Speaker 1: Seven one. If you have KCD talk station, Happy Eve
Speaker 1: Friday Eve being even extra happy because today the return
Speaker 1: of donovan' neil from Americans for Prosperity, and normally we're
Speaker 1: talking about Americans for Prosperity and most notably AFP action,
Speaker 1: which is the way that you can help Americans for Prosperity. Well,
Speaker 1: get out there and spread the word about candidates like
Speaker 1: Bernie Marino. But today we're gonna be talking about Attorney
Speaker 1: General General David Yost in a cease and assist letter
Speaker 1: he sent, Welcome back, Donovan O'Neil. It's always a pleasure
Speaker 1: for having you on the show.
Speaker 2: I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, the left, most notably in fact, it's
Speaker 1: really interesting the timing on this could have been better.
Speaker 1: Jason Riley op ed piece in the Wall Street Journal.
Speaker 1: Biden Harris worked to crush school competition. They are opposed
Speaker 1: to charter schools, and of course they're opposed to school choice.
Speaker 1: But the people like the option of being able to
Speaker 1: send their kids to charter schools and also private schools,
Speaker 1: and they want school choice. So they're on the wrong
Speaker 1: side of the equation on this. Apparently the Columbus schools
Speaker 1: kind of feel the same way they do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Columbus public schools, you know, So here just lay
Speaker 2: the foundation for this conversation as well. Brand So you know,
Speaker 2: in the state of Ohio, we have we have a
Speaker 2: lot of school choice. We have public schools, private schools,
Speaker 2: charter schools, online, you have a lot of options. But
Speaker 2: regardless of the option you pick. In the state of Ohio,
Speaker 2: because we fund our public education with property tax dollars
Speaker 2: and other moneys, but mostly property tax dollars, transportation is
Speaker 2: part of that. Every school district in the state of
Speaker 2: Ohio has an obligation to provide transportation to the students
Speaker 2: to the end that transportation includes the education options that
Speaker 2: the family picks. But in the city of Columbus, they've
Speaker 2: decided to get a little bold here and say we
Speaker 2: just can't do that anymore. We're not going to transport
Speaker 2: students to their schools of choice. And if you don't
Speaker 2: like that, you can just go to your public school.
Speaker 2: There's a few other options there, but largely that's what
Speaker 2: they're doing. And so we pay for this with our
Speaker 2: taxpaer dollars and Columbus schools and we think there might
Speaker 2: be more out there Columbus schools have said we're not
Speaker 2: going to do that anymore, and it's putting families in
Speaker 2: a really tough tight position.
Speaker 1: Well, charter schools, I mean, we have families of very
Speaker 1: modest incomes, folks on life's you know, financial margins that
Speaker 1: do attend charter schools that children do quite often those
Speaker 1: individuals maybe don't have transportation of their own. I saw
Speaker 1: this article out of Let's see it was, I think
Speaker 1: one of the local news outlets in Columbus. The quoted
Speaker 1: a woman named Crystal Green said she did not have
Speaker 1: a way to get her son to school on his
Speaker 1: first day, and then her son attends a charter school.
Speaker 1: And there's the Columbus school that are schools basically saying sorry,
Speaker 1: sucks to be you. We don't care about people who
Speaker 1: are in that category.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, and that's that's a really tragic thing, right.
Speaker 2: You can read a number of articles coming out about
Speaker 2: this over the last couple of days that quote parents
Speaker 2: who were caught blindsided by this, who are are unable
Speaker 2: to get their kid to their school have had to
Speaker 2: shake up plans, and you know how frustrating that. I mean, well,
Speaker 2: on one hand, it's frustrating. But the real tragedy is
Speaker 2: the education loss an opportunity that's occurring here because of
Speaker 2: the decision by administrators to to look the other way
Speaker 2: and put these families in a in in this position.
Speaker 2: And here's the deal. They have the money to do
Speaker 2: this as well. This isn't this isn't necessarily a budget
Speaker 2: kids straint, Brian. There's the money, is there? More money
Speaker 2: has been invested in public education in the last two years,
Speaker 2: uh than in a number of years. And what we
Speaker 2: have here though, is I think I think administrators playing
Speaker 2: politics with families who are seeking school choice, and we
Speaker 2: need to just bring that to light and show it
Speaker 2: for what it is.
Speaker 1: Well, absolutely, and this is I think I wish more
Speaker 1: Republicans would champion out loud and regularly the idea of
Speaker 1: school choice. I just I honestly donovant. I know, with
Speaker 1: the exception of members of the Public school Teachers Union,
Speaker 1: I cannot really personally imagine a family that wouldn't embrace
Speaker 1: the idea, whether or not they want to send their
Speaker 1: kids to the public school or anyplace else, just the
Speaker 1: point of having the choice to go where they want.
