Cloud Based Education Reform

Ted Strickland's education reform plan has been receiving a good deal of attention and review from everyone. I though it would be refreshing to look at the plan's key points in a non conventional way. So here is Evidence Based Education Reform in word cloud, courtesy of Wordle.



This makes everything seem a little more cohesive.

The Man More Irrelevant Than GWB

John Yoo was granted some space over at the WSJ editorial page (surprise) this week.   He should probably be lawyering up rather than trying to defend a policy that is destined for the dustbin of history.

Always interesting to see what is going on in the parallel universe of the WSJ op-ed pages.

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SOS From Strickland, Send Money

Desolate, cold and inhospitable conditions were the backdrop for the day the Governor was to explain how Ohio is going to dig out of it's long winter of discontent.

Ted Strickland laid out his administration's plans for the next year and beyond at today's State of the State address. The speech started by tempering the policy agenda that followed with a reality check of the current economic conditions in Ohio. Lots of bad news on that front, increasing unemployment, foreclosures and the overall infirmity of the financial markets, but that was no surprise.

The State of our State, Strickland announced (after all that bad mojo) is "steadfast". Now that word steadfast really means, not subject to change or immovable. Maybe the State itself won't move away from Lake Erie but the conditions here better change or we're in trouble. Sometimes it's better to stick with the staples like "strong" or "resolute". What followed was a sometimes detailed set of proposals for improving Ohio's future through increased investment in infrastructure, technology and of course education whilst preserving the fiscal order of the State's shaky finances.

Balanced Budget In Three Easy Steps.

Stickland's budget office has estimated that a staggering $7.4 billion dollar budget deficit will have to be erased in the next biennial budget process. Achieving that level of savings (or revenue) will be a challenge. Something tells me this next biennial budget process won't end upor being passed by unanimous votes in the General Assembly like the last one did.

The Governor quickly let loose a three pronged assualt that will address the looming $7 billion plus problem. The next budget will achieve expenditure reductions of $3.2 billion, add new Federal Stimulus revenue of $3.4 billion dollars and additional revenue from fees ($800 million) filling the rest of the gap.

Ted of course steered clear of the third rail of Ohio politics, tax reform. He emphasized his intent to leave the misguided tax reforms of 2005 alone citing the savings realized by Ohioans, natch. Those changes to the tax structure have attributed to the cratering of State tax revenue and complicated the budget picture. Not including reforms as part of his agenda is a testament to the perceived political cost outweighing any good that would come from some practical changes to State taxes.

Investment Here and There

The plan to create film industry tax credit is still alive. Strickland vetoed the first attempt to create a transferable tax credit for the film industry. Now that he has some breathing room some of the details could be altered to make the credits more revenue neutral. I think Tom Patton is already working on a reworked version of the film industry tax credit bill. Shouldn't be too long before the production crew of the thriller Torso starts setting up in Cleveland.

Some of the other investment proposals were off the shelf recycled ideas that actually have merit. The proposal to run light rail between the three major C's in Ohio is way overdue. That is something I for one would love to see happen. There will be resistance from the local governments that don't want passenger trains running through their slice of heaven, but the greater good should prevail here. There is of course that small detail of paying for the whole thing. Did someone say gasoline tax? I did.

No policy speech would be complete without the obligatory show of support for the Third Frontier project. The plan has had bipartisan support in the Assembly and from the voting public. It is an attempt to channel $1.6 billion of funding to a wide array economic development research and technology related projects to the benefit of Ohio's citizenry and business community. The Buckeye Institute has labeled the programs of this type as pork laden waste but, if individual States can't funnel money to local projects of this sort who will?

Education Reform - The Meat of the Speech

The remainder of the address was dedicated to reforming education in Ohio. The Governor unveiled a multi-part plan called Evidence Based Education. Ted has journeyed all over Ohio like Carradine in Kung Fu and gotten ideas about what the education system needs. His answer is this evidenced based approach that was unveiled today.

The plan calls for a five part approach to reforming and preparing Ohio's schools for global competitiveness in the 21st century. The five parts include; teaching for the 21st century, expanding learning approaches, improving educator quality, a focus on measuring success and new standards for school districts themselves.

