On May 16, Public Education Partners of Ohio hosted a conference that featured a dialogue between me and Bill Phillis, the former deputy state superintendent who has been fighting for adequate and equitable funding of the state’s public schools for many years.
The main event of the day was the discussion between Bill Phillis and me. Bill talked about his intention to keep going until his work is finished, his work being the adequate and equitable funding of Ohio’s public schools. He spoke eloquently about the State Constitution’s requirement of a “thorough and efficient” system of “common schools” and explained that charter schools and religious schools are not common schools. Yet Ohio’s politicians blatantly ignore the foundational language of the Constitution by endorsing its scandal-ridden charter schools (which underperform public schools, even in the Big 8 urban districts), and vouchers (which received a negative evaluation commissioned by a rightwing think tank). The state plans to expand the failing voucher program.
I won’t recount my remarks, because readers of this blog know my views. I did express surprise that so many Republicans regularly vote to defund public schools even though most of their constituents’ children are enrolled in public schools. Nearly 90% of American children go to public schools, despite the plethora of choices, and that 90% surely represents both people who vote both Republican and Democratic. That makes for a puzzlement as to the anti-public education stance of state and national Republican leaders.
Bill and I agreed that the public schools will ultimately prevail because he believes in the innate common sense of the American people, and I believe that the nonstop, persistent failure of every privatization venture will persuade their funders to find another hobby. When the funding stops, the privatization “movement” collapses.
One of the features of the Day was the appearance of student journalists from the Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington, Kentucky. The school offers an excellent and innovative journalism program. Four of its journalists attended the dialogue between me and William Phillis in Columbus, Ohio, on May 16, thanks to two of our readers, Laura Chapman and Linda Brick, along with their journalism teacher Wendy Turner..
Wendy Turner is a former journalist who has been teaching for 20 years. She clearly loves her work. She talked about the importance of “student voice.” She emphasized how much she respects student voice and why that voice deserves to be heard and included in decision-making.
Ms. Turner surprised me with a gift of a T-shirt from the school newspaper, “The Lamplighter,” and if I remember correctly, she told me I was an honorary staff member.
The two co-editors-in-chief—Abigail Wheatley and Olivia Doyle—took turns telling the audience of Ohio educators about how they got national coverage.
The student journalists won national attention when they attempted to cover a”Roundtable” discussion between Betsy DeVos and Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin.
Paul Laurence Dunbar is a famous African-American poet of the Harlem Renaissance. I own first editions of his poetry.
The event was sponsored by Public Education Partners, an all-volunteer group led by retired teacher Jeanne Melvin. Many BATS were there. The audience was teachers (the starting time was 4:30 pm), retired teachers, principals, school board members, union leaders. There was a surprising optimism in the air, a hopefulness that the Governor and Legislature will finally enact a good school funding bill.
In Columbus, Ohio, with student journalists Abigail Wheatley and Olivia Doyle from “The Lamplighter” at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington, Kentucky
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