Category: School levy

Lakota Proposal from Miami University VOA Meeting

On October 20th at the Miami University branch in the VOA Park of West Chester, Mike Taylor, superintendent of Lakota Schools along with several other representatives of tax initiatives for the November 2nd ballot made their case for why people should vote for their issue.

The Lakota Levy was defeated.  However, because we know that Lakota will attempt to place the issue back on the ballot, I recorded the comments Taylor made and answered his comments with the No Lakota Levy response. 
The questions asked came from a panel of journalist made up of Lindsey Hilty of the Pulse Journal, and Debbra Silberman of 9 News. 

Notes from October 20, 2010 Meeting:

Opening comments:  Mike Taylor stated that this levy is a lean request. Lakota has 9 years of excellence; they turn out great students, maintain 22 buildings and in order to avoid making harmful cuts the community needs to pass this levy which will generate 21 million per year.  This levy approach is new for Lakota in that this is a 10 year operating levy.  It is not forever but will have to be voted on to be renewed.  70% of the residents do not have children in the school system.  30% of the residents do have children in the school.  And he added that the Lakota operates in a fiscal responsible manner.

  1. There was a question about what the state standards are, and he reported they are reading, writing, and science, with a minimum of art, music, and physical education.  Lakota goes beyond the state guidelines.  If the levy fails, there will be a reduction in art, music, and physical education.  There will also be an increase in class size and extra curricular activities.
    1. Lakota could avoid its problems with a simple freeze of step increases.  The average Lakota teacher salary is over $60,000 for working 184 days a year.  They have 15 paid sick days, and are required to work 37 hours per week.  They get a 14% contribution to their retirement plan and have a great medical plan.  The average cost per hour worked by a teacher at Lakota is $47 per hour.  The step increases will cost an additional $2.7 million each year which makes up a considerable part of their budget deficit projections. 

 

2.     Increase in spending outpaced inflation.  Why didn’t the school system deal with that trend?  Answer was that because of the lack of state funding, and the fact that they opened three new buildings, this caused the spending to escalate. He danced around the issue and did not directly answer.

  1. Lakota has made 3 different five year financial forecasts in the last 11 months.  The deficit projects started at over $28 million, and then were at $10 million, and most recently have been at $4.5 million, considerably less than the catastrophic amount originally announced.  If the school system had taken measures back in 2005, 2006 and again when the teachers threatened to strike in 2008, they could have avoided the situation they are currently in and could save jobs instead of protecting the top wage earners. 

 

3.    During the summer of 2005 the district was aware of the flat funding coming from the state, why weren’t there measures to save money before now?  Answer was that Lakota opened 3 new buildings, and in 2008 the district went into reduction mode.  They added 400 new students in 2005 and 500 in 2006.  Again, he did not directly answer the question.  And he did not answer as to why it took 3 years to react. 

  1. There was a levy that took three times to pass in late 2005 and those funds started kicking in around 2006.  It appears the school district got caught not addressing the issue because they had a renewed revenue stream.  

 

4.   There was a question as to why this levy was listed for 10 years when in fact the forecast shows that we’ll be out of money in 2014.  Taylor says Lakota has a history of reduction and that they will basically figure it out.  He didn’t know why such statements would be made.  And at the end of 10 years, we can decide if we want to renew it. 

  1. The fact is, when the May levy failed; the school system just took off the second part of that attempt.  They knew all along that with the $21 million per year generated with the school levy they’d be broke again in 2014.  This due to the step increase formula that would push wages into the average of $65 to $70 K per year range.

 

5.    Why can’t we have elimination of the step increases, because the savings could prevent the cuts to busing?  Taylor blamed all of Ohio on the wage structure and collective bargaining.  The union has worked with administration on two issues to help.  1st is the compensation structure.  Second are the health care benefits.  He also cited that the importance of teachers dictate that Lakota have the ability to purchase the best teachers.  Then he blamed state law that dictates the funding system. 

  1. These are union talking points.  Taylor was a member of the union for many years, and can’t turn his back on it now.  Saying that the union is working with the administration is too little too late.  With the wages in the range they are now, the revenue stream coming into Lakota cannot sustain the current contract, and nobody is suggesting a renegotiation.  The union shows no inclination of giving up ground it made in the 2008 threatened strike. 

 

6.     Next question is that if the state takes over, do levies go away?  His answer, is no.  The state puts together plans to generate revenue, and can only generate funds with property tax. 

  1. The fact of the matter on this is that once the state steps in, and determines what the financial situation is, they can renegotiate the teacher’s contract or at least elements of it. It’s the only way to get out of that obligation that the poorly negotiated contract Lakota is bound to can be reversed.   

 

7.     Have administrators had raises?  His answer was, no administrators have had a raise in 2 years.  Also health care benefits have been cut. 

  1. When it was noticed that they spent themselves into a financial problem, the administrators did go on a pay freeze.  But their current financial obligations are part of what I causing the trouble when many of those positions are over $70K per year.  To balance their budget, they need to reduce their burden to the school system by at least 30%.     

 

8.     How does the move to a 6 period day save money?  Cutting the extra period will cut 140 electives out of the day across the district and will result in a savings by shortening the day in this way. 

  1. The humorous issue here is that they are either stating that to provide a proper education we only need 6 periods, or that the teachers are going to get paid for a free hour per day because they won’t be working.  How is this efficient?  Completely irresponsible and short-sighted. This statement shows why Lakota is in trouble.  They think a shorter day means less money.  But they will still pay their entire staff, except for the position eliminated their full pay.    

 

9.     What effect does an excellent rating have on communities?  Lakota has 9 years of excellence and distinction.  18,500 students get an individualized education.  Lakota has award winning art programs, music and athletics.  That’s why people move to Lakota.  A struggling school system shows a struggling community.

  1. Lakota is not a great school by happenstance.  The children attending have parents that are involved in their lives, and that is a direct correlation to the quality of the student bodies.  The school system is great because the community is great.  Not the other way around.  Making statements like the one Mike Taylor made is pretentious.  Again, they are trying to sell their services to the community so of course they are going to attempt to inflate the value.  But that has to be understood by the community.  Teachers could come and go and the students would still succeed because the families sending their kids to school are involved.  The value of a teacher is important.  But does cost alone determine value?  No.  The teachers just in education for the money could leave for schools that are also drowning in the same type of wage structure.  There are lots of teachers that would like to work at Lakota even if for less money, because the community is wonderful, the environment is successful, and the parents are easy to deal with.  Lakota will continue to have those benefits to offer potential employees to the school system. 

 

10.     How do you arrive at the calculation of student to teacher ratio?  How is it made?  How is Lakota’s student teacher ratio in relation to the State needs?  Answer was an obscure one; he said Lakota makes use of specialized teachers which helps reduce class sizes. 

  1. Class size is something to the teachers benefit.  In colleges, many classes have more than 30 people per class, so as a college prep issue, larger class sizes will prepare students for education at the next level, which won’t be able to provide such specialized treatment. 

 

11.     Are the teachers being let go associated with electives?  Enrollment trends dictated reductions so far.  He did not answer part of the question related to the failure of the levy. 

  1. We know that the teachers being cut will not come out of the top wage earners.  And if the classes offered are not essential to education needs, then levy or no levy, Lakota should cut the electives that are not necessary to keep costs down. 

 

12.     Where do people get the money to pay for the levy?  He said that Lakota is caught in a perfect storm, with the state cap, and then reduced funding by 3% over the last 2 years.  The state system is broken.  Spending at Lakota is less per pupil.  Strong schools can help make a strong community.

  1. Without the levy they will not be able to increase their budget for the 2012 per the planned $13 million increase, and have to operate on the same dollars as in 2011.  What they are going through is the same thing the community is going through. 

 

Closing statement; fate of our community is at stake.  State ratings are not what are important.  The value to the community is Lakota can help each child no matter what their level.  It will protect real estate values of the community.  A struggling community is reflective of a struggling school system.

  1. We voted for this levy in May, and in that election 65% voted it down.  All the election ballots had not even been counted yet before the superintendent announced that the issue would be back on the ballot in November.  Now the purpose of that election was not to have another election 6 months later, and to keep holding elections until it passes.  That kind of behavior is disrespectful to the voters. 
  2. When you look at the numbers, at what they are spending their money on, you will find that they are spending just over 75% on wages and benefits.  So they should have some control over their budget problems.  They are working with a budget of $160,547,327.00 and that is more than generous.   So when they say they are going to dismantle the school system, or that parents can’t expect the same kind of service from the school, they are being deceitful, which is a very serious situation, because they are making a decision to hurt the district. 
    1. As I was looking at why they are in so much trouble what becomes obvious is that they have over 434 teachers and administrators making over $65,000 per year, with quite a few making between $80,000 and $100,000. 
    2. Now, I’m all for people making a good wage.  But when that money is funded off tax payer support, and it is obvious that the administration at Lakota did not behave responsibly when they negotiated contracts with the union in the past, because they have spent themselves into a corner, and now the budget is unsustainable.  The wages they are making are at least 30% more than the private sector jobs of comparable positions of those in the community that are paying the taxes. 
 

