Piqua: The canary in the mine shaft?

By Doug Page | Thursday, January 3, 2008, 04:04 PM

The Piqua school district is a cautionary tale of what happens when you have a state legislature indifferent to funding public education and a constituency indifferent to the value of education.

It’s not the only example in a state where the highest court has four times ruled unconstitutional the legislature’s funding of education.

Back in 2005, voters put the district on firm financial footing, approving a five-year emergency levy in 2003 and a modest permanent improvement levy in 2004.

The question was what would the legislature do. The rules change year to year, as do the demands for excellence in the classroom.

While things seemed stable in 2005, “If you look a couple of years out, you see how quickly that can change,” said then-Superintendent Jerry Clark.

Clark proved a prophet.

Two years later, the district is cutting staff and programs. It faces a $3 million deficit by 2010, reaching more than $18 million by 2012.

How’d that happen?

Costs went up and state funding went down. Gas and health care are two examples of the former.

The tangible personal property tax on businesses is the poster child for the latter. The Piqua district was getting $3 million a year from the tax. It was not a particularly good tax for businesses.

To spur the state economy, then-Gov. Bob Taft and the Republican-controlled legislature phased out the tax.

It was believed the boost to the economy would more than make up for the tax revenue loss to schools.

(It seemed like a good idea to them. Remember they also thought investing in rare coins with worker compensation money was also a good idea. While it’s easy to pick on ol’ bumbling Bob and his cronies, we’d best remember that the Democrats have yet to come up with a better idea.)

Rather than the $3 million of 2005, when the stuff hits the fan in 2010, the district will receive $236,589. That’s a whole lot better than 2011, when the district will get squat.

Piqua isn’t the only district so whip-sawed.

In the Miami Valley, there were 16 districts asking for new taxes to keep the doors open and the kids learning. There are still some who believe a well-educated people is necessary for a strong democracy and a strong economy.

Of those 16, four passed.

Piqua was one of those whose patrons said no.

It was the second rejection for the district in less than a year.

In 2004-05 school year, Piqua was one of the poorer performing districts in the state, achieving only four of the state’s 23 academic standards.

The next school year, the district shocked the state, meeting 20 of 25.

Showing that it was not a fluke, last year the district met 23 of 30.

Denied money at the polls, the district is now beginning to disassemble the programs and the staff that brought the children of this struggling industrial river town a high-quality education.

What has to hurt is that the vote in both elections was reasonably close except for one ward.

Almost 70 percent of the voters in the city’s 1st Ward — perhaps the city’s poorest — voted against the levies.

There are still those who believe the education is the key to escaping poverty.

Apparently not in Piqua’s 1st Ward, nor in the Statehouse.

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