In Ohio, the Governor and Legislature didn’t like the fact that they didn’t control the State Board of Education. The State Board consists of 19 members, 11 elected, and 8 appointed by the Governor. The Republican leadership saw no value in having elected members. So they passed a budget that stripped the board of most of its powers and assigned them to a new Department of Education and the Workforce controlled by the Governor and focused on career and technical education.
Bill Phillis of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy described Governor Mike DeWine’s refusal to comply with a temporary restraining order halting his takeover.
The Governor seems to have a problem understanding the purpose of the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) issued to prevent him from implementing the transfer of State Board of Education functions to his office.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Karen Held Phipps, on September 21, issued a TRO to halt action on transferring State Board of Education functions to the Governor’s office. (Via HB33, the transfer was set for October 3.)
On October 2, the Governor, notwithstanding the TRO, essentially told reporters that the law would go into effect as of midnight October 3. In a speech to an education group the morning of October 3, the Governor said it was necessary for the law to go into effect for payment to be made to school districts, state employees to be paid, etc. Meanwhile, the court, on October 3, extended the TRO until October 20.
To this ordinary citizen, it seems clear that:
1. The TRO was meant to pause action on the transfer effective October 3.
2. State Board of Education operation would continue at least until the court decided whether or not the transfer law is constitutional. If the court ultimately decides the transfer is constitutional, the State Board of Education operations, as transferred in HB33, will end. If the court decides the transfer is unconstitutional, the State Board of Education operations will continue as in the past.
3. Hence, for the Governor to imply in the October 3 speech that obeying the TRO would have caused chaos seemed to be misleading. The TRO rendered him powerless to do anything regarding the matter until a court decision is issued.
Stay tuned.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
We spend a lot of time focused on the malfeasance of Florida and Texas, but Ohio may be worse. Then there is the potential Speakership of Jim Jordan. “What a Country!”
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Yes! Everything bad that FL or TX does, OH is right behind!! It didn’t used to be this way. It means our schools have been steadily declining for the last 15 yrs. We were 5th in the nation (FWIW) and are now in the mid 20s. Republican control and obsession with charters/vouchers have helped ruin us. Bill Phillis is a TRUE HERO of public education!! He has been leading efforts to help public schools for decades now. Other groups, like Public Education Partners (full disclosure – I’m on the Bd) are also fighting hard to save public education in Ohio. I believe if people really thought hard about what this would mean for their community they would be outraged. At least that’s what I want to believe. Some days, like when our Governor/Legislature does crap like this, it feels almost impossible to keep fighting. They don’t care what the will of the people is or even what courts have decided!! They have shown that time and time again.
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I recommend you and your members read “Whose choice? How school choice began in Ohio,” (Akron Beacon Journal, Dec. 14, 1999).
The article tells readers that Republican, Catholic, Ohio Gov. Voinovich, wanted tax money for Catholic schools. Btw- currently, the states you mention, Texas, Florida and Ohio have right wing governors who are Catholic. The 1999 article implies an acknowledgement from Gov. Voinovich that if the public understood his voucher plan was aimed at enriching Catholic schools, the public wouldn’t have accepted it.
Matt Huffman is Republican Catholic.
IMO, the goal of politicized, right wing Catholics is to use the schools to preserve the model of white patriarchy and to develop compliant workers (preferably anti-union) which was the same role the Church played in Ireland during the Great Hunger when 1,000,000 Irish died of starvation due to the economic policies of men who had views similar to Charles Koch.
The Catholic Church has been described as the first and largest corporate slaveowner in the Americas. The Church was also instrumental in the Confederate cause. Yes, there are a minority of liberal Catholics like Joe Biden but, they have not used legislative, judicial and executive
branch clout to take rights from Americans.
Amy Comey Barrett’s decision in Biel V. St. James Catholic school denied religious school employees the protections of civil rights employment law.
