COLUMBUS — State Rep. Jim Buchy, R-Greenville, 84th District, applauds the formation of the Northwest/West Central Ohio Public School Advocacy Network.

This group of superintendents from nearly 40 school districts, career centers and educational services centers spanning 10-plus counties have formed a network to advocate for positive changes in public education that they believe will make for better schools.

Buchy lamented the constant-changing environment in education for more than a decade that has hampered student growth and negatively effected morale in Ohio’s schools.

“The never-ending changes in our schools have resulted in a downward spiral that threatens the well-being and academic growth of a generation,” Buchy said. “Hearing from a group of educational professionals will be helpful as we work for legislative policies that look to our schools in western Ohio for what is right in education.”

The group will focus on locally controlled public education with governmental support that is valued over public education dominated by government regulations. In particular, Buchy found the formation of this organization to be timely given recent controversy about the results of the Ohio Report Cards released last month.

“In western Ohio we must stand against bureaucratic control that has led to poor testing practices and faulty report cards,” Buchy said. “We should promote our good schools and celebrate their success.”

Buchy recently issued unofficial adjusted report cards to local schools to lessen confusion caused when the Ohio Department of Education included the results in the performance index of students who didn’t take the test. Buchy’s adjusted report cards are posted online at [tinyurl.com/adjustedreportcards]tinyurl.com/adjustedreportcards