The Lima News
By: Nancy Kline
February 4, 2008
OTTAWA – Scott Radcliffe feels he is a battle-tested leader. “I’ve been shot at and still went forth and built communities,” he said.
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Speaking at the Ottawa-area Kiwanis meeting on Monday, Radcliffe listed national security, the economy, health care, and the need in education to allow teachers to inspire creativity as important issues.
When questioned about the No Child Left Behind Act, Radcliffe said he felt the system was good in theory, but needed to be changed.
“We need to allow teachers not to teach just to the test, but be creative in how they teach the subjects,” he said. He spoke of meeting with teachers in other counties who have expressed concerns about the system.
“In some grade schools they are no longer allowed to have novels for children to read. Reading is something that is being pulled back on. So are social studies.” Radcliffe said.
While he said there needs to be a system to know how pupils are progressing, he does not feel it is necessary to do testing every year.
“Ohio is not as bad as some states,” he said. “In Texas they have three or four benchmarks before taking standardized testing. They are testing one month and a half out of the each year.”
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Radcliff said he would push for scaling back and allowing “our school districts to teach.”
“Nobody knows how to address our children better than superintendents, principals, and most assuredly the teachers,” he said.
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Radcliffe also said we need to continue in the war in Iraq.
“We have an opportunity to build resources in Iraq,” he said. “There is hope.”
He said it was important to get the people, not just the politicians, in the country to be willing to invest in their future.
“Then we win,” he said. “Then they will do what is necessary to do what is needed to be successful.”
He also said the United States and its allies need to continue to be aggressive in Afghanistan.
“We took our eye off the ball for a bit, but we are addressing it.,” he said. “We are going forward to do what is necessary.”
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