OFT’s IRS Letter About White Hat Garners Press, Bloggers’ Attention
Friday, March 28th, 2008
The CEA Blog wrote a post about the Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT) who wrote a letter to the IRS, asking for an investigation of Akron-based White Hat Management’s 503 (c) tax-exempt status. The management firm operates numerous “Life Skills Centers” and “Hope Academies” in three states, pulling in an estimated $85 million annually in tax dollar revenue in Ohio alone.
News outlets and bloggers have begun to write as well discuss recent developments. Highlights are below, after the jump.
Grammy award winning musical jack-of-all-trades Tom Chapin and songwriting partner John Forster aim their guitar and songwriting skills at satirizing No Child Left Behind and the testing mania that has engulfed the nation. “Not On The Test” is available for free download with the lyrics 
The CEA Blog would like to wish everyone a happy, safe and restful spring break. Some recent highlights from around the edu-blogosphere: merit pay for wardens at prisons, students engaging in civil disobedience, using mixed numbers in real life, and the achievement gap between college basketball teams participating in March Madness.
The recent campaign launched by the Center For Union Facts (CUF) has wrongly placed the highly qualified and hard-working teachers of the Columbus Education Association in its crosshairs with the release of its anti-teacher smear campaign. 
As a middle-school Pre-Algebra and Algebra I teacher, I strongly agree with the teachers’ concerns expressed in the Feb. 13 Dispatch article “Teachers disgruntled over volume of tests.” However, some of the information was incomplete or inaccurate.
All unions in both the private and public sectors nationwide face an increasingly steep uphill battle each time they sit down at the table with management to renegotiate their contracts. Issues that involve union members include decent raises, maintaining core job benefits like quality health care and affordable prescription drug coverage, assuring job security, securing pensions and beating back attacks on our unions, including restrictions on collective bargaining rights, legislatively imposed merit-pay systems and paycheck protection schemes.
Your Association is a founding member of the Teacher Union Reform Network (TURN). This independent union-led effort strengthens the national unions’ capacity to promote reforms. The ultimate goal is better learning and higher achievement for America’s children. Unions are in a unique position to stimulate change.
The Columbus Board of Education ratified the one-year extension of the contract with the Columbus Education Association. The one-year deal includes a 2.5% raise, continuation of funding for the Gainsharing and PAS programs and no changes in insurance for bargaining unit members. At a mass meeting on Monday, Association members overwhelmingly ratified the proposed agreement. The Columbus Board of Education’s unanimous vote in favor of the contract extension officially begins the negotiations process to a close.
The Columbus Board of Education passed a resolution at their most recent meeting that designates Linmoor Middle and Indianola and Medary Elementary schools as swing spaces and leases Kent, Linden Park and Second Avenue elementary schools to third parties which include two charters. The resolution also slates Pinecrest and Scioto Trail elementary schools for demolition and designates Wayne Elementary School for district storage.