On Sept. 21, Gov. Ted Strickland conducted a conference call with a number of Ohio college newspapers, including the Clarion. He spoke about his opponent, John Kasich, plus some of the challenges that students face.
Strickland opened the call by bringing up his past working with higher education. Upon entering office, Strickland said he asked all the university presidents to join him in Columbus for a meeting, the purpose being to “keep higher education obtainable for our students.”
Strickland said before he became governor, Ohio faced ten straight years of tuition increases. Strickland said that with the presidents, they developed a plan to reduce costs and froze tuition for two years.
Strickland said he did things that he thinks helped students at all levels, but said he feels he and the state need to do more.
“We have fundamentally changed the funding structure of K-through-12 education in Ohio.”
“I think we’ve done a great deal in a relatively short amount of time even in the middle of a recession,” Strickland said.
The Governor also referenced the problem of adjunct faculty not receiving any pay increases in the last ten years, calling the problem “very significant.”
He said that if the adjunct faculty are properly qualified, they “deserve to be fairly compensated in regard to the compensation that is given to full-time faculty.”
Strickland said that due to the other responsibilities held by full-time faculty, he doesn’t believe the pay should be exactly the same, but “to go for ten years without a pay increase, given what’s happened, is to difficult to explain and to justify” to adjunct faculty.
Strickland has also made what he calls the “30-mile promise” during his campaign. Strickland promises “to ensure that all Ohioans will be able to earn affordable associates and bachelor’s degrees of high quality within 30 miles of their homes,” according to his campaign website.
Strickland, a Democrat, is running as an incumbent in November’s election. His opponent is Republican John Kasich, who is ahead of Strickland by four points, according to a Sept. 26 Dayton Daily News poll.
According to the accompanying story, Strickland was behind by “double-digit points” in “poll-after-poll” and has only recently shortened Kasich’s lead.
The Dayton Daily News poll also covered the race between Republican Rob Portman and current Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher for the retiring George Voinovich’s U.S. Senate seat. Portman leads Fisher “55 percent to 40 percent,” the story says.
Kasich’s campaign could not be reached for comment.