Ohio: Governor Kasich Follows Tea Party Pattern Of Cutting Education

In the states that elected "Tea Party favorites" to the governor's mansion in 2010, one of the things that voters are learning to their dismay is that the candidates were not serious about "protecting" education. Although they made claims of being against education cuts, one of their first actions is often just that - cutting education.

Among those candidates was John Kasich of Ohio. He had an absolute conniption fit when he was "accused" of wanting to force school consolidations:

In fact, in order to try to bury any notion that Kasich was tied to school consolidation policies, Kasich continued to throw a hissy even after the election. Remember how Kasich demanded that the teachers’ unions take out a full-page apology ad for the “vicious smears" they told about him during the campaign? Well, that was mostly to do with the allegation that Kasich supported eliminating school districts through consolidation.

There was just a slight problem with the allegation: It was true.

Four individuals produced by the Strickland campaign said that in September, Kasich addressed them at a meeting of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials and said:
"Congressman Kasich said he favored school consolidation as a way to reduce state spending," the statement reads. "Congressman Kasich’s claim that he does not support consolidation, just shared services, directly contradicts what we heard him say during the September meeting."

And even more so, his newest budget ... calls for consolidation of school districts and that it would be "acceptable" to have a 50:1 student:teacher ratio in classrooms.

Sommers suggested that in a "blended learning environment" class sizes could go to a 50-to-1 ratio. "We have schools, both in the urban centers and in other settings, that have found how to get high-performance results, treat staff very well and do it for less than what we currently do."

That's because of the total cuts in the school budgets. While the state financing contains an "increase" in state funding, the amount lost from federal funding through the stimulus act amounts to a major cut.

Kasich’s own budget shows that the TOTAL funding for education in the State budget is therefore decreasing education funding 11.5% from FY2011, followed by another 4.9% decrease in FY 2013 from FY2012. That’s over a 16% decrease in funding over two years. That’s $1.28 BILLION in less funding for K-12 education.

It's not just the K-12 funding that Gov. Kasich is looking at. He's also aiming at the colleges and universities. He's asked them to come up with a "3 year degree program" to cut costs. Not, mind you find ways to have students do the 120 hours in 3 years, which is already possible, but to cut the curriculum.

Kasich's proposal is one of a number of measures he is pushing to cut the cost of higher education, including a limit on tuition increases. The Republican governor also says faculty members should spend more of their time teaching. Matt Mayer of the Buckeye Institute, a free-market think tank, says a three-year degree would help make higher education more efficient.

Ah, business talk. The problem? That little thing called accreditation.

But the education council would be opposed to reducing the number of credit-hours so someone could graduate in three years, said Terry Hartle, senior vice president for government and public affairs at the trade association for college and university presidents.

"The notion of saying 'We will give you a four-year degree with three years of work' would inevitably devalue the degree," he said. "We want students to have a degree that represents a significant level of learning and accomplishment. Unilaterally cutting the amount of workload required is unachievable and undesirable."

Sadly, none of this is surprising. Even though it's well-known that education is important to the country, that our competitiveness in a global economy depends on a highly-educated population, and it's something that businesses need, the Tea Party Republicans have been cutting education in every state where they've gained power.


We've already seen their assaults on unions, women's rights, and the environment. Now they're showing that they really don't care about education as well.