Throwing Original Intent Out the Door
The Ohio State board of Education and Governor DeWine do battle.
At Ohio’s 1912 Constitutional Convention, the control of Ohio’s education system was taken from the Governor and given to a newly formed State Board of Education. The intent was clearly to take educational decisions away from the Governor because as Ohio’s Governors had changed, so had their focus on educational objectives. With ever-changing goals, no long-term planning could be accomplished, and ever-changing goals kept educators and administrators jumping through hoops.
With the passage of the state Budget in 2023, legislators passed law defying the original intent of of the 1912 Constitutional Convention. They effectively put the Governor back in charge of Ohio’s education.
So, today, we live in this topsy-turvy world where seven Democrats on the Ohio State Board of Education are arguing a conservative point of view of the original intent of the Ohio Constitution, and a Republican Governor is arguing that the Ohio Constitution should be viewed as a living breathing document.
The pure hypocrisy should leave both political parties scratching their head as to how we came to this point.
The Ohio Republican State Central Committee
This all started with the Ohio Republican State Central Committee that followed now-Democrat liberal operative Matt Borges in endorsing Democrat apologist John Kasich for President in 2016. Matt Borges was the Ohio Republican Chairman of the Ohio Republican State Central Committee at the time, and John Kasich was Ohio’s Republican Governor.
The ORSCC (Ohio Republican State Central Committee) had been getting progressively more and more out of touch with Ohio’s Republicans for years. In 2016, the ORSCC endorsed John Kasich over former wildly popular President Trump at the urging of Matt Borges. By this time, the ORSCC was just a rubber stamp for the Chairman, and little to no original thought came from the ORSCC. The ORSCC had neglected its fiscal duties for years. This was brought to light when it was exposed that the party had not even performed a financial audit for the previous 16 years.
Ohio Republicans became angry that their elected Representatives on the ORSCC endorsed John Kasich and helped remove Borges as Chairman in January 2017. Jane Timken, backed by Donald Trump, became the Chairman of the ORSCC, and Matt Borges became Chairman Emeritus. When Jane Timken stepped down as Chairman to run for Senate, she handpicked Bob Paduchik to replace her as Chairman.
Bob Paduchik very quickly filled the vacuum left by Jane Timken, and even though more thinking members came on board with the ORSCC, business as usual prevailed.
Bob Paduchik
Bob Paduchik was a longtime friend of Mike DeWine, and he moved heaven and earth to get Mike DeWine re-elected in 2022 and ignored the State school board and Congressional races. Focus was spent on the Supreme Court and Mike DeWine. The ORSCC massively overspent monies on Mike DeWine’s Gubernatorial race and ignored the State Board of Education races. As a result, the Republican party lost a Congressional seat and control of Ohio’s education system. Make no mistake; the ORSCC had the money and resources to win the Congressional seat and the State Board of Education races. It was only because of the incompetence of Bob Paduchik and the ORSCC that these seats were lost.
The result of Incompetence
The ORSCC’s incompetence resulted in legislators rushing to take Ohio’s education system from the Democrats, which failed. So then, the co-opting of Ohio’s education system was placed into the budget bill, which passed very quickly. While Conservative Republicans are rallying against Social Emotional Learning, Common Core, Critical Race Theory, Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports, and Comprehensive Sex Education - Governor DeWine has not only supported these programs in the past - he wants Ohio to lead in these “Woke” brainwashing methodologies. Mike DeWine has personally pushed Ohio to be the first in the nation to adopt Social Emotional Learning throughout its education system.
So, while Ohio’s Education system was not handed over to the Democrats with the passage of the budget - “woke” white guilted Republican moderates will ensure that Ohio’s education system will become very liberal and very “woke.” Many Republicans believe that leaving the Democrats in charge until the next election may actually help slow the “wokeization” of Ohio’s education system. They believe the Ohio legislature will pass legislation that will provide more guidance to the Ohio State Board of Education to recognize traditional family values and give more control to local school boards and parents to suppress controversial curricula.
DeWine in Charge
If the courts side with Governor DeWine, we will see Ohio Schools become woke much more quickly than under the Democrats. With Mike DeWine in charge of our schools, many Republicans in the Ohio House and Senate will be reluctant to do anything for fear of incurring the wrath of the Governor. With the Democrats in charge - we should see protections move very quickly.
You can view the Social Emotional Learning and Equity document that was allowed to be produced under Republicans and their embrace of a manipulative and woke education system.
Unfortunately, if DeWine’s interpretation of the Constitution is allowed to stand - it will give firepower to the entire legal system in Ohio to become much more liberal.
Why should we fear the leftist indoctrination of an anti-American world-view in our schools?
Social Emotional Learning dangers
PBIS dangers
Critical Race Theory dangers
Comprehensive Sex Education dangers
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion dangers
Common Core dangers
Ohio’s educational system is thoroughly influenced from a liberal perspective and has a tendency to produce neurotic students with perverse world-views. Republicans are in-charge in Ohio - yet Conservative ideals and traditional American values cannot find a home in Ohio Schools. Teachers can fly the LGBTQ flag and let students march to support LGBTQ pride - but heaven forbid that the Ten Commandments are displayed or discussed. Republicans and Democrats are both rushing towards oblivion. As these woke systems gain normalcy they normalize woke and leftist propaganda and brain washing through manipulation by educators and administrators. While individually, each of these programs maybe easy to ignore, when combined they become thoroughly anti-American and cause unneeded conflicts which divides Americans and kills patriotism.
The Left and the Woke have spent the last three decades normalizing an anti-white, anti-Christian, pro-sexual identity world-view in Ohio’s public schools. Leading the charge has been the Ohio School Board Association. They help get leftist elected to Ohio School Boards and use their lawyers to scare board members that do not tow the leftist line.
Recommendations:
More state centralization of power over public schools has never been beneficial. Law-makers should embrace decentralization and competitive markets. Allow schools to compete to set their own educational standards and compete to attract students.
The state must not be responsible to educate children in K-12. Parents must be responsible for educating their own children and the state should only be thought of as assisting parents in that endeavor.
Performance vouchers should follow the child. Compensation shall be based upon comprehension of curricula set by either the Board of education or by a board of home-school standards whose members are voted on by home-school parents. Home Schooled children must get equavilent compensation for vouchers even if paid to a family member.
All school board races should be partisan and take place in gubernatorial election years.
School Levies should be limited to every 4 years during presidential elections.
Collective Bargaining may only occur for schools in gubernatoriall election years and must be approved by referendum.
Provide a process so that a grade, class, or school, may through petition of 25% of students household parent’s deem school materials or curricula to be controversial and non-beneficial that it be removed. This provides a legal definition of controversial subjects and allow parents to remove subjects in schools that they disagree with.
Repeal 3313.87 that allows school board members to use tax dollars to join school board associations that have any legislative agenda.
Provide Ohio Schools legal representation through the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
Provide the State Board of Education with funds for an annual Educators and Administrators convention.