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Mean King Kasich and the Local Leaders, Part 2

Governor Kasich got bored one day and decided to cut local budgets just for fun, and that’s why school districts around Ohio can’t make ends meet!

So say the Ohio Education Association (OEA) and Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE – also known as AFSCME Local 11). Coincidentally, OEA and OAPSE bargain for unsustainable pay, benefits, and automatic increases with local politicians they helped elect… then turn around and spend millions in member dues demanding more from the rest of us.

Now mean King Kasich – who sneaked Senate Bill 5 through with no opportunity for Democrat amendments – is seeking input on merit pay, allegedly to ensure it’s a well-designed cost saving tool for local governments. The unions are not enthused:

“I don’t think you have to look too deep underneath the surface to say when is somebody genuinely interested in talking to us when is somebody kind of paying lip service, said Scott DiMauro, president of the Central OEA.

“Unfortunately, what the governor has talked about doing and what other people talk about with merit pay, you’ve got to question is it really about improving student achievement or is it about trying to save money,” he asked.

Kasich requests suggestions for an obvious need that will be a challenge to implement, and the OEA simply pouts that cost savings and quality are mutually exclusive.

Anyone who’s ever had more than one teacher knows some teachers are better than others. If the OEA and OAPSE cared about effective, affordable public education, they would jump at the chance to incorporate merit into salary formulas. Even a cynic would expect the unions to realize schools can’t be effective for long if they aren’t affordable… and can’t be either if bad teachers are paid big bucks.

But the unions can’t admit bad teachers exist, because the union business model says all members are beautiful, unique snowflakes who deserve raises just for hanging around. Pay your dues, and you’re subject to the same condescending treatment and byzantine rules as everyone else. Last in, first out screws young teachers but works great for the unions. Step increases suck for taxpayers but work great for the unions. Who do you think the unions are looking out for?

Though it would be unprecedented, there’s a possibility I’m wrong! Maybe a forever-increasing flow of taxpayer dollars is what school districts and local governments need to excel. After all, that’s worked wonders at the Department of Education

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart

Cross-posted from that hero.



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Third Base Politics is an Ohio-centric conservative blog that has been featured at Hot Air, National Review, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and others.

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