Ohio Superintendent of Instruction Paolo DeMaria started on the job two weeks ago. As StateImpact Ohio’s Michelle Faust reports, Monday was his first work day in front of the state Board of Education.
DeMaria gave his first superintendent’s report to the Board of Education, presenting his initial impressions and goals.
The new state superintendent says Ohio schools have plenty of room for improvement: in things like math and reading scores, graduation rates and inequities in the school system .
DeMaria says he wants to examine schools that are overcoming challenges such as poverty.
"What can we learn from them and then the key being how do we disseminate that to other places that might be experiencing similar challenges and helping them achieve success?"
The education chief says he doesn’t expect more funding for education in the next state budget; but some board members say they’d like to see more funding for early childhood education in future spending plans.
