Buckeye State Blog - Opening Up the Conversation - Comments

C&C Posting on this too ...

Pelikan — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:17:00 -0700

I posted on this at clipsandcomment:

Strickland's Education Forums - Columbus Dispatch

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has announced a series of 90-minute forums on reform of the state's education system. You can find more information from Strickland here. Some may deride Strickland's holistic look at education - but it's not just about funding. Oftentimes, derision is simple small-mindedness cloaked in "knowing" sarcasm. After all, in Ohio we've gone basically a generation knowing we need reform of school funding. In that time one thing has been addressed well: school building, through the Ohio School Facilities Commission. Other than that, previous administrations and legislatures are rolling snake eyes. When Ted Strickland holds a statewide conference on innovation and creativity in education, it's not psychobabble it's part of a different approach. This latest move to hold forums, open to the public, throughout the state is another part of a different approach. The forums are also classic Strickland - public involvement and transparency of government process. About the only thing naysayers have to hit Strickland with is what they seem to believe is foot-dragging on education. It's not foot-dragging, it's also classic Strickland: a careful, reasoned, studied approach that includes stakeholders. I can't wait to see what he comes up with.

Pelikan

www.clipsandcomment.com

Watch parties

JDewey — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:57:30 -0700

From today's Dispatch:

Educators, business leaders, parents and students will be among those asked to attend each 90-minute forum. The governor is encouraging those not invited to organize "watch parties" and give feedback through a Web site, www.conversationoneducation.org.

I think these "town hall" meetings are actually by invitation only, which is a shame because this really leaves out populations who do not have internet access. I would have liked to have seen these held in HS gyms during the school year so the communities could really participate.

Opening Up the Conversation

Nick D — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:47:40 -0700

Gov. Ted Strickland is doing the same thing for education funding that his administration has already done for transportation funding: reaching out to Ohioans for their ideas and priorities before shaping policy.

The Ohio Dept. of Transportation recently concluded a series of seven town hall meetings around the state in locations from Dayton to St. Clairsville, highlighting the challenges to Ohio's transportation funding (if ODOT completed all projects it had previously committed to work on, it would be about $3.5 Billion in the red) and asking Ohioans to outline their priorities and give ideas for funding. Now Gov. Strickland is taking the same approach to collect idea about education funding.

This is a very smart move, as it invests all Ohioans in the process of finding solutions. The education town hall meetings are listed after the jump