Though they have already significantly weakened the State Board of Education, Ohio lawmakers are now on the move to eliminate the public’s voice on what is left of the board.

Members of the House of Representatives passed their version of the state budget earlier this month. It included the reduction of the state board’s membership from 11 elected members and eight members appointed by the governor to five — all of whom would be appointed by the governor, according to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal.

Elected members serving this year are Kristie Reighard, District 1, Swanton; Teresa Fedor, District 2, Bowling Green; Charlotte McGuire, District 3, Centerville; Katie Hofmann, District 4, Cincinnati; Mary Binegar, Dist. 5, Springfield; Cathye Flory, Dist. 6, Logan; Rhonda Johnson, District 7, Dublin; Karen Lloyd, District 8, Steubenville; John Hagan, District 9, Alliance; Tom Jackson, District 10, Solon, and Delores Gray Ford, District 11; Cleveland.

According to the Capital Journal, as the terms expire for each of those elected members or their positions become vacant in another way, the seats would simply be eliminated.

Savings to taxpayers by eliminating elected spots? Approximately $50,000.

But the House version of the budget goes further and eliminates the teacher licensure fund on which the board had been relying since the establishment of the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. With that change, the state board would then have its operating expenses paid out of the fund that also pays into assistance funds for nursing education, veterinary student debt and certified public accountant education, the Capital Journal reports.

As public education advocates worry over a proposed budget they say would eliminate the Fair School Funding model and reduce funding for public education, the House’s proposed funding model slashes the amount from $666 million to $226 million.

It’s impossible not to wonder how the state Senate and Gov. Mike DeWine will react to such a significant assault on the way the state’s education bureaucracy interacts with its constituents. It also begs the question, what message are members of the House trying to send to ordinary Ohioans about the importance of education for everyone?

Change is desperately needed, of course. Perhaps this effort will serve as the starting point for conversation that will lead to positive change. But if it is simply a matter of change for change’s sake with an eye toward cutting the public out of the equation, DeWine and the state Senate must start their own conversation, from scratch.