"Two Visions, One Choice" highlights the differences between the two presidential candidates on such important issues as class size, school funding and making college affordable.

Watch It:

Brown's Bill Would Prevent Rate Hike On 382,000 Ohio Students; Mandel Has Repeatedly Refused To Support It

COLUMBUS, OHIO - Today, in response to Josh Mandel's repeated refusals to support Senator Sherrod Brown's bill to prevent interest rates for student loans from doubling on July 1, student leaders from across Ohio sent a letter to Mandel, urging him to publically support Brown's bill and prevent a rate hike on 382,000 Ohio students.

When asked by The Columbus Dispatch where he stood on Sherrod's bill last week, Mandel said that college degrees were unnecessary. Instead of embracing Sherrod's bill, he urged young people to pursue vocational degrees, clearly unaware that Stafford loans are frequently used to pay for vocational and trade schools.

This week he bizarrely went further. In an interview with The Youngstown Vindicator, Mandel took a firm stand in support of school uniforms, hall monitors and policies that would ban students from talking in hallways, but again refused to throw his support behind Sherrod's bill.

An excerpt from the letter:

"We appreciate that you are fighting for reforms that would give us permission to use the bathroom; we only wish that you would stand up and support changes to allow us to afford our time in the classroom.

That's why we're pledging to you now, if you publically support Sherrod's bill to stop student loan interest rates from doubling, we will abide by your wishes and walk silently through the hallways of our schools."

Complete text of the letter urging Mandel to support Sherrod's bill:

Columbus - Today, the College Democrats of Ohio released a letter signed by eleven chapter leaders admonishing Ohio Senator Rob Portman for his vote against legislation that would have prevented student loan interest rates from doubling on July 1.

"Time is running short," the chapter presidents wrote in their letter.  "Unless Congress takes action by July 1, subsidized student loans are set to double from 3.4 to 6.8 percent.  In Ohio, nearly 380,000 students would see their interest rates increase, totaling $295 million for just one year of borrowing.

"This increase is unsustainable, unconscionable, and wrong.  That is why the College Democrats of Ohio are discouraged to learn that [Portman] voted against legislation that would have prevented this increase from taking place."

Last Tuesday, Portman joined fellow Senate Republican leadership in blocking a proposal that would have kept student loan interest rates at their current 3.4 percent.  By contrast, President Obama has traveled the country urging Congress to take immediate action to prevent this dramatic increase.

"[President Obama's] position could not be more at odds with Republicans in Congress and the presumptive head of the Republican Party, Mitt Romney.  Mr. Romney is a staunch supporter of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin's) budget plan, which would force more than 7 million students to pay almost $1,000 in cost over the life of that loan," the College Democrats wrote.

The full text of the letter, which can be found below, was signed by chapter leaders at the University of Dayton, Kent State University, Ohio University, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, University of Toledo, University of Cincinnati, Cleveland State University, The Ohio State University and Bowling Green State University.

Student Loan Interest Will Rise July 1 without Action

COLUMBUS- State Reps. Debbie Phillips (D- Albany) and Michael Stinziano (D- Columbus) will introduce a resolution urging Congress to act immediately and pass S. 2343. Without action federal student loan interest rates are set to double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent.

"A strong educational system is at the very foundation of economic success and prosperity for individuals, communities, and our nation. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult for  young people to attend institutes of higher education, not due to a lack of academic proficiency but rather, the increasing burden placed on students stemming from tuition hikes and debt from their student loans," said Rep. Phillips who represents Ohio University.  "I am deeply troubled by the debate in Washington because it is not about whether we must work to keep interest rates low, but rather is bogged down by who should pay; big corporations or the middle class."

S. 2343, co-sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, would stop student loan interest rate hikes that will be effective July 1.  This legislation would offset an interest rate hike by closing a corporate tax loophole. Republican refusal to close tax loopholes for corporations and desire to take funding from preventative healthcare is a further demonstration of a lack of concern for Ohio's working and middle class families.  Yesterday U.S. Senate Republicans filibustered the Democratic proposal.  If action is not taken rates will automatically rise July 1st of this year.  

Today the College Democrats of Ohio are applauding Senator Sherrod Brown for his hard work to stop the student interest rate hike that will take place on July 1 if Republicans don't join Democrats in passing Senator Brown's bill.

For weeks, Sen. Brown has demonstrated his commitment to Ohio's students by traveling across Ohio, visiting college campuses including The Ohio State University, University of Cincinnati and Wright State University to discuss his bill, which would freeze interest rates for federal Stafford Loans that 382,000 Ohioans rely on to attend college at the current 3.4 percent level.

If Republicans don't join Democrats to pass Sen. Brown's bill, student loan repayments will increase by an average of $1,000 per loan. In Ohio alone, the new rate increase will affect 382,000 students. Sherrod Brown knows that's not acceptable - that's why he's fighting to make college more affordable.

Senator Brown receives hundreds of Thank You's
for his Stafford Loan Legislation from ProgressOhio members

WASHINGTON, D.C.--After the Senate failed to block a filibuster today on the Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act of 2012, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) vowed to keep fighting for Ohio students and invited Ohio's college students and their families to share their financial aid stories on his website at brown.senate.gov/CollegeLoanStories.

Brown will share some of the stories collected on his website with his colleagues through speeches on the Senate floor. More than 382,000 students across Ohio would be forced to pay significantly more in college loan costs unless Congress acts to block the interest rate from doubling on federally-subsidized Stafford loans. The Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Act of 2012 would maintain the current interest rate, which is set at 3.4 percent, and prevent a hike to 6.8 percent scheduled for July 1^st.

"This fight is far from over. My colleagues who voted to block consideration of our bill need to hear from more college students and less from special interests.

That's why I'm asking students to share their student loan stories on my website. Tell me what low student loan rates have meant to your ability to afford college. Tell me how you would be affected if you had to pay more in student loan costs once you graduate. I'll be collecting your stories and sharing them on the Senate floor and with my colleagues," Brown said.

"It's disappointing that some in the Senate would rather preserve tax breaks for the wealthy than help our best and brightest afford the ever-rising cost of a college education.

"I will continue working for Ohio's college students and middle-class families to ensure that they won't have to pay more for their student loans come July. I encourage students and their families to share their financial aid stories on my website at brown.senate.gov/collegeloanstories," Brown added.

"Already, recent college graduates are struggling to find work, with half of young college graduates jobless or underemployed. Allowing the interest rates on federal student loans to double is a step backwards. Ohio students--and our economy--can't afford this sucker-punch at a time when we need to be doing more to get our economy back on track."

Today the Senate will vote to keep student loan interest rates from doubling on July 1. Instead of paying for it by closing a corporate tax loophole or ending tax handouts for Fortune 500 oil companies, Republicans are insisting on raiding a prevention health fund.

Working families are struggling, but millionaires and big corporations are doing better than ever.

Yet Washington Republicans would rather force working families to pay more for health care or college than ask Fortune 500 corporations and millionaire tax dodgers already raking in record profits to pitch in.

When the roof's leaking, ordinary families aren't going to borrow $1,000 from the nephew who's working his way through college -- they're going to ask their millionaire uncle to pitch in.

We need leaders who understand that access to college is more than just part of the American Dream -- America's future depends on educating the next generation.

Think Tank Says Gutting Illness Prevention Fund Would Cost Ohio Millions and Hurt Women and Children

Columbus:  Innovation Ohio, a progressive think tank headquartered in Columbus, issued a report today which finds that eliminating the Prevention and Public Health Fund of the Affordable Care Act would cost Ohio millions of dollars in federal funds and have a disproportionately adverse effect on women and children.

The Republican-dominated U.S. House of Representatives voted (HB 4628) to zero out the fund in order to pay the $6 billion cost of keeping interest rates on federal student loans at 3.4%.

The U.S. Senate is considering a bill co-sponsored by Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (S. 2343) that would keep the lower interest rate, but pay for it by closing a loophole that allows wealthy owners of privately held "S-Corporations" to avoid paying Social Security and Medicare taxes.

Without congressional action, interest rates for Stafford college loans will double to 6.8% on July 1, thus costing many college students and their families an extra $1,000 in interest payments.  An estimated 380,000 Ohio students use Stafford loans to pay for college.

Among the IO Report's main findings are:

• The average Ohio college student graduates with loan debt of $27,713, higher than the national average of $25,000;

• Total student loan debt now exceeds $1 trillion, more than the nation's total credit card or car loan debt;

• Allowing interest rates on new Stafford loans to double to 6.8%  would saddle students who borrow the maximum amount with an extra $1,000 per school year in added  interest, potentially forcing many Ohioans to change colleges or drop out altogether;

• Keeping student loan interest rates at 3.4% would cost $6 billion.  Eliminating the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF) as House Republicans propose would cut $11.9 billion, twice as much as is needed to pay for the lower interest rates;

• Since 2010, Ohio has received $17 million in Prevention Fund grants;

• Eliminating the PPHF would de-fund programs used by over 2 million Ohioans, nearly 1.4 million of whom are women and children.  Among the most important are programs for breast and cervical cancer screenings, child immunizations, smoking cessation, and local projects to combat heart disease, strokes and diabetes;

• Prevention programs are especially important to Ohio because we already rank near the bottom for many of these diseases and conditions.  For example, Ohio ranks 47th (third worst among the 50 states) in breast cancer deaths, 46th in smoking rates, 40th in lung cancer deaths, and 42nd in both heart disease and diabetes.

Senator Brown receives hundreds of Thank You's from ProgressOhio members

Brown's Legislation Would Maintain the Current 3.4 Percent Interest Rate for Stafford Loans

More than 382,000 students across Ohio would be forced to pay more each year in college loan costs unless Congress acts to block the interest rate from doubling on federally-subsidized Stafford loans by July 1^st.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced new legislation that would maintain the current interest rate, which is set at 3.4 percent, and prevent a hike to 6.8 percent, scheduled for July 1^st. Brown also revealed a report on the number of students at each college and university in Ohio that utilize subsidized Stafford loans.  The average Ohio student graduates from a four-year college or university with nearly $27,000 in debt.

"Earlier this week, a new report revealed that half of young college graduates are either jobless or underemployed. It's clear that we need to do more to educate young people for the jobs of the 21st century and connect them with businesses who are looking to hire," Brown said. "Allowing the interest rates on federal student loans to double is a step backwards. American students - and our economy--can't afford this sucker-punch at a time when we need to be doing more to get our economy back on track."

Student debt has reached nearly $1 trillion--exceeding credit cards and auto loans. Meanwhile, a new analysis released earlier this week by the Associated Press found that half of young college graduates are either jobless or underemployed in positions that don't fully use their skills and knowledge.

President Obama believes that we should be doing everything we can to put higher education within reach for every American - because at a time when the unemployment rate for Americans with at least a college degree is about half the national average, it's never been more important. He is calling on Congress to act before student loan interest rates double for more than 7.4 million students, adding an average of $1,000 to their debt. 

Congress has a chance to take action on what should be an area of bipartisan agreement to prevent this unnecessary and damaging increase in interest rates and give our young people a chance to succeed in the jobs of today and tomorrow.

Watch It:

A College Board report finds that "the net cost of college is eating up a higher share of the typical family's income in 2011," with the average public university tuition up 5.4 percent for in-state students. The primary reasons behind the increase is "a dramatic spike in tuition and fees at hundreds of public universities" where average tuition has jumped 8.3 percent.

