Ex- GOP lawmakers assist ECOT
Five former Republican lawmakers have filed a brief with the Ohio Supreme Court arguing the Department of Education is violating legislative intent by requiring ECOT to verify its enrollment with log-in duration data.
The brief was filed in support of the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow’s lawsuit fighting the state’s requirement that the online charter school repay $60 million for unverified enrollment for the 2015-16 school year. The state says the school owes another $19 million for the same reason in 2016-17.
But the descriptions of some of those former House members appear to be lacking some context.
William G. Batchelder is described in the brief as the former House speaker, and a former common pleas and appeals court judge.
It does not mention that, until late July, his lobbying firm, The Batchelder Company, represented ECOT founder Bill Lager.
Jim Trakas is described as a former House member, CEO of American Online Learning Center and past board chairman of a pair of Cleveland dropout recovery schools.
It does not mention that Trakas is — or at least was this summer — ECOT’s director of community school advancement and is currently registered as Lager’s lobbyist. It also doesn’t mention that he was board chairman of Provost Academy, the online charter school whose poor attendance records first prompted the Department of Education to beef up its enrollment validation process.
Chuck Calvert is described as a former House member and a former member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Financing Student Success.
It does not mention that his wife, Sandy Calvert, is director of community resources and a lobbyist for the Educational Empowerment Group, an Akron-based charter school management company.
Kasich keeping his options open
John Kasich may not have yet resolved to pursue a third campaign for the presidency in 2020, but he’s certainly keeping himself ready for it.
Ohio’s Republican secondterm governor huddled Thursday in Columbus with a team of foreign policy and national security advisers, some of whom assisted his failed 2016 campaign, sources told reporter Randy Ludlow.
As an in-demand guest on the Sunday political talk shows who is trying to remain a presence on the national stage, Kasich doesn’t want to get caught unaware by unexpected questions.
Kasich, whose job security as Ohio governor numbers but 17 months, has hemmed and hawed about the prospect of running against an incumbent President Donald Trump in 2020, but he drips venom over his lack of respect for Trump’s wrecking-ball style of governance.
Texan John Weaver, the governor’s top political strategist for his 2016 bid, apparently was among those who met with Kasich.
“Great forward leaning discussion in Columbus. Home to Austin. #Twopaths,” Weaver wrote on Twitter on Thursday evening.
New Day for America, a super PAC that supported Kasich’s presidential campaign, was paying Weaver $10,000 a month — as of its last disclosure filing — to retain his services. The super PAC also has covered Kasich travel costs and the $5,000-a-month bill for media adviser Chris Schrimpf.