By Leo Shane III
Enquirer Columbus Bureau

COLUMBUS - Teachers would get better starting salaries, undergo more professional training and get cash bonuses for students' achievements under reforms proposed by a state commission Thursday.

The group - made up of lawmakers, business leaders and educators - said in its teaching success report that attracting and retaining high-quality educators would require Ohio to spend more money for training, evaluating and rewarding teachers.

"Ohio has thousands of wonderful teachers ... but not every student has such skilled teachers and principals," said Jerry Jurgensen, CEO of Nationwide Insurance and chairman of the governor's commission. "Those students who come from the poorest communities are far more likely to have the least qualified and least experienced teachers."

Gov. Bob Taft, who on Wednesday announced he would cut education funding to fill this year's deficit, said about $3.5 million has already been earmarked for the commission's proposals in his 2004-05 budget.

"I think we can never achieve our goal of helping students succeed unless we can ensure every child is taught by a quality teacher," he said.

About $1.7 million has been earmarked for developing new teacher standards - not just for new hires, but also throughout educators' careers - in Taft's budget proposal. Another $144,000 will go for recruitment in low-income districts with high teacher turnover rates.

The commission also suggests that state funds should help subsidize higher starting salaries for beginning teachers to make Ohio more competitive with neighboring states.

Other recommendations - creating a database of education jobs, paying mentors to help new teachers, connecting teachers' salaries with students' in-class success - could be phased in over several years if funds are available.

Tom Mooney, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, called the proposals ambitious but important to the state's future.

"Clearly, this is going to take funding or it's not going to work," he said.

No price tag was put on the report recommendations as a whole, but Taft said he is hopeful that much of the plan can be implemented despite the state's financial problems.

Jurgensen said the commission looked for ways to improve all state schools without infringing on any district's local control.

Ken Baker, principal of Wyoming High School and a member of the commission, worries about how much will be done.

"The frustrating part of it, frankly, has been the fact that it's obvious that the state of Ohio is in a budget crisis, and I don't know how many of the actual recommendations from the commission will be able to be implemented," Baker said.

Enquirer reporter Cindy Kranz contributed.

Ways to improve and keep state's teachers

The Governor's Commission on Teaching Success unveiled a report Thursday outlining 15 ways to improve teacher recruitment and training throughout Ohio, including:

Increase starting pay for all teachers.

Link classroom success with teachers' salaries.

Require more professional development of all educators, and provide districts with funds to for it.

Help professionals more easily become teachers, and help teachers more easily become administrators.

Set standards for what teachers should know throughout their careers, not just upon hiring.

Develop a framework for districts to evaluate teacher performance.

Create a statewide database of education jobs to keep educators in state.

Source: Governor's Commission on Teaching Success