The State Board of Education Wants Your Opinions about Our Schools

The State Board of Ed is looking for public input regarding the Achieve, Inc. report on Ohio Schools. The Department of Ed is compiling a report that the Board will use in its June retreat to help determine the direction of Ohio education policy. They've been conducting a set of regional workshops that, unfortunately, I didn't get wind of until now when they are pretty much done (Akron's was last night.) Happily, they are also conducting an online survey and have tools to let people submit written comments online.

For a bit of background, the Board commissioned a pair of bipartisan policy consulting groups -- Achieve and McKinsey & Co. -- to conduct a comprehensive study of Ohio schools. Their report recommends fundamental changes that touch every area of public education policy -- curriculum, testing, school management, finance, it's all there. The subject ares considered are summarized in this slide from ODE's PowerPoint on the study.



You can read either the study or summaries on the Website. Also, the Plain Dealer ran a solidly reported story on the report when it came out.

ODE and the Board are serious about getting citizen input. Unfortunately, the effort has been publicized mainly through stakeholders. If you want them to hear citizen input, it's up to you. Get online and take the survey, or just submit comments.

I, of course, have my opinions which the Department heard at yesterday's meeting. I have a blogging punchlist for the next couple of days. If I get through it, I may post some thoughts on the report as well.