About

Get to know Russ

I am a father, an educator, and a lifelong advocate for Ohio’s children, families, and teachers. I am asking you for your vote so I can represent our community as the State Representative for the 10th House District. I promise to bring an energetic and experienced voice to the statehouse. I will put Ohio’s children above politics.

My life has been dedicated to improving the opportunities for our young people to get a great education. And my background prepared me for this work. At Syracuse University, I was a Ford Foundation Fellow in Economics, focusing on human resources and public finance.

While in graduate school, I was part of a team of consultants to the Education Review Committee of the Ohio General Assembly. After graduate school I worked with state officials in New York, Maryland, Colorado, West Virginia, and Ohio on school funding litigation to bring equity to all Ohio students.

Time, after time, I saw courageous individuals working hard to make a difference in the lives of their communities. I share that passion for the common good and social justice.

Along the way, I also learned that a states’ most important constitutional responsibility is to provide a system of public common schools. It’s no secret that we must give our teachers the tools they need because they are our frontline in the classroom for our students. If Ohio wants the benefits of 21st century prosperity, then it must invest in public education.

Appointed by Governor Bob Taft, I was a member of the Ohio Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding to address the inequities in our system.

As the former director of Economic Education at Ashland University I taught hundreds of teachers how to bring economic literacy to their students. For five years, I taught economic theory to students at Franklin University. You deserve a state representative who understands the pocketbook issues of Ohioans.

In recent years, Columbus politicians have moved our state in the wrong direction – backwards. They have diminished the teaching profession – we must restore it. They have diminished the self-worth and esteem of our children with high stakes testing – we must rebuild it. They have wasted billions of your tax dollars on the failed charter school experiment. They have put politics before Ohio’s children. We must be serious about working in a bi-partisan manner to change direction.