In July, Ohio Republicans passed a state budget that included a major overhaul of the state Department of Education. It’s October, and the mess they created is becoming reality as it’s not clear who is allowed to do what to run the education system in Ohio. While things are unclear, Gov. Mike DeWine is moving ahead as if he’s sure to get his way in the end.
The budget incorporated, at the last possible minute, an over-1,300-page passage of a bill that had been held up in the state House. It stripped the state Board of Education—11 of the members are elected, while eight are appointed by the governor—of many of its powers, transferring them to a new position that would be appointed by the governor. The Department of Education would also be renamed the Department of Education and Workforce.
Seven board members sued to block this transfer of power from a group that included elected members to a single appointee of the governor. They were then replaced as the plaintiffs in the lawsuit by others, including the Toledo Board of Education. “Nearly 70 years ago, the citizens of Ohio ratified a constitutional amendment that placed oversight and governance of Ohio’s education system in the hands of the newly created State Board of Education,” their lawsuit noted. So stripping the board of its powers should not be allowed to happen via a budget bill. They also argued that removing power from a majority-elected board robs parents “of their voices in their children’s education and their rights to vote for and elect Board members who are authorized to perform substantive duties and responsibilities related to education policy for the betterment of their children’s education.”
A judge responded with a temporary injunction putting large chunks of the law on hold as “unconstitutional.” The judge said that in addition to all but eliminating that board, the way that it was passed broke other constitutional requirements, such as that bills shouldn’t contain more than one subject. DeWine was barred from “creating the Department of Education and Workforce,” according to the injunction. However, the injunction didn’t cover the specific part of the law killing off the Ohio Department of Education and replacing it with the new “and Workforce” version.
In response, DeWine announced that this legal limbo meant “and Workforce” would come into being automatically rather than being created by him, and that he would not be violating the judge’s order as long as he didn’t appoint a director and transfer powers from the existing Board of Education to that person.
Naturally, DeWine claimed to be acting out of a pure concern for the children. “There is certainly a potential for chaos,” he said at a Monday night press conference. “Questions such as who will send out the checks that go to our public schools across the state of Ohio, who will make the determination about eligibility for school choice. I can not let this situation fester.”
His actions would be to stave off that chaos, he suggested, although he’s played more than his fair share in creating it in his bid to consolidate power over Ohio schools into his own hands.
“Make no mistake, the court already ruled that the DeWine administration’s takeover of the State Board of Education in Ohio must be halted until it has an opportunity to issue a decision,” said Skye Perryman, the CEO of Democracy Forward, which is the group representing the plaintiffs. “If the governor is suggesting the state will not comply with the court’s order, then he would be in contempt of the court.”
