All Roads Lead Me Back to You by Kennedy Foster

Our budget directs the Ohio Department of Education to lay out a plan - informed by research and evidence - to ensure that all Ohio students have the best opportunity to master the skill of reading.įurther, it directs them to help students in our public, STEM, and charter schools by providing funding to each school to pay for curriculum based on the Science of Reading and for professional development for those teachers needing it in that curriculum. In our budget, we are making sure that all Ohio children have access to curriculum that is aligned with the evidence-based approaches of the Science of Reading. Not all literacy curriculums are created equal, and sadly, many Ohio students do not have access to the most effective reading curriculum. And today, we understand the great value and importance of phonics.

There a is great deal of research about how we learn to read. So today, I am calling for a renewed focus on literacy - and on the way we teach reading in the State of Ohio.

It can fire a child’s imagination - and turn what looks like a black and white world into vivid and bright colors!īut tragically, today 40 percent of all Ohio 3 rd Grade students are not proficient in reading - 40 percent! Reading can take what seems like a dark world and make it bright! It opens the door to good jobs - but really, it opens the door to life. We know that reading unlocks the door for all future learning and provides a lifetime of opportunities. It reflects our obligation to make sure every Ohioan has the tools to succeed, to get a good job, to live their dreams, whatever they may be. It is a budget that focuses on our people, on our families, and on our children, for they are Ohio’s greatest asset. Our budget is fiscally sound - spending one-time money on one-time expenditures, averting a fiscal cliff in future years when this one-time money is gone. The budget that I will present to you later today reflects the moral imperative we have to see that ALL Ohioans are fully educated, and therefore, have the tools to live up to their full God-given potential. We are challenged as never before, because at no time in our history has the full education of all our children been more important. Our future is bright - but that future will be defined by how well we educate all our children and how we tear down the barriers to their success. Yet, it is also a time of great challenges. We meet at a time of great opportunity for Ohio and its citizens. Speaker Stephens, President Huffman, Leader Antonio and Leader Russo, Members of the General Assembly, Chief Justice Kennedy and Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court, Elected State Officials, Lieutenant Governor Husted, My Fellow Citizens of Ohio….

All Roads Lead Me Back to You by Kennedy Foster