Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman and City Council President Andrew Ginther announced yesterday the formation of the Columbus Education Commission (CEC) and introduced its 25 members. The CEC is charged with examining the current state of the Columbus City School district and figuring out the challenges and opportunities that children within the district face.
“This is a diverse group of 25 of the most talented and thoughtful people across all sectors of our community,” said Coleman. “This is an unprecedented demonstration of a collective community will to improve our city by increasing opportunities for our kids to learn and to succeed.”
The CEC will develop recommendations that will help enable all children to succeed, make Columbus a leader in developing a skilled workforce, and to leverage the resources of the entire community to meet those goals.
“Helping Columbus school children succeed is a community effort, and critical to the future of Columbus,” said Ginther. “The Commission we have assembled understands their charge and I expect that they will look to build upon the successes of Columbus Schools, while identifying best practices that will be the catalyst for the transformational change and improvement we seek.”
The Columbus Education Commission includes:
The commission will be chaired by:
- George Barrett, chairman and CEO of Cardinal Health (co-chair)
- Algenon Marbley, United States District Court Judge (co-chair)
- Kathy Ransier, partner at Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease (co-chair)
- Lolita Augenstein, Columbus Council of PTAs
- Lois Carson, Columbus Schools Employee Association
- Robert Chilton, Impact Community Action
- Tanny Crane, The Crane Group
- Alex Fischer, The Columbus Partnership
- Dr. E. Gordon Gee, The Ohio State University
- Rev. Otha Gilyard, Shiloh Baptist Church
- Dr. David Harrison, Columbus State Community College
- Stephanie Hightower, Columbus Urban League
- Mary Jo Hudson, Bailey Cavalieri
- Janet Jackson, United Way of Central Ohio
- Chad Jester, Nationwide Insurance
- Rhonda Johnson, Columbus Education Association
- Mary Lou Langenhop, Children’s Hunger Alliance
- Pat Losinski, Columbus Metropolitan Library
- Elizabeth Martinez, Big Brothers and Big Sisters
- Jordan Miller, Fifth Third Bank
- Dr. Abdinur Mohamud, Ohio Department of Education
- Carol Perkins, Columbus Board of Education
- Nancy Michong Pyon, Korean American Society of Central Ohio
- Chip Spinning, Franklin County Children’s Services
- Priscilla Tyson, Columbus City Council
Additionally, Eric Fingerhut will serve as the director of the CEC. Fingerhut has served as the city’s education advisor since October, and is currently vice president for education and STEM learning at the Battelle Memorial Institute.
The CEC met for the first time yesterday in the City Council Conference Room and is expected to meet twice each month through March before holding a final meeting in April to discuss its draft report on its findings.
More information can be found online at ReimagineColumbusEducation.org.