POLICYMAKER EXCELLENCE AWARD - STATE AND LOCAL

THE HONORABLE JON HUSTED
Speaker
Ohio House of Representatives

In 2001, freshman legislator Jon Husted quickly established himself as a champion of efforts to improve the education system for Ohio's children. As he has risen through the ranks of the Ohio House, becoming Speaker in 2005, Husted has maintained his commitment to ensuring a quality education for all.

Husted sponsored a law improving charter schools by making them more organizationally, fiscally and academically accountable. Husted's legislation ensures the Ohio Department of Education is a watchdog over the entire charter school program while allowing these schools to be innovative in how they teach. Speaker Husted also played a critical role in creating the Ohio Education Choice Scholarship Program. Under this program, students who attend a district or charter school with ratings in Academic Emergency or Academic Watch categories (Ohio's two lowest ratings) for three consecutive years are eligible for school vouchers. The program provides for at least 14,000 scholarships and is the largest of its kind in the nation.

Currently, Husted is working on legislation to establish the Ohio Core Curriculum and to restructure admission requirements and remedial courses at state universities. The plan calls for high school students to complete a tough new core of liberal arts prerequisites, including more math and science, to guarantee entry into Ohio's four-year public colleges and universities.

"Without a quality education, you cannot succeed in the new economy, and your chances are dramatically lessened. This is what is driving me to change Ohio's education laws to help students be more academically successful." Jon Husted