Bill Coley: Putting technology to work in Ohio’s public schools

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10:47 AM Wednesday, October 14, 2009

There is much partisan bickering throughout our country on a variety of topics. However, there is one issue that finds no disagreement. It is the need to reform the way we educate our children.

People on both the left and the right agree that we are engaged in an “International Education Arms Race.” They also agree that if America is going to continue to enjoy a standard of living that is the envy of the world, we need to significantly improve the educational performance of all students.

This past week, I had the honor of speaking at the Foundation for Excellence in Education national summit on education reform. At this summit, there was discussion and debate over many of the changes needed in our educational system. You would approve of many of the changes that were discussed, and I am sure that you will be seeing the best of these changes put into place in the years to come.

It has been pointed out that, during the last 50 years, technology has changed how we do everything from farming to manufacturing. Even how a police car patrols our neighborhoods has drastically changed. However, it has also been noted how little day-to-day instruction in our schools has changed in the last five decades.

The panel that I served upon — “An 8-Track Tape Deck in an iPod World” — dealt with using technology to improve the quality of education. The distinguished panelists included three well-known authors who are professors from Harvard and Stanford. These panelists discussed the need to disrupt our current thinking on using technology in education. They pointed out the need to use technology as more than a typewriter or a glorified VCR to watch a tape of this morning’s lecture.

As the proud author of the first-in-the-nation “Educational Clearing House” legislation, I was invited to explain how Ohio is breaking the bonds of bricks and mortar. The Clearing House, which is just getting under way here in Ohio, will allow a student in Cadiz to take a class in Mandarin Chinese from a teacher at Butler Tech or an advanced placement government class from a teacher at Lakota East. Upon successful completion of the class, the credits for the class move from the teacher’s school to the student’s school and a fee for the class moves from the student’s school to the teacher’s school.

The beauty of the system is its simplicity and local control. The local school districts decide which of their classes they want to list in the Clearing House catalog. The local school districts also decide which courses they want to allow their students to take from the catalog.

School districts experiencing limited budgets get to offer courses without the need of hiring additional staff. The districts also receive income when others are educated by the district’s teachers. Students get access to the best teachers across the state, teaching classes that may not be offered within the walls of the student’s school.

Many parents will find that, for the first time, their children have access to advanced placement classes that will give their children a chance at earning college credit while they are still in high school.

Teachers get a chance to reach more students than they ever dreamed possible. In addition, they get to utilize this technology to customize educational plans for each of their students. Of course, the split of the revenue generated through the Clearing House will be the subject of contract negotiations between the school district and its teachers.

As I stated at the summit, Gov. Ted Strickland appeared skeptical when this legislation was first enacted. However, he has placed the Chancellor of the Board of Regents in charge of the Clearing House and Chancellor Eric Fingerhut has been doing an excellent job of making this Clearing House come to life for all of Ohio.

We have a long way to go in restoring economic vitality. However, making sure that our students and teachers have the best tools available to them, at the lowest cost to taxpayers, is part of what is needed to improve our competitiveness. It was personally very gratifying to help others follow our lead in this area.

Ohio Rep. Bill Coley, R-West Chester Twp., represents the 55th House District.

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