Where is the consensus seeking a probe of state department of education?

The State Board of Educa- tion is made up of 19 members, 11 who are elected and eight who are appointed by the governor. The chairs of the education committees of the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate serve as nonvoting ex-officio members. The state superintendent of public instruction serves as secretary of the board.

So when just seven of the board members seek an investigation of some of the practices of the Ohio Department of Education, we must ask: What about the 11 other voting members? (One seat is vacant following the resignation of former state legislator Robert F. Hagan, a Youngstown Democrat.)

GET MAJORITY ON BOARD

Considering that one of the issues raised by the seven is the role played by Richard Ross, state superintendent of public instruction, and other education department officials in the creation of the Youngs-town Plan, we believe a majority of the state board should be pursuing any kind of an investigation.

Otherwise, it appears that the signers of a letter to Ross have embraced an agenda that does not have the support of the entire board.

The absence of a consensus is disturbing to those of us who firmly believe that on at least one issue, an independent investigation is justified. However, the issue has nothing to do with the Youngstown Plan, which is detailed in legislation passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly and signed into law by Republican Gov. John Kasich.

We are unwavering in support of the plan, which aims to re-engineer the academically imploding Youngstown City School District.

The arguments put forth by opponents of the restructuring and advocates of the status quo are without merit. This is not some grand design to dismantle the public school system, nor is it an attempt to hand over the Youngstown City School District to some education cabal – the way the constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana in Ohio would do with the drug cartel.

But the issue that we certainly agree demands a close look is the admission by a top Ohio education official that he excluded F grades from evaluations of charter-school sponsors of online and dropout-recovery schools.

As we pointed out in an editorial last month, the question that immediately came to mind when the admission was made public was whether David Hansen was acting alone, or whether he was following orders from higher-ups.

Hansen, who resigned as the School Choice director for the Ohio Department of Education, is married to Beth Hansen, who has taken a leave of absence from her job as the governor’s chief of staff to work on Kasich’s 2016 presidential campaign.

HANSEN PROBE NEEDED

We were uncompromising in our demand for an independent investigation into David Hansen’s behavior. To us, having the state auditor, Dave Yost, a Republican, review the case does not pass the smell test.

With the Republican Party in control of state government, nothing Yost does will appease the Democrats or other critics of Kasich’s approach to public education.

Indeed, that’s the reason we aren’t sold on the idea of seven members of the state board of education seeking an investigation of state Superintendent Ross’ management of the state department of education.

Under the law, the state board is responsible for hiring the superintendent and of evaluating his performance.

The board sets education policy for the entire state. It determines Ohio’s academic content standards, adopts rules for state standardized tests and sets teacher-licensing requirements

It also sets administrative rules affecting schools and school districts, rules on school district territory transfers, district transportation decisions and educator license revocations.

In light of the fact that 11 of the 19 members are elected and the remaining eight are appointed by the governor, the political underpinnings of the board cannot be ignored.

Thus, we urge the seven who sent the letter to Ross demanding an investigation to bring more of their colleagues on board.

A call by the majority for a review will boost the credibility of the probe.