From the Mailbag

We thought we'd share a comment received on the website.  I think it speaks volumes.

I find it ironic that your organization ask for donations and volunteers and when the schools YOUR children go to you do the same you come up with this stupid site. Your all a bunch of hypocrites. Brainwashed sheep being lead to slaughter. Idiots the all of you

--Kay Manley, Hilliard

Now, we don't know who Kay Manley is, or even if it's their real name, but what we do know is that apparently this person believes a school levy is a donation.

Wow.

It's no wonder we're in the mess we're in today.

Also, if you haven't yet donated, please do so. We've VERY close to meeting our goal for defeating this issue!

Open Letter to ThisWeek Hilliard

ForHilliardKids, the group opposed to the levy, was willing to provide information to ThisWeek Hilliard regarding its activities against the levy.

However, the Editor of the paper decided that unless we provided various pieces of information that were irrelevant, such as an exact number of people in our PAC, they wouldn't talk to us.

They wanted to make sure that it wasn't "just three guys".

So, according to the law, if there's 2 or more people opposed to a ballot issue, they have to register as a PAC to advocate for or against a ballot issue.  But that is apparently not good enough for ThisWeek Hilliard.

It seems that ThisWeek Hilliard is in bed with the school district and the pro levy campaign.

That's a shame.  It appears that we're now down to just one local newspaper that is willing to present a balanced account of local politics.

For a comparison, please read the stories in the Hilliard Northwest News, and ThisWeek Hilliard.

Whether you support the levy or not, you should be appalled by the stance taken by ThisWeek Hilliard, and we call upon the pro-levy campaign and it's co-chair, Bobbi Mueller, to publicly rebuke their action.

Just What Is A Step Increase?

As we work through this campaign we find that a large number of voters don't realize that many employees in the school district receive two salary increases annually -- a cost of living adjustment (COLA), also known as a base pay increase, and a step increase (SI).  While not all of the employees receive the step increase, the majority do, and it makes a mockery of "pay freezes" when that only refers to the COLAs as was the case in Grove City a few years back.

So what is a Step Increase?

Well, there's actually two types.

One is a guaranteed salary increase simply for being an employee another year.  In the HCSD, this occurs for the bulk of the district's employees in years 1-15, 20, and 23 of their "tenure".  The increase is 4.15%.

Do you receive 4.15% annual raises?  And that's before the COLAs.

In the last contract, these employees received between 3% and 7.15% in annual raises.

Step Increases are meant to compensate for the lack of promotional opportunities in the public sector.  But anyone who has worked in the private sector knows that only the very best of the best employees receive promotional raises that come even close to what the district's employees who qualify for step increases receive.

But there's also a second type of Step Increase, one that is even worse, and that's the one that's based on the level of education achieved by the employee.

For example, obtaining a master's degree results in an automatic pay increase.

Do you know of any private business that automatically rewards its employees for further education achievements?  Of course not, and in fact many private sector employees further their education to simply remain competitive and keep their jobs.

But it gets worse.  There are 4 steps:  Bachelors, Bachelors + X hours, Masters, and Masters + X.

Now, the employees will claim that it makes them better at their jobs.  Frankly we have yet to see any correlation between the number of hours studying in a classroom and someone's ability to teach.  There are some incredibly talented teachers with Bachelors degrees, and some incredibly bad teachers with Masters degrees.  And we are speaking generally here, not as a slight to teachers in the HCSD.

We're sure there are some employees who absolutely become better at their jobs with further education.  Anyone who has taken college classes while working knows that some of the are invaluable (and other classes, not so much).  But to receive an automatic increase?

But look at this chart:

You can clearly see from this that the COLAs are not what is driving compensation increases.  A teacher's salary would double in 15 years even without any base pay increases!

So, the next time you hear talk about "pay freezes" in any of the school districts currently negotiating new contracts (sadly, not ours, and we'll talk about this in an upcoming post), make sure you read more closely and see if it applies to both COLAs and SIs.  Because the COLAs are a trivial piece of the equation.  It's the Step Increases that are the problem.

Rebutting the "Seven Fast Facts"

In the latest mailer from the district, 'Seven Fast Facts' are presented.  In this post we'll rebut each one in turn.

1. Hilliard City Schools has already cut $6.5 million from the budget including pay freezes for administrators, teachers and staff members.
   
   We dealt with this alleged cut in this post. But let's look at the pay freezes as well since they bring them up.
   
   I give great credit to the district's employees in accepting the freeze.  Cost of Living adjustments (COLAs) were 0% for one year.  This is good, because Social Security recipients also received no increase.  Step Increases (SIs) were deferred 6 months.  Previously, SIs and COLAs took effect at different times, January for SIs and mid-year for COLAs.  Under this deferral, they'll now occur at the same time.  So yes, there was a savings for six months.
   
   Of course, Gahanna Jefferson just agreed to two year pay freezes, so we probably shouldn't jump for joy too quickly.
   
