LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — Gov. Mike DeWine says he plans to remain focused on his core priorities during his final year in office.
The two-term governor is wrapping up his eighth and final year and told Your Hometown Stations he will continue to prioritize Ohio’s children and education. One initiative aimed at supporting both is a pilot program called OhioSEE.
The program will send mobile vision vans to Allen County and 14 other counties across the state to provide eye exams for students in kindergarten through third grade.
“If they need glasses, that van will come back three weeks later, and they'll be able to fit that child for glasses. And we think this program is going to work so well that we hope in the future, the legislature will really feel compelled to expand it to all 88 counties, and it's going to make a huge, huge difference. Imagine kids going to school and they can't see the blackboard or the SMART Board, whatever we're calling it today. They can't see even to read very well,” says Gov. Mike DeWine.
DeWine also says the state will continue emphasizing the development of core reading skills for young children in Ohio.
“Our focus is going to remain on education, whether that's with expanding continuing expand Fran’s Dolly Parton Imagination Library, where we've got almost 414,000 kids get a free book in the mail every single month. We're going to continue to expand what we call the Science of Reading,” says DeWine.
In addition, DeWine says the state will remain focused on workforce development to support expanding companies and attract new businesses to Ohio.
