03/19/2018 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of Council Monday, March 19, 2018 Page 27 Mr. Coyne stated, this is moving potentially quickly. It's hard to. tell with this particular legislature, but on February 14, 2018., the House of Representatives introduced House Bill 512 which would effectively consolidate the Ohio Department of Education, the Ohio Department of Higlier Education and the Governor's Office of VVorkforce Transformation into a new megastate agency which woul'd be called the Department of Learning and Achievement which would be governed and under the sole authority of the Governor of the State ,of Ohio. The Department of Learning and Achievement would be the primary department to oversee primary, secondary, post=secondary education and it would really taice care of advising the Governor on those policy issues. It would transfer the department of powers of the State Board of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Department of Education and all.of the powers and duties of the Charicellor of Higher Education which deals with state universities and colleges, the Department of -Higher Education and the Governor's Office of Workforce Transformation. It would abolish the Department of. Higher Education and the Ohio Board of Regents and eliminate the position of Chancellor of Higher Education. It also specifies that the State Board of Education and the Superintendent of- Public Instruction and the Department of Education wouid continue to exist but only for• prescribed purposes, in terms of establishing curriculum in grade schools, high schools, what have you. So, the State Board of Education`thinks this is going in the wrong direction completely and that it is inv.esting way too much power in the Governor's office to create such an agency. It has just been introduced. Depending upon your perspective, liy having it on three readings, you will have it open for more discussion, I suppose, if inembers of the community want to weigh in on this, or if you think that it's enough of a concern to pass:it on an emergency, it should be given fair consideration. I don't know that your School Board has weighed in on this with any members of Council, but it is a huge change to the wliole structure of public education in Ohio. Council President Saponaro asked, any comments or questions on this? We have a motion out there. - Mr. Marquardt stated, I think we are making a mistake on this. All of these things should have been on the Caucus meeting to get some clarification before we can vote on it. I don't think there's anything wrong with what .we are voting on, but I think this whole process of going through these first readings and allowing them to pass without having a Caucus meeting is a mistake. Council President Saponaro stated, and I agree with you, unless our Law Department says it is an emergency or something time-sensitive, then I would refer to the Law Department. Mr. Marquardt stated, we did not have this at the Caucus meeting. Council President Saponaro stated, so if you don't agree with it, we don't have to have a motion to suspend, you can vote against it, we don't have to pass it. I have to defer to you on that.