Obama will unveil a plan today to allow 5.8 million Americans with government student loans to consolidate their debts into one government loan. On top of the U.S. essentially "refinancing the private loan at the lower government rate," Obama will move up the start of a program that caps monthly loan payments for low-income students from 2014 to 2012.

Columbus, OH - Brian Rothenberg, ProgressOhio Executive Director, issued the following statement after remarks made today by Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro during his presentation on "charter universities" at the Columbus Metropolitan Club:

"Current and future students in Ohio deserve the same opportunity to receive the benefits of attending an affordable public college or university, just as many of our state legislators have done.

"These so-called 'charter universities' will price a lot of Ohio families and students out of an affordable education at public colleges and universities, eliminate input on major decisions by institutions the public has paid for, and reduces accountability of how public of tax dollars are spent. This proposal puts profit before students."

CLEVELAND - Call it the new favorite slang or movie title de jour, but at Case Western Reserve University Law School today "Friends With Benefits" refers to the very real issue of healthcare reforms and the new benefits provided by the Affordable Care Act to all American young people under 26 years of age.

At a gathering at Case Western University Law School, a panel of students and healthcare professionals described the widely unknown aspects of the new Affordable Care Act - enacted by Congress in 2010 -and explained how the law will positively impact every young person in the nation.

Jessie Hill, Professor of Law,  addressing the group, noted the positive impact of the Affordable Care Act.

"It not only will save millions of college and graduate school students money they often do not have, but that it will safeguard their health while in college," Hill said.  "That's because the ACA's focus on preventative care will mean check-ups that could detect life altering conditions, or diseases which young people would not be aware of until later in life.  That early detection will save taxpayer dollars and potentially lives. "

Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro is slated to release his "charter university" proposal on August 11. But there is still time to contact Chancellor Petro to express your concerns about this semi-privatization plan for Ohio's public colleges and universities.

Watch this video from students and AAUP staff at the University of Cincinnati that helps to explain what charter universities would really mean for Ohio students.

Then contact Ohio Chancellor Jim Petro at hotline@regents.state.oh.us or 614-466-0887 with this message:

• Most Ohio students and families won't be able to afford the big tuition increases that resulted in other states.
• Public colleges and universities need to remain an affordable option for Ohioans to earn a college degree.
• "Charter universities" are an attempt by university administrations to get rid of campus unions, which are often the only voices protesting out-of-control upper administration spending.

Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro is currently developing a proposal for designating Ohio's public institutions of higher education as "charter universities." He will release his proposal no later than August 15, even though there are still valid concerns over what charter universities could mean once put into practice. Other states that have enacted similar systems have had dismal results. That's why Chancellor Petro needs to hear the concerns and input of faculty, staff, students, parents, and others now as he develops this plan.

The conversion of public colleges and universities to charter universities could mean loss of collective bargaining rights for campus unions (even if SB 5 is repealed in November), higher tuition costs for students and parents, a lack of taxpayer oversight of public dollars, and the abandonment of a commitment to an affordable and accessible public college education.

The rising wave of outrage against Republican cuts is coming to Columbus. 

On Sunday, June 12th, Speaker of the U.S. House John Boehner will help explain how thousands of graduating students at Ohio State University's commencement should face their future. 

Yes, the same John Boehner that wants to gut investments these graduates need for health care, education and green jobs. The same John Boehner that wants to revoke young people's ability to stay on their parent's health care until they're 26, cut Pell Grants for higher education, and destroy funding for green jobs programs that will build the economy of tomorrow.

The worst part? Boehner claims to speak on their behalf. He claims these cuts are in their interest. He said, "I hope that you will join us in the fight for our children and grandchildren's future." 

This generation is speaking up for themselves and protesting these cuts -- but they need your help. Thousands of graduates are going to turn their backs on John Boehner's speech, just as he turned his back on them. 

Will you join us for a protest in solidarity with this generation of graduates?

Kate is a freshman at the University of Cincinnati. Like most college students and their families, Kate can't afford a 24% increase in tuition. But there's a risk of that happening on campuses throughout Ohio.

That's because of a proposal in the Ohio budget bill (HB 153) to create "charter universities" - risky, gimmicky experiments that would allow colleges and universities to remove tuition caps and essentially charge whatever they want for students to attend their school. When Virginia tried this same experiment, tuition at Virginia Commonwealth skyrocketed to 24% in just one year. But there's something that you can do right now to keep this from happening here in Ohio.

Debate on the state budget bill - which includes this proposal - is expected to wrap up by next week in the Ohio Senate. So there's still time to act now.

Watch this video to find out what you can do today to keep Ohio colleges and universities more affordable for students and families.

Watch It:

They're calling them lots of different things: charter, enterprise or entrepreneurial universities. No matter the name, Gov. Kasich's "charter university" proposal will balloon tuition, prioritize out-of-state students over Ohioans and leave some of our youth without access to a college education.

They claim it will magically resolve our state's financial problems. In reality, it does the opposite. It doesn't solve higher education's financial problems and it certainly doesn't do ANYTHING to help Ohioans who want to go to college.

In Virginia, one of the few places this has been attempted, tuition at the "charter" universities has risen astronomically. Tuition at the charters rose 38% over 5 years. At Virginia Commonwealth, tuition went up 24% last year alone! This plan in Virginia has also led to a huge increase in out-of-state and international students at those charter universities. At the University of Virginia, 40% of students now come from outside the state.

On May 6, 2011, the Ohio Education Association (OEA), representing 128,000 teachers, education support professionals and higher education faculty, kicked-off  its two day Spring Representative Assembly at Veterans Memorial in Columbus.

OEA members voiced their strong opposition to the proposed state budget, passed in an amended version Thursday through the Ohio House. "Legislators are still attempting to insert provisions of SB 5 into the state budget and silence the voices of the voters," said OEA President Patricia Frost-Brooks.  The OEA president called the budget more of the same - billions in funding reductions for Ohio public schools, colleges and universities, with only slight modifications from the Kasich administration's original budget proposal, which left Ohio public schools with $3.1 billion less in state and federal funding.

"This budget will close neighborhood schools and expand state resources for charter schools run by private companies, as well as private school voucher programs that only serve a few students," said Frost-Brooks. "How can we do this at a time when we are cutting back overall state aid to nearly every public school district in Ohio? Surely we can find a different path that gives all Ohio students the opportunity to succeed, not drastic cuts that limit their future."

OEA members rallied behind the effort to repeal Senate Bill 5 by citizen veto referendum vote in November, citing not only its effects on OEA members, but also the effort by SB 5 to take key teaching and learning conditions out of the realm of collective bargaining. "Most Ohioans agree with us," said Frost-Brooks. "Our polls show more than 50% favor repealing Senate Bill 5, and less than 40% would let the law stand."

Ohio has a long standing commitment to provide a high‐quality, affordable and accessible education at public colleges, but the Governor is proposing that Ohio abandon this commitment in favor of converting our public educational institutions to "charter universities", or "entrepreneurial universities" as they are now cleverly being called. But don't be fooled. This idea undermines the concept of public universities by making them for-profit driven.

Charter or entrepreneurial universities would blow the cap off tuition making access to a college education more difficult and unaffordable for most Ohio families.

Virginia implemented this concept and Virginia Commonwealth University had a 24 percent tuition increase this past year alone. That means students in Ohio would be forced to choose between attending college at all, or doing so but graduating with an excessive amount of debt. This would also prevent adult Ohioans from returning to college to learn new skills for jobs in new industries, resulting in less trained workers and less economic activity in our communities.

Tell Gov. Kasich that Ohio should not shift focus on the classroom, access, and affordability of higher education by converting our public institutions into capital development mechanisms that cause tuition to skyrocket, makes universities exempt from public records laws and construction regulations, and creates a lack of accountability on how taxpayer dollars are spent.

Equality Ohio has been working with a broad coalition of organizations from around the state including ProgressOhio to advocate for the a Comprehensive Safe Schools Act. 

This Act is an anti-bullying law that would strengthen current state law and provide needed protections to all school children in Ohio, and in particular protect children from bullying or harassment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

Ohio's current anti-bullying legislation is deficient in three key areas:

• It does not list or enumerate groups that are disproportionately affected by bullying.  Study after study has proven that enumerated policies are significantly more effective than non-enumerated policies at preventing bullying and harassment.  Without enumeration, bullying based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity or expression remains prevalent in schools.

• It does not require school districts to include harassment by electronic means (cyber-bullying), and it fails to specify the school's jurisdiction over cyber-bullying, which often occurs off school grounds.

• It fails to require school districts to provide anti-bullying training to staff and volunteers.  In order for policies to be effective, school employees and volunteers must be trained on their legal responsibilities to prevent and respond to bullying.

Recently, bills have been introduced in the House and Senate to address these shortcomings.  Click here to see a summary.

Have a student interested in attending college? Confused about how to get your student in college? Do you want your student to graduate from college?

Families, churches, and communities are excited about sending a loved one to a college or university but fail to ensure that they have the proper information to be successful at an institution. This intensive and interactive program provides participants with the truth about academic advising, student services, financial aid, potential pitfalls, and other "secrets" of success.

Join DVS on SATURDAY, April 30, 2011 from 12pm - 2pm

ProgressOhio

172 E. State Street, Suite 203

Columbus, OH 43215

RSVP today

Suggested donation/$10. For more information, contact mgriffin@devonshiresmith.org or 513-418-3917.

Today the Ohio Office of Budget and Management released Gov. John Kasich's recommendations for state foundation aid for school districts for fiscal years 2012 and 2013.

The overall budget plan slashes funding to K-12 education by a total of $3.1 billion over the next two years compared to fiscal year 2011.  The plan also cuts overall funds for higher education by 10.5 percent for fiscal year 2012.

K-12 funding reductions not included in the recommendations released today include reducing tangible personal property tax revenue for schools by $635 million and cutting special education by $400 million over the biennium. It also fails to make up for the $400 million per year in federal stimulus funding that Ohio received in 2011.

"This budget paints an incomplete picture," says Ohio Education Association President Patricia Frost-Brooks.  "Sleight-of-hand tricks will not cover up the bottom line, which is that Ohio's public schools will be receiving much less in total state funding than in 2011.  In tough economic times and facing a tough budget challenge, we have to focus on the essentials, and that especially includes providing high-quality educational opportunities for students trying to prepare for jobs and careers.

"With $3.1 billion less, local communities will experience larger class sizes, reduced course choices and less individual attention for students in nearly every district in Ohio. We do not believe the people of Ohio elected leaders to cut school funding and short-change learning opportunities for their children."

The Ohio Education Association represents 128,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals in Ohio's public schools, colleges and universities.

Cincinnati, OH - The American Association of University Professors at the University of Cincinnati issued a statement in response to Gov. Kasich's plans to create "charter universities", which was included in his budget proposal that was unveiled yesterday in Columbus. Gov. Kasich has promoted establishing "charter universities" in Ohio, which would raise tuition costs for higher education, as a method of balancing Ohio's existing $8 billion budget shortfall.

Dr. Deborah Herman, Executive Director of AAUP of UC stated:

"The Charter University approach amounts to a "cover of darkness" style of operation that would allow universities to operate with very little oversight and promote more episodes of the recent $900,000 severance package to the former UC College of Medicine dean.

