Turnaround Ohio is the Strickland/Fisher strategy to move our state in the right direction. The plan aims to keep and grow the jobs we have by investing in Ohio’s strengths, such as energy production, innovation and entrepreneurship, and bring the jobs of the future by making sure Ohio has the most-educated workforce possible—because, in the future, jobs will go where the workforce is best educated.
To turnaround Ohio and give all Ohioans and their families an opportunity to better themselves, we must sharply increase the percentage of Ohioans who go on to complete college, certification or other training and make sure that high-quality jobs are awaiting them when they do so. We must change our entire attitude about the importance of lifelong learning. Ohioans must be able to access a fluid, continuous learning system – one that provides a seamless progression from early childhood through higher education and on, with each step in the progression equal in value. We must set high goals, raise aspirations and expectations and open the doors for every Ohioan to the learning environments that will challenge and prepare our next generation.
With Turnaround Ohio, a Strickland/Fisher Administration will work to achieve the following goals:
Every young child in Ohio has a fair start and will start school with the physical, social, emotional and learning tools they’ll need to succeed in the classroom and throughout their lives.
All public schools are genuine learning communities – both student-centered and relevant to today’s world – with a challenging curriculum that raises aspirations and academic preparation and provides high-quality teaching.
Every Ohioan who graduates high school will have a deposit in Ohio’s Knowledge Bank that will help fund his or her postsecondary education and that will allow family, friends, businesses, charities and the state to help.
230,000 more Ohioans will enroll in the state’s public and private universities during the next 10 years.
Ohio’s success rate (those who graduate with a two or four year degree) will be improved by 20% in the next 10 years.
Turnaround Ohio will work to:
By 2017, increase enrollment in the state’s public and private colleges and universities by 230,000 and raise the SUCCESS rate (that is, graduations and degree attainment) by 20% during the same period.
We need to build a culture in Ohio that promotes our kids going to college. Too few Ohio youngsters even think they can to go to college. Too few kids stay in Ohio for school and too few can afford to finish post-secondary education. If we are to build an Ohio economy with plenty of high-wage jobs of the future, we need to transform the way in which Ohio families think about education. We need our kids to aspire to go to college and to believe they can afford it. Therefore, a Strickland/Fisher Administration will work to:
1. Create the Ohio Knowledge Bank. One barrier to increasing the number of graduates in Ohio is affordability. But statistics show us that simply throwing money at the problem doesn’t increase college going rates. At an early age, students must aspire to go to college and believe that college is an option for them. Ohio’s Knowledge Bank addresses both affordability and aspirations by depositing money into every Ohio child’s college savings account. With modest investments, Ohio’s Knowledge Bank has the potential to transform our state’s attitudes about college accessibility.
Currently, Ohioans investing in a 529 college savings account (administered through the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority) are socking away savings for their children’s college careers. They opened these accounts with a deposit of as little as $15. A Strickland/Fisher Administration will aim to supplement those savings with Ohio’s Knowledge Bank and vastly increase the number of Ohioans participating in the program and benefiting from its advantages.
Under our proposal, when a 529 college savings account is opened for a child, the state will deposit $500 in a parallel Knowledge Bank account for that child and will contribute $100 every year after until that child graduates from high school. Additionally, those who qualify for needs-based assistance (which we define as those children who are TANF eligible as well as those at 200% of poverty or below) will get an additional $100 per year contributed to their accounts. The state’s contribution can be used for college, certification or other training in Ohio. This will stem the tide of students today who leave Ohio to go to other states where education is less costly.
With the state’s contributions as a catalyst, parents, family members, Ohio’s businesses, religious organizations and foundations—every entity in Ohio that sees the importance of higher education and wants to contribute to educating our future workforce—can then contribute additional funds. With this coalition of family, community and government supporting them from the beginning, students will realize that they in fact have an opportunity for higher education and that their family, community and state believes in them and is already investing in their future.
Another important result of depositing this money early is the magic of compound interest. By investing early in a child’s life, we can expect the savings account to mature over the years therefore paying an even larger percentage of higher education expenses.
2. Establish Tuition Guarantees to ensure tuition predictability. A Strickland/Fisher Administration will work with institutions of higher education to establish two- and four-year tuition guarantees in exchange for state support.
