Strickland's Education Plan

Maria Dixon and Nicole Miller
Education 310
February 10th, 2009
Governor’s Education Plan
“It is absolutely clear to me that simply tinkering with centuries-old education practices will not prepare Ohio’s children for success in college, in the workplace, or in life.” This strong statement was stated on Thursday January 29th from the governor of Ohio; Ted Strickland gave a State of the State address which proposed a plan to revoke Ohio’s educational system. Strickland offered a six-point plan for education, to be phased in over an eight year period. This plan would change the whole face of the educational system from how schools are funded, the length of the school year and how students are taught and tested. The execution of this plan would dramatically change the lives of school boards, teachers and students.
One of the most obvious and immediate changes that Strickland hopes to impose is the lengthening of the time that students attend school. The actual changing of the school schedule would be the first of many steps that the governor hopes to implement. The plan would establish universal all-day kindergarten as well as the phasing in of twenty additional days to the school calendar each year over a ten-year period bringing the state’s school year up to the international average of 200 days. The governor also hopes to lengthen the school day with additional activities, such as community service and tutoring, as well as health programs.
The second step to this process would be the way in which we as teachers are educating the children in Ohio’s school system. Gov. Strickland hopes to get rid of the Ohio Graduation Test that all students must pass in order to receive their diploma. Students would instead be required to take the ACT college entrance exam, along with the passing of a statewide “end of course” exam, and the completion of a service learning project and a submission of a senior project. He would also like to get the students who do not partake in school athletics to get involved in extracurricular activities, such as a debate team. An “Ohio Academic Olympics” is something he hopes will be created for students to compete in science, math, writing, debate, the arts and technology, in the same fashion as they would any athletic competition. Students would not be the only group that would be judged and critiqued for their performance.
Teachers would be judged based on their performance to the highest degree of professionalism. Gov. Strickland describes it best when he stated, “In short, if a school district fails, we will shut it down.” He plans on establishing a four-year residency program for new teachers working with senior teachers, while strengthening licensing standards and principles. He hopes to incorporate the community into his plan, by requiring performance audits for school districts to account for taxpayers spending with an annual report card for every district. Strickland’s proposal will without a doubt strengthen Ohio’s school system, but, to what extent will teachers have to change their teaching regiment? The governor’s proposal consists of many pros and cons that will effect generations to come.
The most beneficial component to this plan would be the fact that it would without a doubt prepare students with the opportunities needed to help them succeed in the competitive modern workplace. The fact that the Ohio Graduation Test would be eliminated from the equation and replaced with an end of course exam as well as a service project would not only benefit the student, but would make a profound impact on the community as well. The governor wants to dramatically alter the way in which classrooms are managed. He would like to see the principal take more responsibility and gain more authority in order for schools to strengthen accountability. The Governors plan would not be cheap; he hopes to boost basic education subsidies by 321.5 million dollars in the first year and 603.5 million dollars in the second year. His budget proposal would place a freeze on the cost of tuition at all public universities. The Governor proposed a “Senior to Sophomore” plan, which would allow every twelfth grader who meets academic requirements to earn college credits on one of the state’s public campuses with no cost to the student. This would be excellent for students who qualify for this program because they would be able to attend two years of college tuition free. His proposal would benefit students substantially, but what impact would it have on teachers?
Strickland’s proposal for a longer school year could push teachers away from the profession. The biggest argument would be the fact that if teachers are working a longer school year, then there needs to be compensation for their time. Teachers simply need to be paid more because of the extra time they will be spending in the classroom. The complexity of the mater is that school districts are going to have to vastly expand to accommodate for the governor’s idea of all day kindergarten. In Dublin alone, more than twenty teachers are going to have to be hired in order to accommodate all day kindergarten. Strickland’s proposal would significantly diminish the power of the state superintendent and school board. In theory the uniformity of all school districts would be ideal, but fairly unrealistic. People locate in a district that would most benefit their children, and if all the school systems are the same, then some neighborhoods would lose credibility.
I believe in theory that this plan would be magnificent, because it would give the children of Ohio greater opportunities to succeed in life through strengthening of their education. There are much higher standards that would be implemented for students, teachers, parents, and communities. There needs to be strict standards for teachers, but my question is, when do school systems cross the line? As America we need to be able to compete with other nations throughout the world, and I believe that Strickland’s plan will take Ohio in the direction that soon, the nation will follow.