Kasich’s education push deserves bipartisan nod

Republicans and Democrats in the Ohio Legislature will undoubtedly find fault with parts of Republican Gov. John R. Kasich’s spending blueprint for the next two fiscal years, but there are items that warrant bipartisan support.

From a regional standpoint, we fully embrace the governor’s proposals for kindergarten to 12th grade, including his goal of better preparing Ohio’s schoolchildren for future careers.

“Either we’re going to get serious about workforce or we’re not …,” Kasich said last week when he unveiled his biennial budget. “Get some outside influence on that school board to help design a curriculum so our kids can get the skills they need.”

The issue of a qualified workforce has preoccupied the governor since he took office in 2011. He has said that he regularly hears from business and industry executives in Ohio about the problems they experience filling positions in their companies.

Indeed, Kasich has talked about 100,000-plus jobs in the private sector that are vacant because employers cannot find qualified applicants.

The governor has warned that companies will consider moving some of their operations to other states if their employment demands can’t be met in Ohio.

We have long supported Kasich’s call for educational institutions to design programs that address the needs of the private sector.

A provision in his budget would permit classroom credit for students’ workforce-related experiences.

In addition, the spending blueprint envisions increased collaboration between schools, colleges and universities and industry by requiring boards of education to add three local business people to their ranks as nonvoting members.

Kasich’s belief that the business sector is an invaluable resource when it comes to creating the proper educational environment to prepare students for work is well founded.

‘Youngstown Plan’

It is worth noting that the “Youngs-town Plan,” which brought about the revamping of the academically challenged Youngstown City School District, had its origins in a series of meetings of an ad hoc committee made up of business and community leaders. Politicians were not involved.

The governor had urged local leaders to come up with recommendations for re-engineering the failing urban school district.

The Youngstown Plan turned the governance of public education on its head. The elected school board has been stripped of its policy-making powers, replaced by a special state-mandated academic distress commission.

The commission’s most important duty was the hiring of a chief executive officer with full authority over the day-to-day running of the district.

CEO Krish Mohip, a veteran educator from Chicago, began his three-year stint last June and in the first 90 days developed an academic recovery plan that’s designed to address the failing student test scores in the statewide examinations.

Mohip, unaffected by the shenanigans of the school board, is putting in place the pieces of an academic scheme to facilitate learning in the classroom.

By all accounts, the chief executive officer is succeeding in changing the culture of the urban school district.

Gov. Kasich has expressed his support for what is taking place in Youngstown, which bodes well for additional funding for the district over the next two years.

His state budget envisions $200 million more for kindergarten through 12th grade over the biennium.

At the same time, the governor is standing firm on his promise to make higher education affordable by freezing tuition and fees in both years of the budget. In addition, Kasich wants colleges and universities to provide textbooks to students. The institutions would be able to offset some of the costs with a $300 per student charge.

While the education provisions in the governor’s budget are worthy of support from Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly, other items should be placed under the legislative microscope.

At the top of the list: Kasich’s plan to reduce the state’s income tax rate and make up the revenue loss by increasing the sales tax from 5.75 percent to 6.25 percent.

Open, bipartisan debate is advised.