Ohio State Board of Education District 9 Candidates: Stephanie Dodd, Philip Gerth, Larry A. Good

State Board of Education District 9 is in central Ohio.

It includes the following counties: Coshocton, Fairfield, Hocking, Guernsey, Licking, Morgan, Muskingum, Perry and Tuscarawas, plus western Franklin and Pickaway counties and the southern and eastern halves of Holmes county.

In District 9, the candidates are political fundraiser Stephanie Dodd, lawyer Philip Gerth and car salesman Larry A. Good.

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]

	Stephanie Dodd	Philip Gerth	Larry A. Good
	Courtesy of Stephanie Dodd	Courtesy of Philip Gerth	Courtesy of Larry Good
Age	33	39	70
Campaign website	–	www.philipgerth.com	–
Social media accounts	Facebook	Facebook	–
Education	University of Cincinnati, Bachelor of Business Administration, Majors: Finance, Information Systems & Digital Business	J.D. – 1998, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.  B.S. – 1995, Evangel University	College Bachelor of Science Degree
Experience	I believe my experience working in the private sector will be a great asset to the State Board of Education. I worked as a financial analyst at a billion dollar bank and not only helped develop and execute budgets at a Fortune 500 Company but I also worked with members of the General Assembly on several different issues. My best experience, though, is a taxpayer, wife and parent who is concerned about the future of education in our state and I am dedicated to improving the education that Ohio’s schools offer to our children.	As an attorney and advocate, I have helped many Ohioans in their quest for quality education. I have helped homeschoolers who have been unfairly treated by local governments. I have helped children in public schools who have unique physical and mental challenges. I’ve challenged a local government on the behalf of a private religious school. I’ve been on the board, and supervised the budget, for a private school. I’ve had to advise and confront schools repeatedly on the issue of school violence. In short: I’m not afraid to stand up for my clients and constituents.	Local board member for 33 years of ESC, Member of OSBA legislative committees, Member of Federal Relations Network Lobbying Congress for Educational $.
Which party are you a registered member of?	Democratic	Republican	Republican
	Stephanie Dodd	Philip Gerth	Larry A. Good
Why are you running for state Board of Education?	I am running for the State Board of Education to be a voice for our children and Ohio’s future. It is important to provide our children with the resources they need to enter the workforce, attend college or whatever they choose to do after graduation. As the mother of two little girls, I want to see them have the opportunity to go to schools that will allow them to become the most successful persons they can become.	I don’t see adequate results from enough of our schools.  I am running for office to bring the results Ohio needs.  Ohio’s needs are real.  Ohio’s schools are still being funded in an unconstitutional manner. In addition, our students are not meeting the academic standards they need.  Finally, the federal government is borrowing money to pay for Ohio schools. None of these things are acceptable to me. I suspect they are not acceptable to most Ohioans.	My decision to be a candidate for State Board of Education is predicated upon on lifetime of desire to improve education for our children.  Demonstrated through 32 years.
	Stephanie Dodd	Philip Gerth	Larry A. Good
Why should people vote for you?	The parents, students and taxpayers of the 9th District need a representative on the State Board of Education who is dedicated to improving Ohio’s schools. As a small business owner, taxpayer and a parent, I will bring a unique perspective to the State Board of Education that will emphasize the role of Ohio’s schools in our economy.The most important issues facing Ohio are the lack of a constitutional system of school funding and finding ways to get students college and work ready when they graduate from high school. I look forward to utilizing my experience working in the private sector and work with other members of the State Board of Education and the members of the General Assembly to confront the important issues that we face.	I want to accomplish three primary things, if elected. First, we need a new school funding formula. This formula needs to take into account a lot of variables. I think my formula does that.Second, we need better academic results from our K-12 graduates. Our children can graduate from high school, but they must then take remedial courses at a college or university. These remedial classes, increasingly the norm, are a strong indicator that our K-12 academic standards are not strong enough. These remedial courses are an expensive way to learn what should have been taught during high school.Third, our federal government is putting a lot of money into our schools. However, our federal government is borrowing 40 cents of every dollar spent. Who will be repaying that debt? Our kids. Ohio’s K-12 students need to be taken care of by the local and state governments, not by the federal government.  If our federal government is $16 trillion in debt, why are we asking the federal government to pay for Ohio’s K-12 schools? We Ohioans need to take care of our own K-12 funding.	To guide pulic education in Ohio so that every child has the opportunity to have a world class education.
	Stephanie Dodd	Philip Gerth	Larry A. Good
