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I love Ohio. I think those lucky enough to be born here or who were wise enough to move here are blessed people. But I know this is a difficult time in our history. This is a challenging time. As a candidate for governor, I have the privilege to travel across the state and talk to folks from every corner of Ohio. And I know that while there’s a lot of pride about being from Ohio, there’s also a lot of frustration with where our leaders’ lack of vision has brought us. Ohio’s traditional manufacturing jobs keep disappearing, but the new jobs developing in other states seem to be passing us by. Where there are jobs that require new, specialized skills, it’s hard for companies to find the employees they need. And meanwhile, the best and brightest among our children are leaving for states where education and jobs meet the dreams of the 21st century’s first generation.
What’s become clear to me is that each problem we have is affecting all the others. Education, health costs, and business development are so closely connected we can’t fix them one at a time. We have to confront them as a total picture. TURNAROUND OHIO is my plan to do that. It’s a different approach to government, but it’s really just commonsense.
We know that healthy, happy children are able to learn; that good learners in effective schools become educated adults ready to contribute as workers; that able workers stay where there are worthy opportunities. We know that when good jobs are performed well, for fair pay, we start a cycle of success that builds its own momentum, creating opportunities for new investment, a growing tax base, stable families…everything Ohio has been losing for almost two decades.
Throughout the coming months, we will share with Ohioans detailed, practical, and affordable proposals designed to achieve real results. Our hope is that this approach will retain and boost the jobs we already have by focusing on Ohio’s strengths while bringing the jobs of the future by ensuring we have the best-trained workforce possible.
The Strickland/Fisher TurnAround Ohio plan aims to:
1.Provide every child a fair start through access to high-quality early care and education;
2.Create schools that work for every child by giving teachers the tools and technology they need to stimulate creative, problem-solving students to power Ohio’s 21st century economy;
3.Dramatically increase the number of students in Ohio’s colleges and universities by broadening access and ensuring that those who attend succeed and graduate with a degree that counts;
4.Focus on Ohio’s strengths by building on Ohio’s regional economies and globally competitive industries, spurring small and mid-size business growth, supporting emerging entrepreneurs in our urban core, fostering innovation and unleashing the potential of Ohio’s great universities and investing in next generation energy as a job source as well as a resource;
5.Provide all Ohioans the opportunities to attain skills for high-quality jobs;
6.Stabilize health costs for government and businesses alike and advance the health of our citizens by increasing the number of Ohioans who have access to affordable, high-quality healthcare, preventing illnesses and injury and focusing on community-based services for children, families, older adults and persons with disabilities;
7.Retain, create and attract jobs worthy of Ohio workers by focusing on industry sectors in which Ohio companies are growing, and which will spur our economy to generate wealth and prosperity for the future.
And let me be clear, Turnaround Ohio represents our solid thinking about how best to start a new cycle of success for our state, but it is the beginning of the dialogue, not the end. There is no license on good ideas – they can and do come from lots of smart people in both parties, from every walk of life, across our state. Both Lee and I will constantly search for good ideas to help us meet the goals we’ve laid out today.
By reconnecting education, jobs and growth and by building on Ohio’s strengths, I believe the Strickland/Fisher TURNAROUND OHIO plan can start us in the direction of energizing our economy and restoring our quality of life. I’d like to share some of the details with you, to give you a picture of how each step of our TURNAROUND OHIO plan supports the next and moves us all ahead.
Education that starts from the beginning, gives a fair chance to every Ohio child and leads to a degree that counts
TURNAROUND OHIO starts with early care and education, making sure every child has the chance to start school ready and able to learn. That includes quality early learning experiences, of course. But effective learning depends on effective care: adequate nutrition, timely health care, and behavioral health screenings that keep challenges from becoming problems.
Children who are ready to learn will do their best in schools that have the right tools and well-prepared teachers to help them learn to be the kind of creative problem-solvers we need for 21st century jobs. From books and technology to more accurate ways to measure proficiency, to providing a richer curriculum, Ohio schools will make the most of each child’s talents.
And our bright, hard-working graduates will be assured of affordable access to the advanced education they need to move ahead. Any student accepted to a state college or university will have the opportunity to attend, even if their family cannot afford to send them. And, working with universities and community colleges, we’ll find ways to help them control tuition, contain their costs, and serve the needs of a broad range of students, from job-training and adult education to the highest levels of math and science.
The jobs that grow from Ohio’s strengths will be worthy of Ohio’s workers
It’s time to believe in Ohio again – and look to our own strengths for the jobs we need. The heritage of skills and expertise that made us a manufacturing leader in the past can be used to make things for the emerging industries of the future. The brilliant scientists and researchers in our universities and medical centers can help build the research-based businesses that succeed today. Our fertile agricultural regions and hard-working farmers will help us make renewable energy a major job source as well as a resource. And by supporting small businesses to create a positive business climate, we can quickly move our state up from the very bottom rank of small business ownership.
We are perfectly situated to be a hub of world commerce. Ohio’s state-of the-art infrastructure, roads, rails and broadband networks make our state a gateway through which companies can travel smoothly into the future. Even more important, we must make sure every Ohioan is ready to choose from the new jobs we create with updated skills, by integrating training and retraining into our educational infrastructure, and making sure the incentives are there to encourage people to take advantage of opportunities.
Finally, we must confront the challenge that today is hurting every business and individual in the state: the cost of health coverage. We must do what we can to stabilize health care costs and provide access to health coverage to help companies of every size avoid the biggest drain on their revenues, which both stunts their growth and leaves their employees vulnerable.
Efficiency and effectiveness add up to affordability
We all know that no plan can turn Ohio around instantly. But the sooner we begin, the sooner we can begin moving in the right direction. And to move things forward as quickly as possible, each part of the plan will be carefully structured for efficiency and accountability. In many cases, we can fund initiatives simply by taking advantage of available Federal and other funding or reordering our present priorities we’ve ignored in the past. In other cases, there’s a measurable payback in the near term. In all cases, we will budget for results. Our investments in Ohio’s future will bear interest for every Ohioan.
I know this most of all: we absolutely cannot afford to do nothing. Ohio today is ranked at or near the bottom of every important measure of prosperity. Ohioans deserve better than that. TURNAROUND OHIO will assemble the right tools, the right opportunities, and the right connections between government, business and everyday people to make the difference.
Programs and budgets aren’t leadership. Leadership is all about people and results.
Ohio’s economy is in a tailspin, and current leadership seems helpless to stop it. That’s because they have only one simplistic response to budget problems: gimmicks instead of vision.
I believe in responsible budget policy. But unlike many of our current leaders, I also believe in the power of people to make their own lives better. Growing up with nine siblings in a family that thrived on faith and good humor more than money, I learned the simple strength of hope and value of hard work.
I was lucky. Because I was one of the youngest siblings, my family was able to find enough money to send me to college. And it literally changed my life. I became a minister, a psychologist, and a Member of Congress. And I believe that if Ohio is to thrive, everyone should have that same chance to succeed.
I believe leadership means freeing every individual to use their best talents, their whole hearts, and their brightest ideas to save our state.
I believe that a governor alone can’t lift our state out of its economic morass, but people, with the right opportunity, working together and fueled by their dreams, can.
I believe that a governor alone can’t transform education to make it work for every child, but with the right state support our communities and teachers and students can.
I believe that a governor alone can’t build businesses, create jobs, and solve the challenges of health care. But with the right leadership, the people of Ohio can.
TURNAROUND OHIO connects education and business development to generate a cycle of growth. Most importantly, it is a plan to connect Ohioans with a better future.
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