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Y! MyWebStrickland outlines education reforms
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Dayton, Ohio — Gov. Ted Strickland outlined 10 ideas for education reform — some of them controversial — in the latest in a series of forums seeking feedback as he builds a wider plan to overhaul the state's education system.
Strickland has promised a plan by next March and said Tuesday, July 29, that there would be follow-up meetings to talk specifically about school funding.
This time, he laid out what he called his "mission and principles" and asked for feedback.
"Every parent, student, teacher, educator, business person and taxpayer — every Ohioan — has something important at stake when we discuss education," Strickland told a room of more than 100 people at the Dayton Convention Center.
In his opening remarks, Strickland touted the same guiding principals he laid out in his February State of the State address — stronger public schools, better links between schools and economic needs, building on existing strengths, using top teachers to guide the process, more personalized instruction and improved assessments.
He went on to list reform ideas, ranging from longer school days and more hands-on learning to tougher teacher training programs and giving more power to principals.
"I want to thank the governor for bringing us together to shared ideas about education," Don Thompson, interim Springfield schools superintendent said in Springfield about the forum. "This is good for statewide and locally. However, Thompson said the implementation and funding of Strickland's reforms would be the test of the ideas.
One of the principles he really agreed with was Strickland's suggestion to use value-added data to personalize education to each child.
Staff writer Megan Gildow contributed to this report.
