Take Action Now!

Tell your Senator to support the Strickland Plan for Public Education!

The Senate's version of House Bill 1 is a huge step backwards for public education and a lack of vision for job creation in Ohio.


Public education — from Kindergarten through higher education — can help Ohio develop more highly skilled employees that are key to attracting the businesses and careers emerging today.


But the Ohio Senate has thrown out nearly every meaningful reform of the Strickland Plan for Public Education, as passed by the House, including all-day Kindergarten, better technology resources for schools and any recognition for the new skills our students need in order to be successful.


Now a House-Senate Conference Committee must address the gulf between the Strickland Plan, which looks toward the future, and the Senate version of the state budget, which lacks a vision for education and the economy. But you can still make a difference.


Action needed: Contact your State Senator today and urge him/her to pass the Strickland Plan for Public Education.


Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Pass the Strickland/House Plan

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

The Strickland Plan for Public Education, as passed by the House, presented a real plan for the role our schools and colleges can play in creating jobs for Ohioans.

Fully implemented, the plan would reduce the reliance on local property taxes as well as cost out and fund the components of a high quality education.

The plan would fund things we know help to improve student performance such as all-day kindergarten, smaller class sizes and professional development for teachers, who are critical to the long-term success of our students.

The Strickland Plan will help Ohio students go beyond the basics to learn 21st century skills. The plan also calls for multiple measures for high school graduation, not just passing a high-stakes Ohio Graduation Test.

We have a chance to transform our schools and fix school funding, so let's not waste it. Restore the vision and ideas of the Strickland Plan and pass a state budget that makes sense for Ohio's children and the jobs we know they can fill in the future!

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
June 09, 2009


Background Information

The Senate version of House Bill 1 introduced on May 30th is a woeful disappointment in many ways. It throws away years of work on school funding and transforming public education. It fails to make school funding fair, adequate or constitutional, despite four Ohio Supreme Court rulings. And it dismantles the strongest elements of Governor Strickland's education reform plan.

H.B. 1, as passed by the Ohio House of Representatives, presented a real plan for fixing Ohio's unconstitutional school funding system. When fully implemented, the plan would reduce the reliance on local property taxes and cost out and fund the components of a high quality education. The plan would fund things we know help to improve student performance such as all-day kindergarten, smaller class sizes and professional development. Much of this has been stripped away in the Senate's substitute version of the bill. Abandoning these improvements wastes a historic opportunity to transform public education. It is a return to the current broken school funding model and is unacceptable.

The Strickland Education Reform plan that is included in HB1 will renew public education revitalize our economy and reinvigorate our communities for the 21st century.

To do this, we must fund what research tells us matters most to student success — better teachers, better tests, more hands-on learning and technology so students learn the skills that cutting-edge businesses look for in the people they hire — while also reducing the property tax burden on local taxpayers.

Urge members of the General Assembly to restore many of the school funding and education reforms stripped out of HB 1. This reform package represents a commitment to invest in our students and our future. This is an opportunity that should not be squandered.

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