To be honest the proposals were expansive and I think covered a lot of ground for a State of the State speech. I watched this portion of the speech with my wife and the proposals elicited a number of comments from both of us. Pausing live television is a very useful tool.

I'll attempt to flesh out some of the details in a subsequent post because I'm still ruminating on the plan. I'd have to say that Pho was right on target with his predictions on what Strickland would propose today.

The Governor's GOP adversaries of course see things differently. There were criticisms about the details and of course questions about how the education plan will be funded. On that note I concur. The de facto sixth part of the Governor's plan was the funding changes he is seeking to make evidence based education a reality. The proposed changes are going to be significant in terms of cost. What was billed as Strickland's big speech to reform school funding was light on details. I'm not trying to take away from the innovations he is proposing but there was no paradigm shifting change introduced in Strickland's plan.

Aside from letting levy millage adjust with inflation (H.B. 920) and increasing the State's share of funding to districts (up to 59%) the reforms I and Dennis Willard expected to hear didn't materialize. No talk of consolidating districts or even creating district per County. No mention of trying to introduce an additional sales tax as a way of funding schools either. The proposals for reforming education were there but the means to pay for for these changes were meager in their current form.

Full text available here.

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My Little Piece of Inaugural Paradise

Warning, this post is back dated I didn't have a chance to post until the next day.

Going to Washington to see the inauguration seemed like a great idea on November 5th of 2008. Fast forward to January of 2009 and watching the the thing go down on the television was the more sensible thing to do. Trapped at work in C-Town meant booking to the Palace Theater to catch a bit of history was the only decent option.

The set up at the Palace Theater was great, no lines and a fairly large screen to watch the inaugural coverage in HD. The crowd was a mixture of office dwellers, students and families. I got a kick out of reactions to the various dignitaries being introduced as they entered the seating area behind the dais. Cheers for President Carter, Big Dog and some snickering for the purple scarfed adorned Bush clan. The elder Bush seems to have aged considerably in the last few years.

In between observing the crowd at the Palace and checking the time I picked up some finer points of the scene unfolding on that colorful stage at the Capital. Silly David Brooks, he thinks Obama's brother-in-law was wearing a Princeton scarf. No David, his employer, Oregon State would take issue with that assumption (Paradise Drive, indeed). Who's foot was floating behind Senator Feinstein while she was speaking at the podium? Who let Newt in the good seats? Let's face it Cheney was trying to look like FDR in that wheelchair get up. I hear the chair runs on sneer power.

As the time for Obama to take the oath approached I checked my watch. The musical interlude right before the presidential oath was fantastic. I'll second the many observations that the quartet on stage represented a great slice of what America really looks like. It was a few minutes past noon when Barack Obama and Chief Justice Roberts faced each other to recite the oath of office. What followed was a puzzling and somewhat disturbing occurrence. How does the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court not get that oath right? The irony of a strict constructionist flubbing a passage that is directly quoted in the Constitution was not missed by Andrew Sullivan. What was even more intriguing was how Obama caught the screw up and gave Chief Justice Roberts a chance to correct himself.

The speech was somber and mechanical in nature but was complementary of his election night speech. I have to admit I was still kind of annoyed by the Oath debacle when I heard the speech live. I have found that more meaning is revealed after hearing it a second time. The ground has shifted beneath them, building not destroying and new ways forward are some of the themes that continue to echo in my mind today.

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Home Rule On Trial

Tomorrow Ohio's cities get to make a case for preserving their ability to craft policy at the local level.  The SCO will hear arguments from the cities of Akron, Lima and Cleveland on whether a State law prohibiting municipal residency requirements should be overturned.  Cleveland was allowed to join in after flubbing the filing.  The court consisting of seven Repubicans will hear arguments from two seperate cases revolving around the residency issue. 

While residency rules for city employees is at the center of the court arguements the real threat is whether or not the court will allow further erosion of the home rule provision of the state consitution.  It's no secret that there's some animosity towards or at least a lack of concern for granting localities the discretion to forge policy as they deem necessary.  The negative vibe is worse for any cities named Cleveland or Akron. 

