The Education Committee of the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission will hear testimony on the State Board of Education membership on February 11, 9:30 AM in room 017 at the Ohio Statehouse
The State Board of Education was created as an elected state agency subsequent to the adoption of the 1953 Ohio Constitutional amendment. The amendment provided the Superintendent of Public Instruction was an employee of the Board, not the governor's office. The legislature determined that the Board should be elected, one member from each congressional district.
The all-elected State Board functioned from January 1956 until the mid-1990s when Governor Voinovich-inspired legislation was adopted to allow him to appoint eight members.
The all-elected State Board, as an independent state agency, functioned as intended by the voters, and provided exemplary leadership for Ohio's school districts. It was not bogged down by partisan politics.
Milestones: a history of the State Board of Education 1956-1989 sheds light on the significant accomplishments of the all-elected State Board.
Since the hybrid elected/appointed Board began to operate in the mid-1990s, the Board and Ohio Department of Education (ODE) have become partisan and largely dysfunctional.
ODE has lost its capacity to lead and their benefit to school districts is severely limited. The Ohio Constitution should be amended to require an all-elected Board.
Those who wish to testify in person or in written form should contract Steven C. Hollon, Executive Director, telephone, 614.644.2022 and email is [email protected]
William Phillis
Ohio E & A
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