School districts in economically-distressed areas generally have low grades on the state report card; conversely, school districts in affluent areas have high grades. One could travel through a county or region of Ohio and predict the report card grade of the various school districts.
Students (and school personnel) in poverty areas need help from the state to implement wraparound services, not a grade of F.
Why can’t state officials understand the futility of using the report card as a tool to take over school districts? Do some of them have a sinister agenda? Maybe some want to set the districts up for privatization.
HB 70 of the 131st General Assembly should be repealed.
~William L. Phillis, Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding
Watch THIS PRESENTATION to see what Ohio’s school takeover law is really about.
CLICK HERE to contact Ohio’s education leaders and tell them to repeal House Bill 70, Ohio’s FAILED school takeover law. Use the following fact sheet to help guide your conversations.
HERE is an example of a resolution to share with local community leaders, school board members, and district administrators. It provides the language for official resolutions asking Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio General Assembly to completely and immediately repeal HB 70 and replace it with an evidence-based turnaround model that restores local control and improves student outcomes.
State-run districts have not improved academic outcomes for most students. Instead, they have served as a mechanism for wholesale conversion of public schools to charters, and to disenfranchise tens of thousands of African American and Latino voters.
State takeovers of school districts, followed by the appointment of CEOs with power to override the decisions of elected school boards and nullify union contracts, are undemocratic, unaccountable, and unacceptable.
Let’s work to REPEAL HB 70!
