Education – The Key to Prosperity and our Future

"Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children" - Walt Disney.

Education has provided economic prosperity and social mobility for generations of Americans.  Education funded by the GI Bill provided the basis to create a strong middle class and raised our standard of living.  The engineering and science education in the 1960s propelled technological innovative that improved the lives of Americans and maintained the United States as the economic leader of the world.  Education is an integral part of economic prosperity and job creation. 

Although Butler County has many quality school districts, other parts of Ohio are less fortunate.  Less than 75% of Ohio students graduate from high school.  College is becoming unaffordable due to increased costs.  We cannot develop and sustain a prosperous economy without an educated work force.  We must take steps now to ensure future economic prosperity. 

Under the Ohio Constitution, the legislature is responsible for a “…thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state.”  They have not fulfilled their constitutional requirement.  I am running for the Ohio legislature because we must improve education to provide our children and grandchildren the opportunity to achieve their full potential. 

Government cannot solve all education problems, but it can provide a framework and catalyst for success.  Some steps we can take to improve education in Ohio include:

1. Support and improve early childhood education; students that start behind often never catch up.
2. Recruit, reward, and work with teachers; we cannot improve education by bashing the people that implement the system.
3. Stop spending money on programs that are not working; throwing more money at failing programs will not improve results. 
4. Decentralize control, make schools part of the community, provide leadership with the tools they need to achieve success, and hold them accountable.
5. Make math and science education a priority.
6. Make college affordable through innovative and creative methods.

Improving education will require leadership, commitment, and the desire to make a difference.  Incumbent Butler County legislators have ignored, and at times accelerated, the deterioration of the education system in Ohio.  They have consistently shown a lack of leadership with regard to education; they have catered to special interests and big money lobbyists while ignoring education.  The choice is clear.  If you are satisfied with less than 75% of Ohio students graduating from high school, skyrocketing college tuition costs, and an attitude toward education that will grind our economy to a halt, vote for the incumbents.  If you want someone that recognizes the importance of education and will work to improve the long-term economic prosperity of Ohio, vote for Tony Klimek.