3. Create a Truth in Tuition policy. A Strickland/Fisher Administration will work with Ohio’s institutions of higher education to bring transparency to education expenses so students know all the charges they will incur over their time at an institution before entering.
4. Establish the “Ohio Open Door Card.” As outlined in our Skills for High Quality Jobs announcement, a Strickland/Fisher Administration will work to issue an “Ohio Open Door Card” to every Ohio adult learner. The card will show in one place all their learning accomplishments, while opening the door to every funding source each individual qualifies for. Learners will be able to use this one card to access the maximum state and federal benefits possible to support their learning at the institution of their choice. And the card will allow counselors and advisors to focus on the needs of their clients, not learning an arcane and complicated system. The card would be made available to Ohio adult learners at every state-funded training provider: community and technical colleges, adult career centers, career-technical centers, One-Stop Career Centers, and other job training programs. Development of this information system will be funded through the administrative functions across the 4 agencies and 15 programs that currently comprise Ohio’s workforce training system.
5. Expand local college access services to every Ohio middle-school and high-school student as well as adults who want to improve their lives by enhancing their job skills. College access programs provide one-on-one advising and other services primarily to students who too often, because of social or economic circumstances, do not pursue higher education and to adult students who want to improve their lives. Currently, Ohio’s 30 college access programs serve nearly half of Ohio’s 612 school districts.
To raise Ohioans’ awareness of the value of higher education and continuous learning and to increase aspirations and academic preparation for learning beyond high school, a Strickland/Fisher Administration will work to:
Offer challenge grants to local Ohio College Access Network (OCAN) organizations to help leverage resources, establish new partnerships with education stakeholders ranging from middle school through postsecondary and build capacity at the local level to facilitate strategic dialogue around what needs to happen in order to help more citizens achieve success. Additionally, we will work to increase college participation and success rates by building upon the existing infrastructure of OCAN and the Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education (OACHE) and establishing Regional Centers of College Access & Success in the state’s 61 rural counties, especially in Appalachian Ohio. Building upon existing local programs and regional “umbrella” organizations, a Strickland/Fisher Administration will work to connect effective postsecondary awareness and outreach programs. We will also work to increase college persistence and completion rates among Ohio’s most “at risk” students (including low-income, first-generation, non-traditional students) through the creation of College Success Partnerships. These partnerships between local community-based OCAN programs and higher education institutions support students through the most critical transition period from secondary or work to postsecondary and continue through the first year of college in order to ensure the student is able to access the resources and support necessary to succeed. College Success Partnerships will serve as the “one-stop-shop” to find information and get additional funding and academic support for postsecondary success. Finally, a Strickland/Fisher Administration will continue state funding for the federally-supported GEAR UP “Lighthouse” pilot program that is implementing comprehensive strategies for increasing the number of students who aspire to, prepare for and successfully experience college.
Twenty two-year challenge grants (requiring 1:1 community match) of $50,000 per year will cost $1 million a year. $500,000 per year will support the expansion of the OCAN infrastructure. The creation of five Regional Centers will cost approximately $1.75 million for the first year. Each Regional Center will reach approximately 15,000 Ohioans. The College Success Partnerships program will cost $1 million annually. Together, these initiatives will cost $4.25 million for the first year with a local match of approximately $1 million a year.
6. Give high school students an opportunity to get a jump on college and other forms of postsecondary education. The final two years of high school are an important intersection between P-12 education and either postsecondary education or the world of work. Yet, for too many of our students – both those who are achieving at high levels and those who are struggling to find the relevance of going to school – these years are filled with detours and barriers that make the transition from high school to the rest of life a challenging if not debilitating experience. A Strickland/Fisher Administration will work to bridge the gaps between high school and advanced learning by:
Supporting Early College High Schools. A Strickland/Fisher Administration will continue support for current, as well as new, Early College High Schools in Ohio. Early College High Schools are small schools from which students leave with both a high school diploma and either an Associate’s degree or two years of college credit toward a Bachelor’s degree. It will seek to sustain national foundations’ substantial support for this initiative, which is changing the structure of the high school years and compressing the number of years to a college degree.
