Is John Kasich aware that he’s still governor of Ohio, where he shares oversight of education, and has been for almost eight years?
His remarks at a Washington, D.C., news conference with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, suggest otherwise.
The governor, who is a media darling for his ongoing political rivalry with President Trump, called for new approaches and ideas in education — something he could be implementing right here in Ohio where his term continues until January.
Mr. Kasich and Mr. Hickenlooper appeared last Wednesday at a Brookings Institution panel on “the future of the middle class,” and they received an award for their bipartisan work from the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress.
In remarking on education, Mr. Kasich called for a “dynamic” change to how the nation educates its students. The report in The Columbus Dispatch said he suggested the possibility of three days a week in school and two days learning outside the classroom, possibly in a workplace.
A dynamic change is something Ohio deeply and fervently wants. Mr. Kasich should be back in Ohio moving heaven and earth to make that happen here. Instead, he is absent from the state on an extended campaign for the presidency.
Ohio does not fare well in national education rankings. U.S. News & World Report ranks Ohio ranked 36th in the nation. In the Midwest, only West Virginia scored lower. Education Week in 2017 ranked Ohio 23rd in the nation, down from 5th in 2010.
During Mr. Kasich’s tenure the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow prospered and overcharged the state for student enrollment, and it wasn’t until 2016 that his Department of Education acted to force more accountability from the online school system, finally shutting ECOT down this year.
Ohio needs an education governor, but this governor has left the state on automatic pilot while he has pursued his presidential ambitions.
A new governor will take the controls in January, and when he does, he needs to focus on schools — Ohio schools.
First Published October 14, 2018, 10:30 a.m.
