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A new statewide initiative to help children get a strong start in life, stay on track through school and prepare for college, training or meaningful careers has been launched.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel this week announced the creation of Ohio's Regional Education Partnerships.
The state will have 12 regional partnerships to unite local education leaders, employers, workforce organizations and other community partners to identify and address the most pressing challenges facing young Ohioans as they progress through school and into the workforce.
Locally, DeWine and Tressel named the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley plus Team Workforce in Canfield to lead the partnership for the Lake to River economic development agency of JobsOhio, which includes Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana and Ashtabula counties.
"Ohio's future depends on the success of our young people," DeWine said. "Regional Education Partnerships build on our years of investments in early childhood, literacy and career-connected learning by bringing communities together around a shared goal -- helping more young people reach their full potential. By working together, we will identify challenges sooner, connect families with the support they need and create more opportunities for Ohio's next generation."
Tressel noted, "Every community has incredible people and organizations working to help young people succeed. Regional Education Partnerships give those local leaders a way to come together, look at what's working, identify where students are falling behind, and solve problems as a team. When an entire community pulls in the same direction, we create more opportunities for people and build a stronger future for Ohio."
The two said that while many organizations already provide these services, they often operate independently. Regional Education Partnerships create a framework for those organizations to work together directly, using a data-driven approach to identify where support is needed most and coordinate their efforts around common goals.
State law calls for at least one designated partnership within each of Ohio's seven JobsOhio regions.
Those selected to lead each regional partnership were selected after a competitive application process.
United Way of Youngstown, one of the leaders for the Valley's partnership, has gained acclaim for its Success by Six and Success After Six educational initiatives. Children from 19 school districts across the Mahoning Valley participate each year in the kindergarten readiness program.
Success After Six provides wraparound school-support programs run in collaboration with local schools. United Way also has an early childhood literacy partnership with the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.
Team Workforce, the other lead in the local partnership, is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Canfield. Its mission is dedicated to employment, job-related placement, and workforce development services for Valley residents.
Learn to Earn Dayton will serve as the statewide technical assistance provider for the initiative. Selected for its nationally recognized leadership in building community partnerships that improve educational outcomes and economic mobility, Learn to Earn Dayton has years of experience helping schools, employers, higher education institutions, nonprofits, and community leaders across the Miami Valley turn shared data into coordinated action to improve outcomes for young people.
Each will regularly share and review local data to understand how young people are progressing from early childhood through education and into the workforce. That information may include measures such as kindergarten readiness, reading proficiency, student attendance, high school graduation, postsecondary enrollment, credential attainment, workforce participation, and more.
When the data reveals a challenge, the partnership will bring together the organizations in their region best positioned to address it. Because every region is different, priorities will vary across Ohio. These new Regional Education Partnerships provide communities with a common structure for identifying the most significant local challenges, coordinating action, and measuring progress over time.
The Regional Education Partnerships initiative was developed with the support of the Ohio General Assembly. The concept was originally introduced as House Bill 312 by state Rep. Andrea White, R-Kettering, and Rep. Tom Young, R-Washington Township, before ultimately being enacted through Senate Bill 208, sponsored by Sen. Kristina Roegner, R-Hudson.