Gov. Bob Taft delivered his eighth and final State of the State speech yesterday, focusing heavily on standardizing education requirements for high schools.
In Ohio
too few high school graduates are prepared for college or a well-paying job Taft said. The evidence is overwhelming that when it comes to our high school students it's not just about graduation. It's about preparation.
To prepare high school students, Taft said, Ohio must implement a rigorous core of classes. This core, Taft said, would include four years of math, including Algebra II; three years of science, including biology, chemistry and physics; four years of English; three years of social studies and at least two years of a foreign language.
Athens City Schools currently require a similar load of courses for students to graduate, said Athens City Schools Superintendent Carl Martin. However, he said, there are differences. First of all, Athens requires one fewer math credit than Taft's proposal and currently requires students to take one credit in either business/technology, fine arts or a foreign language.
Foreign language teachers, especially Spanish and French teachers, are difficult to find, Martin said, and with this proposed mandate would also come the need to hire additional teachers to fulfill these requirements. Similar mandates have not.
Are these just more unfunded mandates we have to deal with? Martin asked.
In addition to the changed curriculum, Taft proposed other changes to state education. First, make completing a core curriculum necessary to attend Ohio's state-funded four-year colleges and universities. Second, move all remedial education to Ohio's two-year campuses, where costs are lower. Third, require all students to take a college and work-ready assessment in their junior year to help them know if they're on the right course to be prepared for life after high school. Finally, add a measure to the report card of each district to indicate how well high schools are preparing students for college and work.
Taft also called for an expansion of the school breakfast and lunch program, nourishing 120,000 more students than the current system.
Just days after Ford announced it would be closing a plant in Batavia, Taft praised Ohio's automobile industry. Taft said some of the 150,000 jobs supplied by auto manufacturers are in danger and asked the Ohio General Assembly to pass a bill to support these jobs and stabilize the sector.
Taft also touched on improving worker's compensation, preserving natural resources and foster care, urging the General Assembly to pass or introduce bills in each respective field.
After the State of the State address, opposing views from Democratic leaders were presented in the Statehouse atrium. The Democrats believe the education proposal is simply a jumble, said Senate Democratic Communications Director Amanda Conn.
While the speech praised advances made in education, Conn said, the governor just passed a budget that doles out flat funds to schools. This was done, she said, to keep the status quo and is an insult to students statewide.
We have no confidence in state government
Conn said.
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Gov. Bob Taft emphasized education reforms in his final State of the State speech yesterday in the House of Representatives chamber at the Statehouse in Columbus. Critics questioned the funding of Taft's mandates because similar ones of his have gone unfu
