Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

In every other aspect of economic life, we have the power to decide. We decide where to shop, where to eat, where to enjoy our leisure time, and where to invest our money. But when it comes to education, we have little to no choice. We can't even decide which teachers would be best for our kids, thanks to a powerful teachers' union. We can't decide how our schools will be run. We have to wait for the BOE to decide what to put on a ballot, and then our only ''choice'' is to approve or reject it, with consequences for rejecting it. This runs counter to a free-market economy.

We do have a few other choices available to us if we are unhappy. We can move into another school district; we can enroll our kids in private schools; or we can take our kids out of the school system altogether and homeschool them. All of these options are expensive, and do nothing to correct a flawed system.

Our entire country is struggling with this system. For being the greatest country in the world, our kids' test scores are abysmal when compared to those of other industrialized nations, especially Asian countries. We can be proud of the Pickerington school system because we have an ''Excellent'' rating, but it is ''Excellent'' compared to what? It's almost like being proud to be the best of the worst. Continuing on with the system we've got is only going to give us more of the same.

We can't continue to prop up a system that continues to ask for more yet delivers so little with respect to preparing our kids to compete in a global economy.

Our method for funding schools has been repeatedly declared unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court, but nothing has changed. We can't continue to throw money at a problem, close our eyes, and hope for the best.

We are at a crossroads. We can be innovators or we can be sheep. It's great that people ask questions. Only then will we start to find answers.

Build more schools

Choice is what you make of it.

Although I have no children in the Pickerington Schools I have though for a look time about much of the business being conducted in Pickerington evolves around education. We have a huge Catholic Church in the area and I also assume they have members wanting a good education fro their children as well. I believe there is an even larger group of Lutherans in the areas just judging by the number and size of their churches.


Has anyone associated with these religions groups ever considered asking these churches to establish their NEW church schools here in Pickerington?

Granted they are tax exempt.

However they do take the load off of the Pickerington Schools.

The employees most would be college educated would pay income taxes.

They also take up land mass that can?’t have new homes built on them.


They could buy up some of the already approved and platted lands

What About Taxes?

I'm not sure what your point is that choice is what we make of it. We are limited in our choices as far as education goes. Granted, people can put their kids in religious schools, but they will still be paying taxes to the Pickerington school district. Why wouldn't the tax money follow the kids? And why should choice be only for the wealthy?

Why does the state control education anyway?

There is an article in today's Dispatch about the state of education today. Here is a quote from the article:

WASHINGTON ?— A national survey released today concludes that nearly 40 percent of recent high-school graduates said their education did not provide them with skills expected by colleges or employers.

You can slice and dice it all you want, but we are quickly losing edge internationally as far as education goes. Building more schools to warehouse our kids isn't the answer.

No free lunch

''We do have a few other choices available to us if we are unhappy. We can move into another school district; we can enroll our kids in private schools; or we can take our kids out of the school system altogether and homeschool them. All of these options are expensive, and do nothing to correct a flawed system.''

There is no free lunch...and no correction to the flawed system on the horizon in the short term even long term in fact things will get worse in my opinion. At this point, you have to do the best you can with the hand that you are dealt or devote you life to changing it. Please understand that if you attempt to change it.... your children will grow, use the system and be out of it before you will make any impact....this is a reality that is shared by all Ohioans and indeed many people in our nation.

By all means ask questions, and propose alternatives but realize that you must devote a portion of your time to navigating the current system and getting the best out of it for your child, that is your responsibility as a parent. The thirteen years your child will spend in school here or wherever will go by in an instant, that may be hard to believe now, but mark my words, you will remember them.

Providing the best that you can for your child will involve sacrifices you cannot even begin to imagine, not the least of which will be more taxes and fees.