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Communities do better when people feel part of something larger and believe their voice matters. Where civic muscle is strong, neighbors can shape the conditions that affect their health and one another’s, such as how schools are funded and how the community sees them.
In September, School Board School became a part of Honesty for Ohio Education. Together, they aim to reach more Ohioans and show them how to use their voices in the places they live, work, and play.
This work matters. Reports from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps show how civic participation affects health, and what local communities can do to strengthen it.
Dr. Christina Collins, the Honesty for Ohio Education’s Executive Director, said the group “[cares] most about getting to know everyday Ohioans, figuring out what they need and how we can support what they need,” from local districts to the Statehouse.
That listening shaped the organization’s recent Strong Ohio Schools Report. Across the state, people described their public school as a hub, a place that belongs to the community.
2026 Strong Ohio Schools Report from Honesty for Ohio Education
“[People] believe that their school is doing a good job, overwhelmingly,” said Collins. “People think issues with schools are somewhere else, right? But their school, they always believe is doing a good job, and their teachers, they think are doing a good job.”
Many of those schools now do far more than teach. “A lot of schools are going above and beyond education at this point: providing food, they're providing clothes, they're providing showers…” said Collins.
Collins noted that divisive issues seen online or on the news didn’t show up in the survey.” They just want their child seen. They want them to be safe. They want them to be healthy. They want them to be able to pursue whatever it is that they want to pursue when they get out of high school, and whatever it takes to get them to that point.”
Those priorities held across every difference the researchers looked at. Collins called the findings “cross-political, cross-geographical, and cross-demographic.”
Collins said two things stop people from getting involved: they lack information, and they don’t know where to use their voice. Honesty for Ohio Education explains how schools are governed, then helps people act, from drafting testimony to showing up at the Statehouse.
School Board School has run seven cohorts for Cincinnati community leaders. Andrea Granieri, the program director, said the name undersells who it’s for.
“The way I like to describe School Board School is that it is for anyone who cares about education, and we will help you advocate to improve education,” said Granieri. “And so that does include people who want to be on a school board one day or might want to, but also people who never want to run for anything, but they want to just understand how the system works.”
The center of that work is a fellowship.
“Our flagship program is our fellowship-style learning program,” said Granieri. “That's where we really dig in deep with a selected cohort of individuals who really reflect the diversity of our community and our region.”
2026-2027 School Board School Class 7, provided
Who sits in those cohorts is deliberate. Granieri said, “people of color and women are underrepresented in leadership positions across the board,” and the program is built to help close that gap at decision-making tables. She added another barrier Collins hadn’t named: people from marginalized communities often feel intimidated to speak up or doubt their voice counts.
“It's not enough to give people who are underrepresented the skills to do a thing. If they don't have the confidence, they won't go and do it,” said Granieri.
The cohort also gives people a network, and Granieri pushes members to act together. “You know, two phone calls is better than one, or two people speaking at a meeting is better than one,” she said.
Postcard writing party to encourage voting in school board elections, provided
Joining forces lets both organizations keep “building an army of education advocates across Ohio,” said Collins. Granieri hopes to see Cincinnati’s results spread. “I am just so excited about the idea of that spreading into a statewide thing and being able to have stronger networks in more places throughout Ohio.”
To get involved, visit School Board School and Honesty for Ohio Education, and access the Legislation Tracker from Honesty for Ohio Education.
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