The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge of an Ohio law that puts control of poor-performing school districts in the hands of unelected CEOs.
The case challenges divisive changes in the so-called Youngstown Plan and how they were pushed through the Legislature in one day in 2015. The bill also gave Ohio academic distress commissions more power to close schools or replace staff. The Youngstown school board and its employees' unions argue it violates the Ohio Constitution by stripping the authority of districts and boards. They also say lawmakers ignored the "Three Reading Rule" requiring repeated consideration of legislation. A spokesperson for Governor John Kasich says Youngstown students were "victims of a failing system" and the law "empowers change."
