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Keep politics out of state school board

In retrospect, it seems incredible that Ohio voters in 1953 believed an elected state board of education would keep politics out of the administration of public schools. But enough of them did that the constitutional amendment they approved that year both established the state board and stipulated its members were to be elected.

What should have been obvious in 1953 quickly became apparent. By definition, anyone elected to any position in government must be a practitioner of what some would call the dark art of politics.

By 1995, the need for change had become pressing. That year, the General Assembly created a hybrid board, adding eight members appointed by the governor to the 11 elected ones.

But the state’s top layer of public school administration remains dysfunctional. Some of its members clearly are unhappy with the state superintendent of schools they hired, Dick Ross. And on a regular basis, scandals erupt within the state Department of Education. The most recent involved a high-ranking official who resigned after being caught withholding some data that was unflattering to a few charter schools.

So now the system of picking both the superintendent and board members is being discussed again. Gov. John Kasich believes he and his successors should have the authority to name state school superintendents and perhaps all board members.

There are many systems of selecting state school superintendent and board members among the 50 states. But just eight use the ballot to name all state board members. Another three, including Ohio, use a mix of elected and appointed members.

It will be for Kasich, the General Assembly and perhaps voters to hash out what system Ohio uses in the future.

But if the goal is keeping politics out of governance of the public school system, neither state officials nor voters should even consider an all-elected state board.

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