Rare new cabinet department

If you've been wondering, as I have, why some big-city mayors would want the added grief of taking over public school systems, you can add a new puzzle to this trend. Now, Ohio's new Gov. Ted Strickland wants more control over the state's higher education. Democrat Strickland wants to make higher ed a cabinet-level department and make the chancellor report directly to him.

This new chain of command was Republican House Speaker Jon Husted's idea, and Republican Senate President Bill Harris also endorses it. Although apparently no other state makes its higher education system into something approximating a state agency this way, Ohio political leaders are justifying it by saying it will make higher ed more "accountable." A bill's in the works to that effect. Ohio Board of Regents was about to pick a new chancellor from among six finalists, but now, naturally, that's been put on hold. The board opposes the cabinet plan. No wonder. It would emasculate the Regents. You can imagine how Ohio university presidents will greet this power shift.

The Regents admittedly have been ineffectual. The former chancellor a few years ago pushed a plan to eliminate duplicate academic departments around the state, but none of the universities wanted to give anything up. Is Ohio's higher ed problem "accountability" or not enough top-ranked academic programs and not enough funding?

This Cabinet-level plan will let Strickland shake up higher ed sooner, but is it a formula for excellence -- or just for more political in-fighting?