Ohio State Board of Education District 10 Candidates: Todd Book, Jeff Hardin

State Board of Education District 9 is in central Ohio.

It includes the following counties: Adams, Brown, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Fayette, Gallia, Greene, Highland, Jackson, Lawrence, Madison, Pike, Ross and Scioto plus western Pickaway and Vinton counties.

Incumbent Jeff Hardin, a mortgage professional, faces lawyer and former state representative Todd Book.

To create this voters guide, StateImpact Ohio posed a set of questions to every state Board of Education candidate. We sent the same survey to every state Board of Education candidate. Candidate responses were limited to 200 words.

[View Full Ohio State Board of Education Voters Guide - All Districts]

	Todd Book	Jeff Hardin
	Courtesy of Todd Book	Ohio State Board of Education - file photo
Age	44	57
Campaign website	–	View
Social media accounts	–	–
Education	JD College of William and Mary School of Law (1993) BA Western Michigan University, Political Science, Magna Cum Laude, (1990)	BA Wilmington College 1997 Marketing, accounting
Experience	I was elected State Representative 2003 through 2010. I have extensive knowledge of state government and the state budget process. I have also practiced law for 17 years.	Advance classes taken at The Savings and Loan Institute.  Thirty five years as a mortgage professional.  Job titles included Loan Officer, assistant branch manager, branch manager, collection department manager, oan originator, compliance manager.Adjunct Faculty at Hondros College.Former member of a private school board.Former Township Clerk-Treasurer (aka- Fiscal Officer)
Which party are you a registered member of?	Democratic	Republican
	Todd Book	Jeff Hardin
Why are you running for state Board of Education?	I am running because I have always been an advocate for children. Every child in Ohio deserves a high quality public education regardless of where they live. I want to help protect our system of public education from all the attacks, including the movement to privatize public education for individual and corporate profits. I served eight years in the Ohio House and understand how State Government operates, and I know how much the people of this district value our public education system.	We have started a fiscal path that means more dollars for classrooms and less for administration. We have lost $2.1 billion dollars in federal funding and have found, in tough economic times, $400 million more state dollars for our school systems. Ohio has one of the nations best home schooling groups and is developing  an improved charter school systems, amongst a political minefield.The board recently increased rigor for the classroom, passed the Founding Father’s Document bill, tightened spending at the Ohio Department of Education and supported the governor’s third grade reading guarantee. I wish that voter’s would support me in finishing what was started just two years ago.
	Todd Book	Jeff Hardin
Why should people vote for you?	My experience as a State Representative, gives me added knowledge of state government, especially in the arena of setting the education portion of the state budget. And my experience as an attorney prepares me to be an advocate for the school aged children and taxpayers of Ohio.	This job pays about $4,400 a year on average. I spend time to read about 3,000 pages of research each month just to prepare for board meetings.  Our board meetings are 2-3 days per month.  This is a thankless job but one I am willing to serve in because  someone must commit themselves to doing the job right the first time. I speak for the values of my district and expect schools to teach and not make excuses for failures. I ask for affirmation in my work by receiving your votes.
	Todd Book	Jeff Hardin
How can the state Board of Education improve educational outcomes for Ohio children?	The State Board can improve the educational outcomes by establishing policies and rules that foster educational growth and improvement. Including working for the adoption of the national Common Core and reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.	Continue to increase rigor in the classrooms. Educate local board members on why controlling work rules makes a huge difference in the classroom. Support good teachers and pay them well across the board. Improve access for rural students to online education (we all pay a federal tax for this with our monthly phone bill.) Keep federal health clinics from our schools theat would offer the morning after pill without parental consent.
	Todd Book	Jeff Hardin
What should the state Board of Education do about the problems with school attendance data?	The law should be changed so that students can be tracked by name instead of the arbitrary code assigned to them by ODE.	It has been suggested to me that imposing the death penalty on cheaters would be appropriate. More rational folks have suggested jail time for individual cheaters and revocation of licences be mandatory.  I am open to hearing  more options as we go forward with the Auditor of State’s report and opinion.
	Todd Book	Jeff Hardin
What would you look for in Ohio’s next state superintendent?	We need a visionary leader with a global perspective who has the first-hand knowledge of how to prepare our young people to compete on the world stage. Someone who can lead Ohio educators to adopt the national Common Core and help shape the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Most importantly we need someone who can build relationships with all those in the education community from parents and students to state policy makers.	Integrity. I am leaning towards hiring an individual from outside the education realm that has executive experience as our Superintendent of Public Instruction.
	Todd Book	Jeff Hardin
Is there anything else voters should know about you?	The greatest disservice we can do Ohio’s children is to allow the public education system to tolerate low expectations. By acting on the belief that every child can learn and reach higher expectations and that educators can perform at a world class level, we can realize the great potential of our children and build a stronger Ohio.	I am a sincere and dedicated Individual. I have received an Honorable Discharge from my service in the United States marine Corps. I have served my church at the local and state levels. In my too short but seemingly too long of a life I have enjoyed being involved as a Boy Scout Troop Committee member, active with Key Club and Kiwanis International. I am actively involved with Masonry and have seved as an officer with those organizations.

Note: An earlier version of this page had the answers of the candidates reversed on the final three questions of this survey. The correct responses now appear, and we deeply regret the error.