"With the Ohio Legislature divesting itself of any responsibility for these "charter universities," there would be no one to hold accountable for the need to keep public universities affordable to Ohio's citizens. Virginia Commonwealth University is now a "charter" university and this year raised its tuition by 24 percent. Ohio's working families and students simply can't afford that."

Photo: Patrick G. Ryan/NEA

From Our Friends at The National Education Association:

Facing a full Congressional hearing panel, in front of a packed house, Ohio teacher Courtney Johnson took a seat Tuesday and methodically laid out how attacks on workers' rights and cuts to education will affect her students.

"Ever-deepening cuts to our public schools send the dual messages to our kids that, one, it is not a priority that they get educated; and two, that we have given up on finding better solutions to our problems," Johnson told the 23 members of Congress. "Many of us are not willing to send those messages, and I know that we are not alone. Just watch the news and you will see Americans are not ready to give up on our kids."

Clad in red as part of the national Wear Red for Public Ed on Tuesday movement, Johnson spoke eloquently and passionately about how teachers' working conditions are students' learning conditions. The English teacher at Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School in Columbus, Ohio, is a member of the Ohio Education Association.

She spoke at a hearing called by the House Democratic Outreach and Steering Committee, which focused on the recent surge of attacks on workers' rights across the country. Johnson joined three expert panelists and four other public employees from Ohio and Wisconsin, all testifying about how legislation such as Ohio Senate Bill 5 and attacks on collective bargaining will hurt the economy and public education in the long run. 

Read The Full Story at Education Votes

Thousands of Ohio working families converged on the Statehouse in Columbus on Tuesday, March 1 for a "Rally to Save Ohio's Middle Class" which started at 10:30 a.m. and continues all day.

The massive rally, organized by the middle class Ohioans from all across the state, comes in response to the recently-proposed Senate Bill 5, a blatant assault on middle-class working families--one in a series of attacks on the middle class across the country.

As we walked through the crowd we saw lots of support for Ohio's teachers.

Watch It:

Gov. John Kasich is promoting a plan for "charter universities" that would exempt colleges from multiple state regulations as long as they meet certain conditions, while continuing to receive taxpayer money.

Details on the idea have not yet been released and it has not been formally proposed by Kasich. But several states, such as Virginia, have allowed universities to opt out of their current system to improve financial flexibility and reduce the burden of state contracting, purchasing, collective bargaining and other laws.

Much like public charter schools, universities probably would get less taxpayer money. UC, for example, currently gets about $211 million a year through the State Share of Instruction, the main Ohio subsidy.

Just this week the Ohio School Facilities Commission repealed policies requiring the payment of prevailing wages and the use of project labor agreements mandating the employment of union workers.

The Columbus Dispatch Reports:

In another blow to organized labor and the legacy of former Gov. Ted Strickland, the Ohio School Facilities Commission today repealed policies favoring unions for school-construction projects.

The commission, now controlled by appointees of GOP Gov. John Kasich, unanimously approved a resolution stating it no longer would approve contracts in which those bidding for projects were required to designate who would do the work, how much they would be paid or other mandates.

The move reverses policies enacted under the former Democratic administration that allowed districts to require the payment of prevailing wages and the use of project labor agreements mandating the employment of union workers.

Ohio State Senators should be focused on getting hundreds of thousands of jobless Ohioans back to work.

Unfortunately, they would rather play partisan political games to satisfy campaign allies and hurt working families then focus on the real reasons for our economic crisis in order to get people back to work in good jobs.  

This misguided approach is no more apparent than with State Senator Shannon Jones' bill, SB 5, to repeal collective bargaining rights for public service workers including primary and secondary shool teachers as well as some college professors across the state.

You can act on behalf of teachers and public workers in Ohio.

Head to the Ohio Education Association's legislative action center now to write to your state representatives.

You can join the protest by becoming a fan of the Stand Up for Ohio Facebook page.

Want to help but don't live in Ohio?

Sign The NEA's national petition to support educator and worker rights!

Add Tennessee to the list of states primed for a fight over public sector worker rights.

The Senate Education Committee voted along party lines Wednesday to abolish collective bargaining between teachers unions and school boards across the state.

The vote was 6-3, with all Republicans on the panel voting for the bill and all Democrats against.

Sponsor Sen. Jack Johnson said passage of the bill -- SB113 -- will remove 'an albatross from around the neck of our school boards across the state' and remove a roadblock to education reform.

Five states currently dont have bargaining rights for teachers & they rank 44, 47, 48, 49 & 50 in ACT/SAT scores.

The President speaks from the Intel campus in Oregon about educating our kids for the jobs of tomorrow so we can make sure America wins the future.

Watch It:

WASHINGTON, D.C . - On Tuesday, February 22, the President and members of his cabinet will travel to Cleveland, Ohio, where the White House will convene a Winning the Future Forum on Small Business in association with Cleveland State University and northeast Ohio economic development organizations JumpStart and NorTech.  In his State of the Union address, President Obama spoke of the need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build our competitors in order to sustain our leadership and secure prosperity for all Americans.  The Forum will be an opportunity for the President and his economic team to hear directly from small business owners and leaders about their ideas for how America can continue to grow the economy, put Americans back to work, and win the future.
 
President Obama will deliver opening and closing remarks at the forum.  In between, there will be breakout sessions - some of which the President will participate in - hosted by cabinet members.  Topics will include:

• Entrepreneurship

• Access to Capital and Tax Breaks for Small Businesses

• Exports

• Clean Energy

 Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee will also hold a live online discussion from Cleveland State University that anyone can tune into at www.whitehouse.gov/live at 1:00 p.m. Tuesday.

The Ohio Education Association (OEA) is gravely concerned that the Ohio Senate is not making Ohio's children a priority. In a tough economy and facing a major budget deficit, Ohio must focus on the essentials, and nothing is more essential than giving our children a quality education that prepares them for good jobs.

Sen. Shannon Jones' legislation, Senate Bill 5 (SB 5), proposes to drastically curtail collective bargaining rights, ban public employee strikes, end collectively bargained salary schedules for public employees. SB 5 targets all state workers and all Ohio higher education employees, including OEA members at Columbus State, Youngstown State and other public colleges and community colleges, as well as OEA's State Council of Professional Educators (SCOPE) bargaining unit whose members educate incarcerated adults and youths.

OEA believes collective bargaining helps educators pursue the classroom conditions, tools and support that contribute to the kind of high quality 21st century education essential to preparing students for jobs and successful careers.

Collective bargaining is a problem solving tool that shapes working conditions and improves learning conditions. Since 1983, Ohio's collective bargaining law has created a framework that has made strikes rare and short in duration.  OEA affiliates negotiate effectively to avoid strikes and disruption for student learning.

Senate Bill 5 serves to weaken Ohio's entire middle class. Rather than creating jobs in Ohio, this legislation will hurt local communities stifling job growth.

The Ohio Education Association represents 130,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals in Ohio's public schools, colleges and universities.

Join Ohio State's College Democrats for an evening with Democratic leaders and the next generation of progressive activists. Your contribution helps make possible our upcoming trip to Washington, D.C.

The fundraiser will be a mixer at Level Dining Lounge (700 N. High Street Columbus, OH) on February 3rd, from 7:30pm until 9pm. Appetizers will be provided. Valet parking is available.

Confirmed attendees include:
Eric Brown, former Ohio Chief Justice
Marilyn Brown, Franklin County Commissioner
Jennifer Brunner, former Ohio Secretary of State
Michael Coleman, Mayor of Columbus
Hearcel Craig, Columbus City Council Member
Mary Jo Kilroy, Former Congresswoman
Zach Klein, Columbus City Council Member
Maryellen O'Shaugnessy, Franklin County Clerk of Courts
Eileen Paley, Columbus City Council Member
David Pepper, Hamilton County Commissioner
Dan Stewart, former Representative from Ohio's 25th district
Michael Stinziano, Representative from Ohio's 25th district
Priscilla Tyson, Columbus City Council Member

Donation levels are as follows:
$25 - Young Professional
$50 - Friend of Dems
$100 - College Dems Silver Sponsor
$250 - College Dems Diamond Sponsor

RSVP online at: osudems.com/fundraiser

Can't attend but still wanna help us get to Washington?
Donate via our website: osudems.com/donate

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) -- In an ongoing effort to recover millions of Ohio dollars lost to Wall Street through market corruption, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray today settled an antitrust lawsuit against Marsh & McLennan Companies for $4.75 million. As a result, public entities throughout the state -- including universities, schools, cities and counties -- will receive reimbursements from the settlement.

The lawsuit was filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court and accused Marsh, the world's largest insurance broker, of conspiring with various insurers to eliminate competition in the commercial casualty insurance industry. According to the complaint, from 2001-2004 the insurers and Marsh allegedly conspired to provide customers with fictitious quotes that created a false impression that competitive bidding had produced the best possible price.

"We continue our efforts to hold Wall Street accountable for actions that corrupted the markets by thwarting competition, the effects of which still weigh heavily on Ohioans today," said Cordray. "This settlement regains a piece of what we lost as a result of secret conspiracies that ultimately cost Ohioans millions in premium payments by schools, universities, cities, counties and others."

“We will provide the support necessary for you to complete college and meet a new goal: by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.”

- President Barack Obama February 24, 2009

The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 delivered a significant down payment on the President’s ambitious agenda to make higher education more affordable and help more Americans earn a college degree.  The law raises the maximum Pell Grant, makes loan payments more affordable for students with unmanageable debt, increases investments in community colleges, and extends support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other Minority Serving Institutions, all at no additional cost to taxpayers according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. The education initiatives funded by the law are fully paid for by ending government subsidies that were being given to financial institutions making guaranteed federal student loans.

Building on existing accomplishments since the President took office—raising the maximum Pell Grant by more than $800 and tripling the largest college tax credit now known as the American Opportunity Tax Credit—the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act will help expand college access and increase graduation rates for Ohio’s students.

Full Transcript of The President's Remarks Below:

Attention tea partiers and those who seem to have recently begun to be "concerned" about the deficit.

Included with taking the first step in the long haul to single-payer health insurance in this country, Democrats shave another $60 billion off the deficit and help real American families to allow less fortunate students to afford higher education in this country.

House approves huge changes to student loan program

Legislation hailed by supporters as the most significant change to college student lending in a generation passed the House on Sunday night.

The student aid initiative, which House Democrats attached to their final amendments to the health-care bill, would overhaul the student loan industry, eliminating a $60 billion program that supports private student loans with federal subsidies and replacing it with government lending to students. The House amendments will now go to the Senate.

By ending the subsidies and effectively eliminating the middleman, the student loan bill would generate $61 billion in savings over 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Most of those savings, $36 billion, would go to Pell grants, funding an era of steady and predictable increases in the massive but underfunded federal aid program for needy students. Smaller portions would go toward reducing the deficit and to various Democratic priorities, including community colleges, historically black colleges and universities, and caps on loan payments.

The bill's greatest impact would fall on the more than 6 million students who rely on Pell grants to finance their education. Pell, launched in 1973, once covered more than two-thirds of total costs at a public university. It now covers about one-third.

