Judge Blocks Ohio’s Attempt to Strip Power from Board of Education

An Ohio judge issued a temporary restraining order Thursday to block a proposed law that would change who gets to write statewide education standards, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

Republican Ohio Sen. Andrew Brenner and other Republicans want powers transferred from the state school board to a single cabinet appointee because of ideological fights over culture war issues and bureaucratic gridlock in the Ohio school board, according to The Columbus Dispatch. The Ohio school board filed a lawsuit Tuesday arguing the proposed plan to give control over statewide school standards to the governor’s office is unconstitutional, which prompted Democratic Judge Karen Held Phipps to block the proposed law as it moves through the courts.

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New Ohio School Bus Safety Task Force Holds First Meeting

A new state task force in Ohio focused on thoroughly evaluating the safety of the state’s school buses held its first meeting on Monday at the Ohio Department of Public Safety headquarters.

As previously reported by The Ohio Star Ohio Governor Mike DeWine formed the Ohio School Bus Safety Working Group last month following a Northwestern Local School District bus crash that killed one student and injured more than two dozen in Clark County.

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Ohio to Award over $26 Million in Grant Funding to Support Student Achievement

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced on Monday that Ohio is awarding over $26 million in grant funding to support accelerated learning for Ohio students.

Six high-quality tutoring vendors across the state will receive grant funding totaling over $26 million as part of the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief to provide tutoring services across the state at no cost to schools and districts.

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New Bill Would Cut Down the Number of Members on Ohio Board of Education

A Republican Ohio lawmaker introduced a bill into the Ohio House of Representatives to reduce the size of Ohio’s State Board of Education and remove governor-appointed positions.

House Bill (HB) 235 sponsored by State Representative Sarah Fowler Arthur (R-Ashtabula), and former state education board member, looks to downsize the 19-member Board of Education to fifteen members by 2027. It also aims to remove the eight positions appointed to the Board of Education by the governor beginning in 2025.

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Ohio House Panel Passes More than $86 Billion State Operating Budget

An Ohio House Panel has passed the state operating budget including a $1 billion tax cut, higher income limits for school vouchers, and a ban on TikTok from government devices.

On Tuesday, the plan to spend more than $86 billion over the subsequent two fiscal years contained in the 5,300-page proposal known as House Bill (HB) 33 passed the House Finance Committee with bipartisan support.

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Senate Republicans Renew Push to Reform Ohio Education System After Interim Superintendent’s Resignation

Two Republican Ohio State Senators said that the recent resignation of the interim superintendent of Public Instruction is an opportunity to overhaul the state education system and the Board of Education.

On Friday, Ohio’s interim state superintendent, Stephanie Siddens, announced that she is leaving her job after nearly two years and is set to take a job as deputy superintendent of the Upper Arlington City School District.

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Ohio House Speaker Stephens Sets Legislative Priorities

Following several weeks without any measures being formally submitted with bill numbers, the Ohio House Speaker and his leadership team have announced their legislative priorities, which range from adjustments to property taxes, to adoption, to protecting the integrity of girls’ sports.

Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) was joined by his allied House Republicans as he listed 12 of the more than 50 bills that were assigned numbers and sent to committees as priorities. These bills ranged from changes to property and income taxes to an affordable housing tax credit, the “Backpack Bill” universal voucher program, and making certain that biological males cannot compete in female-only athletics.

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Ohio Awards Multi-Million Dollar Grant to Ensure Kindergarten Readiness

Ohio will soon receive an influx of federal funding intended to improve kindergarten readiness.

According to a statement from Governor Mike DeWine’s Office, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services will receive a total of $48 million over three years to support and increase access to quality early childhood care and education as part of the Preschool Development Grant Birth to Five from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families.

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Parent Educational Freedom Act Reintroduced in Ohio Senate

Republican State Senator Sandra O’Brien (R-Ashtabula) has reintroduced the Parental Education Freedom Act. The measure would make each student in the state eligible for an Educational Choice (EdChoice) Scholarship to be used at a private school of their choice, or an increased tax credit for expenses related to homeschooling.

O’Brien introduced this legislation during the lame-duck session last month as SB 368 however, the legislation did not progress before the start of the 135th General Assembly so she had to reintroduce it. 

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State Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill to Overhaul Ohio Education System and Board of Education

Ohio Senate Republicans are making another attempt to overhaul the state education system and the Board of Education by introducing a bill Wednesday afternoon that reconsiders a proposition that fell short of approval last month.

The 2,000-page bill, Senate Bill (SB) 1, sponsored by state Senator Bill Reineke (R-Tiffin), would “restructure” the Ohio Department of Education, create a new administrative division under the governor’s office, and reduce the duties of the State Board of Education. This was the first introduced bill of 2023.

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Ohio State Senate Passes Plan to Restructure the State’s Education System

The Ohio State Senate passed a 2,144-page Republican-backed bill to “restructure” the Ohio Department of Education on Wednesday.

