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At a glance

Basic goals of Gov. Ted Strickland's education plan

More hands-on learning and technology.

More learning time.

Better teachers through more training.

Better tests.

Funding education with less reliance on property taxes.

Accountability for administrators regarding how money is spent.

If local residents want Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland's education reform plan to pass, they need to let legislators know they support it, Ohio's first lady told a group of educators and community members in Marietta Thursday.

Frances Strickland made several stops in Marietta, including the Washington County Public Library, where she explained key aspects of the governor's plan and urged support for it as it goes through the General Assembly.

"I've been a little bit concerned because there's so much in it that it's hard for people to know what they're pushing for," she said. "They don't know all the parts. It's a lot to hold on to."

One of the areas of the plan she feels is the most critical is incorporating hands-on, creative learning in all of Ohio's classrooms, Strickland said.

"The way that we can compete with other nations is with our creativity and innovation," she said. "We've only been teaching half of what we need to teach. We need more hands-on learning with real world applications to get students ready for the jobs of tomorrow. To do that, we need more kids going out in the community and more people from the community going into the schools to allow more opportunities."

That focus doesn't mean ignoring the foundations of education, Strickland said.

"We would still teach basics but connect it to the real world," she said. "People have this fear that if we open up the gates of creativity, we're going to get lazy with the basics. We've got to deal with that fear."

Teaching the fundamentals and engaging students in creative learning are both important, said Belpre City Schools Superintendent Harry Fleming, who attended Strickland's presentation and said he supports the governor's original plan.

"Our challenge is to try to do both, and it's a struggle for public school districts," he said. "If we could get this (plan) through, it would be a great step for the state."

Strickland also addressed the unfairness of the school funding system throughout the state and said there must be change there. The current system relies heavily on property taxes, meaning districts in poorer areas of the state have less funding, while the governor's plan would increase the state share of funding.

"We're trying to get to a way of funding that deals with the inequity problems," she said. "We cannot continue to have these differences."

Strickland said one of the criticisms she has heard about the reform is that it lessens funding to charter schools, which is something she supports.

All of the state's per-pupil funding follows a student if they choose to attend a charter school but that school doesn't need as much money as a traditional school with full staff and support staff, she said, particularly if a student is attending school via the Internet.

"All that funding follows and isn't used, so that's like profit for them," Strickland said. "It's gotten to be this big debate, but when reducing the charter school's funding (the governor) took into consideration that those schools wouldn't be providing all those supports. He put less money into those programs because they have fewer expenses."

Some of the 23 people attending the meeting questioned Strickland about individual programs that could be cut in the state's new budget.

Gary Williams, director of outreach programs for Washington State Community College, said he was concerned that in the Senate's version of the bill some college access programs were not funded.

Those programs help first-generation, low-income students, he said.

"They're already entering a playing field that's not level," he said. "If those programs go away, how are we going to serve those kids?"

Strickland said she urges anyone concerned about the loss of a particular program to begin thinking of ways to keep them going without the funding.

"If we know things are needed and the financial resources aren't there, we have to figure out a way to keep them going regardless," she said. "If programs that have names to them get cut, we can hold on to the ingredients and put those over into other things we're doing. That's about our only option."