There's no telling what the court will decide, uphold the lower court ruling striking down the state law (good) or overturn the lower court ruling (bad).  The future of how cities govern themselves is in the balance.  There's no indication on how long the court will take to render an opinion but a few points should be kept in mind.

The State law was crammed through the General Assembly cheifly as a result of one State Senator, Tim ' got his hands in everyhting' Grendell who was considering a run for Attorney General in 2006.  Why not solidfy a large voting block from the F.O.P. and the Firefighter Unions by granting them something from their perenial wish list?  Long story short, Grendell didn't run AG but the law was passed anyway.  Another example of former township trustees dictating what is good and bad for cities.

The police and fire organizations hate residency requirements and that passion has kept the anti-residency law movement alive.  I've found that most big cities myaors have a somewhat adverserial relationship with their safety forces.  Fighting residency laws is a great way to stick it to the admnstration if there is a contentious relationship to begin with.  The public safety employees can always find supporters in Columbus.   Lawmakers are willing to take up the cause even after cities like Akron have had residency requirements approved by voters more than once.  So much for the citizens having a say.

The impact of upholdng the State law will have a corrosive effect on urban neighborhoods.  Scores of police and fire personnel (aside from those already skirting the residency law) will move out of their repsective cities.  Losing the residency requirement would probably have a greater impact on a City like Cleveland that has more to lose through the exodus of resident police, fire and EMS employees.  

The other downside is the long-term detriment to the concept of community policing.  The mission to serve and protect is weakend when the very men and women who are asked to patrol our streets have no vested interest in the community other than earning a paycheck.  As a resident of one of the cites represented I strongly believe that the safety forces are not hired mercenaries but an important piece of the community at large. 

I understand that police and fire place themsleves at great risk to keep us safe and that service is probably the most important one provided by cities.  As a residents and taxpayers we have a stake in the way those services are provided and the way in which our elected leaders govern our localities.  Funny how no one is ever concerned if the accountants or garbagemen are happy with residency requirements.

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Obama The Ox

According to the Chinese zodiac 2009 is the year of the ox.  Barack Obama, the man taking the oath of office in one days time is an ox by birth year.  If you believe in these typeologies then we have elected the right person for the right time in our nation's history:

The Ox is the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. This powerful sign is a born leader, being quite dependable and possessing an innate ability to achieve great things. As one might guess, such people are dependable, calm, and modest. Like their animal namesake, the Ox is unswervingly patient, tireless in their work, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint.

I hope he lives up to the prescribed attributes of this year's animal, especially the part about work and enduring hardship. His predecessor ran out of steam before the first one hundred days were up.

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Less Triangulating More Ass Kicking

Thomas Frank posits that a President Obama would benefit from not taking up the Clintonian banner of the third way for every major policy initiative.

I agree with Thomas' idea that triangulation or taking cover for the political center in some respects betrays progressive tenets. The attempt to not appear partisan has brought us the some dubious results during the Bush years:

Well, there's Nafta, which proved Democrats could stand up to labor. There's the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. There's the Iraq war resolution, approved by numerous Democrats in brave defiance of their party's left. Triumphs all.

We're just asking for some recognition now that the conditions on the ground have changed. The belief in health care reform, regulation of financial markets and looking for accountability shouldn't be sacrificed because Obama wants to transcend political boundaries.

Take the planned economic stimulus package to be debated in the coming weeks. I don't give a rat's ass if Obama thinks he needs 80 vote to add legitimacy to the Democratic plan. The over reliance on tax cuts in the plan will weaken its effect and all to make sure ten more Republican Senators vote yes. From what I've read sixty is still the necessary number of votes to get something done in the Senate.

One more thing. I'm not confusing reaching out with triangulating. Tapping Republicans to hold cabinet posts, dining with George Will and asking evangelical nutcases to speak on inauguration day is fine. Reaching out is about getting players to come over to your side of the policy fence not moving the goal post to the right. Reaching out could actually widen the appeal of true progressive ideals in the long term. 

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BofA, WTF

It looks like another bank consolidation will be using federal juice to get the deal done. The WSJ reports today that Bank of America will be tapping the TARP to complete it's acquisition of investment house Merrill Lynch. Think of it as affirmative action for creative destruction. Not exactly what Joseph Schumpeter had in mind when he was developing the concept of corporate evolution through the natural uninhibited cycles of free market ebb and flow. The TARP, pitched as the only means to keep the credit markets from freezing up for good, has become the grease lubricating a new round of bank consolidations.

