In order to take a stand for school funding reform, Van Wert High School teacher Tracey Smith and 23 of her Advanced Placement Psychology students, along with Van Wert Middle School teacher Bonnie Thatcher, traveled to Columbus on May 9, 2006 to speak with members of the Ohio legislature.

Students arrived in Columbus at 10 a.m. for a meeting with Senator Lynn Wachtmann.

“It was interesting,” Senior Jigna Patel said. “I wasn’t really into school funding before I came here and listened to what Wachtmann had to say.  He had good points but I didn’t agree with everything he said.”

While VWHS psychology students have been campaigning for reforms in school funding, Wachtmann holds more conservative views.  One important topic covered in the conference was the issue of charter schools.

“I support charter schools—I don’t think monies belong to any school system, but to taxpayers.  We may need to look at state schools and see if charter schools live up to standards of public schools,” Wachtmann said.
Wachtmann also expressed his ideas against teacher’s unions and school budgets.

“I’m glad Wachtmann took the time to talk to us,” Junior Noor Hamdi said.  “It’s nice to know his stand on issues, even if I don’t agree with him.  It’s comforting to know that he knows what he’s talking about.”

Students spent their three hours at the statehouse with a professional lobbyist named Darold Johnson. Johnson coordinated the group’s meetings with not only Wachtmann, but also with several Democratic politicians.  Students met with Barbara Sykes, candidate for State Auditor; Tom Mooney, President of the Ohio Federation of Teachers; and Representative Kenneth Carano, a proponent of school funding reform.

Mooney held a discussion with students about the proposed CORE curriculum bill, which would require all high school students to take more coursework to graduate with a full diploma.  New curriculum would mandate four years of math through Algebra II; three years of laboratory science, including chemistry, physics, and biology; and two years of a foreign language.  Students voiced concerns about problems they saw with the proposal, including how schools would be able to pay for these new regulations if they were put in place.

Sykes and Carano both spoke to students with an important message: Vote!

“This is your government, your opportunity, your voice to be heard,” Sykes said. Carano, a former high school teacher and university professor, agreed. “Politics runs everything in your life. Everything.  Eighteen-year-olds, when the voting age was lowered, were very important in government,” Carano said. He encouraged this generation of voters to become just as influential.

After speaking with Mooney, Sykes, and Carano, students visited the Senate Democratic caucus meeting and were introduced to the politicians there.  After a brief introduction, students boarded the bus again and headed back home.

Students were optimistic about the experience. “I wish we could have stayed longer to hear more people’s opinions,” Junior Cody Zeigler said.  “I think it was a lot more interesting than I expected.  I thought we’d get led on by a lot of politicians but we got to talk to them, and they gave us their actual opinions.”

Smith took Sociology students on a similar trip to Columbus last year. “Last year was more interesting because we actually got to testify,” Hamdi, who also went on last year’s trip, said. Students testified at a meeting that worked on restructuring Ohio’s budget.  The Ohio budget is rewritten every two years.

The trip was made possible through a grant from the Rural Trust for Education. “The Rural Trust for Education provides teachers who study civic issues in rural communities with money to further engage students in civic activity,” Smith said.  “We received a grant to travel to the statehouse and subs for teachers while they were gone; we also received a grant for some phantom revenue printing we did in October, and public relations between students and the community.”

Smith and her students plan to continue working to inform community members and other students on civic issues. “Next year we’ll have to see what the community will allow us to do,” Smith said.  “We may move away from funding issues and look at legislative issues and how they impact students.”

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