Featured Article
St. Johnsbury Academy
By David Kirkpatrick
Two recent commentaries
presented overviews of longstanding successful school voucher programs
in Maine and Vermont. This issue takes another look at
probably the most outstanding individual example of the results of such
a program, the St. Johnsbury Academy (SJA) in the Vermont town of the
same name. This was first done on November 6, 2006.
At that time Bruce E. Buxton, headmaster of the Falmouth Academy in
Massachusetts was cited as saying SJA is both "a cutting edge voucher
school," and "arguably the most complex high school in Americas and
certainly the most original and dynamic." It might be noted
that Buxton not only heads his own school but is listed on the board of
SJA so he has first-hand knowledge for his observation.
Featured Event
in conjunction with
The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions
THE FINANCIAL CRISIS: CAUSES & CURES
Athletic Club of Columbus
136 East Broad Street, Columbus
Please join the
Columbus Lawyers Chapter of the
Federalist Society on Thursday, January 29 at noon at the Athletic Club
for a lunchtime discussion on the current Financial Crisis:
Causes and Cures. What triggered the crisis? Is the
Obama stimulus plan a good idea? What lessons can be
learned? And what precautions should have been taken?
Debating this timely subject will be Ohio University Professor of
Economics Richard Vedder, an expert in the areas of economic history,
public policy and labor economics, and John Carroll University Adjunct
Professor of Economics John Burke, a partner in Burke, Rosen & Associates, a Cleveland-based forensic and litigation consulting
firm. Capital University Professor of Law Brad Smith will
serve as moderator.
Please join us from noon until 1:15 p.m. on January 29th for this engaging program. The cost is $20.00 ($5.00 for students). Members and non-members alike are always welcome. RSVP to Will Kamb at willkamb@hotmail.com or 614-507-3057. Pay at the door or in advance by cash or by check (to "The Federalist Society," P.O. Box 1434, Columbus, Ohio 43216-1434).
Medicaid Spending a Growing Problem
The Cincinnati Enquirer
reports,
"Ohio's Medicaid spending has doubled since the mid-1990s - and though
it has leveled off in recent years, the federally-subsidized health
program for the state's most vulnerable residents continues to gobble
up about 40 percent of Ohio's $25 billion-a-year budget."
In
Ohio Should Follow
Florida's Lead on Medicaid,
Director of the Buckeye Institute's Center for Health Care Policy writes,
"The problems of Medicaid are widespread, severe and rapidly worsening.
Medicaid, created almost as an afterthought to Medicare in 1965, is now
the largest health plan in the U.S. Financed by federal funds along
with state money, its growth rate is unsustainable and threatens to
place most state budgets, including Ohio's, in a precarious position.
Just as serious are the major quality issues that plague the program.
No one in the U.S. receives worse health care on average than Medicaid
beneficiaries."
Bold Step Needed to Help State Economy
According to the The Columbus Dispatch, "The indicators suggest a daunting challenge. Take jobs, which experts call the best measure of an economy's health: Ohio has lost 111,600 since Strickland took office in 2007, and the state unemployment rate, which hit a 22-year high of 7.8 percent in December, has been above the nation's rate the entire time."
In
A Proposal to Eliminate
Ohio's Personal Income Tax,
Buckeye Institute adjunct scholar Eric Fisher writes,
"Ohio's economy is anemic, ranking near the bottom of most lists on job
creation, new investment and business climate. The state, not
surprisingly, is also ranked among the most heavily taxed. It's time
for Ohio policymakers to consider dramatic steps to reverse its
long-term decline by creating an investment friendly business climate.
Abolishing the state income tax, while politically bold, should be near
the top of their agenda."
A Fresh Idea for School Finance
"Gov. Ted Strickland said he'd tackle Ohio's long-running school funding problem on his own timetable. According to his office, that time will come at noon Wednesday, Jan. 28, when Strickland delivers his third State of the State address to a joint session of the Ohio General Assembly," according to the Dayton Daily News.
In
A Child-Centered
Solution to School Finance in Ohio, Buckeye
Institute fellow Brian Gottlob
writes,
"Educating
children is not the same as directly funding school systems. A
child-centered school finance policy that supports the choices of
parents can create higher-quality schools and more equality in the
educational opportunities available to children. The only way to ensure
that all children have the same educational opportunities and equal
resources to obtain them and at the same time create powerful
incentives to improve school performance, is to adopt a
student-centered school funding system."
Buckeye
Institute in the News
The Columbus Dispatch quoted Buckeye Institute fellow Sam Staley in a story on the upgrade of I-70/71 in Columbus.
WHIO-TV and the News-Herald ran stories that mentioned the Buckeye Institute's database on Ohio State University's highest salaries.
The Buckeye Institute's proposal for a child-centered school finance system was mentioned in a Cleveland Plain Dealer story on Governor Strickland's education reform options.
The Hillsboro Times Gazette published Marc Kilmer's op-ed on SCHIP.
