Friday, June 04, 2010

Be there!

**** Saturday, June 5th is the big kick off day for Democrats!!! Join us! For a location near you, visit
HERE and check out the site closest to you. We need you. We can't let the Wall Streeters take over our state!


>>> Tax breaks for green projects are in the future for Ohio. (DaytonDailyNews)

>>>>Ross County Democrats have voiced their opposition to the Kasich tax plan.
Lancaster Eagle Gazette:

...Byers was joined by Ross County Auditor Steve Neal and Chillicothe Auditor Tom Spetnagel, both fellow Democrats.

Neal said if the state income tax were to be repealed, Ross County would lose a $1.2 million for its local government fund....

That is a lot of money to lose!



>>> There seems to be a little problem with the largest charter school owner in the state of Ohio, White Hat Management. As you may know, White Hat Management has the distinction of being a mega-contributor to Republican candidates and the Ohio Republican Party.


From an editorial in the Plain Dealer----Cleveland.com:

The courts will decide the merits of a lawsuit filed by 10 dissident charter school boards against White Hat Management, a for-profit charter school company based in Akron. The suit alleges White Hat has unconstitutional control over the boards.

But the dispute already offers an unsettling glimpse into a system that gave $636 million to about 320 charter schools last year but is ripe for waste, fraud and abuse....

...James Stubbs, a board member of Cleveland's Hope Academy, says White Hat used its influence to prod legislators to pass a law diluting the power of charter school boards and making it nearly impossible for them to terminate contracts with an operator like White Hat....


Here is the Dispatch's take:

....Committee Chairman Stephen Dyer, D-Green, said the lawsuit filed by several charter schools managed by White Hat raises concerns about state law regarding charter-school operations and relationships among school governing boards, the management companies that operate them and the sponsors responsible for oversight.

"The purpose of the hearing is to fix problems highlighted in the lawsuit," said Dyer, who yesterday recessed the committee until Brennan or a representative agrees to testify....

....The schools say White Hat refuses to provide an accounting of how the funds are spent and, if they terminate the contract, state law allows a school's governing body to be ousted and all of its property seized by the management company...

The Ohio Republicans continue to give hundreds of millions of dollars to these charter schools who seem to be failing to educate our children. It is time to stop pouring money into White Hat and the other charter schools.