
