Thank you for supporting my efforts to improve education in Ohio by support SB 180.

I want to extend my sincere thanks to all of the individuals who took time to testify in support of my Race to The Top bill on Tuesday. 

Thank you to Bill Sims, President and CEO of the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools; Terry Ryan, Vice-President for Ohio Programs and Policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and State School Board Member Susan Haverkos. 

And a special thanks to John Dues and Abbey Kinson from the Columbus Collegiate Academy.  John and Abbey are both graduates of the Teach For America Program and like many Teach For America alums wanting to return to Ohio, cannot get a regular full-time teaching license to teach in Ohio.  John is currently the Co-Director for Curriculum and Instruction at the Columbus Collegiate Academy and Abbey is teaching math under a long-term substitute teaching license and has been trying for more than a year and a half to get licensed in Ohio.  Columbus Collegiate Academy is a very high performing charter school and in fact, Abbey’s students achieved more than two and a half times the “expected yearly growth” in mathematics.  These are  highly qualified individuals that are desperately needed in Ohio’s classrooms.  

Thank you again for testifying and for all that you do to advance education in Ohio.

Columbus Dispatch Editorial: Good ideas

The Columbus Dispatch editorialized today in support of a bill I am sponsoring, Senate Bill 180. This bill would help make Ohio more competitive for federal “Race to the Top” dollars.

The Dispatch said, “Ending Ohio’s moratorium on new charter schools is a good idea by itself, but state Sen. Jon Husted’s bill to accomplish that includes several additional good ideas that would make Ohio schools more effective.”

You can read the entire editorial here: http://tinyurl.com/yzv3nry