Ohio has a new Republican governor, a GOP-controlled House, a new US senator, and come January many other statewide offices will be a sea of red.
Republican John Kasich took the governorship away from Ted Strickland in a tight election but this wasn't the only place that Republicans were able take home big wins: secretary of state, state auditor, attorney general, and state treasurer now all belong to the GOP.? Leadership also changed hands in the Ohio House of Representatives.? Republicans picked up a dozen seats to give them the majority in the House.? They also managed to extend their already-strong Senate majority.? On top of all the success at the state level, Republicans also have reason to celebrate at the national level.? Rob Portman comfortably beat Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher to capture a seat in the U.S. Senate.? Ohio's representatives to the U.S. House will also take a swing in the other direction come January.? Currently Democrats hold 10 seats to the Republican 8; however in January it will be 13-5 in favor of the GOP.? Like in other states, Ohio is experiencing a major shift in power and victory for the Republicans.
What will this mean for the future of education? Andy Rotherham recently asked this question about the next speaker of the house, John Boehner?a native Ohioan from Cincinnati.? Boehner cares immensely about education and has been at the forefront of one of the nation's prominent education bills, NCLB.? But Rotherham warns that while there's no doubt that Boehner cares about education policy, the current political climate might inhibit him from being able to make any real changes in the next two years.
With Republicans now in control change is definitely on the horizon in Ohio.? For starters, Kasich has said multiple times that he will immediately dismantle Strickland's Evidence-Based Model for school funding.? While Kasich hasn't actually proposed details on what the alternative will be, we can count on EBM's mandates to never fully be phased in. Furthermore, look for more school choice policies to be discussed and reform in teacher evaluations to potentially take fruition.? Change is also inevitable at the local level where of the 214 school levies on the ballot only 109 earned the support of voters.? With schools around the state strapped for cash the defeat of these levies means that they will have to figure out ways to make smart cuts to preserve money.
It is an interesting time here in Ohio; stay tuned to see what happens.
?Bianca Speranza
