Sun Feb 12 2012
Previous letters have listed reasons to oppose spending for our public schools. These letters claim that Hudson is expensive compared to other school districts. I checked the state of Ohio website. It shows that while Hudson ranks in the top 10 on a combined performance index, it is 82nd in cost per pupil. Past year costs of $12,470/pupil are less than Ottawa Hills, Beachwood, Solon, Upper Arlington, Westlake, Orange, Independence and only 3 percent higher than Dublin. Hudson's performance index of 108.6 is higher than all of these districts except Ottawa Hills and Solon.
Previous letter writers also failed to mention Hudson's substantial population of special needs students, a large factor in average costs; 16.7 percent of Hudson's students are served by special needs programs, which is far higher than these other districts. For example, Solon is only 9.6 percent, and Brecksville is 10.3 percent. Only Beachwood is close with 14.4 percent.
What all of these numbers mean to me is that Hudson is delivering an excellent education at a reasonable cost. We are doing this while extending educational opportunities to children of all abilities. This support is not only legally mandated, but also the right thing to do.
Arguments that our School Board and administration is profligate with our money do not hold up. We have seen that staffing and budgets have been cut, a high percentage of activities are parent funded, and our treasurer has won awards for excellence in financial management. Also our schools are contending with a sharp drop in funding, driven by annual decreases in business and personal taxes (yes, our state taxes have declined every year).
The quality of our education is what will help keep Hudson ahead in tough economic times. Let us do our part by supporting the upcoming levy in November.
James Field
Hudson
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1 Total Comments
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Posted by sgnorman September 18, 2010
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The bulk of the levy funds will be used to pay pensions and roll-over sick days of retiring teachers; the money that's left over will be what our kids get.
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