Ohio State Board of Education President Laura Kohler, author of anti-racism resolution, to resign Friday

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Ohio State Board of Education President Laura Kohler, author of anti-racism resolution, to resign Friday

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State Board of Education President Laura Kohler, one of the authors of an anti-racism resolution passed after the murder of George Floyd, said she plans to resign Friday morning.

“The governor did request my resignation, yes,” she said.

Kohler said that the Senate was unhappy with her participation in the now-rescinded Resolution 20, a three-page anti-racism and equity resolution, which the board passed in July 2020. The resolution said that Ohio education has not been immune to racism and inequality issues that the entire nation is grappling with; that racism, hate and bigotry have no place in schools; among other statements.

Kohler’s resignation also comes as the State Board of Education begins a search for a new state superintendent of public instruction.

Kohler said that the Ohio Senate would not confirm her reappointment earlier this year by Gov. Mike DeWine. The Senate, in fact, had enough votes not to confirm her, she said.

“I was told that they do have the votes to remove me from the board, and as I analyzed the situation, I am concerned about the board’s ability to do its work,” she said. “I’m concerned for my colleagues on the board. And also, I have a great deal of respect for Gov. DeWine, and it appeared to me that it wasn’t in the board’s best interest to force a vote on this when I knew that I would lose.”

DeWine’s spokesman, Dan Tierney, didn’t comment on the specifics about Kohler’s resignation.

“We appreciate Ms. Kohler’s service to the board and to the state of Ohio,” Tierney said.

On Oct. 13, a majority of the board — membership of which had changed since Resolution 20 passed — voted to repeal Resolution 20 and replace it with a resolution to promote academic excellence without “respect to race, ethnicity or creed.” It acknowledged race can be a factor in educational gaps but said other issues, like poverty, can also create gaps, even though critics said disaggregated data showed that children of color perform worse on tests than poor white children.

“Somehow, Resolution 20 became a Republican litmus test,” said Kohler, a lifelong Republican. “And that certainly wasn’t my point in drafting it originally, but it took on a life of its own. People kept attributing things to Resolution 20 that were never part of the original statement that I was trying to make as one of the authors.”

The issue of race education — specifically anti-racism education — became the culture-war issue de jour in this primary election season that includes a well-funded, nationwide movement to get opponents of so-called critical race theory elected to local school boards. The issue is comingling with the anti-vaccine movement that grew out of the far right.

In Northeast Ohio, such candidates are running in races in suburban communities, such as Beachwood, Bay Village and Chagrin Falls, in opposition to critical race theory, as well as mask and vaccine mandates.

Kohler said that people accused the now-rescinded state school board resolution of encouraging the teaching of critical race theory.

“I’d never heard about critical race theory until several months after the resolution was adopted,” she said. “It became a political lightning rod. I made the determination that there was nothing in Resolution 20 that I don’t continue to believe today. So therefore I could see no need to rescind it. It’s a tough time to be a moderate.”

Kohler said that she hopes with her resignation that the legislature won’t interfere in the work of the Ohio State Board of Education. However, the board has been looking for a new state superintendent of public instruction since Paolo DeMaria retired in September. The board is about to hire a search firm, Kohler said.

“I think that the board is going to have to remain vigilant,” she said. “There are some issues that will have great interest to members of the legislature, including the appointment of a new superintendent of public education. I have always strived to promote a partnership between the legislative branch and the board and the executive branch and the board. My hope is that the partnership will continue with everyone in every role respecting the role that the others have to play.”

The legislature is considering a bill that would reduce the number of board members from 17 to nine, removing all the appointees, since many of the appointees helped pass the anti-racism resolution. However, with new members this year, a majority of appointees helped rescind the resolution earlier this month.

Three of those appointees who voted to rescind the resolution were confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday: Steve Dackin, Martha Manchester and J. Timothy Miller.

Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman said that he and others in the Senate had meetings with two of the three candidates to discuss the anti-racism resolution, among other issues.

Huffman said Wednesday after the confirmation vote that too many gubernatorial appointees are from the Columbus area. He wants to see more geographical diversity on the state school board. He said there are no appointed members from Cleveland and Cincinnati, for instance.

“It’s not merely the governor gets to appoint, and the Senate has no role,” he said. “By the Constitution and by statute, we’re supposed to advise and consent on those. I would say, for the most part, the Senate does what most governors want them to do.”

Huffman said he’s taken a different approach than previous Senate leaders.

“We can’t have the kind of examination they do in the federal government, but with cabinet-level appointees, public utilities, state school board, a few others, we’ve asked to have our committee chairs, sometimes me, sometimes the members interview those people and get their impression about whether we should consent to them,” Huffman said.

For instance, Huffman said he met with Judi French, the former Ohio Supreme Court justice who is now over the Ohio Department of Insurance.

Huffman said that he or other senators were able to interview two of the three candidates several months ago before the vote on rescinding the anti-racism resolution. He said they talked about the anti-racism resolution.

“That was an issue that was brought to me by a whole variety of people, including other state school board members,” he said.

He also said he talked with them about operations at the Ohio Department of Education. He said he regularly hears from local school officials who are dissatisfied with the department.

“We talked about school choice and school funding and the operation of the Ohio Department of Education,” he said.

Kohler, who is from the Columbus suburb of New Albany, was appointed by former Gov. John Kasich in February 2017 and reappointed by DeWine earlier this year. She was elected to her first term as board president in 2019 and was re-elected earlier this year.

“I have been very honored to have been appointed by two governors, and I was elected by my colleagues on the board to two terms as board president,” she said. “I appreciate the confidence that my fellow board members have always placed in me.”