DeWine's focus on education should carry onto next administration

In his final State of the State address, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was right to spend so much time on education — particularly reading. If we aren't giving Buckeye State children the best start possible, it's hard to see how public officials are going to be able to get much else right. They'll just be playing catch-up. But there are bright spots on that horizon. DeWine's persistence regarding the Science of Reading may be helping our youngest readers improve their reading performance. The governor and his team at the Department of Education and Workforce must be seeing evidence that has convinced them to create regional "Science of Reading Instructional Implementation Teams." The idea is to give K-12 schools experts who can focus on nothing more than getting the Science of Reading fully implemented in classrooms. There will be more ReadOhio coaches in more schools — and more widely available training and credentialing for literacy coaches.But there has been another force at work in Ohio for the past several years, as First Lady Fran DeWine championed early childhood reading in her own way. She has been a driving force in expanding the Dolly Parton Imagination Library here. And with 70% of Ohio households with children under age five participating, the state routinely has the highest number of children enrolled in the country. DeWine talked at length about other issues, of course — and there is some reason to be optimistic even as we must remain realistic.But whoever winds up in the Ohio Governor's Residence next should take some inspiration from the DeWine's laser focus on improving education outcomes for our youngest Ohioans, through a variety of strategies. In fact, they must do their best to maintain it.