Nate Riggs: Social Business Strategies; communication, social web strategies, & passion in Columbus, Ohio.

If you haven’t guessed, this focus this week has been on innovative people in Ohio.

Solid education produces the minds who will be the innovators of tomorrow, right?  But education is so much more than just going to class.  Education is about providing a total experience that provides students the opportunities they need to figure out what they can be, and how they will get there.  My friend Jim Brochowski sums up this idea in a very eloquent post he wrote back in May.  Jim has kids, and lives in the Southwestern City School District.

In a perfect world, education would be free.  Guess what? We don’t in a perfect world, and unfortunately it costs some real dollars to keep teachers paid, programs funded and schools in operation.

EPIC FAIL
This week in Central Ohio, voters in the Southwestern City Schools District failed a second attempt to pass Issue 2, a much needed operating levy.  The failure confirms that there will be no extra circular activities for students during the course of the 2009-2010 school year.  Bummer.  No high school football this fall.  No music programs.  Shorter operating hours.  And what’s worse, more potential layoffs and reduced hours for educators.  You get the picture.  This is bad for everyone.

(I want to make this clear: this is NOT an attack on the good people working for Southwestern City Schools. I support you and your district, and the efforts you made to get this levy passed.  This is my opinion on the long term implications of the failed levy, that has denied your district the funding you so desperately need to keep doing your jobs.)

To those of you who voted against the operating levy, have you taken time to think about what your “NO” vote just did?  Here are some things you should probably think about.  (Props to WBNS 10TV in Columbus for great reporting on the whole ordeal.)

• Kids in the Southwestern District will now be scammed out of there total educational experience.
• Seniors who were in line for possible athletic or theater or even music scholarships are leaving to go elsewhere in hopes that they can still show there skills.
• Residents in the Southwestern District should keep an eye on their property value.  A struggling school system could effect the value of your home.
• The levy reportedly failed by an “unofficial” margin of 546 votes.  That means that it was close to a 50/50 split.  Either way you look at it, half of voters in the district are pretty upset at the outcome.  It seems that the Southwestern City School District community is now “unofficially” divided.
• Selling your house in the Southwestern City School District just got even more difficult. Again, why would any young couple or family, looking to take advantage of the tax credit, want to buy a home in a struggling school district?

And then there’s the educators, who are all stricken with fear, uncertainty and doubt about whether or not they will have jobs in the next few months.  FUD kills moral.  I won’t be surprised if the FUD surrounding more potential layoffs will cause the best and brightest teachers and administrators to look elsewhere for more solid opportunities

Frankly, I think this whole situation is sad, and anyone who puts a few tax dollars before giving kids the opportunity to grow and learn and experience needs to run a gut check their values.

In a future post, I want to share some ideas on how pro voters in the Southwestern City district might rally together and start using new media tools to build awareness for their cause.   Hopefully, with the right approach, supporters of the levy will have a loud enough voice help the issue pass the third time around.

Photo credit: Citizens for Southwestern City Schools