I believe that education plays a key role in the economic well-being and quality of life in Hamilton County. To ensure that our community makes smart choices in this regard, I am organizing an Education Summit to envision the future of our public education system and the resources required to achieve our vision.

All Hamilton County residents invest their tax dollars in our public school system and many depend on a quality workforce that is produced there. For these reasons and many more, I believe that everyone in our community has a vested interest in the ultimate success of our education system.

Currently, there are four goals that I believe are key to the success of our education system:

* Ensure that every child in Hamilton County is able to read at grade level by the end of third grade
* Encourage broad-based parent involvement at home and at school
* Reduce the number of dropouts
* Graduate students who are prepared to enter the workforce or college

My goal for this process is to have full community participation into the visioning process for our public education system. I want the community to decide what’s important and how we are going to make improvements. The Education Summit is the process, our community as a whole will make the choices.
   
Claude Ramsey, County Mayor