Ohio Smart Schools Initiative Seeks Ways to Improve Education Efficiency

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Andrew Benson, Executive Director of Ohio Education Matters

At the very time when it is imperative that we make progress in ensuring that all Ohio students are prepared for 21st-century careers, the ongoing economic crisis requires that schools operate with tighter resources.

Cincinnati, OH (Vocus) August 26, 2010

A statewide effort looking at ways Ohio’s public schools can boost performance and cut costs is offering the public a chance to weigh in.

Ohio Smart Schools, a nonpartisan initiative of KnowledgeWorks subsidiary Ohio Education Matters, today launched a website that invites Ohioans to make suggestions for how the state’s education system and local school districts can accomplish the dual goals of increasing student performance and reducing costs.

Spurred by Ohio’s looming $8 billion shortfall in the next budget, the Ohio Smart Schools initiative is conducting research and reviewing current practices as it prepares to issue recommendations by the end of the year to state leaders for inclusion in the next budget process.

Despite the state being awarded $400 million in Race to the Top funds this week, those involved in the effort say that identifying more efficient processes will be important to maintaining education innovations like those that just won federal approval.

“Ohio faces a difficult dilemma,” said Andrew Benson, executive director of Ohio Education Matters, or OEM. “At the very time when it is imperative that we make progress in ensuring that all Ohio students are prepared for 21st-century careers, the ongoing economic crisis requires that schools operate with tighter resources. We have no choice but to figure out how to do more with less.”

Benson said his organization is working with education groups, policymakers, community organizations, philanthropies, business and other organizations to find areas of potential savings and education practices that can improve student performance without raising costs. “Ohio’s vision for education innovation in the Race to the Top proposal points the way for making significant improvements, and we hope to build on that vision by creating an environment in which those improvements can be sustained after federal funds expire,” he said.

As part of its research, Ohio Smart Schools is offering an online suggestion box for individuals to post their ideas. The website also allows users to rate ideas to identify those with the most promise. Researchers will review suggestions as they prepare budget recommendations as requested by Gov. Ted Strickland earlier this year.

“Ohioans have a long tradition of resourcefulness, and we believe their ideas can help us make better decisions about how to deploy our scarce education resources,” Benson said.

Ohio Education Matters, a subsidiary of KnowledgeWorks, is a statewide, public policy research organization that focuses on connecting the dots between great innovations and those in the community who can make change. As a non-partisan entity, Ohio Education Matters acts as a catalyst of an education transformation in the state by conducting research, advocacy, engagement and policy development that inspires others to make the system changes needed today to prepare Ohio’s children for the future.

Knowledgeworks is bringing the future of learning to America’s high schools and creating widespread, lasting change in the communities and states we serve. Our portfolio of high school approaches includes New Tech Network high schools, Edworks high school redesign, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and Early College High Schools.

Contact:
Byron McCauley
(513) 929-1310
mccauleyb(at)knowledgeworks(dot)org

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