There are no letters in the acronym TARP that describe the unexpected outcome of the federal bailout to banks. Citi has benefited greatly from the largess and PNC used the TARP to buy our beloved NatCity. Compare and contrast these events with the struggle to get a loan package approved for the U.S. automakers. Paulson et al insisted the remaining TARP funds were committed for an undisclosed use and would not be available to loan to the automakers. Now that the story is out is appears to this observer of recent history that the BofA Merrill deal was given priority over the Big Three loan. That puny $17.4 billion loan package begrudgingly handed over to the Big Three was dwarfed in by the crazy billions being thrown at BofA and Citi alone.

This latest episode is one more example of the Treasury Department's tilt towards helping Hank's comrades in the financial sector. As an example take a look at this piece from The Big Picture comparing the terms the Treasury gave to Goldman in comparison to what super-investor Warren Buffet was able to demand for a stake in the firm. Clearly the Treasury program was designed to provide money without much in return from the banks.

A massive reorganization of the big players in banking was always in cards when you consider the people involved, I guess it shouldn't be a surprise. Congress, taxpayers and the losers who got the short end of the deals (Nat City) shouldn't be surprised at the outcome of TARP I. The next chapter, TARPII will be getting under way soon. Maybe the next round will have more accountability and less emphasis on creative destruction.

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State's Next Budget Is Shovel Ready

It's no secret that the next State budget is going to test Ted Strickland's ability to lead during a fiscal crisis. The current budget has already been trimmed back by over $1.2 billion in the past six months. A real overhaul of the 2010 SFY budget (effective 7/1/2009) is going to be required in order to eradicate a monster $7 billion projected deficit.

Digging out of this mess is not going to be easy. How unassailable is that $7 billion chasm? Even employing theoretical 25% cuts across the board would only yield $4.7 billion of savings according to the State budget office. The impact of reductions that deep would be felt by all Ohioans.

Unlike the federal government the States can't print money or deficit spend to get by in tough times. The budget must be in balance when all is said and done and the Governor will have to bring the State's fiscal house in order one way or the other. To keep it in simple budgeting terms, one way is to cut stuff and the other way is to increase revenue. With this two part approach in mind here are three bits of advice for the Ted to consider whilst navigating this seemingly impossible challenge that lays ahead.

Steady Teddy
There are some tough choices ahead for the Gov. Cutting popular programs and laying off State employees are just some of the decisions that await him. Ted doesn't need me extolling the virtues of showing political courage in the face of uncertainty to make the right choices. Shed the ministerial nicety and get tough.

He exhibited some spine this week by vetoing three bills passed in the lame duck session at the end of 2008. The veto included popular but unaffordable items including the veterans bonuses and the film industry tax credits. These things would be nice in good times but there's a budget crisis in the works. The other item was the shady election "reforms" that had no business being brought up in the final session on a last minute basis. A no brainer for the veto pens wrath but still a good commendable move.

A Little Help From The Feds
Help is on the way in the form of sizable Federal stimulus package to the States. Strickland has been on point not just for Ohio but for all of the States facing budgetary melt downs. In an interview on C-SPAN he made the case for a large injection of Federal money to States for infrastructure projects and education programs to help ease the strain on State budgets. Keeping the push for aid to the States front and center will yield benefits. Ohioans need to understand how their interests will be served and The Gov' will come across as a key leader on getting the thing done the right way.


The Tax Reality
There is no way around it some taxes and fees will have to be increased. That would seem to be political suicide for a guy that will be running for re-election or for Senate in 2010. Too bad dude, the budget has to be balanced and there is no way that's happening with budget cuts alone.

He could start by entertaining a restoration of income tax rates to a more responsible level for the higher income brackets. That would make sense. The minions on the right will surely pounce on this move. Ohioans will have to be reminded that it was the failed tax polices of the GOP lead General Assembly that are partly responsible for the revenue shortfalls crippling State finances. Let John Kasich explain how completely phasing out the income tax is a sensible way forward.

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