 

Employee wages and benefits                             $120,758,911.00
Purchased services                               $26,431,714.00
Supplies and Materials                                 $4,206,669.00
Capital Outlay                                 $3,394,834.00
Debt Service                                 $1,225,781.00
Transfers and Advances                                 $1,996,206.00
Other Uses                                 $2,533,212.00

 

  1. When Lakota says that if they don’t get the money they will:
    1. Cut an additional 103+ teachers and staff
    2. Two thirds of the athletics budget including elimination of Jr. High athletics.
    3. Eliminating additional academic programs and extracurricular programs.
    4. Reducing bus service for High School students and those students within a two mile radius
    5. Drastic cuts in gifted education and other student services.
  1. What this says is that the administrators would rather dismantle the school district than attempt to re-negotiate with the union in order to bring wages into more sustainable amounts.  With a quick calculation, if the Lakota school system took a 30% pay cut, they wouldn’t have to diminish anything.  They could generate $27 million right away.  That means someone like the superintendant who makes $147,505 and reduces it to $103,253, or a teacher that is making $78,426 and put them at $54,898.  And everyone could keep their jobs; get paid fairly, and more importantly, the kids come out on top with full community support.  But there isn’t any desire for something like that, and that tells you where their real thoughts are. 

 

Lakota like many school systems over time have allowed the teaching profession to migrate into a wage rate comparable to doctors and lawyers.  They justify this by citing that the cost of obtaining the education, for a master’s degree, or a doctorate is similar, so in turn they should be paid the same.

And that leaves us with the true tragedy of modern public education, where an institution that is generally trusted by the residents of a community, have lost their credibility.  On the surface, people know there is waste.  They see the new buildings, the see the elaborate sports facilities, and they shake their head.  But come levy voting time, they tend to reluctantly vote in favor of them because they either have a child going to school or they know one that does.  And because people stay very busy making livings for themselves, they want desperately to trust that the school system has the interest of the community as a first priority. 

It doesn’t take much however to pull back the curtain and see what’s really going on.  And anyone with just a bit of business sense can see the problem.  Wages for teachers and administrators are just too high.  In the state of Ohio, based on the website Indeed.com the average attorney makes $57,000, and a doctor, $73,000.  A Plant Manager typically makes $72,000.  The average for a teacher in the state of Ohio is $54,000.  And the average for a teacher at Lakota is $59,000.    There are currently 1,137 teachers working in Lakota, and based on a report from the Pulse Journal which came out in March 18th of 2010 in their Insight 2010 Edition, Lakota has 434 teachers that make over $65,000 per year. 

Now when you look at the pie chart of their operating costs, and you see that easily over 75% of their cost of doing business is wrapped up in wages and benefits for the employees of the School, not to busing, not to construction, not to power supply and other usages, yet you hear that if the levy doesn’t pass, they are going to cut busing, they are going to force a pay to play policy in sports, and they are going to lay-off 130 plus teachers and administrators which will increase class sizes, it leaves you scratching your head.  That is until you realize that they are attempting to scam you. 

Those types of coercion are union strategies that have successfully hindered many sectors of our economy, and it is particularly ruthless to use children to manipulate parents.  Yet the people involved will swear they are putting the children first.  Yet when it comes time to pass a levy, they point to other districts that are equally in trouble and say they are operating at a savings, as Lakota proclaims.  But they never deal with what causes the excessive costs.  It’s the weight of their wages and benefits packages, exclusively.  And rather than explore other options, they resort to the formula, the same formula being used at Little Miami, at Edgewood, or Mason, and that is to protect the top by sacrificing the bottom and put the parents between a rock and a hard place to secure funding. 

Once you figure out that you’ve been lied to and manipulated, you tend to get angry about it.  It’s one thing when it happens at the state level, which is far away from us.  It’s another when it happens in the Federal government, where we look at it, talk about it, and shake our heads, but do little about it, because that situation is even further away.  But when it’s a school system, an institution that you invested your hopes and dreams for your children into, it’s a bit harder to swallow.  Yet it’s right in front of our face. 

Government jobs on average pay 45% higher than private sector jobs, and this is why we all know that government is failing.  Their costs do not reflect reality. 

Lakota is trying to raise 21.75 million in this levy, and if they don’t get the money, they are threatening to completely dismantle the school system, with a massive layoff, losing our excellent rating, which will adversely destroy property values.  All those threats are very serious, for a group of people making 45% more than the tax payers funding their activity, and that is a real problem, because they haven’t even looked at any other options. 

The NoLevy group was talking in one of our meetings, and we approached the problem the same way we would in one of our businesses, and we came up with an option that I think is particularly attractive and that is that they take a universal pay cut of 30%.  That would allow everyone to still keep their jobs, allow the school system to operate as it has.  The only reason they wouldn’t do it is complete selfishness.  If it was really about the kids, they would have done something like that already.  A thirty percent cut in wages would simply put someone like Mike Taylor, who is the superintendent making $147,505 a year and bring him down to $103,253.50 per year.  A wage many would love to have even with his responsibility level.  A thirty percent reduction would put that teacher making $78,600 and lower them to only $55,020, hardly a measly amount of pay. 

Now of course nobody at the top will talk about doing anything like this.  So as far as the NoLakota people and the Pro Lakota people talking, there isn’t anything to discuss.  We’ve seen all the charts and stats they’ve thrown up, and we know its all smoke screen to this more serious problem that nobody wants to deal with.   So we’re going to deny them the funding and make them deal with it.  If they want to earn over 100K a year, they will be working hard for it.  And I’m sure Mike Taylor, who isn’t a bad guy by any means, I’m sure he’d look to Mason and say it’s not fair for me to reduce my wages because Kevin Bright over there is making $218,315 for being a superintendent.  Well, Mason is in trouble too, for all the same reasons.   Somebody needs to be the leader. 

But there are options and they are certainly fair options.  The people see through this.  Some of the younger residents that have kids in the system don’t want to apply the same principles they may use in their jobs because it’s personally painful to them.  Most young professionals rely on the school system to handle their children during the day, so they are willing to put up with some of the obvious waste.  But during the last levy 65% voted against the levy, and of that 65% many are business leaders and mangers themselves, and senior citizens that have been around and seen a lot, and know they are being taken advantage of, and it makes them angry.

And Lakota did hold out the branch, and wanted to give a presentation to our group, because they were hoping to take the edge off this election early.  The trouble with that is they did probably the worst thing they could have done before holding out that branch.  In May when we voted for this the first time, we flat out rejected it.  And on election night, Mike Taylor announced that the levy would be back on the ballot.  What he really said was that he did not respect the opinion of the voters, and that for this next election, they would work harder, raise more money, print more signs, and get more kids to go home and strong arm their parents instead of doing the right thing, and bringing all the wages into a reasonable amount and being the first in the state of Ohio to do it, showing the expected leadership of such a powerful school system.  That’s what the voters wanted after the last election.  They ignored us and preceded on to put the levy on the ballot again, and again, and again, until people just give up and pass it, and their livelihoods can be secured in comfort for the foreseeable future. 

So make no mistake.  They are not putting the kids or the community first, only their own self interest. 

Rich Hoffman

www.NoLakotaLevy.com

Social Value, Education, Walt Disney and the Great Chuck Yeager

In another post, I put up a list of some of the most successful people in the world that did not go to college. What you find on that list, besides a lot of actors and entertainers that equate to those fortunate enough to strike gold, are many, many billionaires that founded major companies from Dell computer, to the Walt Disney Company.

From my own college experience, I understand clearly what the problem is. Education can only give you some of what you need. Most of the work of starting something from nothing can’t be taught, and if your goal is success, that inspiration has to come from someplace deep inside. Is there a teacher out there that can teach someone to be Richard Branson, George Lucas, or Bill Gates? If they could they would. But they can’t, in fact, a lot of the time, the teacher teaches because they aren’t good at actually doing things in the real world.

So that leaves me to question the validity of the entire institutional system. Now that the Lakota Levy is over, at least this time around, I think it’s time to bring to question what the value of education actually is.

The difficulty in determining the value of education is that so many have built secure incomes off education. What brought the whole issue to my mind was the book Forbidden Archeology which showed to what extremes universities suppressed scientific evidence discovered in the field of archeology and anthropology. The reason for the suppression was to protect their previous scientific finds and the legacy of those revelations, so new evidence was a threat to the security built on those reputations.

To keep it clear sports is the best explanation. Consider what the NFL would be like if great teams were always allowed to draft first in each years draft class. The NFL to keep things competitive and entertaining, created salary caps, so teams would have to make decisions on who they could keep on their teams, and who’d be let go. And they came up with the idea of letting teams with the worst record draft first in the following year’s draft. That way, new teams are always emerging as good teams and competition is always evolving. And we all benefit from the entertainment value.

