A post from guest blogger and Fordham writer and researcher??Emmy Partin.??
This morning in Fordham's hometown of Dayton, Senator Barack Obama promoted his education plan during a speech at a local high school.?? Education is a hotter topic in the Buckeye State than most places with Governor Ted Strickland already having wrestled control of higher education and now aiming to take over the K-12 system, too.?? Obama echoed many of the sentiments expressed by Strickland, calling for more after-school programs, longer school days and years, and teaching students to be innovative and creative.?? But this wasn't your father's union-friendly, Democratic education-stump-speech, with Obama taking moderate positions on issues like teacher tenure and charter schools, in stark contrast to the governor's positions.
Obama is calling for more accountability for all charter schools and increased funding for the good ones; Strickland sought to set-back big time the state's charter sector in his inaugural budget proposal in 2007. Senator Obama wants to increase teacher accountability for student achievement, but the details for this are yet to come.?? Teachers would be paid more under Obama's agenda and struggling teachers would get help, but those who don't improve would be replaced.?? Strickland seems bent on watering down Ohio's academic accountability system so that not even schools and districts, let alone teachers, are actually responsible for their students' performance.
Senator Obama's ideas are headed in the right direction but the devil's in the details.?? And it's unclear how his federal policies would impact schools and students here in the Buckeye State.?? Ohio's charter sector certainly could be improved, but if Governor Strickland pursues the agenda of dismantling the charter program altogether, all the federal start-up funding in the world and Obama's encouragement won't help these schools of choice.?? And issues of tenure and teacher pay are decided at the state and local levels.?? Federal efforts, like the Teacher Incentive Fund, are small-scale drops in the bucket and are still beholden to the approval of local teacher unions-and Ohio's are the most militant in the nation.
Ohioans eager for real education reform will be watching Obama, but keeping one eye on Governor Strickland as well.