Dr. Susan Tave Zelman, superintendent of public instruction for the Ohio Department of Education, will visit Lawrence County next month to get input on the state of education in Ohio and discuss the future.

The Community Education Forum will be conducted from 6 to 9 p.m. April 1 at Dawson-Bryant High School in Coal Grove. Everyone is welcome but should contact the Lawrence County Educational Service Center at (740) 532-4223 to allow them to provide enough food and seating.

Education officials are excited to host the event, one of only seven forums conducted across the state, said Harold Shafer, superintendent of the LCESC.

"Our school systems are doing really well," Shafer said. "We are ranked in the top 25 percent academically but are in the bottom 10 percent financially. So, they have to look at us and how we do it."

The goal of the forum is to allow everyone an opportunity to discuss issues that are important to them and allow Dr. Zelman to "get input from the public on the directions we should go."

Not a traditional meeting, the forum will take a wide spectrum of parents, teachers, administrators, board members and citizens and divide them into smaller groups that will then present to the group as a whole about what they discussed.

"I think funding, accountability and testing will be the three big issues," Shafer said. "How do we accomplish these? Are we on the right track? These questions are extremely important because academics are tied to everything."

Dawson-Bryant Superintendent James Payne said Dr. Zelman's visit is a great opportunity for local schools and the public to take an active role in the state's educational system.

"We are real excited about hosting the visit," he said. "Anytime you can have the state superintendent in the county and at your school it is an honor."

Payne agreed that the way the forum is structured should encourage people to actively participate in part because "we are all stake holders in education."

"The forum is not just sitting there listening to someone speak, but participating in table discussions," he said. "The most important part of the forum is that your comments and concerns will be addressed. It is an opportunity for you to actually participate in the process."

Zelman has served as superintendent since March 1999.

Her duties include creating policy, advancing systemic reform, building positive working relationships with the Governor's office, legislators and constituents, supervising the implementation of laws, regulations, policies and programs, providing and communicating a clear vision of progress and reform.