Ohio School Supt. Susan Tave Zelman: Schools 'Rudderless' In Voinovich Years

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Ohio's superintendent of public instruction, Susan Tave Zelman, appears to place zero credibility in Republican U.S. Sen. George Voinovich's oft-repeated claim he was the "education governor." Voinovich served two terms as the state's chief executive before winning the Senate seat in 1998. Zelman took over as the state's top education official not long after Voinovich left Columbus for Washington, and said she found a school program that was adrift, or not following any clear course. Zelman's seems to be grading the Voinovich years with an an "F" -- for failure. Here's what she says:

"Nine years ago, I assumed responsibility for a public agency that was rudderless and ranked 29th nationally on education indicators. Today, Ohio is ranked seventh in the nation. Working collaboratively with governors [Ted Strickland, Bob Taft], leadership in the legislature, and educational stakeholders, I have led systemic reforms that developed a clear statewide vision of higher academic achievement for all students and a mission for the state and school districts to raise expectations, build the capacity for the system to meet those expectations, and improve results."

Zelman outlined her strengths -- and t00k the swipe at Voinovich -- in this three-page letter to officials at the University of Oregon, where's she's a finalist to become dean of the school's College of Education. Voinovich often wanted to be judged by his performance, and said in this 1998 Senate debate, "I'll let the people of Ohio judge my performance when it comes to education." Now we know what Zelman thinks -- "rudderless."

That should be good news to Ohio bloggers Matt Hurley and Tom Blumer who run a Web site called Ham Sandwich for Senate that has questioned Voinovich's claim he was an "education governor." Hurley and Blumer, both conservative Republicans, now have more evidence that Voinovich flunked on that score.

Ohio's State School Supt. Susan Tave Zelman: A Dyslexic Psychometrician Granny

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- Gov. Ted Strickland wants to jettison the state superintendent of public instruction. She has let it be known she's a grandmother afflicted with a reading disorder. The governor has another word for her -- "psychometrician," a word that had some Ohioans running for their dictionaries.

Susan Tave Zelman told Ohioans earlier this year she suffers from dyslexia -- a mild case, of course. Zelman, who's been the state's top education official since 1999, holds a doctorate from the University of Michigan. She discussed her learning disability during brief remarks earlier this year to the statewide special education leadership conference in Columbus:

"As the first mother and grandmother who is superindentent of Ohio's public schools, I share your hopes and goals for the success of our children, I hope you share mine. As someone with mild dyslexia and the mother of children with mild disabilities, I understand."

Strickland wants the dyslexic superintendent gone so he can take responsibility -- and greater control -- over Ohio's schools. He's not a fan of Zelman:

"But she's not a leader, she's not an advocate, she's not a good manager. She's an academician, a psychometrician, a statistician."

Dyslexic is a fairly common word nowadays. It means that someone has a tendency to mix up or confuse letters in words while they read -- "Susan" might be seen as "nuisance." As for "psychometrician," that means somebody who uses tests to measure aptitude or personality. It does not mean a nutjob addicted to the metric system of weights and measures. There is more about psychometrics here and here. And if you want to take a psychometric test, this British Web site will measure your personality profile.

Ohio's Schools: Sir Michael Barber, A Knight In Shining Armor?

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- Is this Bob Taft's swan song? He's out of office, but still shows up as the chairman of Achieve Inc., a national organization that has been prodding states to realign their schools to teach what colleges and the work force demand.

Next Tuesday, the Ohio Board of Education is supposed to receive a "final" presentation from the Achieve Policy Study that will be delivered by Michael Cohen, the group's president and Sir Michael Barber, who was British Prime Minister Tony Blair's domestic policy advisor. This may be the first time a knight has ever addressed the state school board. Do they curtsy and bow?

The goal of the program, apparently, is to find best practices from around the globe and somehow incorporate them into Ohio's schools. At least, that's the goal as described in THIS Cleveland Plain Dealer story from last December.

Britain has been stirred up about EDUCATION REFORM , perhaps even more stirred up than Ohio.