Dear Groundwork Team, I am thrilled to announce that Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof will be speaking to you at Groundwork's Advocacy Day! President Obhof will join us during our luncheon to be recognized for his commitment to the developing child and share his experience and insight on advocating for increased state investments in early childhood education.
As the presiding member of the 33-member Senate, President Obhof (R-Senate District 22), is responsible for leading the Senate Majority's Caucus as it sets the policy agenda for the 2-year legislative cycle. Accordingly, he chairs the powerful Rules and Reference Committee which determines which bills are considered by the full Senate. President Obhof serves Medina, Ashland and Richland counties and parts of Holmes County. Learn more here.
We are grateful for President Obhof's time during a challenging and busy state budget season. Please register for Advocacy Day today to ensure you don't miss hearing from him and other honored guests! As we are less than a month from our much anticipated Advocacy Day, we have had a busy week including participating in the following:
* The Ohio Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) met and I attended to get the latest updates on the Step Up to Quality Validation Study, progress of the Career Pathways Level rule, state programming geared towards reducing Ohio's abysmal infant mortality rate and further insight into early childhood education investments in the state budget. For more from ECAC, visit here.
* We participated in Advocates for Ohio's Future (AOF) Removing Barriers to Work webinar which included information on Ohio child care. Click here for the webinar video and resources from the speakers and download the slide deck here.
* We attended the bipartisan, bicameral, Joint Education Oversight Committee for an eye-opening presentation from the National Conference of State Legislatures, No Time To Lose; How to Build a World-Class Education System State by State. It's no surprise to us that the first element to a world-class education systems is "children come to school ready to learn, and extra support is given to struggling students so that all have the opportunity to achieve high standards." Enjoy these resources and I look forward to seeing you at Advocacy Day! Shannon Jones Executive Director