Governor Taft Joins Top State Education Leadership
to Introduce Bold New Initiative for Teaching Ohio's Teachers
Contact: Michael M. Brown, Ohio Board of Regents, 614-752-9480
Laura Massie, Ohio Board of Regents, 614-466-7439
COLUMBUS, Ohio (June 5, 2000) -- Colleges and universities in Ohio have no higher
responsibility than the education of those who are studying to be teachers.
Governor Bob Taft and Ohio's top education leadership will introduce significant
changes in curriculum at the state's teaching universities at the Ohio
Teaching/Learning special event on Tuesday, June 6, 2000, at 9:30 a.m. at the
Statehouse Atrium in Columbus.
Joining Governor Taft at the press conference will be Ohio Board of Regents
Chancellor Roderick G. W. Chu, State Superintendent Susan Tave Zelman, President
William Kirwan of Ohio State University, President Robert Glidden of Ohio
University and President Kim Goldenberg of Wright State University.
The press conference is a rescheduled event from May 12, 2000, which was to
have been held at Beck Urban Academy in Columbus.
"Preparing our teachers of the future must become as important as training our
medical doctors," said Chu. "Ohio must do better in teaching our teachers. This
new Teaching/Learning initiative is a positive step forward."
Over the next decade, the nation will need 2.2 million new teachers who will
be responsible for educating the country's future leaders. "The times surely
demand and the public rightly insists that these present and future school
children learn and perform at much higher levels than ever before," said Chu.
New priorities will be established for teachers focused on cognitive abilities
and teaching abilities centered on the New Economy's changing
demands. Another element of this new initiative is responsibility. The whole
university, not just colleges of education, must assume responsibility for the
total education of a future teacher. There will be considerable changes in
curriculum at Ohio's teaching universities, led by Ohio State, Ohio University
and Wright State.
Teachers who are poorly educated and not prepared will most likely produce
students who are themselves poorly prepared and motivated for the New Economy.
Numerous studies support the fact that students who receive inadequate education
in the primary and secondary grades either fail to achieve higher education
success or struggle in the changing workforce.
"The consequences of an undereducated and under-prepared Ohio workforce start
with enormous cost in time and money," said Chu.
