UC honors students to lawmakers: Here are ideas to fix public education

Daniel Rowe’s honors coursework at the University of Cincinnati has taken him across the globe, traveling to far-flung destinations in Greece and Egypt. But it’s an upcoming honors project he’ll undertake from the comfort of his own home that has the fourth-year business student on edge.

On Dec. 7, Rowe and his classmates in the Save our Schools! honors seminar will present Ohio political leaders with their best ideas to address some of the state’s thorniest education issues at an educational reform symposium, to be held via remote technology.  

Rowe, who, along with a small group, will make the case before Ohio Sens. Peggy Lehner and Louis W. Blessing and Rep. Catherine Ingram to expand state report cards to include students’ social and emotional assessments, admits he’s a bit apprehensive about the 30-minute presentation.

Student Rowe, whose parents are both Cincinnati Public Schools high school teachers, said the chance to learn how public education can be improved is what drew him to take the seminar.

“A lot of these issues were discussed around the dining room table before I really knew what was going on. Now it’s fun to have some theory or a bigger picture to what my parents might have been complaining about after school or wishing could have been better,” he said.

For the symposium, the class narrowed down which four topics deserved to be addressed before the legislators. Reform proposals will address school funding, school vouchers and standardized testing, in addition to a proposal by Rowe’s group on social-emotional assessment.

This is the third year Stitzlein has held the symposium at UC. She said the event finds a welcome reception among lawmakers, with two previous groups invited to further present their ideas at the Ohio Statehouse.

One group, which presented on preschool education and the need for universal access, was especially excited when their efforts were successful in helping to establish Cincinnati Preschool Promise, she said. The program, which aims to give universal preschool to three and four year olds in Cincinnati, currently provides free or reduced tuition to more than 3,000 students, she said.  

“They were certainly a key part of what was a much bigger effort to bring preschool education,” Stitzlein said.

Stitzlein, whose research focuses on the role and connection between political life and schooling, says the goal of the seminar is to develop students as agents of change.

“My hope is once they leave this class, they’ll continue to advocate for equitable and just education,” she said. “Students will know how to use their voice in the civic sphere, even if it’s not about schooling, and the tools they develop here can be used for other topics they’re passionate about.”

As for Rowe, he and his small group are practicing for their upcoming presentation to the panel of lawmakers, and are confident that, despite their nerves, the case they make will be a strong one. 

“I absolutely value the opportunity,” he said, of the symposium. “Sarah [Stitzlein] has had the most engaging online class I’ve ever been a part of.” 

Featured image at top: freepik