Gov. Kasich 'on-the-road' to Steubenville for state of state address

COLUMBUS, Ohio (CGE) - Ohio Gov. John Kasich showed again Wednesday why he is no slave to the past, when his office announced that his second state of the state address will, for the first time, take place in a setting that is not the historic and ornate Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, where a joint session of the General Assembly traditionally convenes to hear an address by the state's chief executive's about how the state's faring and what its future plans may be.

 

The governor who enjoys charting his own path will deliver his address on how the state is faring under his watch to an audience that will gather at Ohio’s best public elementary school, Wells Academy in Steubenville. The audience will be composed of senators, representatives, judges, statewide office holders, administration officials, the media and members of the public. 

 

The selection of Wells Academy for the event on Feb. 7 is significant because it gives Gov. Kasich an education backdrop to use to deliver remarks - unscripted or not - that will surely focus on his policy agenda for improving education. House Republicans announced this week that one of their top legislative goals this year is to again take up the task of Ohio's education formula, which the Ohio Supreme Court has previously declared unconstitutional, four times. 

 

The location will reflect the attitudes on public union teachers that Gov. Kasich shares with Michelle Rhee of StudentsFirst, who cheers on charter schools as a competitive alternative to public schools. They both agree that while great teachers are what children need to learn to become the talent worker of the future, they and their teaching skills may be the first sacrificed in a union pecking order designed to protect seniority at the expense of merit when budgets become a problem

 

Moving the address to Steubenville, the home of famous rat pack crooner Dean Martin, in far eastern Ohio also means that some who otherwise would be in attendance at the statehiouse may not be able to make the trek, given the size of the selected venue.

 

Govenment spending and logistic associated with Kasich's decision to relocate his address away from Columbus are unclear at this time. 

 

SOTS addresses are traditionally delivered in the impressive House of Representatives, where history, tradition, protocol and decorum reign supreme. Wells Academy was chosen because it is consistently viewed as one of the best, most innovative elementary schools in Ohio; and it's also the highest-ranking public elementary school in Ohio, measured by test results, and part of Steubenville City Schools.

 

The General Assembly is expected in short order to pass a Joint Resolution enabling it to convene for the day at Wells Academy, where it shares its building and auditorium with Steubenville High School.

 

Kasich has had a testy if not hostile relationship with Ohio's public school teachers union, which he railed against during his successful run for governor in 2010. Public teachers, along with other public workers like police officers, firemen and nurses who were represented by a public union, became the target of a bill he pushed and signed into law last year that made changes to Ohio's collective bargaining law.

 

That law, SB 5, became Issue 2 last November, when voters by a margin of 2 to 1 said no to a direct attack on collective bargaining rights by the governor and a friendly Republican legislature.

 

·   Wells Academy is a public elementary school in Steubenville City Schools.  Founded in 1989, Wells serves 319 students in preschool through grade four.

 

·   Emphasis is placed on a strong basic skills curriculum designed around the Ohio Models and includes standards from the Ohio Achievement Test.  Technology and distance learning are utilized, together with a focus on the fine arts, communication and social skills, public speaking, and self-expression.

 

·   The school’s many accolades include:

 

o  Ranking first among all public elementary schools in the Ohio Department of Education’s 2011 Performance Index ranking system,

 

o  Being named an Ohio School of Promise every year since 2003,

 

o  Earning the National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence award in 2003-2004 and 2004-2005,

 

o  Being one of two Ohio schools to win the National Title I Distinguished School Award in 2009,

 

o  Having 100 percent of tested students deemed proficient in both math and reading in 2010-2011.