How can the state Board of Education improve educational outcomes for Ohio children?	The State Board of Education can improve educational outcomes for Ohio’s children by directing the focus of reform and improvement on what works best for students.There is entirely too much emphasis and time spent on discussing the results of the latest standardized tests and not enough time spent on discussing how we can best individualize instruction to students so that students can learn what they need to know in a manner that works for them.The urge to quantify how well our kids are doing by assigning them a grade or number score from a standardized test is understandable given our desire to make sure our schools are performing well, but the pressure to make certain grades or numbers takes away from a teacher’s incentive and ability to be innovative with classroom instruction and individualize instruction for students.	If we re-wrote our school funding formula, and did so properly, we could protect our poorest students without taking too many resources from Ohio’s other students.  This would resolve so much.  We should create a new school-funding formula that takes into account certain variables. Variables would include the current amount of local school levies, the potential for local levies, tax/income levels in the community, local administrative overhead, and the desire to keep locally-raised money local.   The formula would have a “floor” and “ceiling” so that schools could budget accordingly.  Let me explain this further: I am proposing a funding formula that determines school funding on a per student basis.  Even though the same formula would apply throughout the state, it is going to look different in every school district due to the variables I mentioned above.The other thing that Ohio can do to improve educational outcomes is giving more local control back to the schools and to the teachers.  Let the teachers teach.  The more teachers can act like teachers, and less like assembly-line workers, the better off our kids will be.	The State School Board should listen to the teachers and other school employee’s opinions and ideas while considering all persectives and needs.  Final decisions should always be based on what is best for the students and teachers of Ohio.
	Stephanie Dodd	Philip Gerth	Larry A. Good
What should the state Board of Education do about the problems with school attendance data?	I do not believe anyone can objectively look at what has transpired regarding the attendance data and say that he or she is confident in the integrity of the data. However, it is the responsibility of the State Board of Education to work with the State Auditor and others to address what exists in the system that would allow this practice to take place. I do not believe that the people engaged in this practice with the knowledge that what he or she was doing may be illegal.If evidence exists that individuals purposely falsified data for material benefit through a paid bonus, then they should be prosecuted. The easy thing to do in this situation would be to overreact. The State Board of Education should take a measured approach in assessing this situation and take a harder look at the climate that places pressure on school administrators to falsify such data. High-stakes testing and school “report cards” do have some value but also place a great deal of pressure on administrators.	The school attendance data is clearly compromised in key places.  Why is that?  Because the system does not adequately punish lying.  Punish lying, and provide for accountability with the numbers, and the school attendance data will be legitimate.Any person who willfully tampers with a government report should face legal consequences. Any normal Ohioan would be terrified to cheat on their census or taxes, so why do elected officials get away with tampering with attendance records? That needs to change.	It is important that public dollars use be transparent and accountable.
	Stephanie Dodd	Philip Gerth	Larry A. Good
What would you look for in Ohio’s next state superintendent?	Ohio’s next state superintendent should be an individual who is able to step into the job on Day One and continue Ohio’s work on Race to the Top participation, including the transition to the Common Core curriculum and new assessments. The next superintendent should also be someone who will have the personal attributes necessary to work with members of the General Assembly and the members of the State Board of Education who may have concerns about the direction Ohio is going when it comes to education. The individual chosen to fill this position will need to express Ohio’s education policy in a clear, concise manner to the public so that Ohio’s residents will have confidence in what the State Board is doing to educate our children. Finally, the next state superintendent will need to be beyond ethical reproach as part of the restoration of trust in the superintendent’s position.	Moral conviction. Fearlessness. Leadership experience. Communication skills. The willingness to say, “The buck stops here.” The state school superintendent must take responsibility for the actions of those beneath him (or her). They must run their bureaucracy with efficiency and truth.	To work with Ohio’s Governor and the Ohio General Assembly and to hold the General Assembly accountable for its actions.  Also, teaching background.
	Stephanie Dodd	Philip Gerth	Larry A. Good
Is there anything else voters should know about you?	The election for the State Board of Education is incredibly important for its impact on Ohio’s children. Our state must confront serious problems with common sense solutions, not pander to special interests and support drastic cuts to education funding that can be made up only with massive property tax increases. I believe I am the candidate that can and will bring a common sense perspective on behalf of the residents of the 9th District to the State Board of Education. My background and private sector experience provide a strong foundation for helping to solve the problems we face in education.	I have been working within education circles for over fifteen years. I have been challenging the education system in Ohio by working with school boards, school officials, and our court system. I have advised and assisted many parents and students by acting as an attorney and as an advocate.Most Ohioans know that our schools face tremendous challenges.  What doesn’t do us any good is demonizing or yelling at people.  While the unions and political parties are involved in shouting matches, too many of our kids are falling through the cracks.Doesn’t anyone else get upset at the direction our schools are heading? We need someone to guide our schools in the proper direction. In Ohio, we can’t even properly fund our schools. We’ve balanced the Ohio budget, but our schools are still hurting. We have an Ohio budget surplus, but our schools are taking federal money to make up for budget shortages.I am the best-qualified candidate because I am the most willing to bring the necessary changes. I have the experience within the system, but the system itself needs the changes.	I have a teaching background.  I have ran two levey’s for a local school districts successfully.