Reps. Brent, McNally Introduce Bill to End ADCs After GOP Stops Amendment on Floor
COLUMBUS – State Reps. Juanita O. Brent (D-Cleveland) and Lauren McNally (D-Youngstown) today introduced a new piece of legislation to end Academic Distress Commissions (ADCs) for public schools in Ohio. During the Ohio House of Representatives’ marathon session on Wednesday, November 19th, Rep. McNally attempted to amend the disillusion of ADCs into House Bill (HB) 455, a bill to eliminate obsolete provision of education law. Republican lawmakers blocked the amendment, even though ADCs have been a proven failure. In the last General Assembly, the legislature decided that no other schools could fall into an ADC .
“There is no debate left to be had-the state takeover model didn’t work. In fact, it made things worse. But the amendment on the floor, and this bill, does finally give us the chance to wipe this failed policy from our books and give our districts certainty that the state will not resurrect this harmful takeover model ever again,” said Rep. McNally. “This is one of my main priorities this GA. This needs to be fixed for the kids stuck in ADCs and not getting the public education they deserve. I will continue to be persistent and find a way to finally get this done.”
“The Academic Distress Commission has failed the East Cleveland School district for six years,” said Rep. Brent. “We cannot allow bureaucratic obstacles to stand in the way of our children’s education. It is time to put aside political games and prioritize what truly matters—providing our kids with the quality education they deserve. We will not back down until local control is restored and this flawed system is eliminated.”
ADCs are private commissions that, in theory, would help improve a school district’s outcome. In reality, ADCs have been very harmful to public education and afford less credibility and accountability on how schools are run. In 2015, the criteria for Academic Distress Commissions was amended into House Bill 70 and passed in less than 24 hours, with no committee hearings or debate. HB 70, originally meant to provide wrap-around services for students, was dramatically changed with this amendment, which created the criteria for imposing Academic Distress Commissions based on a flawed state report card system that the state has since abandoned.
In the last General Assembly, the legislature put a moratorium on ADCs so that no other school could fall into them. Only three school systems ever fell into ADCs, East Cleveland City Schools, Lorain City School District, and Youngstown City Schools and this bill is to make sure that these permanently end, and schools can immediately get out of ADCs. Since they were placed in an ADC, Youngstown City Schools has had lower academic outcomes, declining enrollment, increased rate of teacher turnover, programs slashed, resources cut, wasted funds, federal investigation, and an FBI raid because of the CEO’s mismanagement.
This bill is awaiting a bill number and a committee assignment.