When Black voters began to register and vote in big numbers in the 60s, those clinging to Jim Crow came up with a trick: Strip powers away from the offices that those voters had an impact on.
That exact maneuver is happening right now in Ohio. And it’s being done in a way that exposes the absolute hypocrisy of the statehouse when it comes to both democracy and education.
For the past two years, Republicans in this country have grandstanded on the mantra that parents and the people should drive education decisions.
That was the heart of Glenn Youngkin’s successful campaign for Virginia governor, and so many others have followed suit.
In Ohio, that was essentially Jane Timken’s campaign for US Senate. She did an entire tour about it.
So it’s been a nonstop mantra.
Well, the good thing about Ohio is, not only do we have local school boards where parents and voters can weigh in with their views, but we also have a state school board, where parents and voters get to directly vote as well, across 11 districts.
Over the past year, the majority of this board’s elected members have engaged in numerous right-wing forays.
They’ve held endless hearings on divisive proposals aimed at LGTBQ students in Ohio’s schools.
They repealed a prior resolution that opposed racism and replaced it with a prohibition on teaching “divisive” concepts in Ohio schools.
And so on.
These fights have dominated their “work.”
Given all this politics—and the non-stop GOP mantra that we should put parents first and hear from the people themselves on education issues—one would think that an election where parents and voters could weigh in would be welcomed by all. To make sure those debates are what the parents and voters are actually interested in.
Well, that election happened in November.
And the message from parents and voters could not have been more clear: DROP the right-wing BS and educate our kids.
Democratic-endorsed candidates flipped three seats to take 7 out of the 11 elected seats on the school board: “Parents first! Voters first! The people have spoken.”
Time to listen, right? Wrong.
Within days of this outcome, the gerrymandered politicians in Columbus immediately floated their response—strip power away from the elected school board, and shift it to officials that would be appointed by the Governor.
That’s right, despite all the GOP crowing about parents & the people, NOW that those parents and voters have actually weighed in, and sent a clear message rejecting the current elected members and their agenda, that same GOP now wants to silence voters’ direct voice on education, and replace it with a new bureaucracy filled by Governor appointees. No longer responsive to voters.
Lest you think they’re just talking, that bill PASSED the Senate yesterday and is already on its way to the House. It’s moving fast!
And to be clear, the candidates who just won those school board races just spent months campaigning on education issues:
Kathy Hoffman was a long-time public school teacher who ran on a message of strongly supporting public schools.
She won.
Teresa Fedor won in the Toledo area, also a former teacher who’s been one of the longest serving members of the statehouse and Senate and is an institution in the Toledo area. Also a champion of public education.
And Tom Jackson, a small business leader and community activist, committed to increase public school funding: “It’s time to take politics out of the classroom to allow students to learn and teachers to teach.”
He won too.
So these candidates all spent the fall campaigning on strengthening public education. And won with a clear mandate.
Who didn’t talk about education much, if at all? The Governor.
And which politicians essentially don’t campaign at all? The gerrymandered Senate and House leaders pushing through this bill. They have so illegally rigged their districts, they don’t worry about getting re-elected, unlike the school board candidates who actually had to work hard to win theirs and in doing so, arrive with a mandate.
Let’s also be clear: it’s been the corrupt statehouse that has led the giveaway of public school funds to private, for-profit scams like ECOT that has driven Ohio public education from one of the best in the country a generation ago (5th) to the mid 20s today. Not to mention generating an FBI investigation.
So when the voters and parents chose to pick public school advocates over right-wing zealots on the school board, the very officials who’ve driven public education over a cliff due to pay-to-play privatization schemes move immediately to strip those who represent those voters of power
And they want to give that power not only to someone who didn’t campaign on education issues, but also people who, along w his LG and those legislators, have been champions of those same privatization schemes that have crushed Ohio schools. And have been generously funded by those for-profit operators.
So the mantra of “parents first” only applies if the politicians locked in power agree with what those parents have to say.
And yes, all of this is yet another egregious example of election denialism, after the fact.
What can you do about it?
Share the story broadly. Make sure people know.
We have a new ad up about this using the GOP’s own narrative against them.
Share it widely.
If you can help support us airing it, please give here.
And we will share names and phone numbers you can call next week to express your outrage at what’s happening.
In the hopes that we can stop it.
Thank you!
END
