At a legislative hearing in Ohio, a representative of a high-poverty district asked whether state funding might help provide a basic education for the kids he represents.
Republican Representative Ryan Smith said:
“Olentangy schools have German 1,2 and 3, Jewelry 1, Ceramics 1, Sculpture 1, Stage Craft 1, Concert Orchestra,” said Smith. ”These are things that children of Appalachia don’t get exposed to.”
“I’m not asking for synchronized swimming or a swimming pool or anything extra. I’m not asking for violin lessons or cello lessons. What I want for is my kids is music. And art… just give them a basic education,” pleaded Smith.
State Rep Smith also tells the story of Symmes Valley School District where the Superintendent had to layoff his board secretary, transportation director and curriculum director and is now doing all of those jobs himself. Another school district in Smith’s area has lost 40 teachers and the rest have had no raises in four years.
Smith ends by asking Ross if there is any “special sauce” in this budget that will help superintendents just provide a basic education to the kids in his district?
The governor’s representative Richard A. Ross laughed and suggested that the poor kids in Appalachia could learn music online from a computer.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
What did he say? Let then eat cake?!!!! Really?! A joke falls flat when it is given at the expense of those that are seeking real answers. When a representative of the people placates the families of children seeking education for their futures and thinks it is funny,
he needs to look squarely in the mirror and speak directly to himself and speak
the truth. If he can not look squarely in his own eyes he needs to quit or be reprogrammed on concerns for his fellow human beings and citizens.
This whole mess of education reforms or education for some and damn little else for
everyone else is getting uglier by the second. I could not be more disgusted but then
there is an awakening. Thank you Diane for that.
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I think I could find thousands of people who would disagree with that last statement. I’m about to leave for another day of professional workshops at our state music teacher convention. Surely Ohio has an MEA…where is the outrage from that group?
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This hits me wrong on so many levels…starting with the laughing at poor children/let them ear cake attitude.
And here is yet another reference to on-line learning for children that 1) don’t have access to computers at home, 2) don’t have access to the internet at home, 3) have libraries as severely underfunded as the schools, so no access to on-line learning there, and 4) limited and outdated computers at the schools, so limited access there.
This State Rep should be applauded for his efforts to meet the needs of his constituents…what a shame that it sounds like he has to beg for crumbs.
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I was wondering if there was a reformer who actually thought that what they were doing was the right thing, who actually belived that all of this was going to help children. Sometimes I want to believe this because then I might have some hope that not all of these people are heartless. Taking money away from these schools and children, constant turnaround of schools, drill and kill, these and many more things that is being done is heartless to me.
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That is the conundrum: local funding means local control but uneven opportunities, state funding evens out opportunities but gives the state legislature more control over local schools.
I did read an article a while back that youtube has had a large impact on private music lessons. I know my youngest learns most of his tunes from youtube.
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My daughter as well. But she has access to a comouter, high-speed internet and an instrument to play those tunes on.
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True, though I think my son’s next project is to build himself a diddly bow.
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TE – get back to us when his next project involves building a computer and hooking it up to the internet himself.
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ctually he usually uses an iPod touch.
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Did he build it himself out of parts commonly found in the homes of poor people?
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Sigh. Of course he didn’t.
Any thoughts on the important part of my post? That state funding inevitably results in state interference in education?
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State funding doesn’t necessarily mean unequal funding in districts. If states work on funding equalization, as Utah has, the funding can be quite equal. Utah has a lot of problems in education, but this is one of its strengths.
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Seriously? Do you not understand that many of theses children have no access to a computer other than the 3 or 4 that are in a classroom of 30 children? And there are places in Ohio that even if a computer was on the kitchen table, there would be no Internet connection except possibly dial-up.
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TE, do you think YouTube provides the necessary assessments/feedback on just what your youngest needs to do to improve skills and interpret performance practice or does the child know enough about music to self-assess?
Why would we need any teachers if we have YouTube? Maybe I could have saved all the money I spent on music instruction and just used YouTube to get an advanced degree in music!
Perhaps you should direct your university students to use YouTube to learn about your area of study, too. That way, you can go into another field where you are truly useful and let technology take care of teaching economics or whatever it is that you teach.
All kidding aside, I’m just about to finish my second degree in music, and I still learn from mentor musicians in my field. Please, PLEASE stop insinuating that a child “learning tunes” from YouTube is supporting evidence for children getting their music instruction online instead of from a living, breathing in-the-moment expert who can guide your child through the interactive human experiences that occur every day in our music classrooms.
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Actually I do have my students look at some things on Youtube, but more often it is something from TED or screen casts that I make.
I certainly agree that a highly qualied personal instructor is best, but that would be very expensive, especially durning my sons available time during cross country season.
What do you think about my main point that using state funding to even out expenditures across states invites state mandates in education?
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It’s a sticky wicket, but in theory, I can see disparity between districts wiped out. In practice, however, I don’t believe this would work.
Schools belong to their communities. If communities care for their resources–that includes everything from facilities to supplies to personnel–the chance that the money will be put to good use is greater. Who checks on the responsible use of funding? Will a bureaucratic system need to be funded to check on this?
I would prefer the current state funding formulae that exist in many states now where schools are primarily locally-funded with additional state funding offered on the basis of need. All schools should receive some state funding, but some communities need more help than others.
Another option is having county districts like they have in Maryland. It’s still bureaucracy, but at least it’s a little more locally controlled. As well, it invites communities to work together instead of allowing some to fall into despair while others simply continue to prosper as if the other do not exist.
And I use YouTube in the classroom as a resource as well as a platform for delivering my own study material for students to use outside of the classroom. I do not, however, feel it is a replacement for a certified and credentialed expert in both the subject area and the area of teaching.
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The humanities are what defines us as people; people connecting to each other. Think of your daily life.
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Unbelievable.
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Sadly, all too believable.
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Guess the governor’s court jester forgot if the district is too poor to offer basics, they certainly are too poor to afford computers. Not only is he arrogant (think Marie Antoinette), he is dumb as a post.
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When I first read this article last week, I did not think about my kids learning their instruments on line. Not all students choose to enroll in choir and band. It is the elementary music classes that nourish every child. In reference to on-line instrument instruction, my daughter took on-line skype lessons with a university oboe teacher as part of of her research. It was a great experience as we are in a rural area as well.
OMEA is not going to give this ridiculous remark any extra attention. The bigger issue is the newly-proposed funding system and how all the superintendents were led to believe that poor schools would get more.
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The DeRolph case was decided in Ohio in 1997, and found the state’s funding formula for schools to be unconstitutional. It has since been found as such several more times, yet it has yet to be remedied! (That’s sixteen years, folks!). For Dick Ross, former superintendent of the school district in which I live, to respond in such a callous manner is disgusting! You would think he would know that the districts of which the state Rep spoke probably don’t have widespread internet access and really just want to level the playing field for their students! I continue to be disappointed and disheartened.
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Let’s be really clear. The right and the left really don’t believe all children deserve a fully funded well rounded education. Computer based learning is not preferable to human interaction. My daughter is in FLVS…there is no teaching. None. You have to be a successful self motivated student already to even attempt these courses. Poor children and schools don’t have computers so what a stupid suggestion that is. It is very clear that only a few will have access to good education and you’d better be white and/or born wealthy. It’s very tragic watching your country dissolve into a something more reminiscent of Les Mis.
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