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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > July > 26 > Entry
Editorial: Dayton lost; competition has to deliver
The Ohio Board of Regents has a tough, new policy when it comes to doling out money to special programs. Its competitive bidding rules send the message, “What doesn’t work won’t get funded.” That is the right attitude. Last week the new approach cost Dayton schools $730,000 and forced the ending of its adult basic literacy program. Superintendent Kurt Stanic said he was surprised by the cut and never got a good explanation for it. A spokesman for the regents said that a review of Dayton’s program showed it was far more costly and less effective than other programs. Money the state formerly spent with Dayton now goes to efforts in Kettering and at the Miami Valley Career Technology Center. The regents’ responsibility doesn’t end with this call. Now they must follow up and be certain they have chosen the right winners.
In this case, perhaps they have. Dayton’s program was incredibly costly. Consider that while Miami Valley CTC was spending about $200 per student, Dayton’s cost was $1,700. It’s hard to imagine how the expenses could be that different.
Mr. Stanic argues some of the reasons for higher costs make sense. Dayton deals with a tougher population, he said, with more than 400 adults served in the city. The district paid high rent to be at the Job Center because that was the best place to help people who need the services, Mr. Stanic said.
Also, Dayton’s program probably had more experienced, and therefore more expensive, staff. Mr. Stanic said his concern is that Dayton adults who need literacy services continue to get them.
“If they can serve the same amount of people for much lower costs, then I guess they were right,” he said. “Only time will tell. If they can, I have no argument.”
Mr. Stanic said he expects Dayton to bid again next year. He said with some feedback and lead time to address the state’s concerns, the district might have been able to acceptably reshape it, keeping the service going. Instead, Dayton school officials are now working to transition its students to the new programs.
There absolutely should be accountability and even competition for these sorts of programs. Going forward, the regents have a responsibility to see that the winning programs are not just cheaper, but that they are aggressively reaching out to a needy community they promised to serve — and succeeding.
If they do that, everybody wins.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: City of Dayton, Editorials, Education, Scott Elliott
Comments
By bobby
July 26, 2009 9:47 AM | Link to this
Wasn’t a former mayor of Dayton on the staff of the adult literacy program?By Skeptic
July 28, 2009 8:09 AM | Link to this
I agree with the notion of accountability. However, to effectively shut down a program without any notice is unfair. There is a lot of time and cost to starting a new operation, so once it is gone there is a distinct disincentive to start it again.