Grove City HS-No Football

[Triple-S]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/w ... index.html

This is wrong, and believe me this almost happened to myself senior-junior year of HS, when we had to levy or else we would have done "pay-to-play", the school had to sneak it in during february when most of the old folks were down in florida.

There has to be a better way for things to be ran than levy's.

[Ziner]

This isnt going to solve it all, but this would help.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=15331

I have never understood why school levies are the only tax that people get to directly vote up or down. Wish they would do that with Income, Sales and Business taxes

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Here's the crux.

South-Western also serves a large portion of the Columbus area's growing Somali population. That economic disparity was the reason the school board did not allow the schools to charge a participation fee to fund athletics this year. Board members worried that the district's lower-income students would be denied opportunities, so they elected to deny athletics to everyone.

Grove City is 15 minutes from my house, this shit has been getting ugly. One of the heads of the pro levy group posted the home address, cell phone number, and e-mai of the head of the opposition online. At a meeting at the school board the guy who had his info posted threatened to "deal with" anyone who came to his property. This was all on video, on the local news.

SWC Schools are run by morons. Morons who have wasted every penny voters have given them in the past. I don't blame the people who don't want to pay for other people's kids to play sports. I wouldn't want to either. That school district has been in the toilet money-wise since the late 90's, 4 or 5 times voters decided to give them money and they are still standing there with their hands out. Not the people who don't have kids fault. They should not have to shoulder a burden for something they have no need for. It's not their problem. If I lived there, i'd vote no too. People love to say "What about the kids?". What about them? The point of school is education.

[hermanfontenot]

South-Western also serves a large portion of the Columbus area's growing Somali population.

Why the fuck is there a "growing Somali population" in Central Ohio? Why are these people here draining our social services?

Any government with a set of nads would ship these people right back to the shithole they came from. Any citizenry with a set of nads would insist on it.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

South-Western also serves a large portion of the Columbus area's growing Somali population.

Why the fuck is there a "growing Somali population" in Central Ohio? Why are these people here draining our social services?

Any government with a set of nads would ship these people right back to the shithole they came from. Any citizenry with a set of nads would insist on it.

Dude, you don't even know. There are tens of thousands of them here. Not much can be done, they came here legally. The roughest parts of Central Ohio must be like Orange County compared to Somalia. Westland High is now almost 25% Somali. Alot of people blame Voinovich, not sure of exactly why, maybe something he enacted while Governor. They started coming here after the whole "Black Hawk Down" episode.

[Erie Warrior]

There has to be a better way for things to be ran than levy's.

Been declared unconstitutional (twice I believe), then politics took over and the decision was reversed. That's why I left Ohio.

[Fire Marshall Bill]

"I can't sit out from football," said Sturgell, who plays running back, receiver and safety. "Football's my life. I love it."

Take that statement and the couple who got legally seperated just so their son could play and you have peeps with their priorities skewed, imho

That being said, teacher salaries, vacations and their bennies should be published yearly for all to see and entered into any equation of dollars spent by the district. Firing 2 or 3 worthless overpaid slobs from each school would likely meet the budget requirements to suit up

...and the only way to clean up school boards is to bar teachers and former teachers from serving on them. School boards should be made up entirely by citizens of the districts they serve

Retired teachers and principles will always be beholden to the teachers, not the best interests of the taxpayers or the students. Anyone who believes otherwise hasn't been around long, doesn't have kids in school, or is the benificiary of a taxpayer funded teacher salary or related to a teacher

Bust the unions, get rid of the nepotism involved in the hiring, eliminate summer vacation and go to year round schooling....how's that?

Making teachers actually work for their money or firing some of them without prejudice would be a good start as they remain atop the ladder of the biggest group of whining crybabies in the country, never hesitaing for an instant to use lameassed quotes of "we're doing it for the children" or "teachers know what's best for the kids cuz, well, they're teachers" to achieve their own personal professional and political goals

The bottom line......the public doesn't really have the balls to confront them for fear of retribution on your kid and the politicians lack the will power to address illegal imigration

Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teacvh, teach gym. Those who can't teach gym become politicians and suck money from the public trough

carry on.....

[Commodore Perry]

Levies are just a clever way to more easily raise taxes.

Ever notice how levies are only for things that people really care about and need? Its always schools, parks, police, help for the mentally ill... People will gladly vote for those things and increase taxes on themselves.