But in education, we are still teaching kids the same way we did at the turn of the century, even though new methods and computer technology allow for other options. We still have schools shutting down in the summer even though that concept was started to let young men help their fathers on the family farms during harvest season. But, teachers unions have kept that going for the sake of benefits.

I would argue that a teacher standing in the front of a room and teaching as an authoritarian on the given subject is an archaic method long outdated. I would say that teaching children to stand in line at lunch, to stand in line when they walk down the hall to go to recess, to walk in line to go to an assembly, to stand in line for attendance in gym class, and so on and so on are psychologically bad for the development of young people. Because what it teaches them is to follow orders. In the education system we currently have, following orders is the emphasis, and I would argue that mentality is completely wrong for American society.

I can hear you groaning right now dear reader. I can hear your questions. But understand something in my explanation here, I am questioning the very foundation upon which everything is built, because to my eyes it is not perfect, and does not produce the type of individuals American society needs, so it is subject to ridicule. It is quite probable that you as the reader are a victim to a lifetime of acceptance to this established system, so to question it will be difficult for you. I understand.

But, for the sake of this article, forget everything you ever learned, and suspend your belief system and look with the eyes of a person new to the culture you exist in, and enjoy the revelations that befall you.

Consider for a moment how idiotic the hazing rituals of college are. The drinking games, the insults from your peers, the ridiculous dares that take place, the structure of those rituals are technically insane. But is it a mystery as to why those belonging to a fraternity have a network from which to launch their careers? Isn’t it strange the rituals of the bachelor party which seem to be important to many males, especially those belonging to fraternities where their “brotherhood” reflects a deep bond that exceeds or equals the bond with the wife to be. And to the sorority sisters the same mentality holds true. The night before their weddings is inundated with penis worship. The women, particularly sorority sisters gather and bond among rituals of drinking and male strippers. But why? What is to be accomplished in these ceremonies? If you are an employer, and are looking for a nice obedient employee that will know their place and not challenge the authority structure, a frat boy is an attractive option, because they know their place. And in the scope of these rituals as the participants emerge into marriage, the brothers and sisters have a shared secret that bonds them, and ensures the continuation of the bond in respect to the new marriage. Secrets create a bond.

With fraternities and sororities, which serve basically the same role as the military soldier that gets off the bus and is yelled at by a drill sergeant prior to getting their hair cut, which is the beginning of a mental transformation as an individual and into the collective identity of a soldier. And thus, are the two primary paths that young people take after high school. Now during high school and grade school there are many smaller rituals that occur. By the time a youngster is a senior in high school, they know their peer groups. They know where they fit into the social stratus, and this seems to be the number one goal of grade school. The athletes achieve the top social order. The other students that participate in the extracurricular activities to a lesser degree make up the next. Then you have the scholastically strong, and then you have all the rest to varying degrees down to the rejects that fall through the cracks for various reasons turning to drugs and alcohol earlier than the rest of the young people. The goal of all discussed in this paragraph is to allow the individual to find out where they fit into the peaking order of society.

Now be honest with yourself. What is the greatest concern you had in grade school, or college? How about now? When your neighbor buys a new grill, do you feel the urge to get a new one as well? Do you feel that the car you drive is a display to your neighbors, friends and family to the status of your placement in society? Or your house? Or the wife or husband that you’ve obtained for yourself? What are the true values that you hold dear?

If the values were healthy ones, and you were happy with yourself and your life, then you wouldn’t over-eat and carry around that huge stomach, or that giant caboose, or you wouldn’t be divorced, or on your second or third marriage. You wouldn’t be taking high blood pressure medicine, or taking drugs to deal with depression. If you were happy with your life you would never desire to become drunk, because such a state is an escape from yourself, if only for a short time.

My point is not to lecture you. But it is to point out that if the system worked, then people wouldn’t be broken all around us. It’s not necessarily their fault. They’ve been taught to be broken. They’ve been taught to be only a fraction of themselves. There is an old saying that it is “not good to be too good.” The reason why is that being good, being exceptional, are threats to the animalistic peaking order of our social structure.

I received over the Lakota Levy Campaign letter after letter from angry teachers and parents who want to overlook all the obvious problems of the current system in favor of keeping the system intact. They have completely bought into much of this nonsense, and the prospect that it is all meaningless is just simply too much for them to fathom. They come across sounding like children still developing their emotional states, but the danger is that they are actually parents themselves, passing on to children the same neurotic states they are currently professing.

And I’d be lying if I said I was surprised when the Lakota Levy failed, and there were tears from the people supporting the whole thing. They simply cannot see the phantoms that dictate the funding model. They cannot through their training see beyond the patriotism of their alter mater.

Do you know what alter mater means? It was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses. In modern times, it is often a school, college, or university attended during one’s formative years. So throughout the lives of many, their alter mater will always be important to them, a ground for which to place their footing. However, it is tragic that such beliefs do not allow one to see the faults of the system of their upbringing. To see faults for such people is to literally see the faults of ones parents.
Now such a thing does happen when young people move into their teens. They cast off the garb of their parents and move into some of the various paths of institutionalism. Many schools are literally many people’s second mother experience.
I once watched football players reciting the Ohio State song during the conclusion of a football game. And the crowd in the stands was noticeably emotional, so the whole experience was a ceremonial one. The collectivism displayed to me was very disconcerting. To the participants, it was comforting, like a mother’s hug. To me, it was a disgusting display of childlike behavior from what should be grown adults.


So what many of these blind patriots clinging to their alter mater share is that they cannot see what cancers inhabit these mothers, because they are unable to digest the criticism toward a loved one.
What permeates these institutions is a level of socialist thought designed to undermine American society. Such thoughts are foreign to these lovers of their second mothers because to their frail minds, war is always fought with guns and in far away lands. But some wars do not involved physical domination. And they don’t involve guns. But they are psychological warfare initiated during the Cold War to dismantle American society. And it is so subtle that even the people within the system can not see it, because they are too close to see.
And this is the problem with education as an occupation. Through collective bargaining, socialist have dominated organized unions and they have made it very lucrative through their use of Saul Alinskey to drive wages up to levels that caused people not to question their methods, because the money they offer brings a level of comfort to the participants of the union. But what is really happening is that in exchange for that income, teachers and administrators are willing to sacrifice their personal freedoms in exchange for that secure middle class income. And that is the strategy of socialists, is to bring down the top level achievers to create a collective middle class. And they have established themselves in our education systems.

I read a book called the Frontiersman several years ago by the great author Alan Eckart and I was shocked that the first time I ran into that material I was as a grown man, because honestly I should have been given that book when I studied Ohio History in the fourth grade. The book may be a bit too hard of a read for a fourth grader, but it certainly should have been recommended reading by 8th grade. The book chronicles the life of Simon Kenton and his battles with the Indian leaders such as Tecumseh and Blue Jacket. It features Daniel Boone, George Washington, and many other characters critical to life on the frontier in 1750 on. It is action packed and shows Indians eating settlers. It has graphic battles and shows the treachery capable between the French and the English. It is a marvelous book.
But in school, I was taught that Indians were Native Americans with an emphasis on the encroachment of the white man upon Native American land. I was taught that slavery was all important instead of one part of the history of the United States. I was taught the merits of feminism. The merits of tolerance, and on and on along those lines. It was dreadfully boring. In fact I remember asking my eight grade English teacher why we had to read Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. I asked the same question to my ninth grade teacher, where we read the same material again. It wasn’t till I was in my thirties that I read for the first time Titus Andronicus. And I asked, “Why did I not read this in the eighth grade!” I would have read all of Shakespeare by the conclusion of my eighth grade year for fun if I had known that Titus was such a great play! But I had to discover that on my own, away from schools unfortunately.

On of the times I went to college, on the first day of school in my philosophy class the professor instructed us that we would begin a study of Tao Te Ching, a book I had read on my own over a weekend a couple of years earlier. I took three classes and realized I was wasting my time. I already had developed leadership skills at the time that companies would be willing to hire me for. I thought a degree would help me in some way, but I found that to not be the case once I had started working and developed a network to work within, because companies always need leadership. But what did I need out of a college that spent three weeks studying a book that the students should read over the weekend? I saw the same blank looks on my class mates in college that I saw in high school; the “I have to be here” look “so I can get a certification,” so I can get a good job. I decided in that philosophy class that the instructor was just going through the motions. He was just studying what had come, and he had no ambition to produce something for the future. He was just collecting a paycheck, like the rest of the professors. It looked like a big scam to me, all three times that I went, I always came back to the same conclusion.
I also have recollections of a high school party that I once went to where I sat in the living room of a nice Lakota home where the parents were out of town, and the kid that lived their had a party where most of the senior and junior class showed up. MTV was a rather new thing back then, and was on in the living room and a bunch of kids were watching a video of Pink Floyd’s The Wall playing. Most of the room was smoking pot and drinking voracious amounts of alcohol. I sat stunned even then at the herd like mentality of the kids. I did not participate in their drunken splendor or the mind numbing drugs. I was happy to talk to a girl that wanted some male company, but that’s all I wanted from such events. The social aspect of those events meant nothing.