An internet search of Jones Day Catholic leads one to conclude that the law firm which was viewed as the stable for Trump administration attorneys, has a history of advancing Catholic views. (12 Jones Day Lawyers Take Key Posts in Trump Administration” Law.com, 1-20-2017)
Recently, The Guardian reported that a Louisiana bishop stated in a public letter that he expected the schools to provide funding for the Church’s priest sex abuse costs. Research found there are parishes that generate more revenue from vouchers than from collection plates.
Taxpayers have made Catholic organizations the nation’s 3rd largest employer.
The legal scholar credited as most influential in advancing religious charter schools is Notre Dame’s Nicole Stelle Garnet, a Notre Dame professor who is good friends with Amy Comey Barrett.
The prior Jones Day managing partner was a Notre Dame University trustee and the current Jones Day managing partner was an advisor to Notre Dame’s law school.
The Catholic Conferences have been substantial leaders in school choice legislation. Because the right wing Catholic efforts are publicly discussed at sites and in publications like The New Republic’s “…Illiberal Upstarts…” and, warned about by the Pope, it should be described as a campaign, not a conspiracy.
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Governor DeWine and the Ohio legislature have shown again and again that they don’t care what the voters want. They gerrymandered themselves into a secure position where they don’t have to care. Democrats have to win statewide elections—governor and senators—to push back against a power mad lefislature.
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There were three Ohioans who were critical to the Republican take over of North Carolina. I naively thought the migration of people to Charlotte would result in a more progressive North Carolina. It didn’t work out that way.
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Unless Northeast Ohio turns the tide, Democrats will not be elected. The red parts of Ohio are suburban parochial and rural Appalachian. Ohioans are different than their state neighbors to the south and north. Kentuckians and Michiganders are skeptical about authority and have spines. Ohioans accept bogus slop from the mouths of Republicans and, those who aren’t compliant are anti-abortion and/or gun zealots. Gold crosses around the neck, home decor that says, “blessed,” deference for men in the patriarchy- that’s central and southwest and southeast Ohio.
The Mayor of East Palestine is an example of those not smart enough to link deregulation to train derailment.
Diane,
I hope your trip has been lovely and when, visiting sad places of tragedy, you had an opportunity to form a worthwhile perspective and not just, experience sorrow.
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Linda,
I just left Terezin and found it immensely informative. There were actually two very separate facilities. One was a prison, mostly for dissidents, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others considered anti-Nazi. Thousands of prisoners died there, of starvation or disease, but it was not an extermination camp. Most prisons were sent to Auschwitz.
But the main part of Terezin was for Jewish families. I’ll write a post about it. They lived in beautiful houses whose prior tenants had been evicted by the Nazis. Men lived in buildings separate from women. Children did not live with their parents. Thousands starved to death or died of disease. Most were shipped to Auschwitz.
The Nazis used Terezin as a propaganda outlet. When the Red Cross came to investigate, they were persuaded that it was a charming resort and everyone was happy.
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“We were 5th in the nation (FWIW) and are now in the mid 20s.”
Please explain what you mean by that statement. Thanks!
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Diane,
Thank you for telling us about Terezin.
The Nazis who created the ruse and all who knew, it’s difficult to understand such evil.
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INSANITY to the MAX!
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The coup against the rule of law is not only ongoing, it’s widespread. The GOP has become a party of nihilists.
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I agree with Christine. The GOP is off the rails.
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What rails?
Demolition Derby is more like it!
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The fascists are getting bolder as the Bucinum virus spreads to other states beyond Florida and Texas.
“The Red States Experimenting With Authoritarianism – They’ve become laboratories of autocracy.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/04/america-democracy-autocracy-laboratories/673751/
If the Bucinum virus triumphs, will he appoint DeSantis to lead the traitor’s Gestapo and will Abbott be placed in charge of the Bucinum propaganda machine centered at Truth Social and X?
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https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10231750038161121&set=a.1200477179262
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Good one!
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