Under the bill passed by the House, the federal government — which now pays banks generous subsidies to provide a large share of taxpayer-subsidized student loans — would instead provide all such loans directly. This change would generate more than $60 billion in savings between 2010 and 2020, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), much of which would go to protecting and expanding Pell Grants to help low- and moderate-income students afford college.

While critics have branded the proposed changes in student loans a (guess what?) “government takeover” and claimed it would cost jobs, both claims are inaccurate.

Four months after “it sailed through the Democratic-led House, legislation to overhaul federal student lending and channel about $80 billion in savings toward an array of education initiatives has stalled in the Senate,” the Washington Post reports.

The assumption on Capitol Hill is that Democrats will attempt to move the student loan bill through a special procedure that requires a simple majority rather than the usual 60 votes out of 100 needed to stop a filibuster. That tactic is also under discussion for health-care reform, said the aides, who asked for anonymity to speak candidly. So the two issues have become intertwined.

Timing is significant. because the student loan legislation would require all colleges to use direct government lending as of July 1 for federal loans. Currently, they can choose between direct lending and a federal program that guarantees student loans made by private banks. The bill would not affect nonfederal loans.

Prominent players in the lending industry, including Sallie Mae, oppose the legislation, saying that it will eliminate thousands of jobs and that there are ways to save the government money without shutting out private lenders. Republicans depict themselves as defenders of market competition. 

By cutting banks out of the equation, the “administration expects to reap $80 billion over the next decade for increased student aid, community colleges, early childhood education and other programs.”

(Image Courtesy of SEIU1199)

Congratulations go to State Sen. Sue Morano, D-Lorain, for her bill to increase the number of nursing educators in Ohio.

Morano, a nurse herself, sponsored the Comprehensive Nursing Education Bill, which was signed into law Monday by Gov. Ted Strickland, after learning how many nursing students were being turned away from nursing schools in Ohio and around the nation because of faculty shortages.

The new law should allow experienced nurses to continue their education as well as providing more opportunities for young people to enter the nursing field. Educating more nurses should help improve health care for Ohioans along with bringing quality medical-field jobs into the state.

State Fiscal Stabilization Funds:

The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) program is a new one-time appropriation of $53.6 billion under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). These funds are distributed directly to states to:

·         Help stabilize state and local government budgets in order to minimize and avoid reductions in education and other essential public services.

·         Help ensure that local educational agencies (LEAs) and public institutions of higher education (IHEs) have the resources to avert cuts and retain educational personnel and staff.

·         Help support the modernization, renovation, and repair of school and college facilities.

·         Help advance early learning through post-secondary education reforms to benefit students and families.

As of today, $1,306,352,195 in State Fiscal Stabilization funds have been awarded to Ohio.

Title I, Part A– Supporting Low-Income Schools:

The ARRA provides $10 billion in additional Title I, Part A funds to state education agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs) to support schools that have high concentrations of students from families that live in poverty in order to help improve teaching and learning for students most at risk of failing to meet state academic achievement standards.

As of today, $186,336,747 in Title I funds have been awarded to Ohio.

IDEA Grants, Parts B & C – Improving Special Education Programs:

The ARRA provides $12.2 billion in additional funding for Parts B and C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  Part B of the IDEA provides funds to state educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) to help them ensure that children with disabilities, including children ages 3 through 5, have access to a free appropriate public education to meet each child's unique needs and prepare him or her for further education, employment, and independent living. Part C of the IDEA provides funds to each state lead agency designated by the Governor to implement statewide systems of coordinated, comprehensive, multidisciplinary interagency programs and make early intervention services available to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.

As of today, $232,752,510 in IDEA funds have been awarded to Ohio.

Education Technology Grants:

The ARRA provides $650 million in additional funding for Education Technology Grants.  The primary goal of the Education Technology Grants program is to improve student academic achievement through the use of technology in schools. It is also designed to help ensure that every student is technologically literate by the end of eighth grade and to encourage the effective integration of technology with teacher training and curriculum development.

As of today, $23,863,457 in Education Technology Grants have been awarded to Ohio.

Vocational Rehabilitation Funds:

The ARRA provides $540 million in additional funding for the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) State Grants program. The VR State Grants program provides grants to states to help individuals with disabilities, especially those individuals with the most significant disabilities, prepare for, obtain, and maintain employment.

As of today, $10,794,901 in Vocational Rehabilitation Funds have been awarded to Ohio.

Independent Living Services Fund:

The ARRA provides $140 million in additional funding for the Independent Living (IL) programs. The IL programs support services to individuals with significant disabilities and older individuals who are blind to maximize their leadership, empowerment, independence, and productivity, and to promote the integration and full inclusion of individuals with disabilities into the mainstream of American society.

As of today, $1,902,128 in Independent Living Services Funds have been awarded to Ohio.
 
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Funds:

The ARRA provides $70 million under the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth program to assist States and local educational agencies (LEAs) in addressing the educational and related needs of some of the most vulnerable members of our society – homeless children and youth – during a time of economic crisis in the United States.

As of today, $1,913,813 in McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance funds have been awarded to Ohio.

Pell Grant Funds:

The ARRA provides $17.1 billion in additional funds for students across the country in need of Pell Grants. The Federal Pell Grant Program provides need-based grants to low-income undergraduate and certain post-baccalaureate students to promote access to postsecondary education. Students may use their grants at any one of approximately 5,400 participating postsecondary institutions. The additional funding allowed the Department of Education to raise the maximum Pell award from $4,731 to $5,350.  

Pell Grants are awarded based on student applications, not by state. 

As of today, $284,731,536 in Pell Grants have been awarded to students attending schools in Ohio.

Work Study Funds:

The ARRA provides an additional $200 million to the Work-Study program, providing colleges and universities with additional funding to provide jobs to students to help with their college and living expenses.

Work Study funds are distributed to qualifying schools which select students based on financial need.

As of today, $7,967,829 in Work Study funds have been awarded to students attending schools in Ohio.

Real Results in Ohio:

Cincinnati has already used stimulus funds to create a more comprehensive program for struggling schools this summer.  In the mornings, teachers targeted reading and math lessons to students' individual needs and in the afternoons, community partners offered field trips, science projects, and other activities that gave kids more incentives to participate.  "Fifth Quarter" drew about 2,000 K-7 students -- up significantly from traditional summer school participation. 

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama celebrated the beginning of implementation of the Post 9/11 GI Bill. This bill, through its Yellow Ribbon Programs and partnerships with colleges and universities throughout the nation, will provide our service members with the most generous educational benefits package since the original GI Bill of 1944.

Over 3,400 agreements were received from the 1,100 schools participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program. The Yellow Ribbon Program, a provision of the new Post-9/11 GI Bill, funds tuition expenses that exceed the highest public in-state undergraduate tuition rate. 

A list of Ohio schools participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program can be found here: http://www.gibill.va.gov/GI_Bill_Info/CH33/YRP/states/oh.htm

“Sixty-five years ago, a grateful nation offered a generation of World War II heroes the chance to go to college,” President Obama said. “The original GI Bill paved the way to a better life for millions of veterans and their families while building the foundation of the American middle class. Today, the Post-9/11 GI Bill is affording a new generation of heroes a 21st century version of that same opportunity.”

“The President and I know that the nation’s courageous service members and their families have shouldered the heaviest burden for our country’s security and safety over the past eight years,” VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said. “This new GI Bill is a way for a grateful nation to tangibly demonstrate our heartfelt appreciation and abiding respect for their service.”

“More than two and half years ago, we began with the simple concept that those who have been serving since 9/11 should have the same opportunity for a first class educational future as those who served during World War II,” Senator Jim H. Webb said. “This bill provides a modern and fair educational benefit to address the needs of those who answered the call of duty to our country--those who moved toward the sound of the guns--often at great sacrifice.”

With the implementation of the Post 9/11 GI Bill, our nation has an opportunity to honor America’s veterans in a very tangible way.  The maximum benefit under the Post-9/11 GI Bill allows veterans, service members, Reservists and Guard members the ability to receive an in-state, undergraduate education at a public institution at no cost.

Further, to honor their many sacrifices, the Post 9/11 GI Bill allows for the transferability of unused benefits to eligible career service members’ families. More information on the transferability of unused benefits can be found here: http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/2009/0409_gibill/

President Obama has directed Secretary Shinseki to create a results-driven, 21st Century VA. Since the signing of this monumental legislation, VA has made meeting the August 1 implementation deadline a top priority.  As of July 30th VA has processed over 112,000 claims.

U.S. President Barack Obama is celebrating a new "GI Bill" that allows everyone serving in the military since September 11, 2001, to receive a free college education.

The White House says the program is the most extensive educational assistance opportunity since the passage of the original GI Bill in 1944.

The new program, co-sponsored by Mr. Obama when he was a senator, was passed by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush last year, but only took effect on Saturday. Intended to replicate the G.I. Bill that educated 8 million veterans after World War II, the program pays for undergraduate education for anyone who has served at least 90 days in the military since Sept. 11, 2001.

Those who have served 36 months or more will be eligible for tuition and fees equal to the maximum in-state rate charged by public universities in their state, as well as a monthly housing stipend and up to $1,000 a year for books and supplies. Those who have served less than that will have the benefit pro-rated. The benefit passes to the children of those slain in the line of duty. Troops who have served at least six years and sign up for another four years can also pass it to their children.

“Education is the currency that can purchase success in the 21st century and this is the opportunity that our troops have earned,” Mr. Obama said. He noted that among the beneficiaries of the original G.I. Bill was his grandfather, who fought in Europe. “I would not be standing here today if that opportunity had not led him west,” the president said.

Full Remarks Of The President below

WASHINGTON – Seventy-two colleges, universities and schools across Ohio have entered into Yellow Ribbon Program agreements with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to improve financial aid for veterans participating in the Post-9/11 GI Bill program.

Over 3,400 agreements were received from the 1,100 schools participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program.  “This is a strong response to a new benefit,” said Keith Wilson, Director of VA’s Education Service.  “We are pleased so many institutions are supporting our Veterans.”

“The Post-9/11 GI Bill is an important part of fulfilling our promise to the men and women who have served our country so honorably.  Implementing this landmark legislation and providing even more veterans with a quality education is a top priority for the VA, and we are grateful so many schools are joining us as partners in this unprecedented effort,” VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said.

A list of Ohio schools participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program can be found here: http://www.gibill.va.gov/GI_Bill_Info/CH33/YRP/states/oh.htm

The Yellow Ribbon Program, a provision of the new Post-9/11 GI Bill, funds tuition expenses that exceed the highest public in-state undergraduate tuition rate.  Institutions can contribute up to 50 percent of those expenses, and VA will match this additional funding for eligible students.

The Yellow Ribbon Program is reserved for those Veterans eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill at the 100 percent benefit level.  This includes those who served at least 36 months on active duty or served at least 30 continuous days and were discharged due to a service-related injury.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill, passed by Congress last year, is the most extensive educational assistance program authorized since the original GI Bill was signed into law in 1944.

The maximum benefit allows every eligible Veteran, servicemember, reservist, and National Guard member an opportunity to receive an in-state, undergraduate education at a public institution at no cost. 

Provisions of the program include payments for tuition and fees, housing, and a books and supplies stipend.  Benefits are payable for training pursued on or after August 1, 2009. The tuition and fee benefit is paid directly to the school.