I saw the same kind of mentality from the college kids at Miami University where I went to see a girl I knew at the time there. She was in a massive sorority party that took up an entire apartment complex. Every room I’d go in had kids smoking pot. Some of the rooms were the size of a large closet and might have 20 to 50 people packed into them all passing around a joint. The girl I went to see had given oral sex to at least two guys that I knew of that night. One of the guys was engaged to be married to a girl that was in the other room with a room full of guys passed completely out and had lost every bit of her cloths. Nobody cared. I see these type of events glorified in films like Hangover, which I thought was funny, but if you think about it, we’ve all come to accept the term, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” We don’t bat an eye at such despicable behavior. Rather, it is common now. We send our daughters to school, and pay small fortunes to do so. And we watch secretly those same girls our daughter’s age stripping off their tops and going topless in spring break activity which we endorse with our barbaric lust. And we tell our sons to take all the women they can while they still can, before they reduce themselves to the marriage to one woman for the rest of their lives.

I went to such events completely sober and watched with distance. Later that same night the friends I went to the party with, who were drunk got into a fight with the football team for the university. It was comical and easy to win a fight against a mob of drunken fools. But my friends ended up in jail while I had the presence of mind to leave the scene while police cleaned up the bodies like they were shoveling snow. The university covered for the football players, who actually started the fight. My friends were released once they sobered up. While that was going on, I sat in a Wendy’s by myself and watched late into the early morning the foolish college kids, many of which were older than me at the time, living a life style of complete recklessness, and I sat there reading my book, Yeager, which was about the life of Chuck Yeager, a person I greatly admire.

I could literally tell you thousands of such stories, because for a time in my late teens and into my early twenties, when the world told me to be one way, and that I had to travel down this college path, or that military path, I rejected both. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with either system. Actually, I became something of an outlaw in the eyes of society, until I meant my wife just before one of the worst car wrecks I had ever been in, the second car crash that had taken place at over 100 mph in a year. Neither time was I the driver. At that time I married her, and retired to a life of reading, which I have done ever since. And I have found that college was breeding sheep. I craved to live the life of a lion. You have to decide in life whether you’re going to be the hammer or the nail. The education system like any good factory is producing millions and millions of nails. But only the hand crafted craftsman is making hammers. And my becoming a hammer was forged with much pain, but it has been a journey well worth taking.
So my opinions come from a source of personal observation where I looked at the facts, and asked the question as to where this was going. And I rejected it in favor of my own education. And I will say that at the time, Chuck Yeager had more to do with that than anyone.
Yeager had shot down more enemies in a single day than anyone else in the European theater during World War II in his Mustang and he wasn’t a college trained pilot. He had raw instinct that always gave him an edge over everyone else. I shared with Chuck lightning reflexes that I used when driving and racing cars illegally, and a raw nerve that helped me in many circumstances. Yeager had those traits and that is why he developed into a world class test pilot for the Air Force. He developed a great relationship with engineers who lacked Chuck’s natural ingenuity. And it was because Chuck was a rare breed of man even for that time that allowed him to break the sound barrier in the X-1 over the civilian pilot Slick Goodlin who demanded $150,000 to fly the X-1. Chuck did it because he just wanted to do it. So he was in it for the right reasons.

I can relate.


Such images had a powerful impact on me that I carried all my life. I am proud to report that I have always taken that stance even when the temptation of powerful politics and business influence dangled the carrot in front of my face. I decided that I’d rather be my own man; self made that no alter mater could take credit for. And if society didn’t like it, to hell with them! At the end of my life, I’d have a clean soul and I’d be proud of it.
Of course taking such a stance will get you into a lot of trouble, and it has. One notable time that involved a labor union that I was actually in, yet I refused to pay dues to them, didn’t like the idea that I was asked to work the weekend at a company I worked for, because union rules said the foreman should have asked the employees with more seniority first, caused a massive stink, which caused four of the shop stewards to corner me in the bathroom for a fight. I had a reputation of fighting one on one, so they decided that four of them might intimidate me. It didn’t.
We agreed to meet after work so none of us would get fired. I went to the agreed upon vacant lot to meet these guys for a fight. And guess what, they didn’t show up. I was there by myself watching these tough union stewards driving up and down the road revving up their engines trying to intimidate me like some silly animal making noise to frighten their pry. Only they didn’t know what to do when I wasn’t frightened by their actions.
It is clear to me where civilization fails, and when good people trade away their freedoms for a bit of security, something dies in them. And you can see it on their faces. Their skin is dying prematurely. Their health is usually bad, or is going bad. They usually can’t endure much by way of stress. In men, they suffer from erectile dysfunction, in women a lack of desire for the act. And all this starts with the values we give to ourselves through our education system which clearly extends beyond reading, writing and arithmetic.
So when those carcasses of living flesh proclaim to me that I cannot teach a class-room, or that I did not get a college degree, or that I did not follow down a path that they understand, and therefore cannot understand their situation, they are like children asking me to explain something that they do not have the life experience yet to understand, because they have not yet lived life. And in many cases, that includes those that are ready to retire from a life they consider hard work, and they are ready to collect that pension they worked hard to preserve. I can not explain to them the sound of the wind, or the heat of the sun, when they have lived their whole lives confined to the controlled circumstances of academia, and the powers that perpetuate political influence from that platform.

To say that in this day an age education is a must for success and that no longer can people do as Chuck Yeager did, because these days you must have college. Those are only the rules of established society, and companies that continue to advocate such beliefs will continue to find that the employees they take out of the education system are watered down products not quite up to the tasks they are looking for. The exceptional find such restraints too confining and the best of the best reject it all together willing to suffer the lack of security for the clear vision being free of obligation to alter maters provides.
I would dare say that the success of Glenn Beck is a modern example of just such a philosophy. He stays ahead of the curve and is clear in his outlooks because he does not have the burden of being educated not to see. How many people have come along like Walt Disney, a guy with only a high school education, much like Glenn Beck? Steven Spielberg also didn’t have a college education when he was doing his best stuff. And now that he’s bought in to some of the progressive philosophies, his ability to wield the magic of the past is gone. It’s gone from him as a filmmaker.



So what conclusion can we make? Are the most successful among us freaks of nature, beyond the scope of normal mankind? Is it impossible to think that the kid living next door to you may not be the next Walt Disney? I would say that our education system as it currently is dotted with a socialist mentality from grade one to the doctorate in college, is teaching us not to reach for the stars, and to settle for the muddy middle where a strong middle class promises a life of few lows in life, but also few highs either. And a rather eventless story at the end of one’s personal book only to be lost in the annuals of time, where much bolder and action packed stories will reside in the memory of the human race.
And do not think that the conventional path taken is the path of purity, and do not subject those that reject your choice with additional taxes. I respect your decision to live a life as described in this article. But don’t ask me to fund such a despicable existence.

Rich Hoffman

www.overmanwarrior.com

The Day After

It’s hardly a victory to have defeated the Lakota School Levy. It’s more like surviving a round of chemotherapy.

Lakota is drowning in the weight of its collective bargaining agreement from the OEA, and the policies started by these large PAC organizations across the county is putting the United States in this position.

There was a lot of emotion prior to the election.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6dDsK9kkIs

http://www.fox19.com/Global/story.asp?S=13425745

http://www.wlwt.com/politics/25624583/detail.html

http://www.journal-news.com/news/election/lakota-local-schools-levy-rejected-993007.html

Lakota spent more than $20,000 on this campaign, and they gained approximately 10% of the vote to the just over $7000 that we spent.  I am very disappointed that it ended up so close, because that will be an indication to the school system to bring it to the tax payers again.  You can see that the strategy is to gradually wear out the voters till they say yes.   I suppose that’s not too bad considering all the avenues Lakota has to get their message out.   

It is hardly an occasion to celebrate, when you find out that you get to keep the tax money you started the day with at the end of the day.  Yet, because the advocates of such a tax that we had to endure with this Lakota Tax Levy overspent their budget, then hid the crime behind our children, it is a great relief to see that voters saw through the smoke to the true facts and stood their ground in the face of the unpopular position of standing against a school levy.

Those of us on the No Lakota Levy Campaign have already been hard at work on the next Lakota Levy attempt for weeks now, and we are ready for action when the school board makes the announcement that will inevitably come.  The school districts next move will be to cut valued services to the community, such as busing, so to twist the arm of the tax payers that voted with their hearts in this election, and force them to vote with their wallet in the next attempt.  And it is my position that such a strategy, in the face of this second attempt is a travesty to the trust of the residents in the Lakota School District.   

