Knowledgeworks Leadership Institute

Knowledgeworks Leadership Institute

My thanks to Chad Wick for his kind words, and for his innovative education leadership with Knowledgeworks.

I would like to begin today by saying something to the teachers, principals, and superintendents, and to all the education professionals here with us today.

Thank you.

Our schools are stronger today and our students are the beneficiaries of your hard work.

SAT scores and ACT scores in Ohio top the national averages.

Proficiency tests reveal that Ohio students exceed the national average in reading, in math, and in science.

Almost 95 out of 100 public school teachers in Ohio meet the federal definition of "highly qualified," up 15 percent in the last four years.

Our high school graduation rate has risen eight years in a row.

And some of your greatest triumphs cannot even be measured with numbers. Inspiration, curiosity, and creativity are alive and well in our schools.

Recently I had the privilege of meeting with high school students who took part in the Governor's Youth Art Exhibition. It was startling to see the talent and passion of these young people, and the great effect their teachers have had on them.

But we all realize there's much work left to be done to improve education in Ohio.

Too many Moms and Dads, and too many educators can still say, without fear of contradiction, that their school districts lack the resources necessary to provide students with the quality education they deserve as citizens of Ohio.

We must do better. We must meet the needs of every child.

But my goal is not just to make our schools measure up to some minimum standard. My goal is not just to make our schools outshine our neighboring states. My goal is a world class education system.

We must build an education system fluid enough for creativity and innovations, and agile enough to adapt to the demands of our changing state and world. We must build an education system set to enable our young people to win in the Global economy.

As you know, our state's budget will not support everything we want to do in Ohio. In my budget proposal, most departments will do without additional funding, and some will absorb cuts. It adds up to the slowest growth rate in state government spending in 42 years. But, making these tough choices allows us to live within our means and invest in what matters.

And one of the things that unquestionably matters is education.

The central importance of education to this state cannot be doubted. It is not only our obligation, it is our opportunity.

More than two centuries ago Plato wrote: "The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life." And that's probably even more true today than it was in ancient Greece.

One study estimates 6 in 10 new jobs in Ohio will require a college degree. Whether for the state or its people, there is an unbreakable link between education and economic opportunity.

As we seek improvement, let us start by acknowledging something every educator knows - that education must truly be a system.

Because a primary school teacher does not start from scratch, she builds from a student's pre-school experience. A secondary school teacher does not start from scratch, he builds from a student's primary school experience. A college professor does not start from scratch, she builds from a student's secondary school experience. And the future of our children is built not just in the years after they graduate, but in the years before, in every one of those classrooms.

That's why my administration will focus on our education system. From pre-school to post-graduate training, Ohioans deserve a world class education system.

For pre-schoolers, we will increase both access and quality of early learning opportunities.

In my budget I call for expanding eligibility for children to participate in our early learning programs, increasing provider rates and professional development opportunities for instructors, and expanding our public pre-school programs. That's the first expansion of public pre-school since 1989.

For college students, we confront the alarming fact that tuition at public universities in Ohio is 47 percent higher than the national average. That means it costs thousands more to attend a public university in Ohio than it does in most other states.

The effects of this are entirely predictable. People who are capable and inclined to further their education are turned away, and our state sits 37th in producing college graduates.

I have proposed a Higher Education Compact to help address this problem. In exchange for a significant increase in funding from the state, our public colleges and universities would have to agree to identify and eliminate waste and inefficiency in their budgets and would have to agree to limit tuition increases - including no tuition increase at all next year.

As we seek improvements and wider accessibility in pre-school and higher education, we are resolutely committed to our primary and secondary schools.

I would be the first to admit, the proposals I have made in my first budget do not solve all the challenges that confront our schools. But I believe my budget plan represents a major advance toward providing stable, secure, and equitable funding for primary and secondary education.

A true accounting of education spending reveals that less than half of local school funding currently comes from state resources. Under my plan, our investment in schools will bring the state's support for local school districts to nearly 54 percent in 2009. This likely reflects the largest percentage contribution of state resources to local school districts in the modern history of Ohio.