Additional information about the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon Program, as well as VA’s other educational benefit programs, can be obtained by visiting VA’s Web site www.gibill.va.gov or by calling 1-888-GIBILL-1 (or 1-888-442-4551).

Secretary Clinton launched a new initiative today to allow for a rising generation of citizen diplomats to conduct digital diplomacy.

Virtual Student Foreign Service (VSFS) Internships, announced by Secretary Clinton at the 2009 New York University commencement speech, are part of a growing effort by the State Department to harness technology and a commitment to global service among young people to facilitate new forms of diplomatic engagement. The VSFS Internships will be developed over the next year and will seek to harness the energy of a rising generation of citizen diplomats.

Working from college and university campuses in the United States, American students will partner with our embassies abroad to conduct digital diplomacy that reflects the realities of our networked world. By combining the talents of young people across America and the right technology, we can forge the solutions that our century demands.

Sign up to receive more information and updates on Virtual Student Foreign Service Internships.

Join the Virtual Student Foreign Service Facebook community.

E. Gordon Gee has a conflict on his hands, but he couldn't care less.

While serving as co-chairman of a newly formed partnership of public research universities pushing to reduce the nation's reliance on foreign oil and develop renewable energy, he is simultaneously being paid over $200,000 a year for serving on the board of Massey Energy, a coal company with one of the nation's worst environmental records.

Massey Energy's shameful record:

• behind one of the single worst environmental disasters in the region’s history, according to the EPA.
• biggest Dept. of Justice settlement in the coal industry’s history, for safety violations which lead to a deadly mine disaster.
• largest fine in EPA history for violations of the Clean Water Act.

In a news story which ran nationwide last month, ProgressOhio called on Gordon Gee to sever his ties with Massey, but now instead of quietly stepping down it turns out he is running for four more years as a "Class I" Director of Massey. (PDF)

Dr. Gee's response to the criticism of his association with Massey has been to say "he's working for change from the inside ou", however, he cannot point to one single recommendation for environmental change and safety that he has made in his 8 years with the company that has been implemented.

Now Dr. Gee's hypocrisy goes even further.

In the same proxy statement that recommends his re-election to the Board, Dr. Gee and his fellow Directors of Massey Energy also specifically recommend that the shareholders vote against two shareholder initiated environmental proposals:

1) Against the stockholder proposal regarding an Enviromental Progress Report

2) Against the stockholder proposal regarding a Carbon Dioxide Emissions Report

If he's working for change "from the inside out" why would he support these Board recommendations against such change?

Enough of the hypocrisy Dr, Gee.

Resign From The Massey Energy
Board of Directors Now!

WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama met with a family struggling to afford the cost of college and underscored his commitment to cutting wasteful spending on federal student loans by ending taxpayer subsidies to banks.  President Obama discussed the strain that rising tuition costs are placing on middle class families and his proposal to end the private Federal Family Education Loans program that lines the pockets of the banks who serve as middlemen while costing the American people $5 billion a year.  The President would use the savings from cutting out the middleman to help provide Ohio students with more than $4.4 billion more in Pell Grants over the next decade.

“The banks and lenders who have reaped a windfall from these subsidies have mobilized an army of lobbyists to try and keep things the way they are,” President Obama said.  “They are gearing up for a battle. And so am I. They will fight for their special interests. I will fight for America’s students, and their families.”

Below is information on President Obama’s proposal.

Reforming Student Loans to Make College Affordable

“We will provide the support necessary for you to complete college and meet a new goal:  by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.”  

-- President Barack Obama, February 24, 2009

America’s future economic strength depends on the quality of our education. Countries that out-teach us today will out-compete us tomorrow. America once had one of the most educated workforces in the world, but it has now slipped to the middle of the pack. Only 38 percent of young workers have a college degree, a lower percentage than nine other countries and no higher than a generation ago. At the same time, we do not provide enough financial aid, partly because the student loan program spends $5 billion more than necessary subsidizing banks and other lenders to make student loans.

Today, President Obama met with a family struggling to afford the cost of college and released a new analysis of the impact of his plans to increase student aid. He will take on the special interests to eliminate wasteful and unreliable guaranteed student loans and invest more in helping students succeed in college and complete their degree. And he will make a historic investment in college affordability: together, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the President’s Budget provide about $200 billion in Pell Grant scholarships and tax credits over the next decade.

·         Reforming Student Loans: The guaranteed student loan program pays banks and other lenders a guaranteed rate of return and reimburses them for defaults, giving them large profits set by the political process rather than won in a competitive marketplace. The Obama-Biden Administration will expand the alternative Direct Loan program, which is administered by private sector companies selected through a competitive process and paid based upon performance. Direct loans have essentially the same terms for students and are more reliable and efficient. They will save $48 billion over the next decade according to the Office of Management and Budget, which will be reinvested in Pell Grant scholarships for students.

·         Restoring Pell Grants to a Strong Foundation for Student Aid: The value of Pell Grants have fallen from 77 percent of the cost of attending a public university to 33 percent over the past three decades. The ARRA invested $17 billion, making it possible to increase Pell by $619 for 7 million students. But these funding increases are only temporary, and without additional resources the value of the maximum Pell Grant will fall by $1,400 in 2011. President Obama is committed to a strong, reliable Pell Grant program. He will make Pell an entitlement, provide $116 billion over the next decade to prevent any drop in the size of Pell Grants, ensure that they continues to grow faster than inflation, and eliminate the frequent budget shortfalls that have plagued the program.

·         Cut Taxes on College Tuition: The ARRA created the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which will give millions of families up to $2,500 each to help pay for college. The credit was also expanded to help families too poor to owe income taxes. But the credit expires at the end of 2010. The President’s Budget would make it permanent.

Support the Rainbow PUSH Education Stimulus Plan

With college costs continuing to soar and more college graduates struggling to make their student loan payments, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition is urging lawmakers to extend the benefits of the federal bailout to these young people through adoption of the Rainbow PUSH Education Stimulus Plan.

The plan, which is designed to help college students and their families in this fragile economy, calls on Congress to:

• Reduce the interest rate on all student loans to 1%.
  If banks can borrow money at 1% or less, then so should our students.
• Extend the grace period before loan repayment begins from 6 months to 18 months for students who graduate.
  In these tough economic times, it takes a college graduate an average of 6 months to 1 year to find a job. The rules should reflect this reality.
• End the penalties assessed to schools for student loan defaults.
  Schools should not be held accountable for students who don’t pay back their loans.
• Increase Pell Grants to cover the average yearly cost of a public 4 year institution rather than the amounts in the current stimulus package--$5,350 starting July 1 and $5,550 in 2010-2011.
  The real cost of college and the impact of the current financial crisis both should be reflected in the dollar value of Pell Grants.

Today, our nation’s largest banks, beneficiaries of bailout funds, are able to borrow money at an interest rate of 1% or less; but students are forced to borrow at 4% - 18%. Many young people are making their student loan payments with credit cards, some paying 20% or more on that debt. They are putting their futures at risk.

We believe that access to education is an inherent right of all Americans. Access to education should not be postponed or denied due to lack of access to affordable student loans. We urge President Obama and Congress to ACT NOW.

Sign the Petition!

State Senator Nina Turner held a town hall meeting on education Thursday in Euclid. 

Senator Turner and Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents Eric Fingerhut spoke on the importance of post- secondary education in giving Ohioans the skills needed to compete in today's job market.

Senator Turner pointed out that this is a critical issue for workers who have been laid off and want to pursue another type of work. "Business people are looking for a highly educated workforce," she said. "This is how Ohio is going to keep its competitive edge, and this is how our nation will keep its competitive edge.... It is in all of our best interest to rear students who will be assets to their communities and not liabilities."

State Senator Nina Turner and the Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents Eric Fingerhut will hold a Town Hall meeting in Euclid on Thursday, April 16th with the theme "Higher Education Today, Better Jobs Tomorrow."

This event is free and open to the public.

Senator Turner and Chancellor Fingerhut will talk about the importance of post secondary education in giving Ohioans the skills needed to compete in today's job market. This is an especially critical issue for workers who have been laid off and want to pursue another type of work.

The town hall meeting will take place at Euclid City Hall beginning at 7:00pm.

For all the details, click here.

Brian Rothenberg
Executive Director
ProgressOhio.org

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Please forward to your friends and colleagues!

ProgressOhio - "We're Powered By You"

A new Gallup Poll shows that only 39% of Americans say they "believe in the theory of evolution," while 25% say they do not believe in the theory, and another 36% don't have an opinion either way.

Key finding: "These attitudes are strongly related to education and, to an even greater degree, religiosity."

Claiborne Pell, a Rhode Island senator whose achievements brought about lasting change both at home and abroad, died on January 1st, 2009, at the age of 90.

In a statement, Vice President-elect Joe Biden honored Sen. Pell's many accomplishments, noting that, "few Senators have done more to expand opportunity in America."

Pell's domestic efforts led to the establishment of the Pell Grant, a federal higher education subsidy that has defrayed the cost of college tuition for thousands of American students since their establishment in 1973.

In 2000, nearly 30% of public university students were Pell Grant recipients.

Still, many students and their families worry that the worsening economy will increase the burden of tuition and other college costs.

Carolyn from California shared some of her concerns:

"With the state of our current economy my parents are worried with how they are going to be able to support me and my younger brother as he goes off to college. We are considered upper-middle class (I think) and if we are having a hard time, I can only imagine what other families are facing. Please continue to support federal funding for higher education including the Pell Grant Program. Your proposed changes to the Financial Aid application would be very helpful, but at the same time increased funding of federal programs is necessary."

Making higher education more affordable is a priority for the Obama-Biden administration.

Use the discussion forum at Change.gov to tell the Transition Team some of your concerns about education costs.

Paying for higher education is a scary subject for students and parents, alike.

With fall and the new school year in full swing, this is a critical time to focus on how Ohio pays for its schools.

Think you know the facts on education in Ohio?

Click here to take the ProgressOhio College Quiz and find out facts they didn't cover in Econ 101, like that age-old question:

Exactly how much will a first grader have to pay for a college degree?

Brian Rothenberg
Executive Director
ProgressOhio.org

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Please forward to your friends and colleagues!

ProgressOhio - "We're Powered By You"

According to MoJo's crack research team, people who identify themselves as "Priests" give mainly Blue, but 2/3rds of donations from "Catholic Priests" go to Republicans. Over 80% of money from "Rabbis" goes to Dems and Ron Paul received 100% support from the coveted "Wizard" demographic.

Tons of other great, not-so-scientific insight, such as the answer to whose more likely to be a Democrat: a math teacher or an english teacher.

While the positions aren't paid (boo) we have excellent relationships with many universities and can work to make sure you get credit hours (yay!). This is an amazing opportunity for someone passionate about politics or interested in persuing a career in the non-profit sector.

We promise you won't spend your days knocking on doors or stuffing envelopes. We need people talented in the digital arts, people with amazing organizational skills, people capable of spreadsheet wizardry.

So fill out this very short online application and we'll be in touch.

A $1.57 billion bipartisan job stimulus package unveiled by state leaders Wednesday entails significantly less in bonds than were originally proposed by Gov. Ted Strickland while tapping numerous other funding sources - including most of the money currently held by the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation - to achieve similar goals.