It would be hoped that the teachers union would volunteer on their own, to come to the table and meet with the school board, and work diligently with them to reduce the costs to Lakota so not to force layoffs, and the other cuts, but as we’ve stated, this levy was about money, and they will now embark on a strategy against those of us that denied the funds they requested. 

This issue is far from over. 

The real trouble starts with their teacher’s contract. Hear the high points of the contract here.

And now we must prepare more than ever for the onslaught of organized labor that will use it’s tactics against the Lakota School System and our kids.

So get ready everyone for another fight, and this one will be much more brutal than the previous one was.

Stay tuned………………………….

Rich Hoffman

www.NoLakotaLevy.com

Bill Coley and The Blizzard of Akira Kurosawa

Representative Bill Coley took out a half page ad in the Pulse Journal during the October 28th, 2010 edition to proclaim that looking to Ohio for tax increases to fund education is not the solution to the funding problems at Lakota, and public education in general.

I personally like Bill. But I don’t think he understands what I and others with similar concerns are talking about regarding the statements that funding is the responsibility of the state under constitutional mandate. And his comment that the state is financially broke, and has no money to give to education exacerbates the situation further.

I, like many others, sent money to the state. If the State of Ohio spent that money on the wrong things, then education wasn’t very high on the priority list.

And the money they did use for education, they spent on districts not friendly to republicans.  The way the funds were allocated show an attempt at bloc voting, using our tax dollars to buy democratic votes. 

Why is that important? After all, education should be politically neutral. Well it’s not.

Bill Coley stated in his tremendous ad that he did not want to surrender decisions for Lakota School to outsiders. Yet, it is the teachers lobby that creates the unfunded mandates that come back to all districts. And it is the teachers union that takes the money they collect from members, and spends money on democratic candidates. That is a bit of a problem.

The purpose of this No Levy campaign is not to raise taxes to pay for education. It’s not to have state control. But it is to get the costs of education under control, and to get Ohio to properly fund school districts the way the constitution of Ohio dictates.

Notes: From the State Supreme Court case of March 24, 1997.

Section 2, Article VI of the Ohio Constitution requires the state to provide and fund a system of public education and includes an explicit directive to the General Assembly:

“The general assembly shall make such provisions, by taxation, or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the school trust fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the State.”

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Statement from the Supreme Court decision:

“We recognize that disparities between school districts will always exist. By our decision today, we are not stating that a new financing system must provide equal educational opportunities for all. In a Utopian society, this lofty goal would be realized. We, however appreciate the limitations imposed upon us. Nor do we advocate a “Robin Hood” approach to school financing reform. We are not suggesting that funds be diverted from wealthy districts and given to the less fortunate. There is not a “leveling down” component in our decision today.

Our state Constitution makes the state responsible for educating our youth. Thus, the state should not shirk its obligation by espousing clichés about “local control.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Supreme Court specifically addressed the Robin Hood scenario, and that is exactly what has been happening. And it is obvious that Mr. Coley and many others have aligned themselves with the many, many factions that have their hands in our collective cookie jars. And they want to encourage us all to just stay asleep while they continue to misappropriate our state taxes. And I will say that I expect those state taxes to decrease, not to increase while still funding education.

The strategy used by Mr. Coley and several others intent on maintaining the status quo in government reminds me of a film I love called “Dreams” directed by the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.

In this scene, four mountain climbers are exhausted from climbing a mountain, and they have lost their camp. (hint, in my mind the taxpayers are represented by the mountain climbers just trying to find their way home) I would encourage you to take the time to watch these three clips. Because I think it is a metaphor that directly applies to our national crises. Because we are lost in a snow storm, and people like Bill Coley are just wanting to lay down and die.

Here the leader is the only one standing. And he sees someone coming. But who is it? Only the strongest leader can see it. But his fellow climbers have given up the fight. And eventually, the leader is ready to give up too. The being that comes to him tells him that the snow is warm, and the ice is hot. She sings a sweet melody to him to usher him to sleep. And he slowly gives way to the being, until near the end of this clip where he begins to regain his will to fight.

Thats right, the being was a demon trying to steal away their souls with a sense of hopelessness. (In this example, the teachers unions are the metaphorical demon) And once the leader fights back enough, the demon’s true identity is revealed and it flies off in anger.

And the climbers find that their camp was always just right there.

If we’re going to fix all our trouble, we have to get rid of the soothsayers that are trying to usher us away to sleep.

And Mr. Coley, based on your comment in the Pulse, you are one of the climbers that have given up.

Rich Hoffman

www.NoLakotaLevy.com

How Much has Lakota Spent on Passing the Levy

Because David Little was contacted to perform services against the No Lakota Levy campaign, and me personally, I had to see if Lakota was involved in hiring him. So we pulled the finance reports for the campaign of the Pro Levy Campaign.

What I found out was shocking. Lakota had managed to produce through fundraising over $51,000, and as of Oct 21st, they had $31,000 to use on campaigning.

I can say that on the No Levy Levy campaign side of things we are still under $10,000. We’ve had to work really hard to get our message out and we’ve done a great job with only a fraction of the money spent. But that’s a story for another day.

Here is how the Pro Lakota Levy finance report sheet looks:

Previous money $12,545.99
Contributions $36,999.00
Other $ 1.46
Expenses $20,243.63
Fundraising $1,558.00
In-Kind
$540.36

Total $51,644.81
Minus expenses $31,401.18

Available income for campaign as of Oct 21st $31,401.18

I was of course curious who the largest contributors were. There were a lot of private citizens. I haven’t yet had a chance to see how many of the private contributors are actually teachers at Lakota, and how many are parents behind the Pro Levy movement. But what surprised me was how many organizations directly attached to the school system there are, and how much money they contributed. The teachers union, The Lakota Education Association contributed $2,398 which isn’t surprising. But it must be remembered that the teachers union gets all its money from the tax payer, if indirectly from teacher contributions. It must be pointed out that the money indirectly is coming back against the very same tax payers. What did surprise me was the unified front from organizations of the various PTSO’s, PTO’s, and PTA’s that gave money. Have a look.

Largest contributors

Turner Construction $ 5,000.00
Lakota Education Association $ 2,000.00
Lakota Education Association $ 398.00
Petermann $ 2,500.00
Lakota East Athletic Boosters Club $ 1,000.00
Frost Brown Todd LLC $ 500.00
Lakota East Football Camp $ 150.00
Union Elementary PTSO $ 250.00
Lakota West High School PTSO $ 250.00
Shawnee Early Childhood Center PTA $ 250.00
Liberty Junior PTSO $ 825.00
Lakota East PTSO $ 250.00
Vangorden Elementary PTA $ 500.00
Information Design, Inc $ 100.00
Liberty Early Childhood School PTA $ 250.00
Freedom Parent Council $ 400.00
Lakota West Upbeat Club $ 500.00
Phelan Insurance Agency, Inc $ 250.00
Woodlan Elementary PTA $ 250.00
Hopewell Junior PTSO $ 250.00
Lakota Ridge PTO $ 200.00
Lakota Performing Arts 08-07 $ 500.00
Lakota Performing Arts 08-07 $ 500.00
Independence Elementary PTA $ 250.00
Wyandot Elementary School PTO $ 250.00
Endeavor Elementary PTO $ 250.00
Cherokee Elementary PTA $ 250.00
Green Acres Landscaping and Nursery, Inc $ 100.00
Valley Janitor Supply Co. $ 300.00
Heritage Elementary PTA $ 250.00

Large contributors
Total $ 18,723.00

All the rest of the contributors $51,644.81

And this is what they spent the money on so far, a week before the election. Of note are 4000 signs from Patriot Signage at over $6000, over a $1000 for a Pro Levy call service, almost $6000 for mass mailing, and over $3000 on graphic design services. Those are the biggest parts of their campaign, not to mention the newspaper ads.

What have they spent their money on?

Westwood Virtual Associates Newsletter $ 200.00
Key Bank Imaged items with statement charge $ 3.50
Patriot Signage Yard signs $ 3,540.40
Bethart Printing Solutions Label $ 232.00
Westwood Virtual Associates Created Facebook tab $ 100.00
Liberty Township Charitable Fund Fall Festival Booth Contract $ 25.00
Cheryl Conway Nelson Sept. Constant Contact $ 50.00
Butler Mailing Services, Inc Saturation mail $ 5,972.05
One Call Now Levy Calls $ 1,060.30
Patriot Signage Yard signs $ 3,169.40
Donna Leslie Postage $ 220.00
Bethart Printing Solutions Label $ 347.74
Key Bank Imaged items with statement charge $ 3.50
Cox Publishing Pulse Journal Ad $ 868.50
Bethart Printing Solutions Labels $ 541.16
PrintManagement, LLC Levy Case Study, art design, and changes $ 3,138.02
Cheryl Conway Nelson Oct. Constant Contact $ 170.00
Kathy Cook Levy Supplies $ 100.00
Jamie Green Levy Supplies $ 479.90
Butler Mailing Services, Inc Saturation mail $ 70.37
Kelly Casper Levy Supplies $ 59.64

Total $20,351.48

Total from expense sheet $27,322.68

It’s good to see how the message gets delivered and how much everything costs. But what’s most important is to notice that the funds didn’t come from donations all over the community. It comes from people who stand to profit off the levy.