Speaker 1: What's wrong with it? I thought Democrats were a champion
Speaker 1: of choice. Yeah, you can have your baby killed at
Speaker 1: eight and a half months, that's a okay with us.
Speaker 1: But no, when it comes to sending your kids to
Speaker 1: a school that performs better than the public schools which
Speaker 1: are failing, then no you can't have that. We need
Speaker 1: to support the public teachers union. This is just an
Speaker 1: illustration of how they're waging this war.
Speaker 2: Well, and that's why I want to, you know, want
Speaker 2: to bring that up here on your show, because you know,
Speaker 2: we need to see I've heard rumbling. You know, we're
Speaker 2: a gross rots organization. So we travel around a state.
Speaker 2: We've got a pretty good feel for what's going on
Speaker 2: out there around the state and what families are experiencing,
Speaker 2: and you know, making sure that folks are paying attention
Speaker 2: to this. I don't think this is only happening I
Speaker 2: can't imagine this is only happening in Columbus public schools.
Speaker 2: These transportation issues probably are out there and a number
Speaker 2: of areas, and they are areas that, you know, to
Speaker 2: bring it to your point, Brian, I think here is
Speaker 2: that there are areas that are traditionally democrat or blue areas,
Speaker 2: areas that are underserved in education options. And when means
Speaker 2: charter schools or private schools, and with the expansion of
Speaker 2: school choice in the state of Ohio, more families have
Speaker 2: opportunities to get their kids out of a failing government
Speaker 2: funded school and put them in a school that meets
Speaker 2: that child's needs. Yet when the transportation options are pulled
Speaker 2: out from underneath them, that that that reality that opportunity
Speaker 2: ev operates instantly, and so we need to make sure
Speaker 2: that folks are being vigilant and calling out their school
Speaker 2: districts if the transportation options aren't being provided for them.
Speaker 1: Now, I know they struggle with transportation issues here in
Speaker 1: the city of Cincinnati, and I'm not quite sure how
Speaker 1: they resolved that for this year, my understanding was resolved,
Speaker 1: but quite often it's you know, public transportation, like regular
Speaker 1: buses are being used. But I mean, your point is
Speaker 1: really a point that that Attorney General Yost made, which is, look,
Speaker 1: you have to do this. The money is there, and
Speaker 1: your obligation is to provide the transportation, So do it.
Speaker 1: I mean, is there any defense from the Columbus Public
Speaker 1: schools to Attorney General David Yost's point on that and
Speaker 1: the point that you're making here on the morning show
Speaker 1: this morning, Donovan.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know they're saying that they have it's if
Speaker 2: it's in just what the utual language is here, but
Speaker 2: if it's if they can't they determined that they can't
Speaker 2: actually do it, like there's a challenge, or it's impractical
Speaker 2: to transport, impractical to transport the language they would use there.
Speaker 2: There there are some exceptions, and I think that's where
Speaker 2: Columbus City Schools is saying, we made this determination that
Speaker 2: it's impractical to transport these students to their schools of
Speaker 2: choice for any number of reasons. The argument, though, right,
Speaker 2: that the Attorney General is making is that that that
Speaker 2: may not exactly be the case, and when parents are
Speaker 2: appealing those decisions, they're being rejected. I think that's what
Speaker 2: he's his office is taking a look at, is to say, Okay,
Speaker 2: you're making this determination, but this might be a bogus determination,
Speaker 2: and you're doing it for for reasons that aren't entirely
Speaker 2: above board. And that's what I think we need to
Speaker 2: make sure parents are equipped to do. But you know,
Speaker 2: I wouldn't put it past the school districts out there
Speaker 2: right who are frustrated with the choice options that exist,
Speaker 2: especially in a heated political year to be utilizing something
Speaker 2: like transportation right, like how do you how is your
Speaker 2: child going to get school? Right as a pressure point
Speaker 2: to try to make choice options limited in their communities.
Speaker 2: And we really need folks, you know, to be focused
Speaker 2: on you know, we need the school districts to be
Speaker 2: focused on what their mission is, what we fund them
Speaker 2: with our tax pay dollars to do, which is the
Speaker 2: help make sure that our kids have access to good education,
Speaker 2: whether it's at the public school, the private school, the
Speaker 2: charter school, and what have you. That's their mission and
Speaker 2: their purpose. That's why we fund them with our tax dollars.