Meanwhile, out of the income and sales tax, they pay for things like fat slob adminstrators, costly consutlants, new government buildings etc.

If they had to live within the sales and income taxes revenue, they couldn't do all these things, so they trick us into paying more for services they should be providing in the first place.

My city gets 1.5% of all the income of the people that live here. That's a lot of f'ng money for a local government, and still they need more.

[Commodore Perry]

From the article:

"According to district records, 52 percent of the district's 21,000 students receive either free or reduced lunch. South-Western also serves a large portion of the Columbus area's growing Somali population. That economic disparity was the reason the school board did not allow the schools to charge a participation fee to fund athletics this year. Board members worried that the district's lower-income students would be denied opportunities, so they elected to deny athletics to everyone."

I'll put this out there: If your family can't afford to feed you lunch, what business do you have playing sports at all? You should be out working after school so you can feed yourself.

[Ziner]

I'll put this out there: If your family can't afford to feed you lunch, what business do you have playing sports at all? You should be out working after school so you can feed yourself.

Isnt that a bit harsh? These kids are in High School, and how do you know they dont have jobs? They could be working and still play sports, kids in my school did. I dont think it is too much to ask to allow kids be kids while in high school.

Alot of times these pay to play threats are just to get the votes needed to pass the levies. Looking at a school budget, in most cases the sports budget isnt all that big. Apparently they just followed through with their threats. I would be willing to bet that if they really wanted to they could make cuts other places to allow these kids to play. Yes they are extra curricular, but no one isnt going to tell me I didnt learn alot more about life, being a leader and hard work playing high school sports than I did in the classroom.

[Erie Warrior]

Making teachers actually work for their money or firing some of them without prejudice would be a good start as they remain atop the ladder of the biggest group of whining crybabies in the country, never hesitaing for an instant to use lameassed quotes of "we're doing it for the children" or "teachers know what's best for the kids cuz, well, they're teachers" to achieve their own personal professional and political goals

Nice post. Enjoy your failing education system. By the way, how much does being an uninformed asswipe pay, I may need to switch careers.

[Erie Warrior]

I'll put this out there: If your family can't afford to feed you lunch, what business do you have playing sports at all? You should be out working after school so you can feed yourself.

Terrible take. Really? You honestly believe that school children should be responsible for providing for themselves? Who is going to hire a 14 year old (illegal, I believe) with no experience or qualifications? You would take one of the only positive things from these kids' mostly shitty lives? Let me know if you feel the same way when they break into your house after school (when they could be at practice) and steal your things. If I'm starving, I'll do whatever I can to survive.

[Commodore Perry]

I'll put this out there: If your family can't afford to feed you lunch, what business do you have playing sports at all? You should be out working after school so you can feed yourself.

Let me know if you feel the same way when they break into your house after school (when they could be at practice) and steal your things.

If I'm starving, I'll do whatever I can to survive.

You'll do whatever you can to survive, except work a job after school?

That's my whole point. If your family can't afford lunch - if you are literally starving, then you should be trying to get a job to help your family, not playing a game after school.

Life is harsh. Reality sucks. But working is a pretty good cure for being poor. Sports is generally not. Why is that such a terrible take?

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Making teachers actually work for their money or firing some of them without prejudice would be a good start as they remain atop the ladder of the biggest group of whining crybabies in the country, never hesitaing for an instant to use lameassed quotes of "we're doing it for the children" or "teachers know what's best for the kids cuz, well, they're teachers" to achieve their own personal professional and political goals

Nice post. Enjoy your failing education system. By the way, how much does being an uninformed asswipe pay, I may need to switch careers.

Typical teacher response. Deflect criticism, blame it on anyone but yourselves and ignore America's educational failings and its relationship to the takeover of the system by the unions

Bust the unions...fire the incompetent...eliminate tenure....For the Children

You are politicians first, educators second and will not hesitate for a moment to put your own futures ahead of the kids'

You piss and moan about everything, especially money

How 'bout maybe just once you and your ilk step up to the plate and accept some responsibility yourselves. Fact is, that's the one thing you never see or hear. teachers actually blaming themselves for their own fuck-ups.

Its always the parents fault or a lack of funding,eh?

[Erie Warrior]

You'll do whatever you can to survive, except work a job after school?

That's my whole point. If your family can't afford lunch - if you are literally starving, then you should be trying to get a job to help your family, not playing a game after school.

Life is harsh. Reality sucks. But working is a pretty good cure for being poor. Sports is generally not. Why is that such a terrible take?