Strickland, GOP leaders announce Ohio stimulus plan

Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut presented a 10-year strategic plan for higher education to Governor Ted Strickland and the Ohio General Assembly that details strategies to meet the governor's goal of enrolling 230,000 more students while keeping more graduates in Ohio and attracting more talent to the state.

The plan promises to raise the overall educational attainment of the state of Ohio.

"This report builds upon the principles I put forth last year in creating the University System of Ohio," Strickland said. "This 10-year plan for Ohio's institutions of higher education will ensure not only that we dramatically expand educational opportunities for Ohioans but that we do so in a way that makes our state a world-class economic competitor."

More [Read Press Release]

Strategic Plan

• View Strategic Plan
• View Executive Summary of the Strategic Plan

Condition Report

• View Condition Report
• View Executive Summary of Condition Report

Professors from Columbus State Community College, The Ohio State University, and the University of Akron spoke out about the Iraq war’s academic, economic, and personal costs for Ohio’s students.

The professors were unanimous in their assertion that the Iraq war diverts resources that could otherwise go toward higher education.

Rita Bova of Columbus State Community College points out that many people join the military to get a higher education, often at community colleges. Those students are not getting that education: “I have had at least 4 students who served at least 2 tours of duty in Iraq and several of them have had major psychological problems, and have been called up yet again.”

Doug Gray, also of Columbus State Community College reports: “I have a number of students who had to drop out of school in the middle of the quarter because they were being shipped back overseas sometimes for their 2nd or 3rd tour.”

Dr. Gray referenced an online tool that shows the tradeoffs being made in your community – with the amount your city, state, or congressional district has paid toward the war, how many teachers could have been hired? How many new schools could have been built? Columbus, Ohio’s share in the cost of the Iraq war through 2007 is approximately $900 million. “And with that money, just in the Columbus area, somewhere around 50,000 students could have been given four year scholarships for the amount that we have spent destroying a country."

What is the cost of war in your community?

Click here to find out what tradeoffs are being made in your congressional district.

Speak out! Post your findings and your thoughts as a comment below.

Click here to send a letter to your representative in Congress - let them know the impact of these tradeoffs in your community.

• Deborah Pryce's district (OH-15) has shelled out $946.3 million for the Iraq war.  That money could have provided 317,198 People with Health Care (that's almost half the district)

• Steve Chabot's district (OH-15) has spent over $806 million. That amount would provide 903,450 homes with renewable electricity.

• John Boehner's district (OH-8) has paid $943.7 million toward the Iraq war. That money could have hired 16,036 Elementary School Teachers.

Enough already! It’s time for a taxpayer revolt on Higher Ed Monarch’s Gone Wild!”

• College Presidents take trips to Belize, spend $1800 for a one-night hotel stay in Italy, own $1.4 million oceanfront homes in the Hamptons and renovate their new state-owned house for $2 million dollars -- seven years after a predecessor had a $1.6 million renovation in the same house.
• Two retiring Ohio College Presidents get at least a quarter million dollars as a going away present.
• Headlines all over Ohio trumpet raises for Ohio College Presidents from $370,000 to $1 million dollars, prompting one astute President to turn down a $37,000 raise only to get over $181,000 more six months later.
• And worst of all, they’ve gone so corporate and money crazed we can’t even watch the Buckeyes on TV each Saturday.

We’re not making this stuff up; it’s all ripped from Ohio headlines in 2006 and 2007.

For places like higher ed known for incessantly debating the merits of a comma versus a semi-colon in their mission statements, haven’t they forgotten the simplest thing: The taxpayer mission.

GIVE US A BREAK: OUR UNIVERSITY; OUR TEAM; OUR TVs

OK, so before the gluttony, let’s start with the one perk we taxpayer’s all get for our paycheck deductions. It’s as basic as it should be. You work hard, pay your taxes, and you like your Buckeyes – a team that’s part of a land grant, taxpayer-financed institution. Why then, can’t you watch them on TV?

The fact is Big Ten schools own 51% of the new Big Ten Network that formed this year and is battling with Time Warner Cable and other cable companies to deprive even many of those paying cable customers access to Buckeye games. The other 49% of the new cash cow Big Ten Cable network is owned by none other than Conservative Fox icon Rupert Murdoch who just happens to own – you guessed it “Direct TV”

It just makes you mad. It’s one thing for Murdoch to take over a venerable paper like the Wall Street Journal. It’s another to have him take his corporate money grabbing ways to our Saturday football. Ohio State is a taxpayer-funded university, even if the sports program has become its own private revenue green machine (making pro-money off of players who see none of it by the way.)

For many Ohioans who have never even attended Ohio State, the only thing they get out of their tax money is a Saturday on the couch with a beer and a good ole’ butt-thumping by the Buckeyes. And now, Mr. Murdoch comes along with yet another money raising scheme off of you guessed it – us -- and leaves us with nothing more than the scrolling ESPN scoreboard with a crackling radio in the background.

Give us a break.

There was a time when televised college football games were restricted by the NCAA – perhaps because in those pre-cable days there was a deep concern about the impact of how college football money could turn the course of a Saturday experience into a market in corporate greed.

At least, back in those days, the games could be caught on free television, even though delayed, as part of the mission of WOSU, the public television station at Ohio State. See a theme? Public university, public television, public benefit.

Even worse, terms of this new Big Ten Network shakedown require the cable company to pay $1.10 per month toward the Buckeye games for areas like Ohio, but areas outside of the Big Ten pay $.10 per month.

So let’s get this straight: We pay tax money to fund our university, and yet it costs our cable company a buck more per house to watch our team than an out-of-stater. Oh yeah, and remember, our cable friends fighting Murdoch on the other side of this fight just de-regulated so don’t think you won’t see that in your bill down the line.

But, fear not, our Big Ten universities will reap $237 million in profit for your extra $12 bucks a year. Oh --- well our taxpayer-funded universities get half – of course the rest goes to Rupert Murdoch.

And for those OSU officials who distance themselves from this greedy issue by blaming the Big Ten – just remember the spokesperson for the Big Ten Network used to be a spokesperson for OSU – and we all know the big Kahunas of Big-Ten decision-making wear Scarlet & Grey, reside “up north” or worship the ground that JoPa built.

So there you have it. You may not have cared about the corporate takeover of your taxpayer university before – but now they took your football games. But wait there is more …

TRIPS, TRAPPINGS & TRUSTEES NAPPING

They took your football Corporate, but surely the educational side of things is still on mission. Right. Right.

Well, depending where in the state you read your daily paper, that isn’t necessarily so.

• Ohio State University: Despite a widely published Wall Street Journal expose on Gordon Gee’s spending at Vanderbilt and Brown Universities (chronicled in Shadows earlier) the Columbus Dispatch reported that even prior to Gee’s first day, Trustee’s approved $2 million in redecorating to the OSU President’s Bexley mansion. This is the same mansion that underwent a $1.3 million renovation seven years ago under a predecessor and that taxpayer’s pay $100,000 a year to maintain. So if you are counting Gordon’s house has gone through $3.3 million in renovations and $700,000 in upkeep over seven years – that’s $4 million and it’s not even a new build.

You should be heartened though that taxpayer money will not be used for this renovation or the entertainment budget (at Vanderbilt that hit $700,000 a year) but instead interest on investments (endowment) will be used.

It is interesting to note that Ohio Statute dictates that endowments are for the “benefit of the college or university.” O.R.C 3345.16 Anyone wonder whether OSU will get more than $4 million when they go to sell Ohio’s equivalent of the famed Hearst Castle in good ol’ Bexley, Ohio?

Gee, by the way, as previously chronicled, has a salary and benefits package exceeding a cool million, so at least the house and salary are a matching set.

• Hocking Technical College: Longtime Hocking Technical College President John Light (a state-funded institution) spent more than $25,000 on a college credit card for travel. Among the expenses for the President ( who has been in office since 1968 which would be Jim Rhodes first stint as Governor) is a $15,000 trip to Belize for himself and 17 members of the advisory board for the school’s hospitality training program.

He also charged $1,000 for rental cars and expenses in the area near his $1.4 million oceanfront home in the Hamptons. (Apparently you save a lot from the high salary, state-housing perks, and the Corporate Board service President’s get in these gigs, as the Hampton’s is home to folks like Billy Joel, Christie Brinkley, and P-Diddy’s famed summer White Party. No word on whether President Light made Diddy’s invite list.)

The school said money for the fund that pays for the credit card expenses comes from the profits of campus vending machines and food service operations, not taxpayer money. (Uhh, then aren’t those students paying for this guys trips from those vending machines. It’s not like Nelsonville’s known for options on Restaurant’s and nightlife.)

At times, the fund did not have enough to pay off Light’s credit card balance owed and the Dispatch reported Light has paid $3,791 in interest charges and late fees in the last two years. There is an on-going investigation by Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann.

• Kent State University: KSU President Lester Lefton spent nearly $40,000 on a four-week business trip to Europe, including a $1,800 a night hotel room in Italy. Lefton did contribute $10,000 of his own money to the trip, which included his wife, and went to Istanbul, Moscow, Geneva and Florence. “It’s the cost of doing business,” Lefton said to the Akron Beacon Journal. We’ll give him credit for the 10K donation and assume half of the cost for the room was for his wife. So it was really a bargain for the State at just $900 for a night in DaVinci’s Florence.

As for the $10,000 hit, he can certainly afford it. Lefton was given a $17,500 raise in September, brining his compensation package to $367,500 in salary plus a $70,000-a -year bonus and $50,000 in deferred compensation.

• University of Cincinnati: Nancy Zimpher received a compensation package that almost doubled her cash earnings last month.

Back in March, when Zimpher’s contract was extended to 2012, Trustees offered her a raise from $343,000 a year to $380,164 – which Zimpher declined. Good thing she did. Last month Trustees gave her an 8 percent increase (from the salary she declined in March) and a 30 percent, one-time bonus of $114,047, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The Enquirer reported the total package boosts her annual cash earnings to $524,000.

University officials pointed out that this is a bargain compared with Gordon Gee’s Ohio State deal, which has a $775,000 base salary plus deferred compensation and other earnings. So next time you’re offered a raise, do what heretofore is known as the zimpher and turn down your raiseto see what happens. Or does that only happen with government jobs.

No word on whether Zimpher is demanding housing upgrades because of Gee, as well.

• Retired Presidents: Yep – they didn’t get enough perks while they are on the job. On top of their PERS and deferred compensation packages, former Kent State President Carol Cartwright went on the payroll as Professor Emeritus at KSU, making $270,000 a year plus expenses. Former Ohio State President Karen Holbrook went relatively cheaply at a clean quarter million for moving on.

In the shadowy corridors of Ohio’s capital whispers were that the payment was hush money for not blabbing the fact that Les Wexner and the famed corporate Titans pushed her out the door. That’s horribly unfair. After all, she left and insisted that OSU students were fond of “drunken orgies.’’ No hushing there.

STUDENTS SCROUNGE WHILE CAVIAR FLOWS

So, let’s get a little grounded in reality. A few months back, The Ohio State University student leadership made a presentation to University and State Treasurer Richard Cordray about the realities students face far from the gilded halls and lavish vacations of university emperors.

While all of these articles explain away obscene spending as part of the fundraising culture of endowment money raised, the average Ohio student finds there is little trickledown effect from the Roman gluttony of fundraising conducted by Ohio’s higher ed Kings and Queens.

