In the most recent Quinnipiac University poll on Ohio political issues of interest, Ohioans, who overwhelmingly elected first-term Democratic Governor Ted Strickland and continue to bestow sky-high job performance approval ratings on him, curiously say he's not only not qualified to be Vice Presidential but should he be on the Democratic ticket, only 13 percent of Ohio voters, including 20 percent of Democrats, are more likely to vote for the Democratic ticket next year if Strickland is running as Vice President, while 11 percent of voters say they are less likely to vote for a Strickland ticket and 68 percent say it won't affect their vote. With support like this from fellow Democrats, who needs opposition Republicans?

"Even though Gov. Strickland is very popular among Ohioans, they do not see him as vice presidential material and do not give any indication he would be substantial help to the Democratic nominee in carrying Ohio's crucial electoral votes." Peter Brown, assistant director, Quinnipiac University poll.

The crest of the wave that swept Strickland into office last year was his commitment to fix Ohio's school funding problem, which has be found unconstitutional four times by the Ohio Supreme Court since it first emerged in a 1991 lawsuit. So high on his agenda was fixing the problem of funding Ohio schools, that he said if he failed to do it as governor, his wouldn't give himself a passing grade.

"I am so committed to solving this school-funding issue that, if I become governor and I do a lot of wonderful things, but I fail to address this school-funding issue, I will have been a failed governor." Columbus Dispatch

But as recently as last week, the homespun governor whose manner of talking straight with Ohio citizens is turning into one of his endearing attributes, said he doesn't have a plan at this time, adding that the quantity of funding is no longer the key issue in his mind but how its utilized that needs reform.

"I think we've got probably all the money we need in education, we just don't utilize it in a way that is fair and appropriate." Strickland, TCD

Timetables seem to be anathema to politicians, especially those who hold office and who are badgered about when they're going to do something about some issue, like education, for example. President Bush abhors talk of a timetable to withdraw troops in Iraq. Likewise, Strickland doesn't want to bind himself to any artificial time period to propose a plan to fix a problem that's been stewing for about 17 years.

"I'm not going to sit down and write out a plan," he said. "This is something that has to be developed, and it has to evolve and it has to be a result of consensus and building support for it." Strickland: TCD

But if education is the key to Ohio's future, including the high-paying, science-centric jobs he wants to create for a state that has loss hundreds of thousands of traditional manufacturing jobs over the last ten years, then the report by NAEP showing Ohio kids are lagging far behind other countries is not happy news.

POLITICIANS TAKING OVER SCHOOLS, GOOD IDEA OR
NOT?

Earlier this year the new governor showed some fire when he took on the Ohio Board of Regents and effectively arm-wrestled them into giving him control of Ohio colleges and universities vis a vis his new cabinet member Education Chancellor, Eric Fingerhut.  

Fingerhut's charge, and Strickland's desire, is to build a system of higher education designed to prepare all Ohioans for the 21st century and rival the nation in accountability and innovation.

In the recent battle for Mayor of Columbus between incumbent Democrat Michael Coleman and his Republican challenger Bill Todd, the issue of the mayor taking over control of Columbus Public Schools was raised by Todd, a big supporter of private charter schools. Although Todd's campaign disintegrated on Election Day, his notion is not without merit.

Columbus Public Schools have performed poorly for decades, trailing in most cases even the worst suburban school system. Poor performing schools have an economic development ripple effect. When the young urban pioneers who helped gentrify older urban areas got married and have their first child, they took their property appreciation and headed outward to a suburb with a good school system.

Summiting the mountain of truly fixing Ohio's school funding plan will be a daunting task for Strickland, who still has to confront a Republican-led Legislature in love with charter schools that has opened its funding doors to their creation. Strickland shut that door to a great degree this year, and along with Ohio's raging bull Attorney General Marc Dann, poor performing charter schools will be on the run, as he uses the vast legal powers of his office to shut them down and defrock their mostly Republican supporters.  

John Michael Spinelli is a former Ohio Statehouse government and political reporter and business columnist. He now serves as the OhioNews Bureau Chief for ePluribus Media Journal.

If ePluribus Media readers have a news tip or story idea about Ohio politics or government, contact the OhioNews Bureau at: ohionews@www.epluribusmedia.org