DISCUSSION: DID "THE REP" DEAL A BLOW TO STARK COUNTY EDUCATION ON THE "MRDD" LEVY ISSUE?

The STARK EDUCATION REPORT (The Report) has learned that some Stark County school officials are privately saying that The Repository's refusal to endorse the March, 2008 MRDD levy issue was the reason it lost and may cause huge economic damage to non-MRDD Stark County school districts.

The thinking among area school officials must be that if MRDD cannot get its financial house in-order, the financial burden will ultimately shift to each of the 17 Stark County school districts.

Costs for providing MRDD-like services are much more expensive than services that schools normally provide students in their respective communities.

The Report believes that the editors at The Rep were so focused on the MRDD financial picture, they did not see the elephant in the room - the potential adverse consequences that the MRDD levy defeat could have on the already financially strapped Stark County local school districts.

Although the school officials may be overstating the consequences of The Rep's failure to endorse (an 11,000 plus vote loss), theirs is a plausible assessment in a close election as this one was.

Just look at the defeats that Stark County school levies took in March. Can these districts afford to absorb the extraordinary costs of MRDD-esque services?

The Rep frequently admonishes others for being irresponsible in not looking at all the consequences of an action.

Question: Did The Rep Editorial Board act irresponsibly in not considering the probable adverse financial consequences of a MRDD levy defeat on the budgets of the 17 Stark County school districts?