The media has swallowed the myth that John Kasich is a moderate. They have forgotten that he tried to eliminate collective bargaining but was rebuked by Ohio’s voters. Certainly the media doesn’t know about the shameful profiteering in Ohio’s charter sector, where wealthy campaign contributors have been excused from any accountability. Just keep those campaign bucks coming!
At least the Cleveland Plain Dealer knows the story. Kasich’s campaign manager is Beth Hansen. Her husband David Hansen resigned as director of charter school operations after he presented phony data to the feds and won a $71 million grant to create more charter schools. Unfortunately–it must have been a “lapse of judgment”–he neglected to include in his report to the US Department of Education the F grades of Ohio’s online charter schools (a source of great profit to their owners and a reliable source of political donations).
In an editorial the newspaper said:
At this point, it’s nearly impossible to trust anything the Ohio Department of Education has to say on charter school performance, the subject of so much chicanery last year that in November the federal government froze a giant $71 million charter school expansion grant to Ohio.
And it just gets worse.
The latest news? A Jan. 29 letter from ODE to federal regulators sent in an attempt to win back the grant reveals that Ohio has nearly 10 times as many failing charter schools as it first reported to the U.S. Department of Education in its 2015 charter-school-expansion grant application.
The letter was in response to a federal government request for more information from Ohio as it reviews the state’s once-successful grant that would allow the best charter schools to expand using federal funds.
The state department of education seems to be more committed to the well-being of the charter industry than to Ohio’s children, say the editorial writers.
Here is the latest restatement of the charter data:
In the letter, the state increased the number of failing charter schools to 57 in 2013-2014 compared with six in the original application. That’s a nearly tenfold difference. At the same time, the letter reported 59 high-performing charter schools instead of 93, a 36 percent decrease.
So Ohio has 57 failing charter schools, and 59 high-performing charter schools. Picking a successful charter is akin to flipping a coin. Meanwhile, scarce taxpayer dollars are subsiding an inexcusable number of failing charter schools. And the state wants more.
If you want a candidate to take from the middle class and give to the rich, if you want a candidate to protect the powerful, if you want a candidate to attack unions and working people, Kasich is for you.
Valerie Strauss posted earlier today a review of Kasich’s education record. It is a mess and nothing to boast about. He is no more a moderate than Cruz, Rubio, or Bush.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Thanks for this effort to correct the facts of the matter. Politico recycled a bit on information on the fraudulent USDE charter grant.
Ohio is a disaster. Every day I get closer to giving up. Thank goodness I still LOVE teaching. The only thing standing between our kids and Kasich’s particular vision of school hell is caring teachers. We can’t let the Privatizers have them. Thanks AGAIN to Valerie Strauss – one of the few in the national media who sees through Kasich’s latest (snake) charms. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/02/10/the-education-mess-in-ohio-under-gov-john-kasich/
Accepting federal funding for Obamacare may have been one of Kasich’s most brilliant political moves, at least from a mainstream perspective. I think that one act is what gets him lauded as a sensible “moderate” when, in fact, he is otherwise indistinguishable from the other monkeys jumping on the bed.
It has been great watching Kasich fall on his face in the Republican race. As far as New Hampshire goes, let them come to Ohio and actually live in his state. Believe me, they would not have voted for the uncaring, dictator-like man. I can’t stand him. One of the happiest days for me will be his last day as Governor of Ohio. Kasich has done so much damage to Ohio schools. He goes down in my books as the worst Ohio governor in history. Why in the world would anyone consider him for President of the United States?
Problem is, which of a bad lot of Repubs, does one choose? The one with known flaws, or the one of the two who seem to be real demagogues, with Trump yearning to be King, and Cruz well on his way to being Dictator. Looking at the three top candidates as of now, which is the least horrible.
Hooray for Bernie. At least he gets my vote. Whew….
IMO, there is a strong case to be made that charter schools, advertising themselves as “public schools”, in Ohio, is false advertising. The Ohio Supreme Court ruling that the charters’ assets do not belong to the taxpayers, is an important point. The FTC has an easily accessed complaint form, found through an internet search, “FTC Complaint Assistant”.
Need to correct your statement. Beth Hansen’s HUSBAND was David Hansen, Director of the School Choice Division of the Ohio Department of Education. He was not fired but resigned in July 2015 after submitting false data in the grant for federal funds.
Laura, my bad, my typo. Fixed it. Are they divorced?
Progress Ohio Democrats really need to come up with something new. This is an attack you have used and failed at for 6 years now. Kasich signed into law new regulations and reforms. And yes the charter director was forced to resign. Exactly what should have happened. And the SB6 attack is old as well. So old you neglect to admit Kasich won the Union vote in 2014, and has 62% favorability statewide. As a state we are booming and we are spending more on students and less on bureaucracy. Spending more on roads and less on administration. Kasich won over labor by producing results and Jobs.
I would be concerned about Kasich becoming the GOP nominee, if Bernie became the Democratic nominee.
Regardless of who he really is, the image Kasich presents is as the most moderate of the GOP field.
The American people vote middle of the road for their presidents, not right or left.
If Bernie becomes the dem nominee, he would be portrayed by the Republicans, in many TV ads nationwide, as a crazy wild-eyed commie. Kasich would look like the reasonable centrist leader. (Not saying that is the reality of those candidates, but the portrayal would be very strong, and most American voters would believe it, be scared of Sanders, and vote for the “moderate” Kasich.
Lehman Brothers, corrupt charter schools tied to his political donors, balanced the budget by cutting/gutting public schools and tried to destroy the middle class wage by destroying the unions of teachers, firefighters and nurses…… Wow Ksuck is a gem.. NOT… and it has not been that long ago. Don’t forget why he was elected twice, NOBODY ran against him and only 20% came out to vote at all… disgusting all the lies that surround his administration.