Time is running out on ailing Youngstown city school system

If there was any doubt about the dysfunction of the Youngstown community when it comes to the ailing city school district, last week’s clash involving a faith-based organization that has been active in the region and the school board stands as the latest illustration.

Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods (ACTION) had sought a meeting with all seven members of the school board, but things didn’t work out.

“We were not getting the response that we are demanding,” said Rose Carter, executive director and lead organizer of ACTION.

Why demand the attendance of all the elected board members? Because Carter wanted them there to answer questions from parents and members of the community about the status of the school district and how it can be improved.

Well, in the absence of that get-together, we offer the following reaction the two issues raised by Carter: the status of the school district is simply that it’s on life support; and, the system can only be improved with the direct involvement of Gov. John R. Kasich, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Richard Ross and the Ohio General Assembly.

We emphasize the word “direct” because the troubled district is losing one of the key architects of its academic recovery, Superintendent Connie Hathorn.

Dr. Hathorn, who came to Youngstown from the Akron school district in 2011, will be leaving on Friday. He is taking over as superintendent of the Watson Chapel School District in Pine Bluff, Ark., in July, and will earn $142,000 annually.

But it isn’t the money, nor the chance to return to Arkansas, where he had worked in education, that prompted Hathorn to leave Youngstown. It’s the long-running battles with some members of the board of education that have taken their toll.

Hathorn’s departure does not mean board members will now have control of the reins of power. They have been marginalized by the Youngstown City School District Academic Distress Commission, which was created after academic emergency was declared as a result of the city schools failing the state proficiency tests.

The commission, with statutory authority to operate the district and with the unwavering support of Gov. Kasich and state Superintendent Ross, has said an interim superintendent will be appointed to succeed Hathorn while a decision is made about the future of the school district.

Early results

An academic recovery plan developed by the outgoing superintendent and the commission is being implemented, and early results are encouraging. That’s why Hathorn’s departure is such a blow to the school system, in particular, and the community at large.

It is not an exaggeration that the failing district – it was in fiscal emergency for six years – is a major reason that families with school-age children are either moving to the suburbs or are taking advantage of open enrollment.

The Youngstown school system has long been a cause for concern, which is why we believe time is running out with regard to its academic recovery.

We are well aware that the governor and the state superintendent of public instruction want local business, community and political leaders to come up with a plan of action to revive the schools, but as we’ve argued on numerous occasions, special interest groups in Youngstown are unable – or unwilling – to look at the big picture.

Regrettably, while the adults play their games, the children of the city suffer.

Gov. Kasich has said repeatedly that students must come first. We wholeheartedly agree and urge him and others in state government to come to the aid of Youngstown’s most vulnerable residents.