Shady Exit of Youngstown’s Appointed School CEO Exemplifies the Failure of Ohio School Takeover Law
The future of Ohio’s state takeovers of so called “failing” school districts rests with the Ohio Senate.
On May 1, 2019, by an astounding bipartisan margin of 83/12, the Ohio House passed HB 154, to repeal Ohio’s failed school district takeover law. Then, just to ensure that the leadership crisis is stopped in the school districts of Youngstown and Lorain, the House banned state school district takeovers in its version of the state budget, passed last week.
On Monday of this week, however, the Columbus Dispatch editorialized to warn the Legislature not to rush to change HB 70. Ohio’s state school district takeover law, HB 70, was fast-tracked and passed without hearings at the end of the session in June of 2015. Under HB 70, Ohio brands any school district which has received three years of consecutive “F” grades on the state report card as academic distressed and subject to state takeover. The bill was designed in secret by then Governor John Kasich, his appointed state superintendent Dick Ross, and some business sector allies in Youngstown. The law provides that the state appoints an Academic Distress Commission to take over the district, a Commission that then appoints a CEO to manage the schools. The locally elected school board continues to exist, but its sole power is to decide when to place a local school levy on the ballot. The CEO has the power to override the teachers’ contract.
In its editorial this week, the Dispatch asks the Legislature to slow down and take plenty of time to study what to do about low-scoring school districts: “Four years after Ohio lawmakers approved a sweeping school takeover law they knew almost nothing about, agreement seems widespread that it is a gigantic failure. Now, as they scramble to replace it, they should avoid making the same mistake again… Change clearly is needed; takeovers of the Youngstown, Lorain and East Cleveland districts have yielded immense controversy and virtually no academic improvement. But the House approach seems designed to avoid any pain—and probably any gain—with more options than requirements. It generally would leave in charge CONTINUE READING: Shady Exit of Youngstown’s Appointed School CEO Exemplifies the Failure of Ohio School Takeover Law | janresseger