Let academic commission start work in Youngstown

Lawyers from the office of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine are absolutely right when they warn that the future of Youngstown’s children is being further jeopardized by the ongoing legal battle over the newly created Youngstown Academic Commission.

Assistant attorneys general Michael T. Fisher and James D. Miller have asked the 7th District Court of Appeals to permit the commission to meet so it can begin the reformation of the academically troubled Youngstown City School District.

The 7th District court is considering an appeal filed by the school board’s lawyer, Ted Roberts, on behalf of President Brenda Kimble, whose appointment of her cousin, Carol Staten, a school principal, was challenged by the teachers union. Common Pleas Court Judge Lou D’Apolito ruled in favor of the union, which contended that Staten’s appointment violated the state law that created the so-called Youngstown Plan. The YEA successfully argued that the plan requires the school board president to appoint a teacher and that Staten is not a teacher.

But in light of Kimble’s appeal, Judge D’Apolito did not lift his order barring the four commission members who already are on board from meeting.

“The stark reality is that the children of the Youngstown City School District cannot afford to wait any longer,” assistant AGs Fisher and Miller wrote in their filing with the appeals court. “The children in the district have been trapped for years in a failing public school system.”

They correctly noted that without immediate intervention from the court, the children have no hope that anything will be different in the coming school year.

The urban school district with a declining enrollment and a majority of children within the federal poverty guidelines was declared in academic emergency in 2011. It is now in academic watch, but not because of an improvement in the state test scores. Rather, attendance has increased.

YEA objection

Yet, a lawyer for the Youngstown Education Association objects to the commission beginning its work without a teacher.

“We believe that it is wrong for the commission to want to move forward, when it is not yet fully comprised,” Atty. Ira Mirkin said.

What is wrong is the time that has been wasted since the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed a bill last year creating the so-called Youngstown Plan.

Republican Gov. John R. Kasich signed the legislation into law with the expectation that the provisions of the plan would be adopted quickly. The creation of the new five-member academic distress commission, to replace the one in existence over the past five years, is a major development.

Former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Richard Ross appointed three of the members, Brian Benyo, Dr. Laura Meeks and Jennifer Roller. Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally named the fourth, Dr. Barbara Brothers.

Kimble selected Staten and brought the process to a screeching halt.

She insists she has a right to pursue this case as far as it will go because the teachers union has sued her personally. In fact, she is being sued as president of the board of education.

Nonetheless, Kimble has no qualms about spending taxpayer dollars in this unjustified endeavor. Her arrogance knows no bounds. All she has to do is abandon her push for Staten and appoint a full-time teacher.

But that would be wishful thinking.

All we can hope for is that the 7th District Court of Appeals will find that the academic distress commission was created in accordance with state law and that the four members were legally appointed.

The commission’s foremost responsibility is the hiring of a chief executive officer who will have virtual dictatorial powers when it comes to the management of the system.

Not surprisingly, advocates of the status quo have railed against this usurping of local control, but the fact is that the district has been in the academic cellar for so long that doing the same thing over and over is sheer insanity.