Columbus City Schools (CCS) are facing their greatest challenge in years. Not only does the district have a “D” rating for quality, but now must cut over 50 million dollars from their budget (thanks to the state Republicans and their hatred of public education).
As a former teacher (both public and private schools) I’ve been following the steps that CCS has, and has not, been taking. Most important:
- The excessive number of administrators in the Central Office, and
- How those Central Office administrators have their STRS pension payments not deducted from their paychecks (like every teacher), but instead paid for by CCS.
I care about the future of Columbus and a strong CCS is vital for our success. Therefore, I took it upon myself to email every member of the CCS Board of Education; twice. Everyone, except one person ignored my questions.
So thank you to Jennifer Anne Adair for not only reading my email but even responding. Part of her reply included:
I made five posts yesterday/today on my school board Facebook explaining how we got here, the choices, and impacts. These are my personal statements, but reflect the facts.
This post specifically speaks to personnel and administrator cuts: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Ce9mmmBzD/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Please let me know what questions you have so your readers can better understand the situation and options— and make independent choices based on facts. We are in a critical space and I couldn’t agree more that every adult in power who is not putting students first needs to stop playing politics with our children. jadair1@columbus.k12.oh.us
Does this mean that Jennifer will do anything about it? Maybe, maybe not.
Still, I urge you to not ignore the future of your city. Reach out to the CCS Board of Education and demand that they cut the Central Office administration as well as make those administrators pay for their own retirement (like every teacher does). Remember: the CCS Board of Education is supposed to work for us.
