Saturday, November 22, 2003
The group formed from an education summit in 2001.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LIBERTY -- Preparing Mahoning Valley students for college and fostering lifelong learning throughout the community will take cooperation from educators, business and political leaders and the public.
The Mahoning Valley Vision for Education, which started in May 2002 with a goal to improve education, announced its vision statement Tuesday at Liberty High School.
The group includes leaders from business, industry, education and the community at large and was formed out of a Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber's education summit in December 2001.
The process to achieve the vision statement involved 300 surveys distributed to groups and individuals. Those who responded identified adequate funding for education, parental involvement, quality education for every school district, business/education partnerships and relevant curriculum as top priorities, said Dr. Sherry Linkon of Youngstown State University and the group's co-chairwoman.
Those surveys also identified challenges as lack of employment, negative perception of the Valley and cultural, racial and socioeconomic issues.
Focus groups consisted of nearly 600 participants.
"We talked to church groups, high school students, people at the Rescue Mission, school boards, city councils -- anybody who would listen to us," Linkon said.
What's ahead
But Joyce Brooks, the group's coordinator, emphasized that the work isn't over.
"I have your names and your addresses," she told committee members. "You're not done."
She plans to meet with other groups to forge partnerships with MVVE to help see the goals through.
Dr. Tony D'Ambrosio, superintendent of Trumbull County Educational Service Center, said the area's schools are facing difficulties with the funding crisis throughout the state and fulfilling the mandates of President George Bush's No Child Left Behind initiative.
Fulfilling the vision statement is something that will take the involvement of the whole community, he added.
Ed Cevelbar, a planning engineer at Johnson Controls and a steering committee member, explained that education plays an important role for businesses, too.
Businesses need educated people in order to be successful, and when people are looking to relocate to the area because of a job transfer, one of the first things they ask about is the quality of area schools.