蜜桃影视

No matter the outcome of Tuesday鈥檚 primary vote in the 2018 Ohio governor鈥檚 race, already one of the most closely watched in the country, the electorate won鈥檛 be greeted with any fresh faces.

Democrat Richard Cordray and Republican Mike DeWine, the state鈥檚 two most recent attorneys general, have emerged as frontrunners after decades in the public eye. To win, they鈥檒l have to fend off challengers with comparable or greater name recognition. Former Cleveland mayor and eight-term congressman Dennis Kucinich has needled Cordray from the left, while Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor鈥檚 Trumpian bid has clearly spooked DeWine, the veteran of seven statewide races.

All four candidates have built lengthy careers in anticipation of an opportunity like this. But their time on the stage is quickly being overshadowed by a far-reaching scandal that has developed right alongside them 鈥� one that makes Ohio the rare state in which education could sway the outcome in several major elections.

That鈥檚 why a race occurring in the aftershock of Donald Trump鈥檚 historic 2016 victory, featuring a cameo by a Middle Eastern dictator, may hinge on the most parochial of concerns: a shuttered charter school, the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT); its political patrons, including most of the notable Republicans in the state; and the money that passed between them.

鈥淭his ECOT thing is going to be one of those local issues that trumps national issues,鈥� Stephen Dyer, an education commentator, told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淣o pun intended.鈥�

The Players

Dyer has observed Ohio politics as a reporter for the Akron Beacon-Journal, a former Democratic state representative, and now an education fellow at the progressive think tank Innovation Ohio. The Republican gubernatorial primary, he says, has been one of the hardest-fought in recent memory.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 pretty indicative of where the Republican Party is right now,鈥� he said. 鈥淏oth [candidates] are trying to prove their Trump bona fides. There鈥檚 no question this Republican primary is brutal and vicious. Guys like Mike DeWine don鈥檛 drop millions of dollars on TV unless they think they need to.鈥�

After a lifetime in politics, DeWine is essentially Mr. Ohio, previously serving as a congressman, lieutenant governor, and United States senator before his current stint as attorney general. But his high profile hasn鈥檛 spared him from his rival鈥檚 bracing attacks. A from the Taylor campaign has painted him as weak on gun rights and immigration, provoking a in the closing weeks of the primary depicting him as a 鈥渞ock-solid conservative.鈥�

Though Taylor has succeeded somewhat in driving down DeWine鈥檚 favorability among GOP voters, she is still lagging 聽in the latest polls. Education issues have largely receded amid the culture war broadsides, though the state鈥檚 charter school sector. Picking up on formerly potent conservative themes, Taylor has inveighed against Common Core and annual testing mandates, while DeWine has focused on augmenting work training for K-12 students.

鈥淲hen you鈥檙e trying to win the primary, you鈥檙e speaking more to your base,鈥� said Chad Aldis, vice president for Ohio policy and advocacy at the right-leaning Thomas B. Fordham Institute. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there have been many general election messages yet. My hope is there will be more significant education discussions as we move toward the summer.鈥�

On the Democratic side, Cordray and Kucinich in their plans for Ohio schools and childcare. Echoing his fellow Democrats around the country, Cordray has centered his education vision on universal pre-K access, that if the state doesn鈥檛 assure high-quality early education, 鈥渨e will not compete with the rest of the country.鈥� He has further proposed making community college free, another idea that has gained steam with the national party.

Kucinich has also emphasized lowering higher education costs. In the K-12 realm, his primary role has been as an anti-charter agitator. Last year, while still contemplating a run, he embarked on as a 鈥渕ultibillion-dollar boondoggle鈥� and declaring that he intended to 鈥渟ave our public school system.鈥�

His candidacy鈥檚 hyper-progressive bent, along with his residual star power from two failed presidential runs, has bought Kucinich the support of , an activist group associated with the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party. Their organizing has made the primary campaign a tighter affair than most observers anticipated.

But the former congressman鈥檚 momentum has stalled in recent days as some damaging details have emerged about his career as a media personality. He recently on foreign steel and aluminum on Fox News. Worse, he accepted about $20,000 last year from sympathetic to Syrian tyrant Bashar al-Assad (whom last January). He on the Russian propaganda network RT, which has been called a tool of Vladimir Putin鈥檚 information war against the United States.

In April, Kucinich announced that the Syrian group鈥檚 donation, saying, 鈥淭he organization did not identify itself as having any interest other than human rights and never specifically mentioned to me their interest in or position regarding the Syrian regime.鈥�

As for the RT appearances, Kucinich spokesman Andy Juniewicz told 蜜桃影视, 鈥淒ennis and a number of other prominent figures over the years have appeared on RT 鈥� including Bernie Sanders, Barney Frank, Bill Richardson, and others. He has never been paid by RT for any of those interviews, and nothing he鈥檚 ever said on RT would conflict with anything he鈥檚 said as a member of Congress representing the people of Northeast Ohio.鈥�

The Scandal

Ohio Republicans have controlled the governor鈥檚 mansion and both houses of the state legislature for 20 out of the past 24 years. Even after its voters favored Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, Ohio is rightfully seen as one of the most reliably friendly states to local Republican politicians. Given the state鈥檚 red tendencies and DeWine鈥檚 distinguished reputation statewide, the attorney general should be handily favored this November.

