2008-2009 Policy Agenda

Access to higher education

It is clear that to be prepared in the 21st Century, Ohio’s students will need additional training and knowledge beyond that provided in the State’s K-12 education system.  The jobs of today and tomorrow require prospective employees to possess unique skill sets that are learned and refined at the post-secondary level.  Therefore it is imperative that state legislators and the Governor work to ensure that all of Ohio’s students and residents have an opportunity to participate in the post-secondary education options that are available throughout the state.  This includes community colleges, state and private universities, and industry-specific training centers.  The state needs to ensure that these opportunities are affordable, geographically accessible, and accommodating to meet the scheduling needs of potential students. Additionally, the knowledge, skills and training provided must be aligned with the needs of the job market.

Closing the opportunity gap

Extreme disparities exist between poor and affluent school districts within the state.  As a result of these disparities combined with disadvantages associated with living in poverty, Ohio suffers from a dismal graduation rate among minority students, especially among African American males.  To begin to address this problem, in 2007 the Governor introduced the Governor’s Initiative for Increasing the Graduate Rate.  Through this program, additional resources have been allocated to provide targeted interventions to ninth grade male students to establish needed relationships with caring adults and academic opportunities to keep them engaged in school and increase their likelihood of graduating on time and prepared for post-secondary opportunities.  This program is witnessing success and should be continued into the 2009-2011 state budget.

Additionally, research has proven that students who attend a high quality preschool are far less likely to drop out of school and are far more likely to graduate and attend college.  Small investments in preschool education create large dividends and wind up saving the state in costs associated with providing remedial education services in the K-12 system and State colleges and university, repeating grades at the elementary and high school levels, and incarcerating high school drop outs that often find themselves in trouble with the law.  It is imperative, therefore, that the State provide universal access to high quality preschool programs.

Improving state academic standards and helping students meet those standards

Ohio has taken a lead role in the development of academic content standards in all major subject areas.  While the effort is commendable and needed, the current standards have been shown to be too broad and lacking the clarity needed to guide teachers in their instructional practices.  Ohio education leaders must develop and implement more rigorous academic standards that will ensure that Ohio students are prepared to compete with the rest of the nation and the world.  These new state academic standards, in addition to providing the guidelines for ensuring high quality and relevant instruction, should also support the infusion of creativity and innovation into the curriculum.

As new academic standards are created and implemented, it is equally important that new methods and tools for assessing student progress be developed.  It is human nature to teach to the test, so let us change the test to reflect the need to help students to be creative thinkers.  Assessments need to not only be a tool to measure how students are meeting the state standards, but should be used as a tool to guide instructional practices among teachers and administrators.  Assessments should be ongoing throughout the school year so that they may be used as a diagnostic tool to determine if intervention strategies are needed. New assessment tools should consider the unique needs and abilities of every student and should not be “a one size fits all” measure.  Performance-based assessments that demonstrate a student’s ability, are connected to real life experiences, and require higher-order thinking are better alternatives to standard, multiple choice tests.

Finally, support systems for both teachers and students in the form of professional development for teachers and individualized intervention options for students need to be implemented in order to help students succeed.

Commissioning an objective scientific analysis of what the real costs are to educate every child

Ohio’s school funding method has been ruled by the state Supreme Court to be unconstitutional.  This ruling is primarily based on the over-reliance on local property taxes within school districts to supplement the allocation provided by the state. This leads to disparities between rich and poor school districts. Additionally, there has been much discussion about the level of funding for our schools.  As we look at ways to constitutionally fund our schools, we should also examine how much it truly costs to provide an excellent education for each and every child.  This needs to happen as legislators determine an equitable method of distributing state dollars to schools.  In order to provide Ohio students with a 21st century education, we need to know what that will cost based on science, comparison studies, and the realities of our state, and we need to ensure that urban, rural and suburban school districts each get their required amounts.