plan to cut and gut the education budget in the state. They are also worried about Kasich's
desire to cut the state income tax. People are aware that if the state income tax is repealed,
40% of the state's funds will disappear. Gov. Strickland has held down tuition costs, but Kasich
has not made any promises. If the state funding for education evaporates, universities,
colleges, and schools boards will have to find ways to raise money. Likely sources for money
would include raising real estate taxes, increasing fees on drivers' licenses, license plates,
increasing school fees, and increasing tuition at state colleges.
Although Ohio's college students might not know much about Republican John Kasich's previous work, in the U.S. House of Representatives and at the bankrupt Lehman Brothers,
I think it is time to see what Kasich did in the past.....
When John Kasich was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, he tried to eliminate
college programs.
NY Times (2/15/95):
...Other suggestions advanced by Mr. Kasich include the elimination of Federal aid programs managed by colleges, including the Perkins loan, the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and the work-study programs....
...Under Mr. Kasich's suggestions, an additional 23 grant programs in the Federal Department of Education, some of them covering higher education, would be eliminated....
President Clinton did not allow Kasich's draconian plans to go through because he said it would be devastating.
College students were appalled at Kasich's plans and a protest march was organized.
*Here is more from the Dayton Daily News, Sunday, February 19, 1995 (retrieved from Newsbank):
Eight Antioch College students were arrested in Columbus after being sprayed with pepper gas
Saturday at a protest against Republican-proposed cuts in student financial aid. About 75 Antioch
students, members of a campus group called Student Aid Action, took part in what began as an informational protest outside the offices of U.S. Rep. John Kasich , said student Karali Pitzele, who
was answering the SAA hotline at the school. Kasich , R-Columbus, is chairman of the House Budget Committee.... ....students are trying to educate the public about proposed cuts in the
Republican-backed Contract With America.
According to articles in the Dispatch (Saturday, April 3, 1999-retrieved from Newsbank) and the Dayton Daily News (Tuesday, April 6, 1999-Newsbank), the city of Columbus had to pay to settle
a lawsuit with the arrested students because they were sprayed with mace and arrested during a
peaceful protest. It took four years for the case to make it to the settlement table.
There will be more on Kasich later....