So keep that in mind.

The levy is big business, for construction, for printers, for unions, and for the school to keep everything status quo. If you want to know the truth, always follow the money.

And as far as who hired David Little. It wasn’t Lakota. It was either the teacher’s union or the Democratic Party. How does that make you feel, to know that those two organizations are directly attached to your school system?

You can voice your opinion by voting November 2nd.

Rich Hoffman

www.NoLakotaLevy.com

Take Another Drink and Stay Drunk; The Delphi Technique.

Throughout the No Lakota Levy campaign, it has shocked me how many people are willing to overlook obvious problems in favor of their own short term gain. I can only attribute this behavior to a perfectly normal, and sane individual seeking to get drunk, or “trashed” as they like to term it, for the short term gain of being free of regulation and responsibility along with the bliss of debauchery and ignoring the frequent urination and eventual hang-over that will inevitability ensue.

Has everyone forgotten this from 2008? I haven’t. Talk about a hang-over. This is why things cost so much.

Now that it’s on the table, teacher salaries make up that drunken metaphor. People that want to keep everything status quo are now willing to overlook the obvious overpayment to employees of the district in favor of the short term gain of keeping everything as it is. For these drunken drink seekers they are willing to ignore the obvious question, that if school districts are in financial trouble, and they proclaim that they do not have enough money, and then inquiring minds look at their expenditures and see that they are spending 75% to 85% of their expenditures on wages and benefits, they are unwilling to proclaim that the market economy cannot support the step increases and wage rate that the collective bargaining system has negotiated across the state. They are unwilling to look at how unions have created in Ohio legislation many of the back breaking policies that districts are facing now without money to apply. And they are unwilling to look at why it is a problem for public employees to be organized under a union.

Nothing in this video is conservative. All the players speaking are from the left. I think this video displays the beginning of the education problem.

The NEA contributes over $40 million dollars to democratic candidates. And recently a democratic strategist was hired to attempt to assassinate my character. Why wasn’t it a republican? Because the money that goes into education unfortunately finds its why into the politics of the Democratic Party. And I’m not a supporter of the Democratic Party. I can’t help it that they have attached themselves to our children. That’s why in my view, that separation needs to take place before we can have an intelligent conversation of how we can properly fund schools. But having organized unions collectively bargaining for any tax payer funded occupation is unethical, because there is no way the tax payer can get the best value from a government employee if wages cannot be driven down competitively. And again, when overwhelmingly, organized employees vote democratic, which means as long as public positions are unionized, a true balance within our republic can never be achieved. Such an arrangement is great if you sympathize with democratic platforms, but if you don’t, you are forced to fund democratic activity with your tax dollars, which is wrong and creates an unhealthy political climate.

Unfortunately this is a realistic portrayal. This lady is just saying what most everyone in public employment thinks.

I learned in the Pulse Journal’s October 21, 2010 edition that my views are considered by some to be of the more radical view.

Well……this is new to me. It leads me to wonder what views I had that were considered radical. I can see where people may have trouble with the things I proclaim because they are difficult to admit. But radical, why would they be proclaimed radical?

Maybe it was that I used bullwhips to demonstrate how governments can cut taxes. After all, using whips to make a point is different, so taken only by word it might sound that way if the person describing it presented it that way. After all, the traditional format would be for a person to present the information with a suit and tie and some charts. The trouble with that is I do present information in that format. And I’ve watched for years others present information in that format. And I’ve watched established politics routinely suppress the view points of statements made in a traditional format. So to get your story told in this political climate unfortunately, you have to find your unique voice, and use it.

The other thing that may indicate that I’m a radical, or as pointed out by the OEA, I am one of those vocal conservative voices that are in the minority. And that my statement that unions should not be funded in any way shape or form by tax payer funds is in some way radical.

Well, because the word radical has been used in my direction, and democratic strategists have been hired to defame my name, it is time to reveal that my use of the whip at the beginning of the No Levy Campaign was by design. The reason is that the traditional methods do not work any longer. So a new strategy is needed. So I used another talent that I have to help me communicate my point in a fashion that the opposition was not prepared for.

Why don’t traditional methods work any longer? Because, Saul Alinsky came along and created various methods of consensus building that have been used against the middle class to enact various goals under collective bargaining.

Saul Alinsky started in the 1950’s to help the poor communities to improve their situations, which in itself seems to be a noble goal. However, his tactics were used by universities in the late sixties to create a new level of radical behavior that was unleashed upon the United States like a cancerous disease called the hippie movement.

In 1971 Alinsky published Rules for Radicals a year before his death in 1972. It was in his work and reputation that unions began to adopt his methods for their collective bargaining. After all, Alinsky had the Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson’s admiration so he had enough credibility to be very well known by the 1950’s across the state. In Rules for Radicals he states, “Any revolutionary change must be preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and change the future.”

Alinsky along with a couple of other guys started the Industrial Areas Foundation, in January of 1972 and began teaching members of the NEA UniServ personnel in Kentucky and then in February, Illinois’s UniServ personnel. And from there, the teaching has branched out.

Who are the radicals?

A technique that was developed is called The Delphi Technique. I’m not going to get into the details in this essay, but will leave it to say that it is a form of consensus building. Google it and be ready to read a lot. It is not a far stretch to say that The Delphi Technique has been used extensively by more and more unions for many years now to completely undermine the power bases of tradition, all in the spirit of noble quests such as women’s rights in the workplace, proper compensation, and work load concerns.

Various forms of The Delphi Technique are found in many different business strategies. I ran into it first while having to study Six Sigma for companies I’ve worked for. The Delphi Technique comes up as a way to build consensus among a large group, and then letting the group believe that they arrived at the conclusion on their own, when in fact the facilitators of the group had the outcome already decided prior to a meeting.

Keep in mind that the Department of Education did not exist prior to 1979. And Rules for Radicals was introduced in 1971. So many realities that we now consider normal had only come into being during the late 60’s and 70’s. Fast forward to the current time, is it any surprise that across the nation wages for members of unions, that have used these techniques have soared to tremendous levels. And in the case of the local issue I have been dealing with at Lakota, the level of wages is exclusively the reason for the current financial calamity the district is in.

The problem with the union model is that they have only most strongly survived in public sector jobs, which is why unions are pushing government to add more government expansion and thus union power. In the private sector, businesses that have tried to function with a union ideology have been crushed out of business. This is why unions tend to dislike capitalism. Capitalism favors the strong and successful, while the weak are left behind.

Saul Alinsky started his crusade to assist those poor that had been left behind by capitalism, so it is only natural that people educated by such methods, will sympathize with those left behind in the economics of capitalism.

Here is what Hollywood has bought in to. Let Alec Baldwin tell you about Saul Alinsky

But the world is changing, and not in the way the union and large government people would desire, in spite of their efforts. In schools, they proclaim that a community should value an education by paying a teacher top pay. But the world is requiring us to learn faster then traditional teaching. Rosetta Stone Software for instance is immensely effective as a computer based foreign language program, that traditional education would spend years instructing. Many electives, traditional mathematics, English, etc can now be learned with computer programs. It is not a surprise that more and more parents are choosing Home School as an option. Is it surprising that a home schooled student out performs their public school counterparts by 30% or more in all categories. What does that mean?

Of course the downside to home schooling is the social interaction that takes place. But what does that social interaction have to do with a teacher. When we talk about social interaction, we’re talking about the peer groups that form in school. Not the academics.

When people talk about the cost per pupil of teaching a student that cost is directly attached to the expenditures of a district, and as pointed out already, at least 75% of that is wages and benefits. So if a district or the state determines that they need to bring the cost per pupil down, so they can have a conversation on how to properly fund education at the state level, they can’t discuss it, because the funding system is kept in chaos by unions seeking first the goals of their collective bargaining intentions. It doesn’t matter if the results of their collective bargaining break the back of the tax payer. They don’t think that far, just like the party goers seeks to get drunk for the short term gains. And nobody wants to discuss if education needs a complete overhaul in general, because of the success of the home schooling sector of the population. Again, that conversation can’t begin because too many wish to just keep everything as they are now, because that’s the only way to maintain the system that can support the collective bargaining agreements gained through years of using Saul Alinsky’s techniques.

They call me radical, LOL

The bottom line is that we are on a technological frontier and the way we learn is changing, and is becoming more and more interactive. A traditional teacher standing in the front of a class is becoming more and more irrelevant. Such methods will always be needed for higher degrees and technical experience. But for the basics, much more efficient methods are available. And while all this is going on, we are paying educators top level pay which is causing trouble with school district budgets.

