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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2008 > June > 29 > Entry
Check out Checker Finn’s rant
Former Daytonian Chester “Checker” Finn, Jr. wrote a rant for the Wall Street Journal that suggests he doesn’t get back to Ohio much. Sure, the state has a lot of problems. But he struggles to find anything positive going on.
Finn’s problem is that he spends too much time thinking only about Dayton’s public schools, which are in a world of hurt and trouble. But the state is bigger than its urban schools.
Finn is writing what The Wall Street Journal wants to hear and believe. It has bitterly criticized Sen. George Voinovich, former Gov. Bob Taft and Gov. Ted Strickland, all for not cutting spending and taxes enough.
Now Republican Ken Blackwell, on the other hand, there’s a politician the newspaper editorial page loved.
Finn would have been being more honest if he had just said that he and Strickland disagree on vouchers and charter schools, so, therefore, Finn is going to take any and every opportunity to attack him. And the WSJ is more than happy to provide the forum.
Watch and see if or how the Strickland administration fires back. Surely, they aren’t going to just take this.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Post your comment | Categories: Education
Comments
By bobby
June 30, 2008 12:53 PM | Link to this
Rant? What statement in his article isn’t true? The largest expenditures by the state are spent to take care of the poor and elderly. The largest employers in most of Ohio’s urban areas are nonprofit. The State of Ohio has some of the highest taxes relative to other states. Passionate disgust by a conservative is called ranting. Passionate disgust by a liberal is called DDN editorial writing.By Dave
June 30, 2008 7:20 PM | Link to this
Bobby, if you look up “rant” in a dictionary, you will find that Checker Finn’s article IS a rant. And so is your post.By H Gegel
July 1, 2008 8:31 AM | Link to this
“Checker” Finn is a former Daytonian who is an outspoken champion of Charter Schools — schools that siphon funds needed for operation of the public schools. Many of his schools are failing mostly because of poor management by non educators and parents who do not have education as a core value. Give Ohio a break Checker and visit Ohio to speak with Ohio’s Governor and Republican Legislators and Dayton’s elected School board.By Bobby
July 1, 2008 9:35 AM | Link to this
Thank you Dave. My post was a rant. Chester Finn was making a statement of fact.By Tom
July 3, 2008 6:59 PM | Link to this
You can massage statistics to fit whatever you want. However, Mr. Finn’s point was that one of the contributing factors in Ohio’s failure to attract new business is the high taxes. This is not a lie. The other factors are the pandering to unions and the inability to convert from a rust belt economy. Those are the facts whether DDN believes them or not.By Tom
July 3, 2008 7:00 PM | Link to this
You can massage statistics to fit whatever you want. However, Mr. Finn’s point was that one of the contributing factors in Ohio’s failure to attract new business is the high taxes. This is not a lie. The other factors are the pandering to unions and the inability to convert from a rust belt economy. Those are the facts whether DDN believes them or not.By Chester E. Finn, Jr.
July 5, 2008 2:30 PM | Link to this
I don’t believe readers of the Dayton Daily News or citizens of Dayton (or Ohio) are well served by Ellen Belcher’s, and the editorial page ‘s, effort to pigeonhole my commentary as a “rant” or their exclusive focus on the tiny bit of it that dealt with Ohio’s burden of state/local taxes. The Buckeye State is in grave economic and education difficulty and isn’t helped when its own opinion leaders prescribe soporifics. The original title of my piece (before the WSJ retitled it, as they always do)was “Wake Up, Ohio”. You can find it here in full: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121460691372812085.htmlBy bobby
July 9, 2008 4:59 PM | Link to this
Cnbc ranked America’s top states for business. Ohio ranks 30th.By bobby
August 5, 2008 10:56 AM | Link to this
Forbes.com states that Dayton is one of four cities in Ohio that are among the fastest dying cities. It is time for the editors at the DDN to acknowledge denial isn’t a river in Egypt. Time,unfortunately, will prove Mr. Finn correct.By null
August 5, 2008 11:10 AM | Link to this
Dayton is one of four Ohio cities that are the fastest dying in the USA according to Forbes.com. Mr. Finn was only stating the obvious.