With Ohio ranking 47th in the nation for job creation in 2005, the gubernatorial candidates, Democrat Ted Strickland and Republican Ken Blackwell, are making Ohio's job market and the improvement of higher education a main focus of their campaigns.
The next gubernatorial debate between current Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and Congressman Ted Strickland is scheduled for Oct. 4. It will focus on Ohio's economy, an issue connected to both jobs and education and one that both candidates say is an overarching problem.
Strickland and "Turnaround Ohio"
Isaac Baker, a spokesperson for the Strickland for Governor campaign, said Strickland is focusing his campaign on the link between education and the overall economy.
"Ted feels that we need to focus on priorities that are important to all Ohioans," Baker said. "And these really come down to education, job creation and affordable access to health care; and his Turnaround Ohio plan ... identifies the unbreakable link behind an educated and a skilled workforce as the key driver behind economic growth."
One aspect the Turnaround Ohio plan would focus on is early childhood education. Because students have the most potential for knowledge at a young age, Baker said Strickland wants to focus on improving education at the earliest levels.
"For early education, for every dollar you invest, you get at least $1.62 back, and some (studies) show up to $12," Baker said.
Baker said the plan also calls for attention to higher education. He said state spending on education has dropped over the last few years while tuition has increased. Strickland hopes to turn this around.
"(Strickland) is very concerned about the rising costs of tuition," Baker said. "In Ohio, tuition at public colleges and universities is 45 percent higher than the national average."
Strickland's plan involves opening a tax-free account for parents and others to save for a child's education.
He is also planning to work with colleges and universities so that if they want to continue to get state aid, they have to have "tuition predictability." This is a tuition amount that a college anticipates over the next few years that would allow students to find out if a school is within their means. Using this, students would not be surprised by huge tuition increases every year, Baker said, and they are able to better budget their money.
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In addition to focusing on education, Strickland's plan calls for building on Ohio's economic strengths and stabilizing health coverage for government and businesses by making health care affordable for all Ohioans.
Blackwell and "65 cents"
Similar to Strickland, the biggest point in Ken Blackwell's campaign is job creation said Katrina Collins, a member of the communication department for Ohioans for Blackwell. Collins said this job creation would result partly from Blackwell's promise to make college more affordable.
"Education is one of our main points, but ... (the plan) basically ties the money to the student as opposed to the institution," Collins said.
Blackwell's plan would allow students to get state aid directly while colleges continue to compete for them.
Blackwell is focusing on early education as well with what has become known as the "65 cent solution." This solution would require school districts to allocate a minimum of 65 percent of operational budgets to the classroom.
Blackwell's plan would also call for decreased taxes - he plans to convert the income tax to a single rate system over a four-year period, with the target rate of 3.25 percent. He also plans to eliminate the estate tax and take the sales tax back down to 5 percent.
By giving tax cuts, Collins said, Blackwell is helping support small businesses and keeping them in Ohio, which will, in turn, help keep jobs in the state.
On Miami University's campus, leaders of College Republicans and College Democrats have been working to educate voters and promote their parties' respective candidates.
College Republicans Executive Director Matt Woody said that Blackwell is a good candidate to help keep jobs in Ohio.
"Obviously a lot of students are going to go out into the job world ... and it's been hard in recent years to find jobs ... That stuff's not going to change if people keep raising our taxes, and Strickland has always voted for tax increases and that's not a way to keep business in the state," Woody said.
But College Democrats Communication Chair Geoff Lane said Blackwell's proposal to reduce taxes to help the economy does not make sense because it hasn't proven to be effective in the past.
"Republicans have controlled Ohio government for the past 16 years," Lane said. "How many times have Ohioans had their taxes raised?"
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