For many of you, the past 24 hours have been very discouraging regarding Ohio, the traditional base of the Democratic Party, and so on and so forth.
But I've just received a copy of the Buckeye State's Democratic gubernatorial candidate's "Vision to Move Ohio Forward," and I couldn't be more excited or pleased.
Its hallmark: The importance of early education, the fulcrum around which the circle of life revolves in America.
Gubernatorial candidate Congressman Ted Strickland today announced his comprehensive vision to move Ohio forward, called Turnaround Ohio, which aims to kick start the state's economy by connecting education, health reform and Ohio's strengths to economic development.
"We know that healthy, happy children are able to learn; that good learners in effective schools become educated adults ready to contribute as workers; that able workers stay where there are worthy opportunities," Strickland said. "We know that when good jobs are performed well, for fair pay, we start a cycle of success that builds its own momentum, creating opportunities for new investment, a growing tax base, and stable families--everything Ohio has been losing for almost two decades."
Specifically, The Strickland/Fisher Turnaround Ohio plan aims to:
- Provide every child a fair start through access to high-quality early care and education;
- Create schools that work for every child by giving teachers the tools and technology they need to stimulate creative, problem-solving students to power Ohio's 21st century economy;
- Dramatically increase the number of students in Ohio's colleges and universities by broadening access and ensuring that those who attend succeed and graduate with a degree that counts;
- Focus on Ohio's strengths by building on Ohio's regional economies and globally competitive industries, spurring small and mid-size business growth, supporting emerging entrepreneurs in our cities, fostering innovation and unleashing the potential of Ohio's great universities and investing in next generation energy as a job source as well as a resource.
- Provide all Ohioans the opportunities to attain skills for high-quality jobs.
- Stabilize health costs for government and businesses alike and advance the health of our citizens by increasing the number of Ohioans who have access to affordable, high-quality healthcare, preventing illnesses and injury and focusing on community-based services for children, families, older adults and persons with disabilities.
- Retain, create and attract jobs worthy of Ohio workers by focusing on industry sectors in which Ohio companies are growing, and which will spur our economy to generate wealth and prosperity for the future.
Following his energy and jobs proposal from late last year, Strickland also today made the second policy proposal of the Turnaround Ohio plan. Strickland proposed investing to move Ohio toward the goal of making sure all Ohio children have access to early childhood care and education.
"My early childhood care and education proposal focuses on the needs of Ohio's children in the crucial years between birth and kindergarten," Strickland said. "Today less than 1.5% of the state's investment in our children occurs during that time. Yet, during these crucial years more than 85% of the child's brain develops. We can and should support Ohio's parents in making smart choices that help each child have the best possible start in life."
The Strickland/Fisher Turnaround Ohio early childhood initiative will:
Work to make high-quality early care and learning for all children a reality in Ohio - a reality that offers good choices for our parents.
1. Pursue the goal of making sure all Ohio children have access to early care and learning by:
- Using unspent TANF funds, the federal Child Care Development Block Grant, and if necessary, reordering our state government priorities to allow us to invest an additional $50 million per year in the first two years of the administration in quality early care and education for Ohio's 3 and 4-year -olds. For every dollar invested in high quality early care and education, taxpayers can expect a rate of return to taxpayers of at least $1.62. (Some experts say that the rate of return is seven dollars for every dollar invested).
- Providing gubernatorial leadership to marshal the energy, investments and ideas of the dozens of corporations, foundations, individuals and non-profit organizations in Ohio already focused on improving the quality of our children's early care and learning experiences.
2. Accelerate statewide implementation of Step Up To Quality, Ohio's consumer early care rating system and early childhood teacher professional development initiative, to ensure that Ohio has a system that will make the best use of our investment and provide true high-quality care choices to Ohio's families. Move to a statewide program by investing an additional $20 million in the first biennium through the use of the same funds specified above. Currently, the program is in five urban counties (Hamilton, Franklin, Cuyahoga, Stark and Lucas) and one three-county rural area (Athens, Hocking, Perry).
As governor, Ted Strickland would encourage all-day kindergarten, possibly by pursuing incentives through the state basic aid formula that encourages local school districts to expand its availability. (Nationally, 28 states provide these incentives including many in our region - Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin.)
Recognize the critical importance of a child's social, emotional and physical development to school readiness and lifelong learning.
