As feared, the Ohio legislature installed a CEO to take control of Youngstown’s public school. This move to eliminate local control is based on ALEC model legislation. It allows the governor to choose one person with dictatorial power to do whatever he or she wants.
What the CEO usually wants is to privatize public schools
“In a bold move that has the potential for booting teachers unions from schools, stripping local voters of their authority over their school districts and turning operations over to for-profit companies, the Ohio legislature introduced and passed legislation in a matter of hours with no opportunity for the public to deliver opposition testimony.
“The bill began innocuously in the House as an effort to help communities turn schools into comprehensive learning centers for the neighborhood. The bill passed from the House to the Senate a month ago with an overwhelming 92-6 vote.
“Almost everyone liked it — until Wednesday….
“The discussion centered on Youngstown, which has been guided by an academic distress commission since 2010. The change has the potential to accelerate school choice, sending more children and public dollars to charter and private schools.
“Lorain, the other Ohio school district in academic distress, must perform poorly another two years before it falls under the new provision, Ohio Department of Education spokesman John Charlton said.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Wow. I hope there’s citizen pushback to this, like there was to Ohio’s anti-labor law.
Ohio has a referendum process that can be used to overturn radical, reckless decisions by the legislature and governor.
As poorly as ed reform has performed in this state I’m wondering why such a big push to exclude community voices and privatize an entire city with no debate or dissent? I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with Kasich’s national political ambitions. Interesting timing, though, I think.
This approach was a huge failure in Michigan, right next door. Why on earth would Ohio follow Michigan on this?
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Because ALEC told them to follow Michigan.
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It’s a shame because it’s a waste of time and money. It won’t work.
You can’t strip people of any voice in their own city and expect them to cooperate and help. It’s a bad idea.
Lawmakers must be ashamed of their actions here. That’s why the planned it secretly and sprung it on the public.
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I hope I am wrong, but I predict that Youngstown students won’t get the support they deserve and, when the operators of the private and charter schools find the bottom line unattractive, they will abandon the children of Youngstown and move on to locations more suited to their profit motive, leaving Youngstown parents to scramble to find schools for their children
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Also- why is Youngstown being treated so differently than Cleveland was treated?
In Cleveland there was at least a semblance of democratic process and community input in what is a gradual privatization process. Were they afraid the people in Youngstown would reject this, so have to put it in by order?
Why aren’t they confident people will adopt this willingly?
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I wonder if we’ll see more dictatorial over-reach like this, now that ed reform and charter schools have suffered so much bad publicity in Ohio. I guess it gets more difficult to sell it with a real track record.
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How could residents of that township and of the state of Ohio allow this to happen? Are they informed? Do they even know what is going on and he implications of it?
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Robert Rendo, reformers like to strip local control from majority Black districts because they tend to be powerless
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They didn’t have a chance to know what happened.
The bill began innocuously in the House as an effort to help communities turn schools into comprehensive learning centers for the neighborhood. The bill passed from the House to the Senate a month ago with an overwhelming 92-6 vote.
Almost everyone liked it — until Wednesday.
The Ohio Federation of Teachers, one of the state’s unions representing teachers, was prepared to testify in favor of the bill as it headed for a committee vote.
But Melissa Cropper, president of the union, got wind of the amendment that could disenfranchise unions and voters and turn operations over to private interests.
When it came time for her to speak, she attempted to oppose the new provision, but was told that the amendment had not yet been offered, so she could not address it.
She sat down. The amendment was introduced and four men in line behind her who had traveled from Youngstown stepped up to give favorable testimony.
They were Youngstown State University president Jim Tressel; Youngstown Diocese Bishop George Murry — whose organization of parochial schools would become eligible to receive state payment for children attending his schools; local chamber of commerce President Thomas Humphries; and Connie Hathorn, a former Akron school administrator who — as superintendent of Youngstown City Schools — has failed to turn around the struggling school system and will quit to take a job in Arkansas at the end of the month.
The bill quickly passed out of committee, went to the Senate floor where it passed with no support from Democrats and some opposition from Republicans — 18-14 — moved late at night to the House for concurrence, and again passed with opposition from both sides and a vote of 55-40, far different from its initial support.
Within 12 hours of introduction, it went to Gov. John Kasich for his consideration.
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Smart “Alec”. They know how to control our government.
Best government money can buy.
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Years ago, my husband briefly worked for a company that was handed over to a “turnaround” specialist, so to speak. He quickly sold off the marketable parts of the company and dismantled the remaining infrastructure. Of course the employees were not told that the idea was to dissolve the company until their intentions became more than obvious. I assume that the Board got a nice paycheck; the employees got squat.
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