Photo by Mitch Casey Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland outlines a list of education principles during a televised conference on education in the state of Ohio Monday at Marietta College.

MARIETTA — Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland began a discussion on education Monday in Marietta with about 200 area educators, parents, students and business leaders by saying he didn’t want any elephants in the room. “There’s nothing that can’t be discussed,” Strickland told the crowd at Marietta College’s McDonough Auditorium, invited to be part of the governor’s ninth regional Conversation on Education, but the one issue those participating were asked not to discuss was the issue on the forefront of many of their minds. The audience was reminded several times before the conversation began that the focus was to be on education reform and not the state’s school funding system, which has been declared unconstitutional four times by the Ohio Supreme Court and is a sore point for many in districts where schools have had to be closed and positions cut to save money.