STEUBENVILLE - Gov. John Kasich called for reforms in education and work force training and acknowledged the future of the shale drilling industry during a nearly 90-minute State of the State address Tuesday afternoon that was interrupted by protesters in the audience.
"If we can create a national energy policy we need an energy policy in Ohio. We are the Saudia Arabia of coal. We need to clean it and burn it. We also need to be for renewable energy. We need to embrace renewable energy. We need to have energy conservation, and we need to use our natural gas through fracking. We can't degrade the environment at the same time we're developing this industry," Kasich told the capacity audience in the Steubenville High School auditorium.
"We also need tough regulations because we don't want high pressure pipelines creating problems. But we can't let fears outweigh the potential. Let's take our time. We have 36 wells drilled so far and it is looking pretty good," said Kasich.
The governor mentioned the public speculation on the possibility of a cracker plant for the oil and gas industry but focused his comments on MarkWest and its plans to develop new processing plants in Harrison and Monroe counties.
At that point several protesters shouting, "We are the people" and "John Kasich is selling out Ohio" were escorted from the building by law enforcement officials.
"This is like when I was growing up. Hey Steubenville, let them know what you think about this," Kasich said as the audience stood and applauded his remarks.
It was the first time the State of the State address had been delivered outside of the Statehouse. Kasich said he had made up his made a year ago that the speech would be delivered on the road to help show that he is interested in being involved with residents in all parts of the state.
Kasich called for companies to forecast the employment needs for the future so training programs can prepare a trained work force.
"I don't want foreigners from West Virginia, Indiana or Oklahoma working on our well heads. We want Ohioans working on our well heads. But we need the companies to forecast how many people they need," he stated.
Kasich also called for community colleges to begin to educate people for jobs in industry.
"We need to match community colleges with the business forecast. This is a large cultural change. Some of our college graduation rates are just wrong. Career and technical schools are doing a pretty good job. But I am announcing today the Workforce Training Reform Plan. We are going to change the whole thing. Let's bring vocational education back strong," added Kasich.
The firstterm Republican governor called for education reform while acknowledging Ohio "has the best higher education in the world."
"No more individual lobbying by the universities. I have asked Gordon Gee, president of Ohio State University, to get all of our university presidents together. They all need to work together and increase graduation rates for all of us to succeed," he said.
"In grades K through 12, we have an 80 percent graduation rate. We have a 35 percent dropout rate in our urban schools. I have to spend the next year working on behalf of a consensus. The mayor of Cleveland is committed to comprehensive reform in education and that is worth fighting for," Kasich remarked.
"If our teachers are not doing well we will help them. If they are doing great let's pay them. We need to train, educate, forecast and use our assets and we'll be No. 1 in America. Let nothing stand in the way of building a prosperous Ohio, a richer Ohio and an Ohio free of poverty," Kasich told the audience.
He said Ohio faced an $8 billion budget deficit and was ranked 48th nationally in job creation last year.
"We just looked at the problems honestly. If you look at a problem and you see what it is, and you design a solution, it's amazing how far you can go," according to Kasich.
He announced a new Governor's Courage Awards program and recognized Jo Anna Krohn who lost her son to prescription painkillers and alcohol.
"Jo Anna created a support group called SOLACE. Thanks to Jo Anna, southwest Ohio has turned a corner in the fight against prescription drug abuse," he said.
"We have a survivor who was a teenager forced into the sex trade. There was no one to help her. Theresa Flores was abused, degraded, beaten and raped. But she survived and is now a licensed social worker in Columbus," explained Kasich.
Kasich called human trafficking in Ohio a scourge in the state.
But the strongest crowd response came when Kasich issued a Courage Award to the family of Jesse Snow, who was killed during an attack on his unit in November 2010 in Afghanistan.
"After his weapon was destroyed Snow secured ammunition, performed first aid and even used his own body to shield others. Jesse Snow came from a family of tremendous patriotism. He has already been awarded the Silver Star but I wanted to award his family with this award," said Kasich, who was embraced and saluted by Snow's father.
Kasich also cited the Wells Academy for "setting a standard for the rest of the state."
"The teachers and administration have developed a philosophy in the teachers' minds that nothing stands in the way of kids learning. These teachers will help their kids move forward. Sixty percent of the students at Wells Academy are economically disadvantaged yet they are No. 1. And they share their building with Big Red high school," Kasich commented.
Wells Academy is ranked first in the state based on pupils' test scores.
"I didn't grow up in Steubenville, but when you grow up in an ethnic town next to the river you feel at home. When you talk about Steubenville you are talking about an ethnic community with God-fearing, hard working people. They may get knocked down but they aren't knocked out," cited the governor.
"Coming here was very emotional for me. This is a hard-working town that I feel at home in," added Kasich, who is a native of McKees Rocks, Pa.
He also touched on the recent death of Steubenville High School freshman Lee West.
"There are no great words for the West family. But I encourage the students to invite the kids who may be considered nerds to be part of your group. Make those kids feel good. Go visit the West family. Do it as a service to the family and the Lord as well," Kasich urged the high school students.
Kasich urged the Legislature to consider laws to allow ex-convicts to be allowed to work their way back into a good life.
Kasich said he will ask the Legislature to consider laws to allow felons to do jobs such as cut hair and drive trucks they are now prohibited from doing by state law.
(Gossett can be contacted at dgossett@heraldstaronline.com.)
