Opinion | Our kids are not OK. Public schools failing to provide accountability parents need
Troy McIntosh is executive director of the Ohio Christian Education Network (OCEN). McIntosh joined OCEN after serving 27 years in Christian education as a teacher, principal, and head of school at Worthington Christian School in Worthington, Ohio. On September 25, 2025, The Columbus Dispatch published the following opinion editorial written by McIntosh.
Imagine a scenario in which you have $8,000 to buy a car for your child.
You research reliable makes and models, visit several dealerships and find an option that fits your youngster perfectly.
Now imagine a similar, but different, scenario where $8,000 is spent on a car for your child, but the decision about make, model, dealership and price is made for you by an elected board of car buyers. Yes, you have some accountability because you can vote in the board's election, but does anyone really think that the second scenario gives you more accountability on your purchase than the first?
Yet in a recent guest column, Bill Phillis, the executive director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding, appeals for the latter.
He contends that school boards should make educational decisions for families — as if that provides a higher level of accountability — rather than allowing families to decide where their child’s education funding goes.
What Ohio parents want
Parents want accountability in three areas when choosing a school for their child:
What is my child being taught?
How effective is the school at teaching?
Will my child be safe?
The fact is that the accountability measures for public schools promoted by Phillis have failed on all three counts.
Regarding the first question about instructional content, some parents across the state are pushing back against radically progressive ideologies and, in at least one incident, alleged pornographic instructional material. This isn’t about objecting to even-handed treatment of ideas; it’s about a progressive takeover of many school districts.
The reason pushback always has to come from the political and social right is that there is no need for the left to object. If the state is going to compel schooling, then it must offer families the freedom to take their funding to the school of their choice rather than violate their conscience.
School choice provides the highest level of accountability to Ohio’s citizens.
Public schools are failing students
On the question of instructional effectiveness, Ohio’s 2024 scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that over two-thirds of Ohio’s public school eighth graders are not proficient in reading or math, and scores have been declining for years.
Our kids are not OK, and their learning has reached a crisis of catastrophic proportions. Yet, the response from Ohio’s educational establishment is to sue the state to take away parents’ freedom to choose the best education for their children, arguing for an accountability system that doesn’t work.
Finally, all parents want their child to be safe at school. Yet, the FBI reported last month that 1.3 million crimes were committed at public schools between 2020 and 2024, including over half a million assaults and 45,000 sex crimes — staggering numbers.
This is not to say that all public school students will become crime victims or that private school students will not. However, it does show that Phillis’ accountability measures are not effective, and parents should have the freedom to decide for themselves where the safest environment is.
The accountability we all want
Furthermore, if the issue is fiscal accountability, we must consider that we are getting the above results while the combined cash reserves of Ohio’s school districts now exceed $10.5 billion, nearly three times what they were just 12 years ago.
Columbus City Schools exemplifies the surge in administrative staffing in schools. From 2011 to 2024, CCS enrollment decreased by over 6,000 students.
Yet, shockingly, the district increased its staffing by 29% during that time, mostly in administration rather than in the classroom. Where is the fiscal accountability for that?
Phillis is correct that there needs to be accountability for education funding in Ohio. However, it shouldn’t be handled by the same tired measures that have led to poor results.
Educational freedom programs like EdChoice are what will ultimately deliver the accountability we all desire.
For more information, contact CCV at 513-733-5775 or contact@ccv.org. For media inquiries, email media@ccv.org.
As Ohio's largest Christian public policy organization, Center for Christian Virtue seeks the good of our neighbors by advocating for public policy that reflects the truth of the Gospel.
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