Bill Phillis of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy noticed a curious phenomenon. The Ohio State Attorney General Opposes the efforts of school districts trying to recover funds they lost to the fraudulent Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT), which went bankrupt last January, having claimed state funds for non-existent students and having lost its authorizer. Why is the Attorney General taking the side of the guy who was indicted?
Bill Phillis writes:
It is baffling that both the Attorney General and the ECOT Man, Bill Lager, oppose the intervention of school districts in the case to recover funds from Lager and some of his former employees.
In his October 9 Memorandum in Opposition to Intervention, the Attorney General argues, “The Districts cannot intervene…because their interest is substantively remote from the claims pressed here,” the Districts “lack standing” and “their intervention would complicate these proceedings.”
William Lager’s memorandum proffers essentially the same arguments against the intervention.
It is curious that both the Plaintiff and Defendant in this case are on the same page. That accord might validate the importance of intervention by the districts. If they agree on this matter, maybe they will agree on more substantial issues.
Boards of education in three districts-Dayton, Logan-Hocking and Springfield-have adopted resolutions to intervene. Other districts are considering a resolution.
William L. Phillis | Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding | 614.228.6540 | ohioeanda@sbcglobal.net| http://www.ohiocoalition.org
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I hope other districts can afford the legal bills to get a resolution in motion. The corruption and influence of political money in creating this fraud is so obvious.
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The school districts want to intervene because they believe the Ohio attorney general will not adequately represent their interests versus ECOT.
Which is terrible all by itself. That they feel they need a privately hired and privately paid advocate to represent the interests of public schools, because the Ohio attorney general will not be doing the job they’re paid to do.
So Ohio voters should ask themselves how this happened, that we have state employees who do not actually work for us but instead work for their political patron.
Replace them. Find some people who intend to do the work they’re paid to do. Otherwise you’re just paying two sets of lawyers – one public and one private- to do the same job.
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Maybe if the schools intervene too much will come to light regarding individual politicians.
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Ohio’s attorney general wants to be the state’s Governor. The situation in Ohio is similar to the situation in Georgia. Both have politicians seeking higher office who work to thwart the will of the people because they prefer corruption to democracy.
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