In a changing world, we face new challenges and great opportunities when it comes to educating our young people.
Not long ago, our students competed with peers in neighboring school districts and states for college admissions and jobs. Now, our schools must prepare Ohio students to be among the best internationally, while instilling in them a set of knowledge and skills that will benefit Ohio and the world at large.
To ensure that our students have the resources and opportunities they deserve, we should think beyond our current public education system. We need to foster a system grounded by the need for core knowledge, but enhanced by creativity, innovation and global competence.
We should highlight the strengths of individual students through personalized education while building in them a fundamental ability to compete in a world environment.
Ohio is known for its notable inventors and entrepreneurs – from Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers, to Charles Kettering, who gave us the electric car starter. There's Frank Seiberling, the founder of Goodyear Tires, Albert Sabin, who developed the oral polio vaccine, and Granville T. Woods, who invented a telegraph system for trains, which improved railway safety.
That same spirit for growth and progress inspired astronauts John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, and Judith Resnick.
Today, Ohio continues to be a leader in innovation. Our medical centers and college research institutions consistently rank among the highest in the nation, and Ohio is positioned to become a hub for alternative and renewable energy production. We need a well-educated, skilled workforce to keep it that way.
In my State of the State address this year, I outlined six principles that will guide me as I draft my plan for education. We will follow these in pursuit of one clear standard: schools that rank among the best in the world and meet the needs of every Ohio child.
This is not an issue that can be fixed overnight. It involves a grassroots effort and collaboration among communities, governmental leaders and education stakeholders to develop a plan and put it into action.
That's why I'm holding regional meetings across Ohio. I want to give you the opportunity to vet proposed ideas for creating a system of education that is innovative, personalized and linked to economic prosperity.
As we conduct these conversations, I will engage parents and students, teachers and school administrators, business and community leaders, school board members, and education advocates across the state.
Please join us in this important conversation. With your help, we will succeed in creating a world-class system of public education in Ohio.
Starting in late July, Governor Strickland will host 12 "Conversations on Education" throughout every region of Ohio. The conversations will focus on the six principles on education the governor laid out in his State of the State address as well as specific policy ideas for making sure that Ohio's schools are among the best in the world and meet the needs of every child.
At each regional forum, Governor Strickland will give local citizens the opportunity to share their thoughts and vet proposed ideas on creating a system of education that is innovative, personalized and linked to economic prosperity in Ohio. The meetings will be broadcast on local PBS stations and streamed live on the Web. Local citizens and educators not attending the event will be invited to gather for watch parties and provide feedback within their watch party and online in response to the Governor's meetings.
Concurrent with these forums, the Governor’s education policy staff is meeting on a continual basis with associations, organizations and businesses that have an interest in education reform.
A second round of education forums will be held later in the fall of 2008 and will focus on how to properly finance a truly reformed system of education. The governor plans to introduce his education reform proposal in 2009.
Click here to visit the Governor's Conversation on Education website for more information.