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Big Change Proposed for Cuyahoga County
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Would you be willing to change your form of government if it meant that $100 million could be earmarked for a college scholarship program? That's the question Lute Harmon Sr., who is the publisher of Inside Business, posed in a column in the new March edition. The headline is: "Change a Charter, Change a Life." You can read the full column here. According to Lute, more than 200 volunteers are prepared to advocate for a six-point plan to reorganize Cuyahoga County's government so that the county is run by a single executive and a council, rather than three commissioners. One element of the plan is to generate savings of 7.5% from the county budget (or about $100 million) and create a scholarship fund so high school graduates could attend any public, private or vocational school in Cuyahoga County. School districts would be able to participate in the program if they agreed to merge "into one organization administered by the county." Patterned somewhat off of the Kalamazoo Promise, this is at least the third major idea proposed in Northeast Ohio aimed at providing high school graduates with a way to get to college. So what do you think about this big idea? Add your comments and I'll make sure they get to Lute and the others pursuing this change. Bookmark/Search this post with: |
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I applaud creative thinking, especially about ways that restructuring government might free up dollars for college scholarships, but it seems like the various ideas being floated run counter to regionalism, rather than support it. For example, ideas in Akron and Cuyahoga County would support local students who stay within their borders only. The Kalamazoo Promise supports local students in attending any public two-year college or university in the state. Especially as the state and the public will be expecting universities to more clearly differentiate among themselves, it is important that proposals take a broader view and do not penalize students financially for exercising educational choice. I trust, for example, that Akron taxpayers who send their kids to Ohio State would expect as much benefit as those whose kids stay in town.
There will not be any positive change in Cuyahoga county or within Northeast Ohio with the current political leadership. You can reconfigure as much as you want but Tim Hagan, Jimmy DiMora and Jones are losers. The only local politician with even a remote idea of what needs to be done is Don Plusquellic. And I am a hard right conservative Republican. You must find and elect people with vision,intelligence,management skills, and true leadership qualities. Reconfiguring Govt. with the same players is useless. I believe Ohio will continue its decline until someone with true management skills and vision is elected to any or all offices. A example would be the school systems. They must be consolidated combined downsized, and merge. Administrative functions must be combined and efficiencies must be found. I could go on and on.
Points 2, 4 and 5 of Mr. Lute's "plan":
"2. Elect a county executive who will commit to saving 7.5 percent of the annual budget ($100 million of savings) for a college scholarship program...
"4. Raise $50 million from corporations and nonprofits, which have expressed an interest in supporting the program.
"5. Convince communities to participate in the scholarship program by merging their school systems into one organization administered by the county."
1) What makes Mr. Lute think that an elected county executive and council are any more likely to make such a promise (or keep it) than three elected commissioners? (Oh, right, maybe he's got some willing candidates among his "200 volunteers". But of course this is all strictly nonpolitical.)
2) Where exactly do Mr. Lute and his 200 volunteers think a 7.5% reduction in annual county expenditures is to be found, and what does it have to do with the structural change he proposes?
3) Ah yes, $50 million in corporate and "nonprofit" (foundation?) contributions. Is Inside Business taking pledges?
4) What in heaven's name does merging local school districts into a countywide system have to do with letting kids participate in a publicly funded scholarship program?
5) This is a "major idea"? Well, so was the bridge to Canada, I guess.
Bill, Thanks for the post. I know some people who still think the bridge to Canada would have been a big boon to the region.
You have raised some important questions, as have the other posters about whether structural design changes will lead to real cost savings. Another issue that needs to be addressed is much of the expenditures by counties are mandated by the state or federal government. If "savings" are generated, they cannot be diverted into scholarships, but rather would get returned to the feds or the state.
What is productive, I believe, is that the region is beginning to take a closer look at whether its government is able to generate the desired outcomes we need to succeed in the global economy -- providing for education and workforce training, for example. It's a long over-due conversation and I hope it will expand and accelerate.
I am a big fan of big ideas. And I am a bigger fan of big solutions that work. I commend Lute and the 200 ready supporters for putting the big idea out there and saying they are ready to support a big solution.
Big solutions that work - especially ones in the public arena like this one - are more successful and more quickly realized when inclusive, open, public dialogue occurs to identify and validate both the opportunity and the solution.
Lute's idea - providing tuition support so we can strengthen a regional asset -- our human capital -- is a big idea. Personally, I love the idea. What worries me is that the big solution Lute puts forward appears baked yet there has not been any meaningful, inclusive, open, public dialogue on the idea or solution. If this one is going to work, there needs to be a brilliantly led dialogue across our region find a solution or several interrelated solutions that way more than 200 people will support.
I don't know if Lute and his supporters are open to dialogue on the solution. I'm curious to know so I will ask him directly and let you know what I find out.
Laura Steinbrink Director, Regional Partnerships lsteinbrink@futurefundneo.org