Ohio Goes Whole-Hog to Get It Right

I want to give kudos to the state of Ohio for three things:

1. For tackling the issue of its schools and getting the best minds to help do something about it.
2. For setting the bar high and not settling for second-best.
3. For demanding and getting a detailed plan of action.

Now, what brings on this outburst of praise?

More than a year ago, the Ohio State Board of Education contracted with Achieve, one of my favorite organizations, to examine the state of its kindergarten through Grade 12 school system and benchmark it against "best-in-class international standards."


Best-in-class. That takes guts. They could have asked to be graded against neighbors like Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky. They took the extra step, however, and said, we compete for jobs against every country in the world. How do we measure up against the best in the world?


What they got is a report entitled "Creating a World-Class Education System in Ohio." I encourage you to read it. It's only about 90 pages.


It concludes that while Ohio has made some progress, it still has a long way to go to build that world-class education system. But it then goes on to point the way to that world-class system.


What we're trying to do with the ED in 08 campaign is not just point out the problems we have with America's schools. We also want to recognize some ways to solve them.


Ohio has shown us you should aim high ... and figure out how to get there.


I say, Bravo, Ohio.