Early College High Schools help students press toward the education and experience they need to succeed in life. While this initiative may require $1 to $2 million a year in state start-up and planning dollars, a recent California study concluded that Early College High Schools can save money rather than raise costs.
Doubling Participation in Postsecondary Enrollment Options. A Strickland/Fisher Administration will work to expand dual enrollment opportunities, such as Ohio’s Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program that promotes rigorous academic pursuits and provides qualified high school students with opportunities to experience courses at the college or university level. Dual enrollment opportunities give students a true college experience and prepare them for the academic rigors of college by exposing them to the type of intensive curriculum that research says promotes bachelor’s degree attainment. Because the current system creates serious financial disincentives – not for students, but for the high schools that lose state funding when their students take college courses, a Strickland/Fisher Administration will work with state legislators to DOUBLE enrollment in PSEO by crafting a weighted funding system that minimizes existing financial disincentives. Last year, the state of Utah developed a concurrent enrollment program that supports 22,384 students at a cost of just over $5 million a year.
Ensure all students graduate high school with an education that counts – one that prepares them for college success and for the high-skilled, high-wage jobs that will fuel Ohio’s future economic growth.
1. Provide a challenging, relevant curriculum. A Strickland/Fisher Administration will work to provide every child access to a strong foundational education consisting of high expectations, a challenging curriculum and appropriate learning support systems. That curriculum will include challenging courses in English language arts – both reading and writing, mathematics, science, social studies, and courses that build students’ knowledge of foreign language skills, the fine arts, and the technology skills that are required in postsecondary education and the workplace – whether the student is enrolled in a college prep, College Tech Prep or career technical program.
The future of our children and of our state depends on closing “the preparation gap.” No longer will a challenging, high-quality education be available only to those students who are socially or economically privileged. The underlying premise – and the underlying promise – of our position is a firm belief that all children, regardless of race, ethnicity, geographic location or socioeconomic background should, and will, receive an education that challenges them, supports them and prepares them for success.
2. Improve the Assessment of Student Achievement. Standardized testing is in a state of crisis both in Ohio and across the nation. Recognizing that high standards and assessments of students’ achievement against these standards can encourage students and teachers to aspire for higher levels of performance, we will bring educators, parents and business leaders together to evaluate and make changes in the way Ohio measures the performance of its students and schools. A Strickland/Fisher Administration will provide leadership for a comprehensive review of testing strategies – a serious look at what we are doing right, what we are doing wrong and what we could be doing better and promote changes consistent with five key principles.
There should be multiple assessments because not everything can be measured through paper-and-pencil tests.
No “high-stakes” decisions that affect a student’s educational opportunities or life prospects should be made on the basis of a single test score.
The primary purpose of assessments should be to strengthen instruction and improve student achievement – so tests should provide timely feedback to students, parents and teachers that identify areas of academic progress and targets student needs.
The move to “value-added” assessments with their emphasis on student progress should be accelerated.
Assessments should have “external validity,” which means they should be valued and trusted by colleges and universities, as well as employers in Ohio.
3. Ensure that Ohio students have high-quality teaching and instruction in every classroom. The research is clear: the single most important thing that a school can provide is a skilled and knowledgeable teacher. Therefore, a Strickland/Fisher Administration will seek funding incentives to public colleges and universities for:
preparing primary and secondary teachers who teach in subject areas where there is a documented shortage of quality instructors (e.g., science, mathematics and special education), and
producing teacher education graduates (both teachers and principals) who agree to work in “hard-to-staff” schools (i.e., schools with high rates of teacher turnover, high proportions of under-prepared teachers and low rates of student achievement).
Funding will be available through a “Challenge” program that requires campuses to document their performance and to match state grants (at a level to be determined) as a condition for receiving incentive funding. The state’s investments can be used to reduce tuition costs for participating students and to support campuses’ program operations.
The state’s financial support will be set at $4,000 per teacher prepared per year, with a target of preparing 250 new teachers a year. We will also call on colleges and universities to match the state’s investment at some level. We will invest in 250 students the first year ($1 million), 500 students the second ($2 million), 750 the third ($3 million) and 1000 the fourth year ($4 million).
