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Judge to rule on Youngstown schools plan injunction before mid-October
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
The judge hearing a legal challenge to stop the plan to oversee Youngstown City Schools said she will issue a ruling before mid-October.
“It’s not my intention to bring this down to the wire,” said Judge Jenifer French of Franklin County Common Pleas Court after Wednesday’s hearing.
The new law to govern the school district takes effect Oct. 14.
The hearing for a preliminary injunction to stop the plan stretched over two days.
Attorneys for opponents to the Youngstown schools plan urged Judge French to block the new state law from taking effect next month, saying the hastily approved legislation is unconstitutional and was improperly finalized.
Martin Hume, the city of Youngstown’s law director who is representing the Youngstown school board, said the amended HB 70 was not subject to the required three separate readings, after the Youngstown Plan was added, and there was no opportunity for a fair and public debate on the legislation’s final version.
“This is the textbook example of a rush to enact a piece of legislation that is a major, substantial change in the law in a way that was not in any way envisioned, similar to, part of or related to” the original HB 70, Hume said.
But legal counsel for the Ohio Department of Education countered that the enactment of HB 70 was proper and legal and necessary to address the continued failures of the city school board, district administrators and the current academic distress commission to address school issues.
“They’ve been debating for about 20 years in the Youngstown school district what to do, and during that time, the Youngstown City Schools have continued to fail for the students of Youngstown,” said Atty. Douglas Cole, representing the state. “The children in Youngstown are fleeing the school district. ... This is a failing school district. It has been a failing school district for some time. ... The status quo is simply not an option for the students in Youngstown.”
Lawmakers passed HB 70 earlier this year, and Gov. John Kasich signed it into law. The law requires the creation of a new academic distress commission and the appointment of a chief executive officer to oversee long-failing school districts. The CEO will have authority to replace school administrators and staff and close schools.
The Youngstown district initially is affected by the bill, though similarly situated districts would come under the new requirements in the future.
The bill’s primary co-sponsor, a Democrat, voted against the final version of HB 70, and more than 20 like-minded lawmakers pulled their names as co-sponsors.
The local school board, Youngstown-area lawmakers and others were not involved in the development of the legislation, which was kept under wraps until the day lawmakers OK’d the amendment.
The school district, teachers and school employee unions and a local resident subsequently filed suit.
LEGAL CHALLENGE
A full hearing is scheduled a year from now, but the plaintiffs in the case have asked Judge French to issue a preliminary injunction to stop the new law from taking effect until the case is decided.
Absent the delay, a new academic distress commission will be formed and a CEO appointed in coming months.
Plaintiffs argued in court filings the legislation is unconstitutional, eliminating the power of an elected school board and allowing “an unelected CEO to eliminate every school within a city school district, thus eliminating the right for electors in a city school district to determine the organization and number of members of a city school district board of education.”
Legal counsel for the school board and other plaintiffs added HB 70 would enable the newly appointed CEO to close schools, leaving the community served by charter schools instead.
But legal counsel for the state argued the law changes were proper, calling the lawsuit “little more than a thinly disguised effort to re-argue the policy merits of HB 70, a question for the general assembly, not this court.”
They added, “Having lost the legislative battle, plaintiffs now conjure constitutional claims where none exist.”
Tuesday’s daylong session included testimony from the Youngstown school board president, several Democratic state lawmakers, union group representatives and others.
Wednesday’s testimony included two state education officials who offered comments in support of HB 70 and the Youngstown Plan.
“There are tough decisions that have to be made in the district, and when you work in a large urban setting, you have different power structures that are in place,” said Lonny Rivera, associate superintendent of the Ohio Department of Education. “Change is something that is really not embraced by many people. ... And this is something that gives the CEO some more autonomy to be able to make some tough decisions that others are not willing to make or for political reasons cannot.”
Also on the stand, Christopher Woolard, senior executive director of the education department’s Center for Accountability and Continuous Improvement, reviewed state-issued report cards for the Youngstown district.
Woolard said the results over the past decade show the district has continued to fail to meet the majority of basic expectations the state has for its schools.
The district, he said, is among the lowest-performing systems in the state.
“I think you’re seeing a pattern of consistently low performance across all areas of the report card,” he said.
Even with the academic distress commission’s work in the district over the past five years, “I do not see any significant progress,” he said.
Woolard agreed it would take a change in leadership at the district to reverse the academic trends.
During his testimony, Rivera discussed the administration change earlier this year – the superintendent, human resources director and others resigned, and there were more than 100 positions vacant in the district.
“The entire central office was wiped out, they were gone,” he said, recounting how the state agency stepped forward to assist.
CLOSING ARGUMENTS
In closing arguments, Hume said the effective date of HB 70 and the Youngstown Plan should be delayed; otherwise, a new CEO will be appointed, and within a year that individual could choose to convert existing schools into charters.
Brenda Kimble, president of the Youngstown school board, said after Tuesday’s testimony that HB 70 would lead to the end of the Youngstown City School District.
“In a matter of one year after that CEO is in place, they will be able to sell our schools or give them away to charter schools,” she said. “If this CEO comes, if this happens, if we do not get this injunction, there will not be a public system in Youngstown City Schools in one year.”
Atty. Charles Oldfield said the legislation would take away the power of the citizens of Youngstown and their elected school board members to make decisions about the school district.
But Cole also said no irreparable harm would result from the legislation taking affect as scheduled, since it will take months for a new academic distress commission to be named, a CEO to be appointed and a plan for moving forward finalized.
Cole said past court precedent does not support the plaintiffs’ argument the amended bill required three hearings before final passage.
“They are asking you in this case to lower that hurdle to such a state that literally any time a bill is amended, a plaintiff will be able to come into court and claim that that bill needed to be heard three new times,” he said.