If successful schools are the key to a strong future, then it comes as no surprise that this November’s race for State Board of Education holds debate and discussion over various issues and topics.

The four candidates for State Board of Education for the seventh district are Deborah Owens Fink, Thomas C. Sawyer, John T. Jones and David Kovacs.

Deborah Owens Fink

Deborah Owens Fink, running for re-election to the position, grew up in Akron, receiving much of her education through inner-city Akron schools. Fink graduated from the Ohio State University in 1978 with an engineering degree in industrial systems, becoming the tenth woman to have completed this degree from Ohio State at the time.

“After graduating, I worked as an industrial and systems engineer for 12 years,” Fink said. “I later worked with a professor at the University of Akron on a computer simulation project, and I said to the professor ‘I want to do what you do.'”

Fink completed her Ph.D. in business at Kent State University in 1995.

“While I was there I served as a student trustee on the board of trustees and was very active in the MBA student organization,” Fink said. “From there, I worked at Walsh University and then came to the University of Akron where I have been a full-time faculty member for 11 years.”

Fink teaches business classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Fink is now running for her third and final term on the State Board of Education.

“The most important issue is getting more students in Ohio prepared for college,” Fink said. “Unfortunately, many students don’t realize what it takes to be successful in college.”

Fink has given attention to this issue during her current term.

“I am co-chair of the Quality High School Task Force, specializing in successfully transitioning students from middle school to high school and high school to two- or four- year college programs, depending on what their career options require,” Fink said.

Fink has other concerns as well.

“The second biggest issue is obesity,” Fink said. “We need to have schools serving healthier meals and giving rewards and doing fund-raisers that aren’t only food related.”

A popular debate in this race has been that of intelligent design, and although Fink does not choose to primarily focus on this issue, she does have an opinion.

“I didn’t come on the agenda to focus on intelligent design,” Fink said. “However, science is a process of critical analysis and any topic to be void of this in science is an oxymoron. Students love to debate and discuss, and I want evolution to be taught honestly.”

Thomas C. Sawyer

Thomas C. Sawyer earned his masters in urban education at the University of Akron. He was an English teacher at Cleveland City Schools for three years and an administrator at a state school for delinquent boys for one year. From there, Sawyer ran for state legislature in 1976.

“I served four terms and chaired the education committee,” Sawyer said. “I then served on the Ohio Board of Regents and was elected mayor of Akron in 1983.”

In 1987, Sawyer went to the U.S. Congress and served on the House Education Committee from 1987 to 1996.

“During this time I was the author of the National Literacy Act and Math and Science Teachers Professional Development Act and developed a program for direct grants to schools to provide support for sending computer technology directly to schools,” Sawyer said. “This lead to a far broader program that sent millions of computers across the United States.”

Sawyer says he wants to make improvements if elected to the State Board of Education.

“At a time when Ohio education has become an increasingly important issue to the vast majority of Ohioans, I can contribute a great deal,” Sawyer said. “Fink is closely connected to charter schools, and I think they have been a disaster. There is nothing particularly wrong with this except charter schools simply haven’t worked.”

Sawyer believes Ohio’s schools are in need.

“I believe that public school education in Ohio is in a crisis, and I have the experience to make the kinds of improvements Ohio needs,” Sawyer said.

When it comes to the popular debate of intelligent design, Sawyer believes it should be kept out of schools.

“I think in large measure there is an important place for faith in the lives of Americans,” Sawyer said. “Evolution is a foundation of modern biology and needs to be taught in schools, and I think theology must be kept in the realm of the faith communities. It is not up to biology teachers to teach faith.”

John T. Jones and David Kovacs could not be reached for this article.

Contact public affairs reporter Marissa Mikolak at [email protected].