Last week I had more than a few people tell me that the only way to handle the education funding problem is with property taxes. This was a shocking statement to me. They professed to say that the state of Ohio has no money and that other programs are bankrupting the state. So education money is not even an option.

My response was simple, and was directed at a VIP who’s on the inside at the state level. “It’s not that the state does not have the money. Taxpayers sent money to the state, but you guys spent it on things, and the money did not find its way to education. You have a priority problem. Not a revenue problem. You have to sit down and figure out what revenue you have, and then figure out where your priorities are, just like any household. You guys did not spend money on education because you knew that the property tax system would allow you to spend money on other programs that in all reality are probably less important.” We don’t have enough money for Medicare. We don’t have enough money for Social Security, and we don’t have enough money for education. So how do you get more money for those things? You have to bring the costs down. What are the costs? And how can they be brought down?

It is the drunks that are calling me radical. They look at me with glazed over eyes and a mantra they have accepted through talking points given to them during the party. And since the hosts of the party have more value to the drunks enjoyment than what I’ve been saying, once drunk, they are left to only call me names because their logic is no longer with them.

But when the party is over, they’ll be the first to vomit and cry out for someone to help their headache. And when that happens, I won’t help them. It was their poor planning that led them to drink themselves silly, and dehydrate themselves to such an extent that their overall health in now in jeopardy. And the value of such a lesson learned is much more valuable than the relief they’d gain from my charity. And such a hang over is the result of this election. They cry out for more funding, or more to drink so the pain can go away. But I’m not giving them any. Because for the benefit of their own sustained health, they need to work through the head ache.

Rich Hoffman

www.NoLakotaLevy.com

My “Little” Problem: Progressive Public Affairs Consultant Openly Lies to the Media

A story of manipulation from David P. Little.

The below press release is a typical campaign assassination attempt that has led our nation into bankruptcy. People like David P. Little make their entire livelihoods manipulating the facts and shaping the opinions of the voting public. In this letter Little shows how “little” he truly knows. For instance, and I’ll go into greater detail at the end of this essay, he denigrates tea party types as using simplistic language, where in reality, most tea party types are more sophisticated and currently read much more than the typical public employee. So to use terms to attempt to reduce public perception of tea party types is to confuse his own political opinions with facts which he presents below as truth, when in fact they are only the opinions of a man with limited understanding.

So without any further delay, enjoy the below Press Release from David P Little.  You can listen to Darryl Parks reading the press release along with my appearance on his show by clicking on the video below. 

 

 

From: DPLITTLE [mailto:dplittle@fuse.net]
Sent: Friday, October 22, 2010 9:24 AM
To: David P. Little
Subject: Bullwhipping Quality Education in Butler County

Dear Friend of Public Education,

Every year opponents of adequate funding for public education become more vocal and hostile to the historic mission of public education in America. Each election season our schools are reduced to pleading for support from constituencies that are being told that we should abandon our traditional system of public education and institute more private or unregulated for-profit charter schools without elected boards or genuine accountability to the citizenry.

It is clear that the simplistic language and tactics of tea party type enthusiasts are now being utilized in these battles; this is reason enough for their efforts to be strongly and consistently opposed. So I write to invite you to join us—now.

This year these perennial battles feature a wealthy businessman in the Lakota School District of Butler County who is intent on bullwhipping our educational system by withholding all financial support and making hostages of the students and staff in these institutions.

Pretending he is Buffalo Bill while flailing with dueling enflamed leather whips, Lakota levy opponent leader, Rich Hoffman, a wealthy businessman and anti-government activist, is leading the attack on a school system which is the envy of many across the region, widely known for opportunity and excellence.

Using hostile talk radio and YouTube video as vehicles, Hoffman and other levy opponents are intent on bullwhipping the administration, teachers, and the thousands of students and family members that depend of the Lakota Public Schools. While pretending that he inhabits a wild west show, steeped in pioneer values and individualism, Hoffman presents Confederate battle flags in his videos and ignores the fact that public education was among the very first accomplishments of all frontier settlements in the United States and remains the steadfast goal and anchor of all quality communities.

Please review the links below for additional information and details of how you can assist in the fight against opponents of quality education in our region. Battles such as this impact the success of public education in all of our communities and disinformation of this variety must be opposed with energy equal to the task.

Thank you,

David P. Little

David P. Little
Public Affairs/Political Consultant
207 Woolper Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45220
Cellular: 513.477.2651
dplittle@fuse.net

Now Mr. Little, its time for some facts about your note; public education was not “organized” during the foundation of the country. We had public education, but the organized portion of public education started with 4 employees during 1847 in Ohio. The OEA officially formed in the early 1900’s ahead of the NEA. You are confused when you assume that public education must involve organized labor. The fact that you associate those two issues together means you cannot understand how to solve the problem. Frontier towns made the teacher a central part of the town’s foundation, as they should be. But organized collective bargaining is an entirely different matter. This is the problem since you need help understanding the difference.

I’m not pretending to be Buffalo Bill. He had a beard. Do I have a beard? I’m Rich Hoffman, and there’s only one of me. Buffalo Bill was Buffalo Bill. Do you understand that? Or is it too difficult?  I’ll make it easy for you.  Buffalo Bill is in the old photo.  I put my wife in the one with me in it.  That way you can see the difference.  (I was chewing my food)

You mention that I use confederate flags in my videos. You use that term in a plural sense, when in fact confederate flags appear in only one of my videos, one that was shot at a Wild West Arts event, where confederate flags, pirate flags, and American flags are very common. In those events, the confederate flag does not represent slavery the way people like you that have perpetuated as progressive ideas that have moved through our culture. In the Wild West groups, those flags celebrate history, and the Civil War is important in reflection because our country grew as a result. But in my video, the flags are flying in the wind on one of the vendors booths at the site. Confederate Flags are quite common in Gatlinburg, Tennessee as well, and are part of southern culture which I happen to like. But saying that doesn’t automatically mean I’d ever endorse slavery, quite the opposite. If slavery existed today in the United States, I’d be against it with the same voracity that I protest school levies. The trouble with you is that you are seeking to make an issue of that, as if it somehow reflects racism, which is a typical progressive strategy. When they can’t win an argument, they just call people names and hope it sticks. It’s kind of like throwing darts in the dark and hoping they hit a target. So you completely misrepresented that one video, and there certainly aren’t any plural videos.

You used the word pretending twice. I’m not doing any pretending, David. I have video of some of the Wild West Events I’ve been in. And they are steeped in pioneer values and individualism. There’s no pretending about it. Or maybe you don’t understand what the word pretend means.

Is this pretending?

And it’s not always western arts. Sometimes it’s just doing stunt work, or stand in work for contemporary films. https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/09/25/bullwhip-consultant-on-films/

Hey, and the firewhips are specially made with Kevlar. If they were leather, they’d burn, and I couldn’t reuse them. But I’ll give you a pass on that. Doing so much desk work like you have, I wouldn’t expect you to know that.

And I, or none of the people I know who are against tax levies want to withhold all support and hold students and staff hostage. The trouble is, organized labor has attached itself to our children and it is difficult to remove those elements because the organized labor is a radical system that threatens to destroy our children if we don’t give them more money. That is why one of the first cuts is busing in order to pass a levy. In Lakota they have a budget of over $160 million dollars. So that is not withholding all funds as you’ve stated above.

Now you had a six paragraph letter, and you told 4 complete fabrications of the truth in the whole body of that document. The only reality of those statements is in your own mind, but yet you wrote them down and sent that information out to many important people as though it was truth. Very, very, very irresponsible. And what disinformation specifically have we pointed out in the No Campaign? And what action are you calling for in that letter? Violence? You said the word fight. That means violence to me. And none of us are against quality education. We’re businessmen. We expect results, and we expect quality. But we are against the way organized labor has driven the budget to the level it currently is. We see it as the fault of your clients and your personal philosophy that has irresponsibly spent themselves into crises. And we also blame the same for hiding that irresponsibility behind our children. These radical slanders from your side will not be tolerated unchecked.

And let me take issue with your very first paragraph. You say, and I quote “Each election season our schools are reduced to pleading for support from constituencies.” Excuse me? These are public employees. They have to make a case for their existence. Yes. That’s a fact of life. But you’re term about being reduced to pleading states that you believe the people you represent are somehow entitled, and are therefore above the taxpayer. You forget who your boss is. And David, because you do so much work for politicians, you also work for the taxpayer.

I did a little checking on you.