And if they can't get a job? Sounds crazy, but I know lots of students who can't find a job.There are lots of parents who can't find jobs. And if they are Somali immigrants, perhaps there are issues with language. Not many jobs for a non-english speaking teenager. Sports are a great way to help a teenager assimilate to American culture. Help families form relationships, and maybe pick up that extra job to get their heads above water. By eliminating sports programs, they may actually be further segregating these people from the rest of the community.

Throwing money at the problem will not solve it. I understand why people vote no to school levies. No one should ever have to decide what is more important- their family (a no vote to keep more money in their pocket) or the community (a yes vote to increase taxes). They rely on each other, intimately. I know shit rolls down hill, but children should not suffer. They have done nothing to deserve removal any programs.

[Ziner]

You'll do whatever you can to survive, except work a job after school?

That's my whole point. If your family can't afford lunch - if you are literally starving, then you should be trying to get a job to help your family, not playing a game after school.

Life is harsh. Reality sucks. But working is a pretty good cure for being poor. Sports is generally not. Why is that such a terrible take?

And if they can't get a job? Sounds crazy, but I know lots of students who can't find a job.There are lots of parents who can't find jobs. And if they are Somali immigrants, perhaps there are issues with language. Not many jobs for a non-english speaking teenager. Sports are a great way to help a teenager assimilate to American culture. Help families form relationships, and maybe pick up that extra job to get their heads above water. By eliminating sports programs, they may actually be further segregating these people from the rest of the community.

Throwing money at the problem will not solve it. I understand why people vote no to school levies. No one should ever have to decide what is more important- their family (a no vote to keep more money in their pocket) or the community (a yes vote to increase taxes). They rely on each other, intimately. I know shit rolls down hill, but children should not suffer. They have done nothing to deserve removal any programs.

+1 Well said

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Making teachers actually work for their money or firing some of them without prejudice would be a good start as they remain atop the ladder of the biggest group of whining crybabies in the country, never hesitaing for an instant to use lameassed quotes of "we're doing it for the children" or "teachers know what's best for the kids cuz, well, they're teachers" to achieve their own personal professional and political goals

Nice post. Enjoy your failing education system. By the way, how much does being an uninformed asswipe pay, I may need to switch careers.

Typical teacher response. Deflect criticism, blame it on anyone but yourselves and ignore America's educational failings and its relationship to the takeover of the system by the unions

Bust the unions...fire the incompetent...eliminate tenure....For the Children

You are politicians first, educators second and will not hesitate for a moment to put your own futures ahead of the kids'

You piss and moan about everything, especially money

How 'bout maybe just once you and your ilk step up to the plate and accept some responsibility yourselves. Fact is, that's the one thing you never see or hear. teachers actually blaming themselves for their own fuck-ups.

Its always the parents fault or a lack of funding,eh?

Typical uneducated backwoods rube response. Paint all teachers as lazy overpaid people who don't work hard enough to ear their paychecks, without knowing any of the facts of the situation. Just point a finger and blame.

Yeah, busting unions and slashing teacher's pay (something they already did in SWC Schools, twice) is great way to bring in quality educators to teach kids. Great idea.

[Erie Warrior]

Typical teacher response. Deflect criticism, blame it on anyone but yourselves and ignore America's educational failings and its relationship to the takeover of the system by the unions

Bust the unions...fire the incompetent...eliminate tenure....For the Children

You are politicians first, educators second and will not hesitate for a moment to put your own futures ahead of the kids'

You piss and moan about everything, especially money

How 'bout maybe just once you and your ilk step up to the plate and accept some responsibility yourselves. Fact is, that's the one thing you never see or hear. teachers actually blaming themselves for their own fuck-ups.

Its always the parents fault or a lack of funding,eh?

I placed no blame, nor deflected criticism. You know nothing about what I personally stand for, and from your responses have little knowledge about the working of the education system. You want to know what a teacher makes, look it up. Same with the school budget. It's public record. To say there are no bad teachers is a lie. Just as saying there are no bad doctors, lawyers or plumbers is a lie.

Step up to the plate? What do you think NCLB is all about? It's pure accountability at the sacrifice of everything else. You don't make the grade, you lose your money. So what fuck-ups are teachers passing the buck on?

