Youngstown Plan battles aren’t about the students

By any objective measure, the Youngstown City School District has hit rock bottom academically and will not begin to recover unless drastic action is taken. The latest results from the statewide testing show that the effort put forth by the district is too little, too late.

There’s just one viable solution to what is clearly a systemic problem, but the special interests that are responsible for students failing to learn are fighting its implementation.

The Youngstown Plan, as it has been dubbed, was designed by Mahoning Valley business and community leaders and was formalized in a bill enacted by the Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly and signed into law by Republican Gov. John Kasich.

At the core of the plan is the appointment of a chief executive officer by the newly created Youngstown School District Academic Distress Commission.

The law requires a CEO to be named within 60 days of the chairman or chairwoman’s appointment.

The state superintendent of public instruction, Richard Ross, named Brian Benyo, president of Brilex Industries, commission chairman last month.

But before the panel could meet – three members were appointed by the state superintendent of public instruction, one by the mayor of Youngstown and one by the president of the school board – a lawsuit was filed by the teachers’ union to block board President Brenda Kimble’s appointee, Carol Staten, from being seated.

The union contends that Staten is not a city schoolteacher and, therefore, under the Youngstown Plan, is ineligible to serve. Kimble argues that Staten is a substitute administrator in the district and that meets the statutory definition of teacher.

The lawsuit was filed in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, and after hearing the arguments from both sides, Magistrate Daniel Dascenzo issued an opinion that bars Staten from serving on the academic commission.

Kimble, represented by the board of education’s lawyer Ted Roberts, has filed objections to Dascenzo’s decision. Common Pleas Judge Lou A. D’Apolito will hear the appeal.

A SECOND OBSTACLE

But that isn’t the only legal maneuver to undermine the implementation of the Youngstown Plan. A lawsuit has been filed by the board of education and other entities challenging the validity of the law that created the plan. However, the state is not legally prohibited from implementing the law, which means the academic distress commission is free to conduct business – if there are no impediments.

The battle over Kimble’s appointment of Staten is an impediment – and is a disservice to the students of the city of Youngstown.

As Michael Fisher, an assistant Ohio attorney general, told Magistrate Dascenzo, not permitting the commission to meet and begin its work means that the children of the city schools will lose one more year of a quality education.

For too long, the education of the students has been undermined by the special interests that have held sway for years in the district, and by the disintegration of the family unit in inner-city neighborhoods.

It is for this reason that the Youngstown Plan gives the chief executive officer dictatorial powers to change the entire structure of the district.

It is time for school board President Kimble to withdraw her appointment of Staten and to name a teacher currently on the job. In addition, the school board, the teachers union and other opponents of change should drop the lawsuit challenging the law that created the Youngstown Plan.

It is encouraging that the four members of the academic distress commission – Benyo, Dr. Laura Meeks, Dr. Barbara Brothers and Jennifer Roller – have begun meeting with teachers and others in the district to get their ideas, knowledge and insight.

Benyo, a business owner; Meeks, retired president of Eastern Gateway Community College; and Roller, president of the Wean Foundation, were appointed by state Superintendent Ross; Brothers, retired dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Youngstown State University, was selected by Mayor John A. McNally.

These individuals are committed to the education and well-being of Youngstown’s children.