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Virtual town hall held to discuss control of Youngstown schools
"Test scores for our children have not improved under this plan and in many cases, they've gotten worse," said Simon.
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"Our community's voice and ability to determine how our schools are governed have been taken from us," Reverend Kenneth Simon said Tuesday.
It's what spurred him and other local and state leaders to form the Community Leadership Coalition on Education.
The group looks to restore control of Youngstown City Schools to the elected school board and do away with state control enacted under House Bill 70.
"Test scores for our children have not improved under this plan and in many cases, they've gotten worse," said Simon.
Tuesday, he and other coalition members in a virtual town hall to continue their work toward a solution.
State Rep. Michelle Lepore-Hagan called HB 70 racially motivated in the sense that mostly minority districts had been placed under academic distress.
The group also says there's no accountability to the taxpayers.
"If this isn't proof enough that HB 70 hasn't been a success, I don't know what is," Lepore-Hagan said.
Youngstown school board member Ronald Shadd said the solution in his mind is House Bill 154.
It cleared the House last year but has been stalled in the Senate since.
It establishes and funds a separate board that vets the district and building plans.
"The crucial part of that legislation is that there's a root cause analysis. We believe that's important because at that point in time, if there are problems that go beyond what happens in the classroom, the state has to recognize what those issues are," Shadd said.
The group says it will continue to pressure Governor DeWine to do just that.
State Senator Mike Rulli was also in this virtual meeting; he says HB 70 is biased by a "pro-charter school attitude".
Meanwhile, 21 News reached out to district CEO Justin Jennings for comment but we've not heard back.