David Little’s Experience
Strategist & Communications
DPL Political Consulting Services
(Public Relations and Communications industry)
January 1993 — Present (17 years 10 months)
Public Policy/Political Consultant
David P. Little, Consulting Services
(Public Relations and Communications industry)
March 1987 — Present (23 years 8 months)
INDEPENDENT PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONSULTING EXPERIENCE:

• Regional Director Statewide Campaigns /Media Consultant; Four Ohio constitutional offices including Governor, Attorney General, Auditor, and Secretary of State

• Five U. S. Congressional Campaigns; Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky; Campaign Director and/or strategist; Responsible for strategic planning, issue briefing and development, press relations, issue development, opposition research, campaign publications, select speech writing and intensive debate coaching

• Reform Ohio Now Campaign, Southern Ohio Director Constitutional Ballot Initiative; Managed regional office and activities, volunteer staff, and media relations as part of a statewide seven million dollar ballot initiative to reform elections, redistricting, and campaign financing in Ohio

• Natural Resources Defense Council; Washington, D.C. (2008) Year long legislative climate change/global warming assignments in conjunction with M+R Strategic Consultants, New York & Cleveland, Ohio

• Alliance of American Insurers, Chicago, Illinois; Developed and implemented rapid-response media strategy and maintained political/legislative relations in New York, New Jersey, & Pennsylvania

• ProgressOhio.org, Columbus, Ohio; Three year staff retainer with numerous press spokesperson assignments, State Capitol and statewide media events for environmental, social justice, multiple other clients

• Americans United for Change; Washington, D.C. Statewide press events & public Issue development political education efforts in Ohio (2006) AFL-CIO & related organizational financing of assignments

• Healthcare Leadership Council; Washington, D.C.; Midwest Field Director; Represented coalition of 50 healthcare industry CEO’s on national healthcare legislation. Created and maintained relations with Governors, Congress, business allies, editorial boards, and U.S. Senatorial tours

So what do you mean by fight, David P. Little? I’m just a guy that doesn’t want to see taxes increased. I see you, and your side with a hand out, with a lack of business understanding, and with a political agenda that I’d consider dangerous to the country I live in. And you better think hard about whether or not you want a fight with me.

Rich Hoffman

www.NoLakotaLevy.com

A Two Month Drama, The Battle of the Lakota Levy

A Chronology of the No Lakota School Levy Campaign,

New article in the Enquirer:

Lakota Schools basically got caught inflating the deficit numbers. They’ve changed the projected deficits three times since April. First at $28 million, second at $10 million, and now it’s down to $4 million.

What this means is that when pressed, the School System found ways to cut their costs without impacting the service to the customer, the community. Just think what they could do if they could bring their wages and benefits down to what everyone else was making, instead of the inflated wage the education profession expects now.

Check out that Enquirer article here.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20101016/NEWS0102/10170339/1196/NEWS/Lakota-deficit-estimates-muddy-levy

There has been so much that has occurred over the last 8 weeks regarding the No Lakota Campaign, I thought I would put all that information in one place, so everyone has easy access to it. It would be impossible to put a link to every article here, but I must regulate it to just the key points.

• Here is the big one, the release of the top wage earners at Lakota, which exhibits why they have a financial crisis they imposed on themselves by lack of discipline.

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/pay-rates-for-top-434-teachers-at-lakota-schools/

• This is the first visit to WLW’s Scott Sloan Show where we reveled to most of the Midwest why Lakota and other school systems are drowning by their expenditures.

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/rich-hoffman-and-dave-varney-visit-the-scott-sloan-show-on-wlw/

• This was the second visit to WLW, this time to Darryl Parks show on the following Saturday.

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/09/26/wlw-on-saturday-september-25th/

• To put things in perspective for much of the mail I was getting, from people who obviously don’t understand basic economics, I did a video which was featured on The Blaze.com, using a bullwhip trick I knew to explain the problem of public sector employees getting in the way of private sector needs.

http://www.theblaze.com/blog/2010/09/04/a-whip-trick-to-save-america/

• After seeing the video I did for The Blaze.com, The Enquirer did a story about my metaphor of using bullwhips to describe cutting unneeded costs from public budgets.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100922/NEWS0102/9230322/Man-wants-to-whip-proposed-levy

• After all the positive coverage, which came because the group I’m working with had brought up truly legitimate questions that seldom get asked, or dealt with in the press, the Pro Levy people decided to attack the largest voice that had helped us ask those basic questions. As usual with public employees, they seek to silence anyone that questions them. “They use the squeaky wheel gets the grease” trick and hope if they yell loud enough they can silence any criticisms leveled in their direction. This is the standard organized strategy using The Delphi Technique in order to build consensus among voters. Lucky for us, 700 WLW had the guts to stick with the story.

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/pro-lakota-group-threaten-wlw-radio/

• Due to the request of many of the Pro Levy people who started to see the error of their own view points, I published a budget idea so they could see that there were actually options to what the school system had been telling them.

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/lakota-budget-plan/

• Then I published the numbers of how much the State of Ohio had cut from Lakota and reviewed the previous levy attempt in May of 2010.

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/09/26/lakota-levy-but-wait-we-just-did-this/

• And I summed up the situation involving all parties involved in the Lakota School Levy.

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/the-lakota-school-levy-and-the-infamy-of-bad-decisions/

• We received a letter from a person that is very much against the school levy that has children in the school system. I published it here to remind everyone why fighting this levy was important.

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/10/02/why-fight/

• Here I show a collection of interviews that show that Lakota should have seen the financial crises coming, but did not act in time to avert any potential trouble. Instead of dealing with the true problems, they reverted to just asking the tax payers of the community for more money.

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/a-financial-crises-just-doesnt-happen-lakota-should-have-seen-it/

• The Pro People went on the Scott Sloan show to try to refute everything the No Levy people, and specifically, I had been saying. What ended up happening was Scott Sloan read the Lakota Teachers contract on the air, which proved to be indefensible.

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/the-power-of-the-big-one-scott-sloan-reads-the-lakota-teacher-contract/

• By popular request, I did another whip trick video to explain the difference in budgets from what a Yes vote gives the district, and what a No vote gives, and why establishing a budget amount is important.

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/bullwhip-economics-pubic-versus-private-sector-the-lakota-school-system/

• At the Lakota School Board Meeting on October 11th, 2010 the No Lakota Levy people showed up in force to speak out against the levy in front of the board. Virtually no Pro Support people showed up to speak in favor of an indefensible and audacious levy increase to impose upon an economically ravaged community.

https://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/10/15/the-lakota-school-board-meeting-3-weeks-before-the-election/

• Some kids were caught trying to steal our No Lakota signs which point to a larger, more organized attempt to steal away the opposition’s message in order to sneak the tax through with uninformed voters.

http://www.fox19.com/Global/story.asp?S=13305856

  • Here I am on WLW again to discuss the sign theft and other dirty tricks that have occurred.

Rich Hoffman

www.NoLakotaLevy.com

Don’t Drink the Lakota Kool-Aid

I continue to hear this preposterous notion that people should vote for this Lakota School Levy in order to preserve the value of their home.  That comment, which seems to be the only argument left by the Pro Levy people, is in my view one of the most selfish, and uneducated statements someone could make. 

What we’ve learned over the last two months is this: the levy is about preserving very lucrative teacher contracts that extend to large state wide and national unions.  They’ve made themselves so large and powerful, a local school board can no longer deal with the influence yet we are expected to pay locally as though our school system is still community run.  This levy is NOT about children.  It’s about money and security.  Nobody wants or expects teachers to work for free.  It is excessive to have an average salary of over $60,000 per year plus benefits!  That’s called mismanaging the budget.  If a single teacher gets cut, or a bus doesn’t pick up a child, it’s by choice to protect very inflated wages and benefits.  It’s all about money and union influence, nothing more. 

Second we’ve learned that the deficit numbers have went down over the last 6 months.  They started at $28 million, and then were at $10 million, and now they’re at $4.2 million.  What that means is that once people pull up their boot straps, good people can accomplish a lot, and that’s what the No Levy People have been trying to say all along.  

And lastly we’ve seen what Pro Levy People are willing to do to win.  They’ll steal signs.  They’ll threaten large radio stations, and they’ll call people names who step up and point out what should be obvious. 

If the people who move to Liberty Twp, and West Chester only move here for the schools then they’re as shallow and selfish as the real estate agents who are more concerned about their own pockets then the health of the community. 

Don’t buy the Kool-Aid the Pro People are selling.  Visit us at NoLakotaLevy.com for the facts. 

Rich Hoffman

www.NoLakotaLevy.com

The Lakota School Board Meeting, 3 weeks Before the Election

There was a School Board meeting for the Lakota’s Administration on Monday, October 11th. Normally, three weeks before a major election, there is a lot of emotion and many people show up for these things to voice their opinion. Many of us from the No Lakota Group spoke. There were a few that spoke in favor of Issue 2, but overwhelmingly, the voices came out against the levy.
Since none of the papers covered this overwhelming discrepancy, I invite you to view the speeches here. The public portion of the meeting begins at the74 minute mark. I am the second speaker of many that spoke out against the Lakota School Levy.

Enjoy the speeches and remember to VOTE NO on Issue 2 on November 2nd.  Click on the below link to see them. 

http://www.lakotaonline.com/videos.cfm?vID=5617

Rich Hoffman

www.NoLakotaLevy.com