   
2. Issue 7 will cost under $18 per month per $100,000 of home value.
   
   Also true.  But for most people that will come to somewhere between $400 and $500 a year since very few homes cost $100,000, even with the dramatic downturn in the housing market.  And a not insignificant number of families will see a tax increase of more than $1000.
   
   
3. The last levy was stretched one year longer than promised.
   
   This depends on your definition of stretched.
   
   This implication is that the district took the tax dollars raised by the last levy and made them last longer.  The reality is that the federal bailout in the summer of 2010 gave the district (via the state) one-time funds.  This was the only reason the tax dollars raised by the last levy was "stretched".
   
   
4. Hilliard Schools have been rated as "Excellent with Distinction" by the State of Ohio three years in a row.  Only 29 out of more than 600 school districts can claim this!
   
   This is all well and good.  Except we have entire buildings in the district in failing status.  Which means while the district as a whole is "Excellent with Distinction," some of our kids are being massively short-changed.
   
   I don't know that the district, if it were being entirely honest, should be touting this as loudly as it is.  I know that if I were the parent of a child in failing status, I wouldn't be keeping quiet.
   
   
5. Strong Fiscal Management has been part of Hilliard Schools' success for years.  The district has earned state and national recognition for efficiency, accounting and accurate financial reporting.
   
   Note the way is written; you can be "efficient" have good "accounting" and "accurate financial reporting" and have lousy fiscal management.  Think about it.  One does not mean the other, yet the implication here is that recognition means they're doing a good job with the finances.  No, they're just doing a good job of reporting and keeping accurate books.  Not the same thing at all.
   
   If the district has such strong fiscal management, why does the districts own 5-year forecast show deficits every year?  And that's assuming the levy in May passes!  This is not strong fiscal management at all.  It is special teams -- good at kicking the ball down the field for someone else to have to deal with later!
   
   
6. Savings will continue via reviews of energy, technology, positions, programs and benefits.
   Great.  Any details?  Positions?  More lay-offs?  Programs?  More cuts?  Any organization can make that statement, save $1, and claim savings.  How about some specifics people?
   
   
7. Every new dollar is for education essentials: the teachers, textbooks, technology and instructional programs students need to compete for tomorrow's jobs.
   
   This one is my favorite.  Sounds wonderful.  Except they should have added "in that order" to the end, because almost all of the revenue generated by the levy will go to employees.  When you spend 88% of your operating budget on compensation, it stands to reason that 88% of any increase in spending will go to the same.
   
   It also stands to reason that since almost all of the "cuts" threatened if the levy fails are personnel, then doesn't that mean almost all of the money raised will go to the same thing?

In conclusion, we have a suggestion for the district for a new title for these facts:

"Seven Fast (and Loose) Facts"

Did the HCSD Cross the Line with Latest Mailer?

There is an update at the bottom of this post that makes for interesting reading....

Yesterday, the latest mailer from the Hilliard City School District arrived in our mailbox. Disguised as a community update, this latest piece of propaganda included not one, but three items about the levy.

First up was the board president, Doug Maggied talking about the importance of the Issue 7.  While I may disagree with Doug on this issue, he at least presented his side of the story in a calm and measured manner and he should be commended for that.

Of course, whether he actually wrote it or not is another matter since sections of it sounded identical to other propaganda, err, circulars related to this levy.

Also on the front were 'Seven Fast Facts'.  A rebuttal on those is available here.

But it was inside where I believe the district crossed the line, and actually lied to the voters.

Consider the following from the opening paragraph:

"Hilliard City Schools (HCS) reduced expenditures by $6.5 million since 2008."

Really?  That's odd, because the district's own numbers show expenditures of $146,383,330 in 2008, and a forecast of $161,965,755 for 2011.  (Forecast only at this point as the actuals wont be complete until the end of the school year.)

Now, I may not have as many degrees as some of the employees in the district, but my calculator shows me that's an increase in expenditures of $15,582,425.

Now, maybe they cut $6.5m of planned expenditures, but that's like Washington D.C. claiming a $38.5B budget cut, that turns out to only be $300m or so because it was a cut from the planned increase in 2011.

Look, I know it's a political campaign, and I fully expect the district to play loose with the facts.  But this wasn't playing loose with the facts.

It was a flat-out lie and the district needs to apologize to the voters for providing this mis-information.

UPDATE: I am looking right now at the numbers and I can no longer say with certainty that the district did in fact cut $6.5m of even planned spending.  In fact while this number may be connected to something, it's certainly not connected to reality.  In the Oct '07 5 year forecast, planned spending for 2011 was $181,692,204.  Currently, that number is forecasted by year end to be $161,965,755.  So that would mean a reduction in planned spending of almost $20m.  As noted earlier spending increases by about $15.5m in the time period, so where the district comes up with $6.5m, I have no idea...

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P.S. For a great take down of the pro-campaign's Issue 7 mailer, read Justin Gardner's blog entry.