Just last March OSU students presented a University study that demonstrates that a College student in 1964 had to work 19 minimum wage hours a week to afford costs – by 2003 it would take 50 hours plus time for their college studies.

So the reality of Ohio’s higher ed system is one in which students have to work the equivalent of 50 hour work weeks on top of their studies just to afford their education – but College Presidents live outrageously with a mix of your money and the endowment money raised presumably to educate those very students.

Strangely, very little about this is heard in the halls of the Ohio General Assembly, or at the Board of Regent’s level – even with the weekly litany of headlines that would make a Roman Emperor proud.

And you have to wonder, not if, but when, the gluttony goes so far that these public CEOs face the same taxpayer scrutiny and backlash as corporate CEO’s with these type of excesses

As for the rest of us, at the very least, give those of us who will never see the gilded faucets of Gordon Gee’s re-renovated bathroom, the one thing we should get from our tax money -- the Buckeyes – every Saturday – on our couches – on TV -- for free.

It’d probably be more fun than a trip to Belize or Italy with a College egghead anyway.

The House has just passed the final House-Senate agreement on the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, H.R. 2669, which would make the largest single investment in college financial aid since the GI Bill of 1944. The bill will now go to the President’s desk, and he has pledged to sign it into law.

Chairman George Miller of the Education and Labor Committee, the sponsor of the bill, spoke in favor:

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act would help millions of students and families pay for college at no new cost to taxpayers, boosting college aid by roughly $20 billion over the next five years. Under the legislation, the maximum value of the Pell Grant scholarship would increase by $1,090 over the next five years, reaching $5,400 by 2012, up from $4,050 in 2006, thus restoring the Pell’s purchasing power. Some students would see an immediate boost of almost $500 in their Pell Grant scholarship in the 2008-2009 school year alone. Roughly 5.5 million low- and moderate-income students would benefit from this increase.

The legislation would also cut interest rates on need-based student loans in half, from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent, over the next four years. Once fully phased-in, this would save the typical student borrower – with $13,800 in need-based student loan debt – $4,400 over the life of the loan. About 6.8 million students take out need-based loans each year.

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act would also ease the financial burdens college costs impose on students and families and expand college access for low-income and minority students by:

Making loan payments more manageable for students;

Providing tuition assistance for excellent undergraduate students who agree to teach in high-need subjects in high-need schools;

Making a landmark new investment in minority serving institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions, for critical support services that help recruit and retain students;

Encouraging and rewarding public service by providing loan forgiveness for college graduates that go into public service professions, such as military officers, first responders, firefighters, nurses, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, early childhood educators, public defenders, librarians, and others; and

Developing new strategies to help colleges contain costs and making online information on college costs for students and parents more user friendly.

No one should be denied the opportunity to go to college simply because of the price, yet unfortunately, that has been what many American families have been forced to do. Tuition at four-year public colleges has grown by 35 percent in the last five years. Students and families are taking on increasing amounts of debt, and each year nearly 200,000 students are holding off going to college, or skipping it altogether, because they cannot afford it.

Fact sheet on the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (pdf) >>
Learn who would benefit from this legislation (pdf) >>
Read the full text of the legislation (pdf) >>

In Ohio only Boehner and Chabot voted no:

OHIO

Democrats — Jones, X; Kaptur, Y; Kucinich, Y; Ryan, Y; Space, Y; Sutton, Y; Wilson, Y.

Republicans — Boehner, N; Chabot, N; Hobson, Y; Jordan, N; LaTourette, Y; Pryce, Y; Regula, Y; Schmidt, N; Tiberi, Y; Turner, Y.

Imagine if your Governor was the highest paid in the United States and imagine how the Ohio public would react.

Imagine if you provided the Governor with no limits on renovating the Governor’s Mansion, but knew from his history that he’d spent $6 million on his last residence, imported a room from England for another Ivy League gig and was the subject of a major Wall Street Journal expose’ on his prior spending habits -- fair or not.

Imagine if you found a Governor that created jobs in Ohio decades ago, plopped him back in Bexley today and waited for that magic to work again 17 years later – as if you are in some strange Austin Powers’ political episode where he lands at the “Oval” some Saturday from a strange land down south.

Ohioans are a scrappy lot. When the chips are down, they seek a hero. And when they are wandering in the wilderness, they seek a messianic presence to rescue them from the confusion of false idols. The fact is that Heroes never die – in fact their legend only grows in the memory of distant minds.

But there is a certain truth in the parables of the Bible that comes to mind about E. Gordon Gee and his popular coronation this past week. It reminds me of when Moses left the Israelites to scale the mountains for the 10 Commandments, only to come down and find them worshipping fallen idols, lost in the desert, longing for belief. In the end, Moses never went into the Promised Land – only the Israelites crossed the border.

And if we Ohioans have strayed in the desert, we are a different people with a different economy than OSU President E. Gordon Gee discovered 17 years ago when he arrived from the Mountains of Colorado to the Mountaintop at OSU. And because of that, like him or not, the E. Gordon Gee of 2007 takes an investiture in a very different Ohio.

The Buckeye Institute’s Richard Vedder wrote recently, “The highest level administrators at the great universities I know alternatively despise, despair or are jealous of Gee, looking at him as a rube upstart without the cultivation and manners and dignity that a University president should have. But he delivers – raises schools in the US News and World report rankings, builds pretty buildings, throws great parties, and raises tons of cash. Isn’t that what higher education is all about these days.”

And therein lies the rub. It’s not what higher education should be about these days. Not with Ohio’s undereducated population struggling to pay rising tuition costs at our state colleges. Not with OSU, a land-grant college, suddenly being so selective as to place itself out of reach for even some of Ohio’s brightest. Not with all public colleges struggling to pay for upkeep of the growing number of buildings.

OSU can no longer afford a PR man as its president.

The recent high-level investment in Higher Ed is a financial commitment that the new administration has made to boost the state’s economy.

We are desperate for jobs and our Universities are the cornerstone of what little hope there is of past glory. Our Governor may not feel it in the honeymoon of today, but jobs are our hope – not newspaper rankings. Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher’s recent trip to Russia is just the start of the kind of focus, zeal and commitment it will take to recreate a burgeoning Ohio economy.

A recent Quinnipiac survey found that 28% of all Ohioans feel one of their family member will leave Ohio for a better opportunity in the next year. And if that responsibility rests with our elected leaders like Governor Strickland – it also rests at the feet of Ohio’s Higher Ed establishment that long has criticized cuts in funding and stands at the threshold of all it could want.

And if Professor Vedder is right about Dr. Gee, then the OSU club we at Shadows on High often dub “Scarlet and Green” should fear a return of a 17-year old business model.

• THE BUILDING BOOM MODEL IS BUSTED: With the University of Phoenix online across the world, and numerous private colleges and even Central Michigan University with branch Columbus campuses – pretty buildings may be a thing in Higher Ed’s past. (Not to mention OSU’s pretty building – The Blackwell -- named after marketing professor Roger Blackwell, found guilty two years ago of insider trading).

You don’t need pretty buildings named after the famous or the felonious -- or even need a picturesque setting while you are sitting in your family room watching your class lecture via computer. You may need labs and hands-on instruction for the sciences and certain disciplines. But today’s classroom requirements are much different than yesterday’s. Technology has made Higher Ed more portable.

• THE PARTY’S OVER: The famed Gee parties are legendary and come with baggage. The Wall Street Journal a few years back did a damning article about the $700,000 in entertainment and personal chef costs of Dr. Gee at Vanderbilt. The $3 million renovation of the President’s House at Brown (including a conservatory built in England and shipped to Brown) and a $6 million renovation of the President’s House at Vanderbilt were also prominently mentioned.

Dr. Gee pointed out that those parties helped him raise money. Still, even the Vanderbilt Trustees created controls for his lavish spending.

• IT’S ABOUT THE CLUB: The bottom line is this is about endowment cash for the institution and the wealth that fuels that money machine is an exclusive club. But the problem is that for Ohioans starved for jobs, and elected officials clawing to survive in the barren economic desert, endowment cash may not mean a whole lot come 2010.

The Wall Street Journal article details a Vanderbilt Committee report led by a retired investment banker, which found the full board never approved the budget or financial items between 2000 and 2005. Among the report’s recommendations was a special panel to monitor Gee’s entertainment, travel, food staff and maintenance expenditures on the President’s mansion.

If there is ever a telltale neon warning sign in Ohio these days, it lies in the shadows of the echo chambers of Ed Boards and board room power ties that cling all too fast to connected straw men like Bob Ney, or Tom Noe, or Bob Taft, or Frank Gruttadauria and a list of endless false power prophets. Given Ohio’s recent past with fallen idols who had little financial oversight, the WSJ article is troubling. Ohio citizens have lost enough public money with the help of loosey-goosey financial checks and balances.

In a political environment where food is scrutinized at all levels of Ohio government thanks to gourmet meals at the Board of Regents [ to the point where the public seemed to be outraged over boxed bologna sandwiches, chips and brownies at event like the BMVs annual computer training sessions ] it would seem logical that OSU Trustees would be sensitized to unnecessary spending and write in appropriate oversight given the public lashing – fair or not – that Gee received over Vanderbilt and Brown expenses.

The Columbus Dispatch last Sunday gave Gee an opportunity to address the Wall Street Journal article when he said:

“In this instance, (the president's house) is in fairly good shape. It does need to have some renovation. I have a particular philosophy. One is the fact that I entertain all the time, so the house needs to be made available for entertaining. ... Secondly, I believe very strongly in people coming and staying with me like a bed and breakfast … I've always used my home to celebrate the community that we're in. But I think being transparent about it, and second of all, having everyone understand that I'm intending on raising $2.5 billion (in a capital campaign). Whatever we expend on buffing the house up will be paid for every month.”

Will OSU adapt away from monolithic buildings to the web-based worlds of our future? Will OSU really be able to become a job incubator for in-state jobs that an increasingly desperate Legislative crowd has anointed and invested? Will the magic of endowments return because of the mystique beneath the bow tie, or is the lagging endowment a sign of a changing desert, in part, because of the Fortune 500 losses in Ohio?

The question is whether the homage to past glory and hope that Ohioans find E. Gordon Gee worth the price tag:

• A $775,000 yearly salary.
• A $250,000 deferred compensation package per year.
• An open ended agreement to allow renovation of the President’s House in Bexley.
• A PERS retirement package averaged off of $775,000 if he stays three years.

Certainly outside sources fund a large part of the cost. But it is still a public institution. And we know that spending on such a scale would doom almost any other public official in any office in Ohio.

What makes this public official so different? Lots of things, but mainly fierce loyalty from Les Wexner, founder and chairman of Limited Brands. Wexner is central Ohio’s most powerful resident, among Ohio’s most influential citizens and one of America’s wealthiest men.

Wexner was so unhappy with Gee’s predecessor, Karen Holbrook, that he’s rumored to have helped engineer not only her ouster but also reshape the Board of Trustees to insure that he could hand-pick her successor. His admiration for Gee is well-known.

In fact, some insiders in the shadows of the Statehouse are of the opinion that Wexner lured Gee back, not because he wanted to pick the next OSU president but because he wanted to pick the next most influential public voice in State Government. His concern over Strickland – whose pro-union views conflict with Wexner’s overseas business endeavors, are also well known.