But the dominant political narrative this spring may handicap his chances. Specifically, the messy court battle around the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow has made headlines since the school closed in January amid allegations of fraud. If it continues to make noise, the controversy could drag down much of the GOP鈥檚 ticket.

After , ECOT soon became Ohio鈥檚 largest online charter school and eventually enrolled 15,000 students. Its academic performance was long seen as substandard even in comparison to underperforming school districts like Cleveland and Dayton, but many families saw the digital learning format as the only option for students who struggled in typical classrooms.

In 2016, an audit ordered by the Ohio Department of Education discovered that ECOT鈥檚 financial practices were even more questionable than its academic results. The department found that the school had overcharged the state by $79 million in the 2015鈥�16 and 2016鈥�17 school years, billing for academic services provided to thousands of students who had logged on for an hour or less per day.

After state authorities ordered the school to repay the ill-gotten funds, the charter closed its doors in January, laying off hundreds of employees. It is the repayment order to the Ohio Supreme Court, but the news has only gotten worse since its closure. An anonymous whistleblower that ECOT鈥檚 leadership intentionally juked its attendance figures using special software it acquired after previously being accused of dishonest billing.

According to , severance payouts to terminated employees were conditioned upon the signing of nondisclosure agreements, which the whistleblower refused to do. That revelation has about just how much a publicly funded entity spent to pay off disgruntled former staff members 鈥� of which there were apparently many.

In the middle of the quagmire stand many of the state鈥檚 top Republicans, who have taken huge sums from the school鈥檚 leadership over the years. The school鈥檚 founder, Bill Lager, distributed $2.1 million in political contributions over the school鈥檚 lifespan, is thought to have been given to Republicans. Democrats accepted money from Lager as well, especially when they controlled the governor鈥檚 mansion between 2006 and 2010, but the amount they received compared to the GOP鈥檚 share.

鈥淭he ECOT thing is going to be a huge issue in the fall 鈥� not just for the governor鈥檚 race, but almost every other race that鈥檚 out there,鈥� said Innovation Ohio鈥檚 Dyer. 鈥淏ecause there are such close connections from this school to nearly every Republican candidate who鈥檚 run for state office since, basically, 2004. And all those guys are running now.鈥�

Indeed, the ECOT connections extend far down the GOP ticket. Secretary of State Jon Husted, who is DeWine鈥檚 running mate, received an honorary degree from ECOT. Auditor Dave Yost, currently running for attorney general, has spoken at ECOT graduations. DeWine, who could have initiated investigations into the school in his capacity as attorney general, never stepped up. (Neither did Democrat Cordray, who served in that office until his defeat at the hands of DeWine.)

Reached for comment, a DeWine campaign spokesperson said via email, 鈥淭he Ohio Department of Education has a responsibility to ensure every school in Ohio is following the law and regulations and putting kids first. Under a DeWine administration, ODE will vigorously hold every kind of school in Ohio accountable to our children.” Campaign officials for Yost did not respond to a request for comment.

To make things even more complicated, DeWine鈥檚 son, Patrick, is an Ohio Supreme Court justice currently facing for alleged ethical lapses. Though he accepted a $3,600 donation from ECOT founder Bill Lager during his last campaign (which is not included in the charges against him), the younger DeWine has drawn criticism for from the case that will determine ECOT鈥檚 future.

ECOT鈥檚 collapse, which left thousands of students , is perhaps the most dramatic symptom of Ohio鈥檚 failed efforts at charter school accountability. Taking advantage of the state鈥檚 , many operators ran ECOT-like schemes on a smaller scale, with authorizers selling services to the very schools they were supposed to oversee. The fast-and-loose culture, along with abysmal academic performance, led to the state the 鈥淲ild Wild West鈥� of school choice by a representative of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers.

Fordham鈥檚 Aldis, who hasn鈥檛 shied from criticizing ECOT, cautioned against drawing overly broad conclusions about its costly patronage. After all, he says, the school鈥檚 funny numbers eventually caught up with it.

鈥淓ducation dollars have always flowed into politics,鈥� he said. 鈥淭eachers unions have long put money into politics, so the idea that this is a new thing is inaccurate. Clearly, there鈥檝e been dollars flowing, but despite all those dollars flowing, the largest school in the state closed down. So if politics was going to protect them, then it wasn鈥檛 a very good investment.鈥�

Still, recent political precedent is potentially ominous: The last time Republicans were swept from power in Ohio, in 2006, it was in the wake of another statewide corruption scandal involving political donors, during a bad election cycle for the national party. With anti-Trump winds blowing nationally, and Democrats racking up wins in special elections, those circumstances could repeat this November.

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