Straight Up Conversation: Departing Kasich Edu-Advisor Bob Sommers on Reform in Ohio
For the past year, Bob Sommers served as newly elected Ohio Governor John Kasich's education advisor and helped to spearhead the Governor's reform efforts. This put Sommers in the thick of things during a year when Ohio enacted an ambitious agenda, including legislation that curtailed collective bargaining (and that was overturned in a heated referendum last fall). Effective yesterday, Bob officially departed his post to return to the school management business. He is forming a new company, StudentmindED Schools, to help launch and scale more great schools. Especially given that Ohio's been through some dramatic developments, I thought it worth checking in with Bob to get his thoughts and observations as he moves on. Here's what he had to say.
Rick Hess: What do you see as the agenda for Ohio school reform unfolding in 2012?
Bob Sommers: It will be a smaller agenda because we moved 13 out of 15 major reforms we wanted last year
