Thursday, May 06, 1999
School board objects to new spending
BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Teacher bonuses and 43 new jobs prompted complaints among Cincinnati Board of Education members Wednesday as Superintendent Steven Adamowski hashed out details of his 1999-2000 budget proposal.
Board members said spending is objectionable at a time when administrators are trying to trim $20 million after delaying a levy campaign until this fall.
The $360 million budget includes 43 new positions paid out of central office funds, instead of with per-pupil allocations.
Mr. Adamowski said 35 of those are school-based personnel — such as teachers, teaching assistants and therapists — who will directly serve special-education students. The others are curriculum supervisors, a charter schools manager and computer systems personnel.
The budget also includes more than $1 million in stipends for teachers who obtain master's degrees and complete other professional training. That allocation irritated board members who stressed that money should be spent only on items that can be directly linked to improving student achievement.
“How many light-years will it be before we reward performance rather than credentials?” board member Arthur Hull said.
Mr. Adamowski acknowledged that the district has never measured the efficacy of the Career-in-Teaching program, which rewards teachers who reach certain levels of training and tenure. That program will be evaluated, he promised.
Board member Harriet Russell also raised concerns about professional training. “It seems to me we're spending an awful lot of money on training and retraining teachers,” she said. “It's almost like we hired warm bodies rather than people.”
The board will hold a public hearing on the budget 5-6:30 p.m. May 17 at its headquarters, 2651 Burnet Ave., Corryville. Citizens can also speak out on the budget at 7 p.m. board meetings on May 10 and May 24. Both will be at district headquarters.
Police, public vent anger in City Hall
Amateur chef discovers true joy of cooking
Fountain's fixing is uncertain
UC drops controversial psychoses tests
Warren church rift behind sabotage?
7 firefighters injured
Family finds home taken by tornado
Mayor 2001: The race is on
Communications levy's defeat dismays officials
Parking bargains may be cut
Safe haven for children affected by AIDS
Water-taxi wait will take a year
Just 'one question' away from 'Jeopardy' fame
Miami students try to avoid trouble
Vaccine requirement stays
Registry would track cancer trends
School board considers four to fill vacant seat
School board objects to new spending
Nun helps disabled mesh lives
GET TO IT
Area congressmen ask for smog level upgrade
Bell's just the thing for new millennium, city decides
Boone planners to consider two housing developments
Casino is bait; center is hook
Cincinnati council dumps beauty-school plan
County debates budget
Defeat crushes school officials
Error forces Ohio Lottery offline briefly
Foundry site is likely for Butler jail
House OKs $18.2B for schools
Madeira allows fitness center
Madison hails win, polishes plan
Plea agreement reached with white separatist
Police and schools plan together to avoid crises like Littleton's
Police pick off pot patch early
Reward rises for leads in Mason rapes
Rooftop hop ends with return to jail
SWAT teams sharpen skills
top school jobs open
TRISTATE DIGEST
