Governor Mike DeWine looks back at 2025 and forward to 2026
ZANESVILLE, Ohio – With 2025 behind us, WHIZ reached out to Governor Mike DeWine to talk about the year that was and the year to come. One of DeWine’s personal highlights was seeing the improvements made in children’s literacy across the state.
“We saw much better numbers this year, for example, in regard to our kindergarten kids. We attribute that to a couple of things. One, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library is now reaching about 414,000 children in the state of Ohio,” Dewine said. “Every month, there’s a free book in the mail, from the time the child is born until the time the child reaches 5 years of age. Something we started this year, parents are now able to sign that child up right at the hospital, just check a box. And so, we’re going to continue to see that enrollment go up. It’s about 62% of the children, 0-5 in the state of Ohio.”
Looking forward to 2026, the drive for helping children read has also led to a new program called OhioSEE program. The program provides eye care services for kindergarten through third-grade students, with Guernsey County serving as one of 15 pilot counties in the state. The program was created after learning that more than two-thirds of children who do not pass the school vision screening report do not get an eye exam to address potential vision problems.
“So, we’re starting this program this month. It’s basically a kind of van that will go out in most schools, some schools that will go right into the school and set something up. But, it’ll be an optometrist there who will give a full eye exam to the student and if they need glasses, they’ll come back in two, three, or four weeks, with eye glasses and actually fit them right there in those schools,” DeWine said. “So, it’s pretty exciting and that’s something that we’re just now getting started.”
DeWine’s prospects for a bright 2026 in Ohio include the economic growth from businesses moving to the state, high school career tech programs improving the workforce, and the Governor’s Merit Scholarship, which helps keep Ohio’s brightest high school graduates pursue their secondary education in their home state.