● Increase availability of voluntary screening and treatment of physical and behavioral health problems in young children ages birth-6 through the use of S-CHIP, EPSDT, Help Me Grow and Children's Trust Fund Dollars. (A total of $15 million in the first biennium, approximately $4 million of which may be General Revenue Funds.)
Realign state government to promote healthy early childhood development.
● Establish an Early Childhood Cabinet that sets and coordinates state policy and programs serving Ohio children ages prenatal to 6. Unite key state agencies around a common goal of promoting school readiness. (Minimal or no fiscal impact).
"As a young person I was given opportunities that even my older siblings were not afforded," said Strickland, who grew up in rural Southern Ohio and is the eighth of nine children. "I never imagined I'd be able to go to college, but because of the love and sacrifice of my family, I was given an opportunity to pursue education. No family should have to struggle to give their children the same opportunities in Ohio today."
Strickland served as a United Methodist minister and as an administrator at a Methodist children's home, and he worked as a psychologist and college professor before being elected to Congress in 1992.
As a member of Congress, Strickland helped coauthor the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a federal initiative that now provides health insurance to millions of children of working parents.
Strickland's wife, Frances, is an educational psychologist and author of a widely-used screening test for kindergarten-age children.
For more information on Strickland's Turnaround Ohio plan or his detailed early childhood care and education plan, please see the attached document, "Learning for Life", or visit the website at: www.tedstrickland.com.
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Learning for Life: A Fair Start for Every Ohio Child
Children are born learning. The miracle of brain research has shown us that roughly 85% of a child's brain is developed by age 5. Yet, currently, less than 1.5% of Ohio's investment in children occurs by that time. The earliest years offer a tremendous opportunity for building a lifetime of positive outcomes. We can and should support Ohio's parents in making smart choices that help each child have the best possible start in life.
Investment in high quality early care and learning will help us simultaneously improve Ohio's social, education, and economic outcomes.
Far too many Ohio children are falling behind at the start of their academic journeys. This achievement gap has roots that begin long before a child enters the schoolhouse door. Participation in high quality early learning programs is a demonstrated method for boosting school readiness for vulnerable children. We must make such opportunities available to all Ohio's children, particularly those at risk of failure.
High quality early care and learning is not just smart social and education policy, it is smart economic development policy. A growing number of economists--including Nobel laureate James Heckman--note that investment in high quality early care and education outperforms other economic develop strategies. Such programs are shown to reduce rates of crime and teen pregnancy; increase rates of college attendance; create savings in education through fewer grade repetitions and lower special education costs; result in higher tax revenues and rates of home ownership; and lower health and welfare expenditures.
Research breakthroughs of the past several years show that we know how to help a child enter school ready to learn. We know how to intervene effectively to help children with behavioral challenges inhibiting their ability to fully develop. We know how to start closing the achievement gap. We know how to invest the state's scarce resources to maximize economic return to taxpayers. But for too long, we've simply lacked the leadership needed to make it happen.
In order to give every Ohio child a fair start in life, reduce the school "achievement gap," and promote the most efficient economic development strategy available, as governor, Ted Strickland will:
Work to make high-quality early care and learning for all children a reality in Ohio - and one that offers good choices for our parents.
1. Pursue the goal of making sure all Ohio children have access to early care and learning by:
- Using unspent TANF funds, the federal Child Care Development Block Grant, and if necessary, reordering our state government priorities to allow us to invest an additional $50 million per year in the first two years of my administration in quality early care and education for Ohio's 3 and 4-year -olds. In addition, for every dollar invested in high quality early care and education, we can expect a rate of return to taxpayers of at least $1.62. (Some experts say that the rate of return is seven dollars for every dollar invested).
- Providing gubernatorial leadership to marshal the energy, investments and ideas of the dozens of corporations, foundations, individuals and non-profit organizations in Ohio already focused on improving the quality of our children's early care and learning experiences.
2. Accelerate statewide implementation of Step Up To Quality, Ohio's consumer early care rating system and early childhood teacher professional development initiative, to ensure that Ohio has a system that will make the best use of our investment and provide true high-quality care choices to Ohio's families. Move to a statewide program by investing an additional $20 million in the first biennium through the use of the same funds specified above. Currently, the program is in five urban counties (Hamilton, Franklin, Cuyahoga, Stark and Lucas) and one three-county rural area (Athens, Hocking, Perry).
As governor, Ted Strickland would also explore encouraging all-day kindergarten, possibly by pursuing incentives through the state basic aid formula that encourage local school districts to expand its availability. (Nationally, 28 states provide these incentives including many in our region - Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin.)