By Felix Hoover

For YourNewsColumbus.com

Gov. Ted Strickland raised a lot of questions about the future of education from preschool to college in Wednesday’s State of the State address and even posed one suggestive of Jeff Foxworthy’s TV quiz show.

But the governor doesn’t want to know if Ohioans are smarter than fifth-graders, but as smart as geese.

In describing the state’s need for cooperation among various sector to succeed, included an anecdote about why geese fly in a “V” formation, rather than side-by-side.

Much of Strickland’s address echoed the gloom that folks have become accustomed to in recent month because of the weak economy, high unemployment and the need to balance the biennial budget with less.

He said the budget could be balanced with a number of measures, including cuts of 10 to 20 percent in various parts of state government. Although he said proposed no new taxes, he said that increases in state agency fees, fines and penalties, along with an anticipated $3.4 billion from the federal stimulus package, could also help offset an anticipated $7.3 billion deficit.

The federal government recently gave the state approval to offer health-care coverage to Ohio children with incomes up to 300 percent of the poverty level. As such, Strickland said, “We will soon be able to say that health care coverage is available to every child in Ohio.”

Efforts are also being made to expand health-care access for adults, including more options for long-term care for seniors and the disabled, he said.

Strickland’s plan includes a number of tax credits to attract investors and create jobs, including a Film Tax Credit to spur that industry.

He said that in the coming months he would introduce a second jobs stimulus package, which includes streamlining measure to ensure that the state receives its share of feeral stimulus funds.

On a day when Mayor Michael B. Coleman had little to applaud – he announced another 12 layoffs for city workers – he gave an enthusiastic ovation for Strickland call for restoration of passenger rail service between Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland.

The topic to which Strickland devoted the most attention was education, saying “what we teach and how we teach will prepare Ohioans to thrive in the 21^st Century.”

Besides teaching core subjects, such as math and science, new topics will be added to the curriculum, including global awareness and life skills.

“And we will use teaching methods that foster creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication and collaboration, media literacy, leadership and productivity, cultural awareness, adaptability and accountability,” Strickland said.

His plan, which would be implemented over eight years, calls for:

·         Expanding the school year to 200 days.

·         Expanding the learning day for all students through service, tutoring and wellness programs.

·         Requiring that all kindergarten programs be daylong.

·         Building on the Closing the Achievement Gap initiative to reduce dropout rates.

·         Replacing the Ohio Graduation Test with the ACT and three other measures..

·         Celebrating learning with academic achievement competitions that make learning as publicly praised as athletics.

·         Improving educator quality by having new teacher serve a four-year residency with experienced teachers, by weeding out bad teachers and by creating a path to licensure for professionals who have the subject knowledge but lack coursework in education methods.

The plan also calls for measuring Ohio’s education system against the rest of the world’s with an eye toward President Kennedy’s notion: “We want to be first. Not first if. Not first but, but first.”

In his closing remarks, Strickland said he believes that Ohio’s best days are ahead.

“Whether we progress swiftly or slowly, however, will be in direct proportion to how well we work together,” he said

As for the flying fowls, so the story goes, a pastor explained to his congregation that geese fly in a V because it allows each goose to reduce the wind resistance for the bird flying behind it.

“By flying in formation, the whole flock strengthens each individual bird, allowing each goose to fly vastly greater distances together than it could possibly fly alone,” Strickland recounted

“My friends, surely we are as smart as the goose. We can share a common direction, a sense of common purpose, and in so doing we can strengthen each other even as we strengthen ourselves.”