State Reps. Lauren McNally and Juanita O. Brent reintroduced legislation to end academic distress commissions, such as the one that used to run the Youngstown school district.

“There is no debate left to be had: the state takeover model didn’t work,” said McNally, D-Youngstown. “In fact, it made things worse.”

McNally said she attempted to amend the dissolution of academic distress commissions into a bill that eliminated obsolete provisions of education law during the Ohio House’s Nov. 19 session. But McNally said Republicans in the majority blocked the amendment.

McNally said, “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.”

Under House Bill 70, approved June 2015 and called the Youngstown Plan, academically-failing school districts were put under the control of state-appointed academic distress commissions, which appointed a CEO to run the day-to-day operations.

In addition to Youngstown, the bill permitted the takeover of the East Cleveland and Lorain school districts. When 10 other school districts were one state report card away from a state takeover, the state Legislature passed a moratorium in June 2021 on academic distress commissions.

Even with that moratorium, Youngstown, East Cleveland and Lorain had to create three-year academic improvement plans and submit annual reports, approved by the Ohio Department of Education. Lorain was subsequently removed from that requirement in January 2020 by the state Legislature, leaving Youngstown and East Cleveland to continue.

McNally and Brent, D-Cleveland, first introduced legislation on Jan. 29, 2024, to dissolve all academic distress commissions and repeal the law on establishing any new ones. The bill would restore all control to the boards of education of school districts under an academic distress commission.

The bill received a single hearing Nov. 20, 2024, by the House Primary and Secondary Education Commission and died at the end of last year.

McNally said getting the bill passed in this session, which runs to Dec. 31, 2026, “is one of my main priorities,” and “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.”

Brent, whose district includes East Cleveland, said: “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.”

State Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, introduced a bill Nov. 10 to dissolve academic distress commissions and require student support teams for certain low-performing school buildings. It was referred Nov. 18 to the Senate Education Committee.