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‘Youngstown Plan’ For School Districts Reaches Supreme Court
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The fight over an Ohio law that puts control of poor-performing school districts in the hands of unelected CEOs rather than publicly elected boards has reached the state Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, it accepted the case that challenges divisive changes in the so-called Youngstown Plan and how they were pushed through the Legislature in one day in 2015.
The bill also gave Ohio academic distress commissions more power to close schools or replace staff.
Youngstown’s school board and school employees’ unions argue it violates the Ohio Constitution by stripping the authority of school districts and boards. They also say lawmakers ignored the “Three Reading Rule” requiring repeated consideration of legislation.
Republican Gov. John Kasich’s spokesman says Youngstown students were “victims of a failing system” and the law “empowers change.”