Major Education Policy Change Could Happen Quickly When Ill-Informed Lobbyists and Legislators That Are Drunk with Power Come Together in the Statehouse.
SB178 is on track to pass in the Ohio Senate within a few days after introduction. This state of affairs is created by the collusion of lobbyists that know nothing of the history of state education agency governance and the abuse of power by autocratic politicians who have rigged legislative districts to guarantee their own re-election.
The December 1 issue of the Gongwer Report quotes the Senate leader as saying that “SB178 would pass the Senate December 7.”
In proponent testimony, some education privatizers, with the obvious intent of currying the favor of Senate leadership, spouted such insane comments as:
  • “a change is needed at ODE to improve the state’s primary and secondary education system”
  • “to be blunt, Ohio students today encounter challenges that they are often ill-equipped to face”
  • “inefficient and too often unresponsive department”
  • “placing policy making responsibility in a cabinet-level office will streamline decision making”
Other equally insane proponent testimony:
  • “the bill would align the structure of ODE with the style of nearly every other executive department”
These self-serving proponents of SB178 either don’t know or don’t respect the fact that the current state education agency is a constitutional body that should be separated from other branches of government. It is a fourth branch of government.
Click on the links below to read two OP-ED articles published in the Dispatch on December 4, 2022.
Learn more about the EdChoice voucher litigation
VOUCHERS HURT OHIO