EAST CLEVELAND – November 26th will be the first day in court for East Cleveland City School District officials. They’re arguing against the Ohio Department of Education’s decision to begin the process of taking over the school system due to failing grades.
And they’re not alone. A year and a half after his district went under state control, Lorain School Board President Tony Dimacchia is putting forth more effort to make sure other districts don’t end up like his. He’s now supporting East Cleveland’s fight and submitted an affidavit to the court on East Cleveland’s behalf.
“I would really hate to see East Cleveland or Warrensville Heights or anybody else go through this same bill because it is a bad bill that is not about academic achievement,” said Dimacchia. “I truly believe it is about privatizing public education.”
The “bill” he is referring to is House Bill 70 which was signed into law in 2015. Under the new law, the state superintendent is authorized to setup an academic distress commission for any school district that receives an overall “F” grade on the state report card for 3 consecutive years.
The commission then appoints a new Chief Executive Officer to run the district. This person has complete operational and managerial power within the district and doesn’t answer to the local school board. This includes creating a budget for the district, determining curriculum, replacing administrators and staff, and negotiating all contracts.
Lorain City Schools and Youngstown City Schools are the only two districts to be taken over in recent years – East Cleveland slated to be the third. But Dimacchia warns a state takeover isn’t in a city’s best interests.
Referencing the new CEO, Dimacchia says, “it is extremely important to have an experienced individual in a position like that. Especially one that has full authority with no accountability to anybody but the governor.”
In Lorain, Dimmachia says their CEO is unhiring unqualified staff and administrators and has implemented policy changes that make schools more dangerous by eliminating zero-tolerance clauses.
“The number of fights are up. I think we had somewhere around 20-25 fights in a matter of 19 days, said Dimacchia. “Not just pushing and shoving or yelling and screaming. We’re talking physical altercations.”
Administrators and parents in East Cleveland have seen what’s going on in Lorain and Youngstown and don’t want to see the same thing happen in their city. So they’re headed to court.
On Thursday, the school board filed for a temporary restraining order against the state. That request was denied. However, they will have a chance to argue their case in front of a Cuyahoga County judge beginning November 26th.
East Cleveland officials believe the state isn’t following the law when it comes to their situation. This is first overall grade given by the state since the new law went into effect. East Cleveland did receive an “F”. However, the law requires 3 consecutive years with an “F for the state to move in.
They also point to failing received by Lorain and Youngstown Schools, despite the state already being in control – evidence that the state’s methods may not be any more affective.
Dimacchia agrees the state’s process isn’t worthwhile.
“We went from a ‘D’ to an ‘F’ under state control. And our enrollment is declining every single day. People are fleeing our district because they just don’t like what’s going on.”
We reached out to officials at the ODE regarding the takeover of East Cleveland City Schools. They pointed us to Ohio Revised Code 3302.10 which underlines academic distress commissions – with no further comment.