By Ronda Watson Barber
OhioMBE Publisher
Teachers know better than anyone that inequity hurts students. We see every day how poverty, disinvestment, and lack of opportunity weigh heavily on the children in our classrooms. That’s why the Columbus Education Association (CEA) cannot sit on the sidelines when it comes to economic justice. The union must stand firmly behind Black Local Economically Disadvantaged Enterprises (LEDEs) and demand their inclusion in the district’s purchasing scheme.
Because the Numbers Don’t Add Up
The district’s Capital Improvements summer construction spend is offensive. Out of $80.9 million in total spending, only $4.67 million went to African American-owned firms. By contrast, Caucasian-owned firms received nearly $17.95 million. That means Black-owned businesses—operating in a district where the majority of students are Black—received less than one-third of what white-owned firms collected.
Other disparities are just as troubling:
- Hispanic-owned firms: $1.1 million
- Asian Pacific-owned firms: $1.03 million
- Indian Subcontinent-owned firms: $306,000
- Female-owned firms: just $21,557
Meanwhile, the district’s own LEDE percentage is reported at 31.3%—but that number lumps all categories together and hides how severely underrepresented Black businesses and women-owned businesses truly are.
Because Fairness Demands It
The LEDE program was designed to level the playing field for businesses that have historically been shut out. Yet the latest spending shows a glaring gap between intention and reality. For a district that serves a majority-Black student population, continuing to funnel dollars to white, non-local companies is more than inequitable—it’s hypocritical.
Because Students Deserve Better
Economic stability is tied directly to student success. When local Black businesses get contracts, they hire local workers, pay local taxes, and stabilize neighborhoods. Students see their parents and neighbors working, thriving, and building wealth. That sense of opportunity fuels hope, attendance, and achievement. When contracts bypass the Black community, our students inherit disillusionment instead of opportunity.
Because Union Values Require It
CEA just secured a new labor agreement. Salaries and benefits are funded by property taxes—taxes paid disproportionately by Black residents of Columbus. Here’s the reality: most teachers don’t live in the district. They are paid by the Black community that sustains Columbus City Schools. It is only fair and just that those same tax dollars also flow back into Black-owned businesses through district contracting.
Because Morality Matters
Columbus City Schools has a moral obligation to reinvest in the Black community. Right now, white-owned firms are eating at the trough while Black taxpayers—many of them elders struggling to keep up with property taxes—foot the bill. That is not only a policy failure; it is a moral failure.
Questions That Demand Answers
- Why are white, non-local firms winning the majority of contracts when Black-owned businesses in Columbus are fully capable?
- Are these firms even paying property taxes to the district?
- What good faith measures were actually taken to recruit and include Black and women-owned companies?
- Why are women-owned businesses so underutilized?
- Why should Black taxpayers continue funding both educator salaries and contracts without seeing reinvestment in their own community?
The answer is simple: they shouldn’t.
A Call to Action for CEA Members
The Columbus Education Association must go on record in support of the LEDE program—not in vague terms, but in a demand for accountability, transparency, and measurable inclusion of Black-owned businesses. Union leaders and members should use their collective voice at school board meetings, in public forums, and at the bargaining table to demand that Capital Improvements change course. Silence makes the union complicit.
Supporting Black LEDEs is not charity. It is solidarity. It is justice. And it is a necessary step toward building the kind of community our students deserve.
just my thoughts…rwb
