FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 22, 2009
CONTACT:
Julian Rogers
216-701-5234
jrogers@edvoters.org
Education Voters Institute of Ohio Endorses Education Reforms In Sub. HB1
Education Voters Endorses Education Reform Plan in Sub. HB1
Cleveland (May 22, 2009) – Education Voters Institute of Ohio today expressed its support for the public education reforms outlined in Substitute House Bill 1 – the biennial budget and Governor Ted Strickland’s education reform package. The endorsement comes on the heels of the conclusion of a year-long, 17-city Listening Tour, where Education Voters held forums to raise awareness and seek input from citizens from all parts of the state on the Governor’s education reform plan as originally introduced. Observations from the Listening Tour suggest that when the components of the education reform plan are clearly explained, citizens express approval of the plan and are encouraged that Ohio is looking to take bold steps to improve its public schools.
“As with any plan that calls for drastic changes in the status quo, you are not going to see one hundred percent support, but the vast majority of the participants in our Listening Tour across the state said that this plan represents a huge step forward in the right direction,” said Julian Rogers, executive director of Education Voters of Ohio. Rogers went on to say, “This plan represents an opportunity to transform our system of public schools, so that all children, regardless of their zip code, are provided with a high quality education that is fairly funded.”
Education Voters believes that public education is the keystone to our democracy, economy, and social cohesion. Ohio’s economic competitiveness is linked to a pre-kindergarten to college public education system that prepares every child to be a creative, analytic and critical thinker. The education reform plan outlined in Sub. HB1 supports this belief and advances many of Education Voters’ expressed goals to help Ohio:
- Develop a pre-kindergarten to college system that maximizes the potential of every child to succeed in the workforce and be prepared for active citizenship;
- Develop resources to meet state standards by implementing a state school funding formula that is equitable, sustainable, and sufficient to ensure a quality 21st-century education for all children;
- Create universal access to pre-kindergarten and early childhood education so all children enter school prepared to learn;
- Establish a K-12 public school system that is student-focused and promotes positive one on one relationships between parents, students, and teachers;
- Establish state-wide meaningful assessments that effectively evaluate the skills needed for college and 21st-century jobs, evaluate teacher effectiveness, guide instructional practices, and monitor student progress in meeting or exceeding state standards;
- Provide teacher professional development that provides the support, mentoring and career ladders to recruit, train, retain, and support excellent teachers;
- Structure leadership development that provides the support and mentoring to give school leaders the autonomy and responsibility to run excellent schools; and
- Secure adequate funding and access to affordable high quality post-secondary education.
“This legislation is now being debated in the Ohio Senate, and Education Voters of Ohio encourages the Senators and the citizens of Ohio to support the education reforms of the bill. We applaud the hard work and dedication shown by Governor Strickland and the members of the Ohio House in their development of a visionary education reform plan that will set the stage for student success and Ohio’s economic prosperity,” said Rogers.
Education Voters Institute of Ohio, an affiliate of Education Voters Institute in Washington, D.C. (with additional offices in New York, Delaware, and Pennsylvania) uses innovative civic participation strategies to build public support and public demand for education policies that promote universal access to high quality education. Education Voters envisions a nation in which every child has equitable opportunity for high quality education, and in which Americans call upon their local, state, and federal officials to support that vision.
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