Youngstown students went back to school this week amid tension between local and state education leaders. The district is in danger of being taken over by the state unless a lawsuit filed last week is able to stop the planned overhaul of the school system. StateImpact Ohio's Amy Hansen recently spent a few days in Youngstown, and takes a look at the link between the problems plaguing the city and those hindering the success of the school district.
It鈥檚 the beginning of a new school year at Taft Elementary, and a batch of kindergartners are learning an important life skill: how to navigate the cafeteria.
Walking in a single file line, surrounded by stainless steel refrigerators more than twice their height, the kids hand over a yellow lunch ticket to a cafeteria attendant in exchange for today鈥檚 meal--a ham and cheese stromboli plus a side of fries--before they鈥檙e each faced with a tough question.
"Chocolate," she asked.
"Uh, milk," the student said.
"Yeah, I know," the cafeteria attendant said. "Chocolate milk or white milk."
"White," the student said.
As far as first days go, officials say this one was pretty typical. But behind-the-scenes, that鈥檚 not quite the case.
"I鈥檓 a little apprehensive about my job security," said Youngstown teacher Lori Clark. "That鈥檚 what I think a lot of teachers are, they鈥檙e just worried."
Clark and others in her union are worried about House Bill 70.
Over the summer, lawmakers introduced and passed the measure within 24 hours, with little time for public comment.
The new law, allows for the state to essentially take over districts that have been continually failing for years. A new committee would appoint a CEO to oversee all of the district鈥檚 administrative functions, including hiring staff, overseeing class sizes, and having the option to open up teachers鈥� collective bargaining agreements.
Youngstown is first on the list.
"It happened so fast that I think everybody鈥檚 scared, like people are gonna come in and go, 'oh my gosh, this school is horrible,' when really it鈥檚 not," said Clark. "There鈥檚 a lot of dedicated people and I think maybe the way this happened is making people apprehensive about how we鈥檙e perceived."
It happened through a series of meetings with leaders in Columbus and members of a so called 鈥渃abinet鈥� including the president of Youngstown State University, the Bishop of the Youngstown Catholic Diocese, a former Youngstown Superintendent, and the Youngstown Chamber of Commerce president, Tom Humphries.
鈥淭he breaking point was the fact that we have a potential of 10,000 students in the City of Youngstown," he said. "Of that, 5,000 go to open enrollment or other school districts. The concern was, nobody鈥檚 helping that 5,000 left. So that鈥檚 really what drove it, was the fact that we had 5000 kids that didn鈥檛 seem to have an out and the system they were in didn鈥檛 seem like it was providing an adequate result.
Youngstown鈥檚 graduation rate clocks in at 69 percent. Schools have consistently earned 鈥淔"s on the state report card. And only one percent of the Class of 2013 tested ready for college.
The schools鈥� ills mirror the city鈥檚 struggles. When Youngstown鈥檚 steel economy collapsed in the 1970鈥檚 and 80鈥檚, the city鈥檚 population took a huge hit. Today, 36 percent of the city鈥檚 roughly 70,000 residents live in poverty.
The Chamber of Commerce鈥檚 Humphries says, H.B. 70 could change all of that.
"This school district is going to be classified as one of the best urban center school districts in the next few years," he said.
The new school plan already has one famous fan: Ohio governor John Kasich.
Earlier this month, the GOP presidential hopeful used a chunk of his time at an education event in New Hampshire to talk up the plan, saying it should serve as a model for urban education across the country.
"I actually believe what鈥檚 gonna happen in Youngstown, which has been a hard hit town, where jobs are now coming back, I believe what we鈥檙e doing in Youngstown to improve those schools is gonna save the city," he said.
But not so fast, said the area鈥檚 Democratic state senator, Joe Schiavoni, who鈥檚 not happy with the governor or the Ohio Department of Education.
"Kasich did what he wanted to do, ODE did what they wanted to do, but I鈥檓 not going to allow them to make us and Youngstown look like a bunch of idiots across the state, like, that the great governor Kasich had to come and save us from ourselves,鈥� he said.
Schiavoni鈥檚 thoughts are echoed by many people across the city.
Last week, a handful of local and statewide groups, including the Youngstown City School Board and the Ohio Education Association, filed a lawsuit against the state in order to stop the takeover.
The plaintiffs are gambling on a technicality.
They say the law didn鈥檛 receive the required number of hearings in the legislature, which violates the state constitution, adding that the law wipes away residents鈥� local control.
Now, the fate of the plan sits in the hands of a Franklin County judge.