C O -C HAIRMEN P HILLIP R. C OX , C INCINNATI B ELL M ICHAEL H. T HAMAN , O WENS C ORNING C HAIRMEN E MERITUS A MBASSADOR J OHN D. O NG A MBASSADOR W. R. T IMKEN , J R . P RESIDENT AND CEO R ICHARD A. S TOFF Accenture - James Struntz Akron Children's Hospital - William Considine American Electric Power - Nick Akins American Financial - Carl Lindner III and Craig Lindner The Andersons - Michael Anderson Aultman Health Foundation - Ed Roth Battelle Memorial Institute - Jeffrey Wadsworth Bob Evans Farms, Inc. - Steven A. Davis * Bricker & Eckler - Kurtis Tunnell Cardinal Health - George Barrett CareSource - Pamela Morris The Castellini Group of Companies - Robert Castellini Catholic Healthcare Partners - Michael Connelly Cincinnati Bell - Phillip Cox * Cincinnati Children's Hospital - Michael Fisher Cintas Corporation - Scott D. Farmer Cleveland Clinic Foundation - Delos M. Cosgrove, M.D.* Columbia Gas of Ohio - John W. Partridge, Jr. Convergys Corporation - Andrea Ayres Crane Group - Tanny Crane * Dana Holding Corporation - Roger Wood Deloitte & Touche LLP - John McEwan Diebold, Incorporated - Andy Mattes Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP, George H. Vincent Dispatch Printing Company - John F. Wolfe Duke Energy - James Henning Ernst & Young LLP - Craig Marshall Fifth Third Bancorp - Kevin Kabat FirstEnergy Corp. - Anthony J. Alexander Forest City Enterprises - Albert Ratner Frisch's Restaurants - Craig F. Maier General Electric - David L. Joyce Healthcare REIT - George Chapman Honda of America Mfg., Inc. - Hidenobu Iwata Huntington Bancshares Inc. - Stephen D. Steinour * Invacare Corporation - A. Malachi Mixon III The J. M. Smucker Company - Richard Smucker * JP Morgan Chase - James Malz Jones Day - Lyle Ganske KeyCorp - Beth Mooney Kokosing Construction Co., Inc. - Wm. Brian Burgett KPMG, LLP - Philip R. Smith Limited Brands - Leslie H. Wexner * Longaberger Company - Tami Longaberger Marathon Petroleum Company - Gary R. Heminger * McKinsey & Company - John Warner * Medical Mutual of Ohio - Rick Chiricosta Mercy Medical Center - Sisters of Charity - Tom Cecconi M/I Homes - Robert Schottenstein Nationwide - Steve Rasmussen Nationwide Children's Hospital - Steve Allen, M.D. New Albany Company - John W. Kessler North American Properties - Thomas L. Williams * OhioHealth - David P. Blom The Ohio State University - E. Gordon Gee Owens Corning - Michael Thaman * Owens-Illinois - Albert Stroucken * The PNC Financial Services Group - S. Kay Geiger PolyOne Corporation - Stephen Newlin Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur - Robert W. Trafford Premier Health Partners - Jim Pancoast PricewaterhouseCoopers - Michael Petrecca The Procter & Gamble Company - A.G. Lafley RPM International, Inc. - Frank C. Sullivan * Scotts Miracle-Gro - James Hagedorn Sherwin-Williams - Christopher Connor * Squire Sanders (US) LLP - Alex Shumate State Auto - Robert Restrepo State Farm Insurance -Susan Krieger Time Warner Cable - Jack Herbert The Timken Company - Ward J. Timken, Jr. * TriHealth - John Prout UnitedHealth Group, Inc. - Rob Falkenberg University Hospitals Health System - Thomas Zenty WellPoint / Anthem - Erin Hoeflinger Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease - Russell Gertmenian Western & Southern Financial Group - John F. Barrett * Member of the Executive Committee * 41 S High St ? Columbus OH 43215 www.OhioBRT.com ? 614-469-1044 October 8, 2013 Honorable Gerald Stebelton Chairman, Education Committee Ohio House of Representatives Columbus, OH 43215 Dear Chairman Stebelton: For twenty years since our founding, education has been the Ohio Business Roundtable's transcending stake in the ground for a healthy economy. Together with Ohio lawmakers, we have worked hard to better prepare our children to succeed in college, career and the real world. Despite our progress, however, today 41 percent of our high school graduates who attend Ohio public colleges and universities require remediation and, even more alarming, more than one in five of our grads do not even meet the minimum academic standard required for Army enlistment, as measured by the Armed Forces Qualification Test. This is not acceptable if we truly want our children to succeed. This is not acceptable if we are going to continue growing our economy - consider the fact that by 2020, almost 60 percent of Ohio's jobs will require some form of post- secondary training, degree or certification. The basis of education improvement is establishing higher standards. We all believe in human potential and there is no greater good than helping our children set goals beyond what they believe they can achieve. Ohio's new learning standards, which embed the Common Core for English and math, deliver what parents expect and students deserve. I have read the new standards from cover to cover. They are common sense and reasonable and they afford local control and flexibility. There is not a single thing in them that we wouldn't want our children to know. To Ohio business leaders, it is dismaying that a controversy has suddenly arisen about the Common Core, because the standards it recommends are so basic to life - and success - in America, and it is equally clear that kids who fail to obtain this knowledge will not be able to participate fully in our economy or in our democratic society. Yet, there is a bill pending in your committee that would undo the Common Core. That bill is just a recipe for delay at a time when we need to move forward, not backward. Ohio overwhelmingly adopted and began implementing the Common Core three years ago as part of its new learning standards. Teachers and administrators vigorously support these standards and are working hard to implement them. Ohio must not go backwards, losing time and wasting tax dollars that have gone into readying our schools to produce improved results for students. I respectfully request that you and your committee defeat or end consideration of this bill, thereby reaffirming Ohio's commitment to better education and a brighter future for our kids. Thank you and we stand ready to continue working with you and your colleagues. Sincerely, Richard A. Stoff copies to: Rep. Teresa Fedor, Ranking Member, House Education Committee; Sen. Peggy Lehner, Chair and Sen. Tom Sawyer, Ranking Member, Senate Education Committee