It’s about our Freedom, Governor
Monday, April 6th, 2009 By David Hansen
Kudos to Ohio State Rep. Seth Morgan who has filed suit with the Ohio Supreme Court seeking the Court’s backing in his quest to secure information for the Governor under Ohio’s Open Records Act (found in Ohio Revised Code’s Chapter 149).
Unfortunately the Governor has stiff-armed Rep. Morgan’s request for the evidence Strickland used to formulate his ‘Evidence-Based Education’ plan for state school spending.
The Administration’s recent, repeated attempts to hide its workings from the people raise important concerns about the Governor’s commitment to freedom and liberty in Ohio.
The Founders knew that the consent of the governed, upon which the legitimacy of the government they were designing would rest, would mean nothing if government were to deliberately obscure its workings. An opaque government would invalidate popular consent, and with it, the legitimacy of governmental authority.
No transparency, no freedom. Even Gorbachev understood the connection in offering glasnost to the Soviet people twenty years ago now. Remember that, Governor?
Strickland’s education plan is an expensive, expansive high-stakes experiment that bets our childrens’ futures and our state’s competitiveness on what could easily be nothing more than the latest iteration of edu-wonkery faddishness. It features a new round of bureaucratic intervention in local schools directed from Columbus (oh, don’t get us started on perestroika). It promises to squeeze out the little bit of individualism, innovation and competitive drive still to be found in Ohio public education.
Since the Governor wants to bet on his plan so much of what is ours – our earnings, savings and wealth, not to mention the future human capital of our children and grandchildren – the people deserve to know whether Strickland’s plan is grounded in facts and sound reasoning, or if he is simply betting our futures on a hunch.
Tags: Evidence-Based Education, Morgan, Strickland