Ohio has an illegal school funding system. Not my fault. You don't want to pay more taxes to support your school system, fine. That's your right. But doesn't it seem like a contradiction to mandate schools, but not pay for them? Teachers don't think your funding system is right. Are you saying a teacher's union pushed for it to protect their own interests? You fail a levy and guess who suffers, your kids. It's not right.

You also have the option to home school your kid. I'd suggest you do it. They'll be counting on their fingers and reading silently while their lips move in no time.

[Spin]

A different take.

Ever notice how the school boards always go for the voters heart, by threatening athletics?

Very rarely do they threaten to cut the Drama Department, the Music Department, the Debate Team. They go after the one thing citizens will PAY to go see, even if they don't have a student player.

The sad part is sports teaches you MORE about setting and reaching goals, teamwork, leadership than all the other extracurricular activities combined. That doesn't matter.

If you can't get a levy passed and need non-parents to vote, get their attention with something they're interested in.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Very rarely do they threaten to cut the Drama Department, the Music Department, the Debate Team. They go after the one thing citizens will PAY to go see, even if they don't have a student player.

In this case, all those things you mentioned, have been cut.

[aoxo1]

A different take.

Ever notice how the school boards always go for the voters heart, by threatening athletics?

Very rarely do they threaten to cut the Drama Department, the Music Department, the Debate Team. They go after the one thing citizens will PAY to go see, even if they don't have a student player.

The sad part is sports teaches you MORE about setting and reaching goals, teamwork, leadership than all the other extracurricular activities combined. That doesn't matter.

If you can't get a levy passed and need non-parents to vote, get their attention with something they're interested in.

That's because those things get cut first because most people don't care about them.

It's also pretty interesting to see you saying that more intellectual pursuits are somehow less rewarding, less important, and impart fewer lessons/values than sports. I mean, seriously, music? So lame! No one gets anything out of that!

[Spin]

Well to sit there and say

I don't blame the people who don't want to pay for other people's kids to play sports. I wouldn't want to either. People love to say "What about the kids?". What about them? The point of school is education.

"I can't sit out from football," said Sturgell, who plays running back, receiver and safety. "Football's my life. I love it." Take that statement and the couple who got legally seperated just so their son could play and you have peeps with their priorities skewed, imho

I'll put this out there: If your family can't afford to feed you lunch, what business do you have playing sports at all?

says to me that nobody gets anything from sports. No working toward a goal, no teamwork, no decision making, no working under pressure, no leadership. And I know several firefighters, business leaders, and military (to name just a few) who would wholeheartily disagree.

Oh, and personally, music taught me there is no substitute for talent. Sports taught me if you have no natural talent, will and lots and lots of hard work will let you overcome that. THAT gave me the confidence to do the things I have done. It certainly didn't come from my parents or my teachers.

And nothing NOTHING picks up a community like a sporting event can. Being on a Cleveland forum, I can understand you not knowing that.

[RC]

Very rarely do they threaten to cut the Drama Department, the Music Department, the Debate Team. They go after the one thing citizens will PAY to go see, even if they don't have a student player.

In this case, all those things you mentioned, have been cut.

Wow. I lived in Hilliard in the 90s and early 00s and I remember SWC area. I did visit about 6 months ago and went to the Westland mall. Pretty stark difference from back then until now.

Wow, did that area go down hill fast?

One major question I do have is where is all the money going down there? If they have cut all of these things above, the teachers pay twice and sports where is all the money going? Is there some idiot administrator down there practically stealing the money or what?

Or is the electric bill that expensive now or something?

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Very rarely do they threaten to cut the Drama Department, the Music Department, the Debate Team. They go after the one thing citizens will PAY to go see, even if they don't have a student player.

In this case, all those things you mentioned, have been cut.

Wow. I lived in Hilliard in the 90s and early 00s and I remember SWC area. I did visit about 6 months ago and went to the Westland mall. Pretty stark difference from back then until now.

Wow, did that area go down hill fast?

One major question I do have is where is all the money going down there? If they have cut all of these things above, the teachers pay twice and sports where is all the money going? Is there some idiot administrator down there practically stealing the money or what?

Or is the electric bill that expensive now or something?

Hilliard resident 1985- 2007 here.

As for SWCS and the money, I have no idea where the money has gone. I would hope towards needed items like updated text books, computers, and classrooms. Since 98, SWSC has been through 3 Superintendents. They're going the opposite way as Hilliard, who just opened their 3rd high school off Walker Road. It's become one of the better school systems in central Ohio, the downside being Hilliard has pretty high taxes.