why is it that people who live in Upper East cleveland heights have to pay for a school tax when they are not married or have any kids going to the schools? I think people who do have kids in the chuh district should have to front the bill. It is unfair for the single people with no kids to pay for those that do have kids. I will vote against it as many times as possible.

That's a really poor argument, Mike, and a very selfish way of looking at society and the greater good. We all benefit from strong public schools. That child who is getting an education may one day be your doctor or your accountant or take care of you in the nursing home. And we all pay for kids who don't get a good education in the increased costs of crime and incarceration. If only people who had children in schools had to shoulder the bill, education for all would be unaffordable and our entire society would suffer. This is why I believe that everyone should contribute equally to fund the schools — and unfortunately, for me, that includes people in luxurious expensive townhouses who have been given tax abatements. End those, and I WILL vote for it, although I too have no children. But we do need to have a serious discussion about the abatements. Absolving many of the wealthier citizens from carrying any of the burden is just wrong.

Just think about it. If we don.t try to pass this levy, we all will suffer in some kind of way.Isn't the next thing to get cut is extra curriculum activities along with our educators for the future. All I know is I have had enough of seeing children up and down coventry and around cain park just hanging out causing trouble!!! So on that note people please allow this levy to pass because this will be just once again but even worse what we will be dealing with all year round not just the summer!!!!!"CHILDREN HANGING OUT!!!!

When the County lowered real-estate valuation by 6% city-wide about a year ago, my property taxes did NOT go down. 1) Why not? 2) Will this tax be applied to my "lower" current value, or somehow apply to the previous value?

Mike, that's a question many have considered, including those who send their children to private schools and demand a tax credit since they're not using the public system. Here's my situation: I'm a gay man with no kids, I can't legally marry in Ohio, and get none of the tax credits that come with having children. So why should I pay ANY school taxes?

The answer is simple: I'm not paying for the eduction of kids in school now, I am retroactively paying back for my own education. That's why I support our public schools, and also why I decide whether to support a levy based on the merits of that particular request.

My dept. saw a 25% reduction in staff via layoffs and no sign of anyone being brought back. The voters where I work rejected a tax increase that would have raised their taxes but still would have put them in the lower 66% of income tax rates in this county and they (voters) are 3rd in per capita income levels in Cuyahoga County. My dept. has taken a wage freeze for 2 years AND had people I work with laid off, I'm not very sympathetic at this moment...Union member or not.

let me get this right; here come CHUH with their hand out again, like a kid who mis-spent his allowance; not too long ago, superintendents were getting 6-figure buy-outs when they really should've gone to jail for doing the things we try tell the kids not to; we are still paying for those buy-outs! on the other hand, rich folk have wheedled out of paying their fair share, via something called "abatements"; and now teachers are offered a $60,000 buy-out to retire!

and you have the utter nerve to come to me with another levy request, crying about how you'll have to cut back on services without it? how about let's cut back on staff, starting with school board seats!

do we really need every accountant, administrator, facilitator? why not make teachers' salaries performance-based like everyone in the real world?

if Johnny doesn't want to learn, too bad--somebody has to be captain of the ship, and in school its supposed to be the teachers, right? and can you blame Johnny, with a HS graduation rate that is lucky to see 50%, and many of them functionally illiterate?

we all know there are two high schools--one for those headed for college, another for the rest--which promotes frustration and so civil war between the two "classes" of students; how much of the levy is going to fix that?

as far as i'm concerned, CHUH, until you clean up your performance, NO MORE ALLOWANCE, just like my parents used to tell me;