Six years after ranking fifth in the nation, Ohio’s public education system has fallen to 23rd. The annual Quality Counts report by Education Week includes indicators such as test scores, education finance, and graduation rates to determine a score out of 100. The best state in each category receives 100, and all other states are graded relative to that state. Ohio received a score of 74.9, a C.

This post was authored by Ted Stevenot, a FreedomWorks Super Activist from Ohio.

Ohio may soon become one of the leading states on civil asset forfeiture reform. On Tuesday, state Rep. Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) introduced HB 347, which would protect innocent property owners by requiring a criminal conviction before seized items can be forfeited to the government. FreedomWorks supports this legislation and plans to mobilize our community to take action to help move it through the Ohio Legislature.

The Buckeye state is fighting back against the intrusive federal testing mandates that come with Common Core education standards. A House version of the state’s budget contains provisions defunding and blocking the use of PARCC, the set of Common Core aligned assessments that have students in tears all over the country.

The United States education system is home to many thousands of teachers. Some are good, some are less good, and some stand head and shoulders above the rest, setting an example in educational excellence that others can only hope to achieve.

Ohio is on its way to becoming the latest state to ditch Common Core education standards. A bill that would block the state from implementing the standards, along with any aligned curriculum, was approved by the Rules and Reference Committee in the State House earlier this month and is ready to be brought to a vote.

Saturday September 20, I was privileged to attend the annual We The People Convention in Columbus, Ohio. FreedomWorks and our amazing Ohio activists have taken part in this event each year since it's start four years ago.