State takeover legislation could give teachers unions power to veto turnaround plans (VIDEO)

Watch Graham's testimony. Jeff Graham, now superintendent of Canton Schools, gave testimony Tuesday morning against the latest Senate substitute bill to House Bill 154. Graham was named Lorain's superintendent mere hours before House Bill 70 was passed in 2015, which allowed the state takeover of Lorain, Youngstown and East Cleveland Schools. He left the district in early 2018. Graham pointed to this being the third model for state control of struggling districts to pass through the Statehouse, something Education Committee Chairperson Sen. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, took issue with. "The fact that we're on the third iteration of this bill, you obviously don't follow a lot of bills and sub bills are very common," Lehner said. "It's part of the legislative process. It indicates that we're listening, that changes are being made because we don't think it's perfect. If we thought it was perfect, we'd bring it to a vote." Graham replied, "My point was, there was an original law that was passed, that included only Youngstown and Lorain, and then House Bill 70, and now we're on No. 3." Lehner disputed the relevance of the previous bills. "The piece of legislation that we're debating today is none of those," she said. "So I can't be held responsible and none of us can be held responsible for other bills." Lehner was chair of the Education Committee in 2015 when House Bill 70 was passed. She voted in favor of the controversial legislation. Graham's testimony noted his concerns were with the process through the plan was being implemented. He said the current process lacks clearly defined expectations for districts and the trust of communities in need of support. His concerns lie in the use of the state report card to determine which districts fall under state control, and the unhealthy relationship state control can create in struggling districts. Terhar said under the biennial budget, a committee will be formed to study the current state report card model and give its recommendations by mid-December. Graham said there should be a defined standard to measure districts against before planning an accountability system like that outlined in House Bill 154. Manning asked if Graham thought Lorain was ready to have local control returned — having gone from an overall F to a D on the most recent state report card. Graham said yes, the district is ready for its local representatives to be in control, as the school board leadership was not the district's struggle ahead of its takeover. Tom Lasley, CEO of Learn to Earn Dayton, testified in support of the latest legislation, in favor of the state-level School Transformation Board and other measures, but said he would agree those districts already under Academic Distress Commission should start at the beginning of the six-year process leading to Improvement Commissions, rather than go from one oversight Commission to another. Learn to Earn Dayton looks to increase earnings in Montgomery County by supporting early childhood education programs up to college and work-force credentials. "The three school districts that have been impacted by House Bill 70, I think their circumstance is unfortunate and unique," he said. "Those of us that have spent a lot of time talking about how to address those districts have found that there is not probably a right answer, the question is what is the best answer. I continue to be plagued with what the best answer is for those three districts." Latest changes The local teachers union president would have to sign off on a district's proposed improvement plan, giving the union final say in how a district will go about improving its state report card scores. It also adds a teacher with special education experience to local stakeholder committees, which help create the improvement plan. One of the governor's appointees to the state-level School Transformation Board has to have at least five years teaching experience. That board would be in place by Feb. 15, 2020. Changes were outlined by Sen. Louis Terhar, R-Cincinnati, ahead of testimony. The amended version was approved 6-3, with Sen. Nathan Manning, R-North Ridgeville, voting in favor. Sens. Tina Maharath, D-Columbus; Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo; and Vernon Sykes, D-Akron, voted against the amendment. A full list of submitted testimony is available on the Ohio Senate Education Committee website. Contact Carissa Woytach at 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.