My Philosophy

By Walter S. MacKay

Myself, my wife, and our three children (all Colerain graduates) all received a public school education. The quality education our children received from the Northwest School District enabled each of them to obtain a college degree; MIT, Depauw University, and Bowling Green State University. I owe this opportunity to the students now in our school district and those students who will follow. The keywords in my first statement above are "opportunity" and "financial resources". I feel in order for a student to take advantage of the "opportunity" there must be parental involvement. If the parent( s) do not see the benefits of a high school education this opportunity will be lost. The parent(s) must encourage their student to take advantage of obtaining a high school diploma. The importance of education begins in the home.

The other keywords "financial resources" will determine if the opportunity to obtain a quality education will continue in our district. The State of Ohio has failed to adequately fund public education. What our school community needs to know that if additional funding is not provided to our district, ultimately our district can be declared to be in a fiscal emergency by the State. If this occurs, the State will then take over the operation of our district. The Board of Education will be told what it can and cannot do in the operation of our district. Some of the things known to occur are as follows: (1) transportation will only be provided to students in grades K -8 who reside more than 2 miles from their school. Our district now provides transportation to students in grades K-8 who reside more than 1 mile from their school. Our district also now provides transportation in areas where it is deemed it is too dangerous for a student to walk to their school. For me to say, if elected, I will not cut transportation may be a pledge I can not keep if our district is taken over by the State. (2) Class sizes will be established by the State which usually means an increase, (3) Extra-curricular activities will be curtailed or eliminated or too costly to the student to participate. This is not limited to only athletics but all extra-curricular programs.