Speaker 2: And when they fail to meet their obligations, we got
Speaker 2: to hold them.
Speaker 1: Accountable, indeed, and that's what AFE does. And I'm glad
Speaker 1: you're on the program talking about the efforts by Attorney
Speaker 1: General David jose to force the schools to step up
Speaker 1: and to the plate and honor their obligations, even though
Speaker 1: it may result in fewer students going to public schools.
Speaker 1: Why because parents have a choice and would rather send
Speaker 1: them to a school that's going to provide the educational
Speaker 1: needs for their children. HA fancy concept that one again,
Speaker 1: universal apolitical across the board. Everyone should embrace this reality.
Speaker 1: So what what's your what's your parents who are listening
Speaker 1: to this do. I mean, if they haven't experienced this themselves,
Speaker 1: I understand it won't be an issue for them, But
Speaker 1: get involved. I suppose get you know, get on school boards,
Speaker 1: get elected, or otherwise participate. I mean, we need engagement,
Speaker 1: don't we.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, if you're listening to this and you're saying, huh,
Speaker 2: you know what, I got a letter my school district
Speaker 2: said they can't transform a kid, and I've just been
Speaker 2: trying to figure it out ever since. I'd say if
Speaker 2: you've gotten something like that, or if you're experiencing trouble
Speaker 2: with your school district getting your kid transported, get involved
Speaker 2: in that local school board and start pushing back a
Speaker 2: little bit. But I'd also encourage you reach out to
Speaker 2: the Attorney General's office. They're an advocate for the citizens
Speaker 2: of Ohio. They're going to make sure that the laws
Speaker 2: are enforced, and let them know if you're experiencing that. Oftentimes,
Speaker 2: you pull one small thread right like yeah in Columba
Speaker 2: schools and you begin to unravel the whole quill. Let's
Speaker 2: just make sure that's not let's make sure that this
Speaker 2: isn't a systemic issue. Hopefully it's just the symptom in Columbus.
Speaker 2: It's an incident in Columbus. But if you're having those
Speaker 2: troubles as a listener, reach out to the Traney General's
Speaker 2: office and make sure you start pushing back against your
Speaker 2: school board. Tell them they got to transport your kid
Speaker 2: all right now.
Speaker 1: To boil it down in the file analysis, it sounds
Speaker 1: to me, base on what you said here in the
Speaker 1: Morning Show, that there are exceptions to the overall mandate
Speaker 1: slash obligation to provide transportation. But you have to have
Speaker 1: basically a specific reason why it's impractical or not they
Speaker 1: can't meet that need. That's something that they need to prove.
Speaker 1: It's it's almost like a due process analysis.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think what you would think about with
Speaker 2: that brain, right, is I can't enroll my kid in
Speaker 2: a school in Cleveland and expect them to get bused
Speaker 2: there every day, exactly right, that's impractical. But look, you've
Speaker 2: got these buses driving through a neighborhood, and you've got
Speaker 2: you know, you've got schools within a community, within a
Speaker 2: town that are community charter schools. They are your student
Speaker 2: ought to be able to get bust to those get
Speaker 2: bused to those schools. That doesn't seem unreasonable to me.
Speaker 1: Certainly it is not to me either. Afpaction dot Coms
Speaker 1: can help out. They'll teach you how to go door
Speaker 1: to door, like to help work on Bernie Morina's campaign, Donovan,
Speaker 1: real quick before we part company this morning. I've seen
Speaker 1: a lot of Bernie Moreno's spots on the regular programs
Speaker 1: that my wife and I watch. I've got a lot
Speaker 1: of mailers out there, so it seems like the campaign
Speaker 1: has kicked off in ernest and I know even helping
Speaker 1: out with that, and you've gotten ahead of the curve
Speaker 1: on it. Everything looking good in terms of your work
Speaker 1: on behalf of Bernie Moreno, things are looking great.
Speaker 2: We've got a day of actually this Saturday, and there
Speaker 2: was a poll floating around social media with Bernie Moreno
Speaker 2: up one point. We think we've closed the gap and
Speaker 2: have Bernie and shared brown neck and neck right now.
Speaker 2: We'll spread for the next sixty days to election day
Speaker 2: to put them over the top.
Speaker 1: Afpaction dot Com to help out, and they'll give you
Speaker 1: all the resources you need to do just that. Donovan,
Speaker 1: and Neil. God bless you. Thank you and everyone at
Speaker 1: AFP for what you do each and every day, and
Speaker 1: I know you'll be on the program again real soon.
Speaker 1: I'll look forward to having you back. Thanks Brian, my
Speaker 1: pleasure brother.