Senate Bill (SB) 178 sponsored by State Senator Bill Reineke (R-Tiffin) told the Primary and Secondary Education Committee that the bill seeks to “improve the academic achievement and workforce skills of our students, to drive better outcomes in their education, and to prepare for more effective career readiness.”

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Republican State Senator Introduces Bill Granting Educational Freedom to Ohio Students

An Ohio lawmaker introduced legislation on Tuesday to the General Assembly to expand schooling options for Ohio children.

Senate Bill (SB) 368, sponsored by State Senator Sandra O’Brien (R-Ashtabula), known as the Parental Education Freedom Act, would make each student in the state eligible for an Educational Choice (EdChoice) Scholarship to be used at a private school of their choice, or an increased tax credit for expenses related to homeschooling.

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Ohio House Passes Bill to Close Loophole that Can Shield Bad Educators from Investigations

The Ohio House has approved legislation that will close a loophole in disciplinary investigation procedures for teachers and school employees.

House Bill (HB) 403 sponsored by Representatives Sarah Fowler Arthur (R-Ashtabula) and Adam C. Miller (D-Columbus) aims to close a loophole enabling a teacher or school employee who retires under threat of disciplinary investigation or termination to avoid further investigation. Under this bill school districts would report these teachers to the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) even if they retire.

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Ohio Conservatives Gather to Support Anti-Critical Race Theory Legislation

Conservatives supporting enanctment of anti-Critical Race Theory education legislation rallied on the south plaza of the Ohio Capitol even as Ohio’s State Board of Education remains quiet about a shot across the bow Attorney General Dave Yost fired on the panel last week.

About 100 supporters of House Bill 327 gathered to hear speakers against allowing teachers to promote CRT, a political agenda that presents American history, social justice, business and other aspects of society through the lens of radical racial and gender politics.

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Ohio Lawmaker and Civic Group Accuse Rep Gayle Manning of Blocking ‘Parents Right to Know Act’

  COLUMBUS, Ohio – A bill aimed at forcing schools to disclose sexually graphic curricula to parents is being blocked by Representative Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville) in her capacity as Primary and Secondary Education Committee Chair, according to the sponsor of the legislation and Ohio Value Voters (OVV), a civic organization. Known as the Parents Right to Know (House Bill 240), the proposal seeks to enforce school compliance with venereal disease and teen pregnancy prevention instruction requirements and mandates schools get parental permission before students receive teaching that goes outside the letter of the law. Reggie Stoltzfus (R-Paris Twp), a primary sponsor of the bill, said, “It’s just sad that we have the majority in the House and the Senate and a Governor that’s a so-called Republican and we cannot pass this common-sense legislation.” The measure was drafted after an Ohio school district employee turned over to OVV pornographic materials the whistleblower claimed were being distributed to students as young as 11-years-old under the guise of venereal disease and teen pregnancy prevention. Parents Right to Know was referred by the House Rules and Reference Committee to the Primary and Secondary Education Committee April 14 but no hearings have been held.…

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Ohio’s Biggest Teachers Union Calls for Immediate Closure with Four-Phase Position Statement

On December 3 the Board of Directors of the Ohio Education Association (OEA), Ohio’s largest labor union for educators, voted unanimously to adopt the position to immediately suspend all in-person learning in the state until January 11.

The OEA released the statement on December 7.

The position statement calls for state leaders and educational institutions to “reset”, “restart”, “re-prioritize” and “resource” in order to “ensure that the needs of Ohio’s students, educators and communities are met,” according to the union’s statement.

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Ohio Department of Education Sets New Graduation Guidelines for High School This Year

The Ohio Department of Education (ODOE) announced on Monday new guidelines for students set to graduate this year.

Schools in Ohio have been closed since March 17 after Gov. Mike DeWine canceled them due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, schools remain empty as Ohio extended its “stay-at-home” measure until May 1.  

DeWine has not decided if schools will open after May 1, but the governor said in March that schools could be closed for the rest of the academic year. 

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Ohio House Bill Would Kill American Government and History Testing

  The Ohio House is currently considering a bill that would reduce the number of state-mandated standardized tests students are required to take by eliminating four end-of-course exams, including the American history and American government exams. House Bill 239, referred to as the Testing Reduction Act, was introduced by Reps. Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville) and Erica Crawley (D-Columbus), and is scheduled to receive its third hearing Tuesday in the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee. “During my 37 years in an elementary school classroom, I experienced first-hand how stressful standardized testing can be for students. In order to prepare students for the standardized test, teachers often give local diagnostic assessments. I believe so much weight is placed on a score of a standardized test, and creativity in the classroom is dwindling. Every student is different and not every student will excel on a standardized test,” Manning said when testifying on the bill. In 2012, the Ohio Legislature passed into law Senate Bill 165, which required schools to teach America’s founding documents, like the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. In her testimony, Manning maintained that these documents will still be taught even if the American…

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