Ohio Rings in the New Millennium on a High-tech Note(cover) Boosting Technology Preparing the Work Force for the New Economy Tax Cuts, Deregulation Too Tempting to Resist Southwest Ohio Flourishes Northeast Ohio: A High-tech Star Northwest Ohio's Economic Boom Dayron, Xenia: Flying High Central Ohio: The Heart of Distribution Request Information |
Preparing the Work Force for the New Economy
As Ohio's economy shifts into hyperdrive, it's important to prepare the work force to handle the opportunities that are on the way. In order to do so, the state has recently taken legislative steps to reform Ohio's education system.
Other education initiatives include the $50 million OhioReads program, which provides funding to schools and community organizations for early reading intervention programs. The state also established the $20 million School Improvement Incentive Grants to reward schools that improve proficiency tests, attendance rates and graduation rates.
In the work-force-training arena, Ohio recently merged the former Employment Services and Human Services departments into a single source for job training and employment assistance. The new Ohio Dept. of Job and Family Services provides Ohio workers and businesses new tools for meeting the demands of an advanced, high-tech economy, Gov. Taft says of the agency. Under the two separate entities, there were 51 programs available for work-force development that served similar groups. By combining the two into one department, the state will now offer a more coordinated system and better quality services.
Work-force training also received new funding in 1999, with the Jobs Challenge fund tripling, enabling two-year colleges to provide customized non-degree training to employers. The state also doubled training dollars for the development department and provided $8.8 million in an effort to quadruple the number of high school students preparing for technology-based careers.
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The 2000-2001 state budget ensured that 60 cents of every new dollar in state spending went to education, and the state invested an additional $415 million in school buildings and technology. Gov. Taft also unveiled a $10.2 billion plan called "Rebuilding Ohio Schools: A 12-Year Commitment" to help all state school districts build and upgrade school buildings. The program will provide funding for all 611 public school districts and 49 joint vocational school districts by FY2012, with all non-urban equity districts receiving full funding by FY2008.
The state has also opened the doors for greater post-secondary education among Ohio students. Ohio has created a $100 million fund to be used to keep tuition rates down at the state's four-year institutions and as of this year, two-year colleges were required to freeze their tuition rates. In 2001, the tuition at two-year colleges will be reduced by 5 percent.