Republican Gov. Bob Taft has denounced some schools in Ohio as worse than those in East Africa where he taught as a Peace Corps volunteer
Deteriorating buildings embarrass Ohio
By Randy Ludlow, Post Ohio Bureau
The quality of Ohio's public school buildings has embarrassed many state officials and local educators, some of whom feel lucky to even keep the doors open - let alone fix them.
A 1996 study by the General Accounting Office, an arm of Congress, concluded Ohio's schools were the most physically deteriorated in the nation. A report by the National Education Association, a teachers' union, calculated Ohio's $25 billion need for new and repaired schools and education technology was the third highest among the 50 states.
A TV documentary by journalist Bill Moyers showed the nation the sad shape of Ohio's public school buildings.
And the documentary shared a teacher's observation of students: ''They're a bunch of flowers growing in a garbage can.''
Republican Gov. Bob Taft - who has emerged as a champion of improved school buildings - has denounced some schools as worse than those in East Africa where he taught as a Peace Corps volunteer.
''I've been in school buildings that are just totally inadequate for the purposes of education because of inadequate heating systems, because of leaking roofs, plaster coming down on the wall,'' he says.
''School buildings do not guarantee good education, but I think they are one of the conditions you have to meet before we can make sure that every child does have a good education in Ohio.
''We need to make sure our schools are good places to learn and that they are up to date, that they can accommodate modern technology and computers and that they are conducive to learning,'' he said.
Taft has been praised for his firm commitment to fixing school buildings - even at the expense of larger income tax cuts - but educators fret it will take more than a decade to fix all problems.
Publication date: 05-20-00
