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Reporting on the state of education in your community and across the country.

The Gubernatorial Candidates' Stances on Education

THOTH 188 / FLICKR

In a handful of gubernatorial races across the country--likeGeorgia andOklahoma--education has emerged as a major talking point.That's not quite the case here in Ohio, though. Neither current Republican Gov. John Kasich or his Democratic challenger, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, have turned potential education policy ideas into major campaign focal points.Typically, politicians like to incorporate education policies into their campaigns because of the strong link between a state's level of educational attainment and its economy, explained Thomas Lasley, current professor and former dean of The University of Dayton's College of Education.Another reason? It’s a good political move, too."If you say you’re for strong education, you immediately have 99% of the people with you," he said. "There’s probably only about one percent of the population that says 'I'm against good education,' and everybody else is pro-strong education. The real issue emerges once you say ‘okay, now what's that going to entail?’"And that's where things get a little murky.During this election, education issues haven’t consumed a bulk of either candidates’ conversations. Kasich’s low-profile campaign has included focusing on the past four years, zeroing in on efforts to boost the economy. FitzGerald’s campaign has been surrounded by controversy, but he, too, frequently mentioned job creation.Recent polls put Kasich with aroughly 20 point lead over FitzGerald. So, according to Ohio State political science professor emeritus Paul Beck, that means there hasn’t been much of a conversation at all--especially surrounding FitzGerald’s ideas.“There really is not much competition,” he said. “What that means is even the plans or the policies that Ed Fitzgerald wants to try to advance are not going to get very much attention because he can’t really buy media time.”FitzGerald's platform includes plans to increase state funding, limit standardized testing, and make college more affordable. He’s a big fan of universal preschool, and wants to implement it statewide.The platform earned him the endorsement of the Ohio Educators Association and the Ohio Federation of Teachers.But for Beck, the campaign’s plans haven’t been consistently thorough. He gives the nod to Kasich for having a stronger education platform.“I think candidate FitzGerald has not been very sharp, in terms of how he has articulated his views on education,” he said.Ditto, said Dayton professor Lasley.“I think there’s a little more coherence to Gov. Kasich’s platform," he said. “You can kind of see the accountability thread weaving its way through his ideas. It wasn’t quite so clear with Mr. FitzGerald.”Kasich’s platform mostly centers around his four year track record. During a recent campaign stop, Kasich voiced his continued support for the Common Core state learning standards. His tenure as governor is lined with a few big educational moves, including the introduction of the third-grade reading guarantee, allocating state funding to both Ohio’s four-year and community colleges based on graduation rates, and supporting charter schools.But there are two areas where the candidates disagree: money and charter schools.The education chunk of Kasich’s budgets have come into play during his time in office. According to the Columbus Dispatch,  the administration chose not to replace $1 billion in expiring federal stimulus money in his 2011 budget.Kasich’s next budget featured a $129 million increase in education funding. By 2014, the state’s total school funding hovered slightly over $9 billion. That’s roughly $200 million less than Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland’s last budget before he left the office in 2010, the Dispatch reports.FitzGerald has attacked those spending cuts. He’s also not a fan of Kasich’s continued support on charter schools.That was strongly on display in July, when Dayton's Horizon Science Academy, a charter school managed by Concept School charter chain, came under fire, including allegations of sexual harassment and teachers manipulating standardized tests."This is what happens when you weaken accountability and oversight. This is a moment for the Governor to show leadership and shake up charter schools that are not only failing to educate Ohio's children but are also dangerous,” he said at the time.As for a common denominator both men are currently dealing with, Lasley said education can be a tough area for politicians to gain concrete footing.“The difficulty they have found is trying to impact practice,” he said. “You can change public policy, but translating that public policy into meaningful educational practice that really does influence the achievement and the growth of students is difficult. I  think a lot of political leaders have gotten a little gun shy about promising too much on this because they just realize its ground people have gone over.”Education priorities will have a stronger presence when it comes to Tuesday’s state school board races and the appearance of more than 160 local school tax issueson ballots across the state.