Kasich wants different structure for school board

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Calling it polarized and divided, Gov. John Kasich said he would like to change the structure of Ohio’s school board, which can hire and fire the state superintendent.

The Republican presidential candidate told The Columbus Dispatch that the structure, with 11 elected seats and eight appointed by the governor, is partisan and used to push political agendas.

“I frankly think the whole thing should be changed,” Kasich said. “I don’t like the structure of it. I don’t like the infighting. A governor should be able to pick their own head of the Department of Education.”

Some of the governor’s critics have said an all-elected board would be the best way to put politics out of the panel.

“The reason the people created the state board was to be a buffer between the superintendent and the governor’s office,” said William Phillis, executive director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding and a former assistant state superintendent.