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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > April > 18 > Entry
Editorial: Governor pays price for not debating Morgan
The flap between freshman state Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, and Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is mostly political gamesmanship.
But the controversy has exposed a problem with the governor’s education plan. Widely praised for putting forward bold ideas, Gov. Strickland has so far not persuaded enough Ohioans — or lawmakers — that his approach is right and affordable.
If he and his advisers really are confident that two years of study has led them to the best changes, then engaging foes like Rep. Morgan in debate ought to be enlightening. Rep. Morgan first complained in a House subcommittee that the governor’s staff was not being forthright in answering his questions about the massive education reform proposal. After two public records requests failed to get the information he wants, Mr. Morgan went to court. In so doing, he scored points with critics of the governor, many of them Republican.
Gov. Strickland and his staff apparently hoped pesky Rep. Morgan would go away or that his complaints would be rolled into the wider budget debate. There, the discussion was to be focused more on how to make the education plan work, not whether Gov. Strickland’s proposals are the right way to go.
To be fair, the governor’s spokesman Keith Dailey argues that Rep. Morgan’s records requests were sweeping and difficult to fill quickly. An initial computer search, he said, turned up 74,000 documents that could be relevant, and staffers were sorting through them when the lawsuit was filed.
Still, Mr. Dailey acknowledged his office could have handled the request more aggressively. Both sides now have dueling Web sites. Details of Gov. Strickland’s plan can be found at www.conversationoneducation.org, while Rep. Morgan is posting records as they are released at www.ohioeducationevidence.com.
In Mr. Dailey’s view, Gov. Strickland’s Web site is just one example that demonstrates the administration’s openness. Yes, most of the debate has been about funding the ideas (as opposed to the rationales behind the changes). But, Mr. Dailey said, a heavy focus on money was to be expected, given the state’s financial problems.
Mr. Dailey also points out that the same House subcommittee that Rep. Morgan sits on has heard 300 witness and 50 hours of testimony in meetings across the state where the governor’s education proposals have been discussed.
The subcommittee, in fact, came to Dayton last month. Perhaps that meeting is instructive.
A large crowd of charter school supporters spoke at Stivers School for the Arts, raising concerns about the money their children’s schools would lose. The debate heated up as Rep. Morgan and Republicans sparred with Democrats about questions of cost and quality of charter schools vs. traditional public schools. At that point, the committee chairman, Democrat Stephen Dyer, angrily ordered a recess.
He said he was offended when charter supporters cheered Republicans as they pointed out public schools in Dayton have similarly low test scores to the bad charter numbers cited by the Democrats.
The moment wasn’t a shining one in the annals of open debate, and, clearly, Rep. Morgan and other Republicans were frustrated about being shut down.
Democrats shouldn’t run from debates about the details of their education proposals. If the discussions had been more open, and Gov. Strickland’s staff and supporters more responsive, perhaps Rep. Morgan might not have gone to court.
As things turned out, the administration handed an issue to Rep. Morgan and created a distraction for itself.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: Editorials, Education, Ohio politics, Scott Elliott
Comments
By George
April 18, 2009 8:05 AM | Link to this
Imagine that, a democrat throwing a tantrum when faced with a FACT. When will voters realize that throwing money at a bloated government school system has never improved education in this country. If we give taxpayer dollars to parents (instead of school districts) so they can pick their own school. We will therefore encourage competition, innovation and excellence. It works every time it’s tried.By Joe Lacey
April 18, 2009 12:27 PM | Link to this
Any low performing schools in Dayton Public Schools are now a product of the “Reform” program of Kids First, a group put into power with the help of those now opposing Strickland’s efforts to fix our schools.By max
April 18, 2009 1:44 PM | Link to this
I’m glad that someone is demanding answers. What the governor is wanting to do just doesn’t make sense. It is still going to cost a lot of money that no one has. Districts are cutting things right and left. Democrats - as a “compromise” - want to eliminate calamity days…Extending the school year unknown number of days adds to a budget that is already short. Nov 2010 can’t get here fast enough to vote him out of here.By Fighter Pilot
April 24, 2009 10:49 AM | Link to this
Go Seth Go!! When liberals know that the facts are against them, they try to destroy the reputation and career of the opponent. Teacher unions are the biggest roadblock to improvement in our schools.