Each February we find ourselves reflecting on the state of public education in Ohio. This is driven by the fact that the month brings Education Week's rating of the quality of state systems of education as well as the Governor's State of the State address.
 
Recently, Ohio was lauded as having made distinct progress in the 2008 edition of Quality Counts with an overall score of B-. That ranks seventh out of all 50 states in the quality of education provided to our K-12 learners. Although Ohio's overall rating continues to improve, we are in a small minority of states still found deficient in all of the college readiness indicators including defining readiness, college-prep required curricula, course credit alignment, aligning high school assessments and postsecondary decision programs.

Through the ESC's association with the Educational Regional Service System and its Central Ohio Regional Advisory Council, a P-16 subcommittee has undertaken local and regional approaches to the work of building higher education partnerships and grass roots support for the programming found deficient in the Quality Counts ratings.

The success we've had with dual enrollment programming is evidenced by the broad participation of nearly 1,000 students enrolled in more than 50 courses. Our model allows students a collegiate experience in their home high school, during the traditional school day. The courses are taught by current high school teachers in existing courses aligned with collegiate standards. This approach builds capacity in our partner high schools while keeping tuition costs at less than $50 per semester hour. Value and quality have been our guiding philosophy from the start of the program.

Discussions are underway for a program proposed by Governor Ted Strickland to move high school students to college campuses in the Seniors to Sophomores program. While a worthy option for the students who are ready for this experience, we believe this program is already available through the existing Post Secondary Enrollment Options Program (PSEOP).

Building capacity in high schools to improve the education for all students is the goal of our program and certainly our member school districts.

I urge you to read more about our programming options and watch closely the developments in the future as we work with our school and career center partners to develop and sustain the very best options for our students.

In service to children,
Bart Anderson