The path to more stable, secure, and equitable funding starts with an increase in the amount of foundation funding per student by 3 percent in each of the next two years. In the process, as we account for current student populations, many districts will receive additional funds, and no school district, not one, loses any state funding from what they have today.

Second, over two years, we will increase parity aid by 8 percent. And to ensure that that aid has the greatest effect, we will target the money to the 60 percent of districts most in need rather than spread it out among 80 percent of districts as is now the practice.

Third, we will increase poverty based assistance by 22 percent over two years - adding both flexibility for schools in how they use the funds and the expectation that they demonstrate results.

And, my budget will authorize securitizing Ohio's tobacco settlement funds for approximately 5 billion dollars.

By accepting payment today for the tobacco settlement, we avoid any future economic uncertainty that might threaten the funds.

And, by accepting payment today, we will help firm the financial foundation of our school systems for at least a generation.

With 2.2 billion of that money, we will meet all current commitments of the school facilities commission. Within five years, every dollar will be in the hands of local school districts as they create facilities of the future.

The remaining resources - just over 2.8 billion dollars - will allow us to fund the largest targeted property tax cut in the history of Ohio by expanding the Homestead Property Tax Exemption.

For those over 65, and the disabled, regardless of income, this will mean no property tax, not one penny, on the first $25,000 of value in their homes.

That's a property tax cut for one in every four Ohio homeowners.

And it helps our schools because the state will replace tax revenue that seniors and the disabled would otherwise have paid for local schools - in the process increasing the state share of education costs and reducing the burden on vulnerable Ohioans.

With additional funding, with additional parity aid and poverty based assistance, and with the Homestead property tax cut, we are making the biggest single advance toward an equitable education system in our state's history.

A generation of Ohio students will benefit. And so too will parents and educators. And taxpayers.

Even as we stabilize the funding foundation of our schools, we must reinvent the mission and performance of our education system.

I know that access to early college learning opportunities is a major concern of many educators in this room.

And I share your belief that innovative learning programs are essential, and that there are few things we can do that benefit our students more than give them a chance to meet our high expectations.

That's why my budget provides $3 million over the next two years for the early college program, and $6.5 million in supplemental funds for the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options program.

We also require the Partnership for Continued Learning to establish guidelines for future funding of these programs by October 31st.

As we seek improvements, we will weigh seriously the recommendations of experts, including from groups like this one.

There were several interesting recommendations from the Achieve report commissioned by the state Board of Education and financed by the Gates Foundation.

They argue we need to give more responsibility to our school principals in their role as instructional leaders.

They argue we need to give teachers more opportunity to learn and collaborate with their colleagues on effective teaching methods.

They argue we need to use achievement and proficiency tests as a means of helping students move to higher levels of learning, and not just as a means of sorting and labeling students and school districts.

The thrust of the Achieve report is clear. We need to set the bar very high, and we need to support our educators and our students as they clear it.

As we take on questions of funding, as we take on questions of reform, the goal is this: We will have schools that serve our children's needs. All our children.

To be sure, the process does not end with these proposals, it begins.

I thank you for the opportunity to visit with you, to share some of my ideas. And I would like to ask for your help. I want your ideas on fixing what is broken, strengthening what is working, and imagining what is possible in our schools.

Henry Adams was the grandson of president John Quincy Adams, great-grandson of President John Adams. He learned American history on the knee of his grandfather, who told firsthand tales of the first days of this country.

Henry Adams wrote a well known book chronicling what he saw, and what he learned in his life called The Education of Henry Adams.

And even having grown up amid history, Henry Adams never lost sight of the importance of his school teachers.

As Henry Adams put it, "A teacher affects eternity. He can never tell where his influence stops."

I thank you for what you do for Ohio's young people, for Ohio's future. And I hope that every day in your work you take a moment to remember you can never tell where your influence stops.

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