While Gee’s spending habits will be the subject of intrigue, they could play second fiddle to his relationship to the Strickland Administration – the new governor who already stands firmly against pricey lunches and for public colleges; but also seems decidedly less socially ostentatious and bookishly more policy oriented than camera oriented.

And the reality is that outside of the “Scarlet and Green Club,” for most Ohioans this is not about financial endowments or Ohio’s notoriously self-immolating “king of the hill” politics. It’s about our need for an economic hero and jobs for our graduating Buckeye sons and daughters.

And you just can’t stop thinking that the block “O” on his chest is scarlet in more than just color. Heroes are larger than life and Gordon Gee is expected to be not just what he really was – but the legend or memory of what people think he was embellished over time.

While OSU Trustees may be satisfied with financial endowments and budget gold, most Ohioans are looking for this collegiate Moses to create hope, opportunity and to create jobs – not a testosterone-laden comparison of University financial endowment size at the annual Big Ten Presidents’ Conference Dinner, or PR rollouts of college magazine rankings and new buildings.

In the end, the E. Gordon Gee of the past, just awoke in a new land and inherited not just the highest salary in the country, but the highest threshold from which to fall. But then again, he has a golden parachute.

From Ohio Treasurer of State:

Columbus, Ohio – School might be out for the summer, but dozens of Ohio teachers will be back in the classroom this month to learn how to teach financial education.

State Treasurer Richard Cordray said that 285 teachers are signed up for the inaugural Teachers Academy workshops.

Demand for the program is high, with nearly 200 additional teachers on a waiting list, Cordray added.

The statewide training initiative was developed by Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray, the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Council on Economic Education in answer to Ohio’s Core Curriculum Bill (S.B. No. 313), which passed late last year. The bill requires that school districts offer personal finance education as part of their high school curricula beginning in 2010.

Columbus – Attorney General Marc Dann opened a new front in the student loan investigation today after one of Ohio’s top public universities acknowledged a financial arrangement between its alumni association and a lender. In successive letters to Ohio’s private and public university alumni associations, Dann demanded details and documentation of all deals between lenders and alumni groups.

Miami University became the first Ohio college to voluntarily disclose a financial arrangement between its alumni association and a lender, but the Attorney General’s Office does not expect it to be the last. The university admitted that its alumni group, the Miami University Alumni Association, entered into an agreement with Nelnet. The arrangement allowed the lender to use alumni association trademarks, including its logo, in the marketing of loan consolidation services to Miami graduates.

“Marketing arrangements between lenders and alumni associations threaten to undermine the integrity of the alumni groups and the trust of incoming students and graduates,” said Attorney General Marc Dann.

“If alumni associations are leveraging the brand and reputation of their respective universities in exchange for compensation or financial gain, then that is a cause for very serious concern,” said Attorney General Marc Dann.

In a letter sent to Ohio alumni associations, Attorney General Dann demanded the records of all financial arrangements between lenders and alumni associations, including any payment or compensation delivered as a part of these arrangements. Mr. Dann also asked for organizational charts and leadership structures of the associations in question.

“We look forward to your cooperation in this matter,” the letter states. “However, should you require a subpoena for the requested information, this office would be pleased to issue one.”

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation have launched an unprecedented, multi-million dollar, nonpartisan movement that calls on all presidential candidates to improve America’s public schools.

Strong American Schools is a nonpartisan public awareness and action campaign offering a voice to every American who supports “ED in 08.” The goal is to ensure that the nation engages in a rigorous debate and to make education a top priority in the 2008 presidential election. They expect candidates to offer genuine leadership rather than empty rhetoric and tell voters how they intend to strengthen America’s schools so all students receive the education they deserve.

Representatives of the state's largest teacher's union member organization voted "by an overwhelming majority" to enact a one-time $25 dues increase to help pay for the Campaign for Ohio's Future, according to OEA spokeswoman Michele Prater.

The race is on to get 402,000 signatures on petitions by August 8 in order to put a proposed constitutional amendment on the Ohio ballot November 6. It’s a big job, and the Ohio Education Association is the largest organization in a consortium of 12 education organizations working on the petition drive, part of the Getting it Right! For Ohio’s Future amendment campaign.

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

Think Progress: 

In a new video, the the right-wing American Family Association attributes the tragedy at Virginia Tech to: a lack of prayer in school, a lack of the Bible in school, a lack of spanking kids, a lack of physical punishment in school, abortion, condoms, Bill Clinton, internet pornography, free speech, the entertainment industry, “satanic” music, and liberal culture in general. 

Additionally, AFA is cashing in on the tragedy and selling the videos for $5 each.

Governor Ted Strickland yesterday advised his top higher education official  to create a task force to explore issues involving safety on Ohio's college campuses.

The governor made the request two days after 32 people were killed in the rampage on the campus of Virginia Tech University.

"We have a responsibility to Ohio students, their families and our communities to use the tragic events at Virginia Tech as an opportunity to reexamine campus safety issues in Ohio," the governor said in a statement. "This task force will begin a discussion across institutions, and make sure that state government is offering the maximum amount of support to the schools as well as coordinating with local efforts."

With nearly 9,000 students receiving vouchers and 70,000 attending charter schools, the programs are at a crossroads: Have they helped Ohio's education system or hurt it?

Annual report cards issued by the Ohio Department of Education don't paint a rosy picture.

Last year, excluding those that did not get a rating, 49 percent of charter schools were in academic watch or emergency, the equivalent of a D or an F, compared with 2 percent of traditional public schools in Ohio.

"I think they've fallen short on the academic performance," said Rep. Jennifer Garrison, D-Marietta, who was among those asking critical questions of school-choice supporters last week.

Misuse of tax dollars is another issue. Several charters have closed because of money problems, including Harte Crossroads High School and Harte Crossroads Academy. The schools, which were in Columbus City Center, shut down last month with $1.6 million in debt.

State Auditor Mary Taylor says that the financial records of 15 charter schools, including six in Franklin County, are in such bad shape that they cannot be audited.

Concerned about possible misspending, Taylor recently announced that her office would offer financial training to charter-school personnel.

Strickland, noting the Columbus closures, said, "I'm not terribly impressed when people can point to a charter school here and there that may be succeeding, when so many of them are not getting desirable results and are so lacking in transparency, fiscal and educational accountability."

Full Story at The Columbus Dispatch

CantonRep: 

Bothered by bad bookkeeping at charter schools, State Auditor Mary Taylor has created a statewide training program designed to strengthen fiscal oversight.

"As state auditor, I have seen financial reporting irregularities, bad bookkeeping, misrepresentation of financial statements and outright fraud at some community schools operating in this state," Taylor said in a meeting with statehouse reporters Thursday.

Taylor's office later released a list of 17 charter schools statewide, including Lighthouse Educational Development Corp. and Ida B. Wells Community Academy, both in Summit County, whose books are in such bad shape they are unauditable. Once schools are notified that the books cannot be audited, they have 90 days to improve the record keeping. If they fail to do so, the auditor's office can ask the attorney general's office for help to enforce improvement.

Sign Our Petition with People For The American Way to End Vouchers in Ohio!

From the Office of the Attorney General:

Attorney General Marc Dann today sent letters to university and college presidents across Ohio advising them of his intentions to investigate claims concerning potential conflicts of interest, self-dealing, and other illegal and unethical conduct in the student loan industry. In the letter, Attorney General Dann tells university presidents that his office is “interested in documents relating to student loan providers, including revenue sharing agreements, referral fee agreements, preferred lender lists, consulting agreements, and lender marketing materials.”

This issue of potential deceptive practices will examine whether college officials have taken free trips, benefited from stock deals, or taken gifts that some in the student-loan industry offer to financial aid officers. It is an issue critical to Ohio students, many of whom depend upon various sources of financial aid to help cover the cost of their education. These students rely on the fact they are obtaining the lender best for their situation. This particular matter of “cozy alliances” between lenders and institutions of higher education was brought to light through an investigation by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Attorney General Dann spoke with Cuomo and expressed his appreciation for the work he has done to bring this deep concern to the forefront.

To aid in the investigation, Attorney General Dann is asking university officials to preserve paper and electronic documents, including “writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, sound recordings, images, and other data stored in any medium from which information can be obtained or translated if necessary into reasonably usable form.” This includes documents and information contained in electronic media such as desk top and lap top computers, external hard drives, thumb drives, zip drives, and PDA’s.

Document Preservation and Retention Demand

President Bush, acknowledging public frustration over his No Child Left Behind Act, said Thursday the point of the law is not to punish schools that fall short, but to help them.

Bush suggested the White House and its allies must do a better job of explaining the goal of holding schools accountable.

Congress is working on renewing the law, which remains unpopular in many districts nationwide.

"It is important for all of us to make it clear that accountability is not a way to punish anybody," Bush told supporters of the law in a meeting at the White House. "It's an essential component to making sure that our system, our education system, frankly is not discriminatory."

Twenty-year-old Will Klatt, wearing a green knit hat, baggy jeans and black jacket pulled over a hoodie, stands before a Civil War monument at the center of Ohio University's main campus in Athens. Although a February snow is falling steadily, more than a hundred students have turned out for this rally called by a new organization with a very familiar name: Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

"Many of us at Ohio University have taken classes on the principles of democracy, on justice, on ethics," says Klatt, "and with the presumption that we will use this knowledge, acquired in our classes, to become more informed citizens. Yet this knowledge we acquire is nothing if we do not put it into practice."

The students, including frat boys and jocks, clap and whistle. They are here in protest against new fees, elimination of four varsity sports programs and increased administrative bonus pay. Each decision, organizers say, reflects a lack of student power on campus--as do "free-speech zones" confining student protest to irrelevant corners of campus. "We are talking," says Klatt, "about the corporatization of our university."

Angry at the Iraq debacle, emboldened by the Bush-Cheney tailspin, a new student radicalism is emerging whose concerns include immigrants' rights, global warming and the uncertainties facing debt-ridden graduates. Such considerations distinguish the new SDS from its historical namesake, which took shape in a very different context of economic affluence and establishment liberalism.

Support was slowly building Wednesday for Governor Ted Strickland's plan on how to help students pay for their college education.

Under the plan, if Ohio's public colleges and universities freeze tuition next year and hold increases to three percent the year after, they could get a five percent hike in state aid in 2008 and a two percent raise in 2009.

Higher Education Chancellor Eric Fingerhut was trying to get all 38 public universities and colleges on board.

"It's very important," said Fingerhut. "Ohio State is not only significant size and scope, but clearly a leader in higher education community; their opinion matters [and] their example matters."

College towns where students tend to party a little too hearty are looking at ways to defray the costs of keeping them in check. One idea: a 4-cent-a-bottle beer tax to help pay for police and fire services.

"Being a college town, we have tremendous financial outlays on alcohol-related events, such as house parties that are out of control, littering, Dumpsters and couches set on fire," Kent City Councilman John Kuhar said.

A Kent lawmaker is considering introducing a bill that would allow voters to decide on such a sin tax for safety forces in their cities. Officials in other college towns, such as Athens and Oxford, are watching.

"There would have to be enabling legislation. It would have to be statewide. We can't write a law for one city," said state Rep. Kathleen Chandler, a Democrat.