Gov. Kasich comes to Cleveland to sign Mayor Jackon's Cleveland schools education plan into law that takes away teacher seniority, hands public money to charter schools, places Cleveland schools levy on November ballot, Community advocate Kimberly Brown writes editorial against levy, Cleveland Urban News.Com welcomes guest editorials for or against the levy and the controversial education plan at editor@clevelandurbannews.com

Cleveland Urban News.Com Guest Editorial Writer Kimberly Brown

Cleveland Urban News. Com and Thea(www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com) and (www.clevelandurbannews.com)

CLEVELAND,Ohio- Kimberly Brown, a former Cleveland mayoral candidate who also lost a bid for Cuyahoga County Council, writes the guest editorial below against a levy in November that woud support the financially strapped Cleveland Municipal School District.

This editorial is that of Brown's and does not necessarily represent the views or the position on the matter of Cleveland Urban News.Com, Ohio's leading online Black news venue.

Cleveland Urban News.Com and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com welcome editorial letters on this most important issue and will take a stand on the matter publicly in the near feature. Send editorial letters to editor@clevelandurbannews.com.

On Monday Ohio Republican Gov John Kasich made a special trip to Cleveland to meet with Democratic Mayor Frank Jackson, who controls the city's-public schools under state law, to sign into state law an education bill passed by the Ohio State Legislature that pertains only to the majority Black Cleveland public schools and its largely White teachers union that strips them of seniority and calls for a levy to use some funds slated for the district to build charter schools, among other provisions.

Cleveland area unions, other than what some are calling the weak leadership team of the Cleveland Teachers Union, are against the bill that all of the Black state legislators from Cleveland voted for but strong State Sen. Shirley Smith (D-22) , one of two Black state senators from the Cleveland area along with state Sen Nina Turner (D-25), a Jackson protege and former councilperson of Cleveland's Ward 1 who co-sponsored the legislation for Jackson with three other state legislators including state Rep. Sandra Williams (D-11), a Cleveland Democrat and head of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus.

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Editorial by Guest Columnist Kimberly Brown

Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson and several public officials, lawmakers and community advocates will push for a Cleveland schools levy that will be on the November 2012 ballot.

It is unbelievable to expect anyone to take this levy seriously. Home owners are barely able to pay their mortgages. So to financially bully them into a local school tax mandate is fiscally irresponsible.

To date, it has not been explained why homeowners should be held responsible for a $16 million dollar deficit that was caused by poor risk management, meager leadership and pitiable oversight.3

To issue Cleveland Municipal School District officials a bailout by way of a school levy is irresponsible.

While lay-offs are still occurring within the district the Cleveland Boar of Education, which the mayor appoints by state law, recently hired a chief academic officer with an annual salary of $200 thousand.
This is an apparent contradiction to the proposed financially strapped district.

It’s not about the kids. It’s about political folly.

Kimberly Brown @ telephone: 440-479-2823