First Energy paid (bribed) an individual in the amount of $4.3 million and then set the stage for that individual to be appointed by the Governor to head the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Could this kind of fraudulence happen in education now that the legislature has transferred the State Board of Education functions to the Governor’s office?
It is a fact of life that special interest groups can successfully lobby to secure government positions for their cronies who will, in turn, do their bidding. First Energy’s $4.3 million bribe to an individual that the company would control is but one example. How could the Governor’s office have been so naïve to allow such appointment? Politics!
Now that the State Education Agency will be melded into the structure of the Governor’s office, Ohioans can expect First Energy-type of fraud in the state’s operation of education.
Companies have education programs, products, services and gimmicks for sale. They will be seeking state contracts for those kinds of services. Some of these business firms may even lobby for appointments of education personnel they can control. That’s how politics works.
The transfer of the State Board of Education functions to the Governor’s office was an unconstitutional action. It will not bode well for Ohio students.
In 1953 Ohioans passed a constitutional amendment to establish a State Board of Education and a Superintendent of Public Instruction to operate the State Education Agency, which at the time was a function of the Governor’s office. By legislation, the 135th General Assembly illegally overturned the 1953 constitutional amendment. This action must be challenged in court.
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