Among the many unpleasant aspects of the Norfolk Southern Railway’s East Palestine disaster is the animosity aimed at the town’s residents by some anonymous commentators.
It goes something like this: Allegedly, the activities of Donald Trump’s administration were among the causes that contributed to the failure on February 3.
In 2016 and 2020, the inhabitants of East Palestine voted for Donald Trump. Internet users who take pleasure in the suffering of others stated, therefore, that East Palestinians got what they asked for by supporting Trump.
Particularly, the Trump administration repealed a rail safety rule drafted by the Obama administration. Here’s what PolitifFact, the Poynter Institute’s reputable fact-checking organisation, has to say about it, however:
“The Trump administration withdrew a rule from the Obama administration mandating high-hazard freight trains to be fitted with electronically controlled pneumatic brakes by 2023, allowing them to brake more quickly. Even if this safety regulation had been in existence, it would not have applied to the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine since it was not classified as a high-risk freight train. So, the Trump administration’s repeal of the regulation was irrelevant to the East Palestine incident. But, this did not stop the jeers of those who take pleasure in the suffering of others:.
Certainly, the villagers voted for Donald Trump for president in 2016 and 2020, not Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden. It prompted a few snobbish outsiders to jeer, which is about as mean-spirited as it gets in an era where there is already plenty of meanness.
The East Palestine families whose health and property were endangered by the railroad accident include Ohioans and Americans. Their needs should count more than their politics.
Meanwhile, Ohio House committees and subcommittees are analysing the two-year spending plan offered by Republican Governor Mike DeWine.
In what is now distinct legislation, initiatives to expand parental school choice options figure prominently in the debate. In other words, some legislators and DeWine want to expand the availability and eligibility of vouchers to assist parents pay for private education.
The concept is difficult to refute from a philosophical perspective. Yet, it appears that the attempt to allocate more public funds to private schools follows the bipartisan Fair School Funding Plan, which is only getting off the ground as part of the state budget that expires on June 30.
Former Ohio House Speaker Robert R. Cupp, a Republican from Lima, and former Representative John Patterson, a Democrat from Jefferson, created the proposal. The Cupp-Patterson plan has been financed for the current school year, but future school years have not yet been funded.
The Fair School Funding Plan was drafted by the General Assembly following a quarter-century of inaction in response to the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling that the state’s school finance systems were unconstitutional.
These formulas disadvantaged students in school districts with little resources. The Ohio Constitution demands a “comprehensive and efficient system of common schools across the state.”
In the meanwhile, the state Senate has passed a measure to transfer the state Education Department, which will be renamed the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, under the supervision of the governor by removing the State Board of Education’s authority over the agency.
All of these proposals (extension of school choice, Cupp-Patterson, and the Education and Workforce plan) offer the legislature with a comprehensive education agenda. This should not hide the constitutional role of legislators to ensure that all Ohio students, regardless of where they reside, have access to a great public education.