By Deba Uwadiae and Okon Ekpenyong

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has assured Ohioans that education will remain a top priority in the state.

“The assurance that I can give the people of Ohio is that education is a top priority for us. We are doing everything that we can to focus on education. We will continue to do that. It is about our future, it is about the future of our children, there is nothing more important,” said Governor Mike DeWine.

Governor DeWine who was in Washington DC on Thursday on the invitation of President Donald Trump who announced the dismantling of the federal Department of Education said “from a Governor point of view, the most important thing is for some of the bureaucracy and the red tape to be eliminated, so when the dollars that are coming back from the federal government, we can more efficiently and effectively utilize them in the state of Ohio. That’s my real concern.”

“If you listen to what the President said it seemed to me that those are the objectives that I think he has. They are positive things for us in Ohio.”

On his understanding of the dismantling process, Governor DeWine said “It is really not clear. I think there are lot of things that are still not clear. The most important thing for me as the Governor of Ohio is to deal with Ohio challenges that are unique to Ohio.

“I am sure every Governor of every state probably has the same attitude. There are a lot of things we don’t know. We don’t know if the amount will be the same, we don’t know if the amount will come in different form.

“What we assumed based upon what the President said is that the different titles will go out and be administered by another department.

On the $1.5 Billion in funding from the Department of Education, Governor DeWine said “we have to see what the President does, and we have to see what the congress does. I can assure you that if it is a dollar that is supposed to be for education we will use every penny for education.

“My position, and the most important thing is not whether the department is there or not there. What I think is important is that we are given the ability here in Ohio to make choices about Ohio children. We think we can do it better. If it takes getting rid of the department to do that that is fine with me. We need to focus more on the children who are most disadvantaged, focus on children who have disabilities, and we will continue to do that. Whether or not the department exists or does not exist.”

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