Gov. John Kasich delivered the State of the State address Tuesday with higher education being a major theme.

Higher Education:

Kasich touched on the fact that the state has plenty of good universities but not one good university system. He proposed a capital bill that would eliminate universities from looking after themselves individually and instead look to each other for solving issues pertaining to the different schools. Ohio State University President Gordon Gee is supposed to coordinate the capital bill.

Fracking:

On the issue of fracking, Kasich said the production of the industry couldn’t degrade the environment.

“They can’t be complicated; they can’t be over the top, but we need to have them because we can’t have some yahoo come into this state and damage this whole industry because they are irresponsible,” he said. “We need to take care of high-pressure pipelines and the gathering lines. We have to make sure the wellhead is not going to contribute to contamination of ground water.”

Education:

Tracey Winbush, who hosts “Afternoons with Tracey and Friends” on WSOM-AM 600, said the use of data in the classroom for evaluations is important. “Everything has to be data-driven, just like anything else,” she said.

Kasich revealed Ohio just received a $70 million grant, which was fifth best in the country and will be used to further early childhood education programs.

Job Creation and State Budget:

Kasich shifted his address to the issues of job creation and the state budget.

“In six months, we eliminated an $8 billion budget shortfall without a tax increase.”

“We are now balanced. In fact, we cut taxes by $300 million, and when I came in, we had a rainy-day fund that had 89 cents,” he said. “Try $247 million in the rainy-day fund today.”

Kasich said they were able to turn the budget around by reforming and reshaping as opposed to making cuts. Under the new budget and changes to the Medicaid system, senior citizens can remain living in their homes for a fifth of the cost that a nursing home would cost.

Ohio has made major strides in job creation, Kasich said. The state ranked 48th in job creation last year but has risen to ninth in only one year.

Kasich had a simple message to pass along to parents in Ohio: “Stop telling your kids that they shouldn’t try to get a job in manufacturing.

Manufacturing is coming back. Encourage your people, your kids: If God made them to make things, let them make things.”

Reaction:

Fr. Richard L. Davis, vice president for community relations at Franciscan University of Steubenville, said he and other school officials were very happy to attend the speech to hear all the good things happening in Ohio.

“We have students from all over the country, and all 50 states are represented,” Davis said. “We would really like to see some of them stay here in Steubenville or in Ohio because of the positive attitudes coming forth.”

Contact Tyler Goddard at [email protected].

Read our live blog coverage from earlier today.