Fedor wins state school board seat

SANDUSKY — A longtime legislator with educator experience will serve on Ohio's highest education board. With more than 154,000 votes, former state Sen. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, won a seat Tuesday on the state board of education representing District 2, according to unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State's election website. She starts her term in January. District 2, as of this year, includes Lucas, Wood, Ottawa, Erie, Huron and Lorain counties in addition to northern Hancock County. Fedor beat Sarah McGervey, a teacher at a Catholic school in Cleveland. She has been an educator for about six years, now working at St. Leo the Great School. McGervey didn't respond to the Register after the newspaper sought to include her in its state school board coverage. District 2 incumbent board member Kirsten Hill, a small business owner from Lorain County, was elected to the state school board in November 2018. Her term began in January 2019 and expires in December. The state board of education consists of 11 members who are elected by taxpayers and eight who are appointed by the governor. Together, the board seeks to influence state lawmakers regarding education policies. McGervey won Erie County with 11,091 votes while Fedor got 9,404 votes, unofficial results from the Erie County Board of Elections show. But in Ottawa County, the script flipped with Fedor garnering 6,660 votes or 51% of the vote, compared to McGervey's 6,461 votes, or 49%, according to the Ottawa County Board of Elections' unofficial results. The race's Huron County results were unavailable. In October, Fedor — who was a teacher for 18 years and a lawmaker for 22 years who served on the education committee the entire time — appeared on "Between the Lines," the Register's public affairs program. During her interview, Fedor said she was running because current state board members "aren't trying to help with policy-making and advising the state superintendent." "Our state board of education is truly off track and not taking care of business for the local school boards that need their help, our children and families who are counting on a strong modern public education system, so I believe it's a good fit (for me)," said Fedor, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and Ohio Air National Guard. She said her priorities are to reduce state testing; reform state report cards to reflect school quality; support a constitutional school funding formula; and support classroom teachers by investing in professional development and creating a teacher recruitment program. Fedor retired from the Ohio Senate on Oct. 31 to focus on the state school board race. District 2 state school board race • Teresa Fedor: 154,299 • Sarah McGervey:121,621 Note: According to unofficial results Source: Ohio Secretary of State _ Reach reporter Caitlin Nearhood at nearhood@sanduskyregister.com and follow her on Twitter @CaitlinNearhood