4. Support teachers who pursue National Board Certification. Historically, the state has supported National Board Certification (NBC) as a measure for accomplished teaching. There are more than 2,500 Ohio teachers who hold National Board Certification. In the past, the state helped to pay the application fee for teachers who want to become certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (approximately $2,500). The state also gives these teachers an annual stipend for the life of their initial license (again, approximately $2,500 a year). Recent reductions in the payment of fees and annual stipends threaten the size of Ohio’s pool of these highly accomplished teachers. A Strickland/Fisher Administration will work to restore these incentives and:
Reward those who attain National Board Certification; and
Encourage school districts to engage National Board Certified teachers in ways that add value beyond their own classrooms including mentoring other educators and professional development.
5. Engage communities and schools in addressing the ‘silent epidemic’ of school dropouts. School dropouts cost Ohio’s economy $8 billion a year. Leaving school without a diploma deprives them of needed knowledge and skills, just as it means they will have fewer good choices throughout their lives. Very simply, the future is one of rising peril for dropouts. They are likely to have low lifetime earnings and higher incarceration rates, and there is a high likelihood that their children will drop out of high school and start the cycle anew.
Research suggests that nearly one out of three public high school students won’t graduate. It is a serious problem – a “silent epidemic” in the words of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. But research tells us that the problem is not getting worse – or better. Instead, the numbers of dropouts have remained unchecked at approximately 30 percent through two decades of education reform. And for most of this time the magnitude of the problem has been largely ignored. A Strickland/Fisher Administration won’t ignore school dropouts, and it won’t tolerate school practices that turn challenging students into “pushouts.” Instead, it will challenge educators, families and communities to give these young people a second chance. We must give a voice and attention to this silent problem and a Strickland/Fisher Administration will involve all stakeholders in developing a comprehensive, multi-faceted strategy to help these students get a high school diploma.
Ensure stable, secure funding for education.
For many years, Ohio has experienced an education funding crisis, both in K-12 education and in continued decline of state support for post-secondary education. A Strickland/Fisher Administration will bring all parties together to craft a new method of funding schools that is consistent with the demands of the Ohio Constitution. That’s what law-abiding governors and law-abiding states do. They accept their moral, ethical and public responsibility to do so to prepare our children for prosperous, successful lives in an ever-changing world. We must continue to look at every option to save money, reduce waste and duplication and redirect spending to these priorities. And we must continue to grow our economy as a way to supplement funding.
The following principles should guide our discussions:
Any funding solution must be directly linked to increased quality of education and real accountability.
The formulas that are used to allocate state resources must be fair and simplified.
Find a proper balance between state and local responsibility for funding our K-12 system and modify the property tax to make it a fairer and more reliable source of revenue.
Any solutions should support a strong and effective P-16 education system. Education has been in silos in this state for far too long. We must align education, not isolate each sector of the system. We must focus on closing existing achievement and opportunity gaps, not fight over turfs. And we must respond to the learning needs of all Ohioans, not maintain the status quo.
Most importantly, there must be community outreach and involvement in order to insure the best solutions possible and bipartisan cooperation. Any further solution to our education funding issues will take intense negotiations with members of the state legislature and other stakeholders no matter which party is in control after this year’s elections. Too much of our public debate is unnecessarily partisan. We need to acknowledge that these are complex and difficult issues, with no silver bullets or quick fixes. We must reject appeals to our deepest fears and worst instincts and approaches that seek to divide us. Instead, we must work collaboratively and relentlessly for sensible solutions.
Funding for 1st Year:
Below is the total we plan to invest in these proposals. We believe we can provide the $247.75 million in GRF funds from cost savings garnered from efficiencies gained elsewhere in state government, such as Medicaid. The additional $108 million we invest in the Knowledge Bank for low-income families can come from TANF.
Investment in Knowledge Bank (for first year only—in subsequent years the cost decreases): $236 million from GRF and $108 million from TANF
Investment in Local College Access initiatives: $4.25 million
Investment in Cost of Early College High Schools: $1.5 million
Investment in Post Secondary Enrollment Options: $5 million
Investments in incentives to higher institutions to train teachers for hard-to-staff subjects and schools: $1 million
Total GRF: $247.75 million
Total TANF: $108 million