In 2022, five seats on the State Board of Education were up for election, based on inaccurate and unfair maps.

Gerrymandering directly impacts education in Ohio and each of our kids.

​The 2022 State Board of Education Districts
On February 1, 2022, Governor Mike DeWine released new State Board of Education districts. According to state law, the governor must redistrict the State Board of Education by January 31 the year after any redistricting year, when the General Assembly fails to do so.  At the time, Gov. DeWine's districts were based on the second set of Senate districts since invalidated and discarded by the Ohio Supreme Court. Those new districts were a continued attempt to push out four State Board members who champion an honest, Whole Child approach to education and voted against repealing the Board’s 2020 Resolution to Condemn Racism and Advance Equity last fall (read about Gerrymandering the State Board of Education below).

In May, after federal judges ruled that Ohio must use the third set Senate districts for the 2022 General Election, Governor DeWine did not update the State Board districts and continues to base the State Board districts on the discarded Senate districts. 

Ohio Revised Code 3301.01 states:
  • (B)(1) The territory of each state board of education district for each elected voting member of the board shall consist of the territory of three contiguous senate districts as established in the most recent apportionment for members of the general assembly, but the territory of no senate district shall be part of the territory of more than one state board of education district.
  • (B)(1) Each state board of education district shall be as compact as practicable.
  • (B)(1) The districts shall include, when practicable, some districts that primarily consist of territory in rural areas and some districts that primarily consist of territory in urban areas.
  • (B)(2) If, after the apportionment for members of the general assembly is made in any year, the general assembly does not during that year enact legislation establishing state board of education districts in accordance with division (B)(1) of this section, the governor shall designate the boundaries of the districts in accordance with division (B)(1) of this section no later than the thirty-first day of January of the year next succeeding such apportionment. Upon making such designation, the governor shall give written notice of the boundaries of the districts to each member of the state board of education, including the nonvoting ex officio members; the superintendent of public instruction; the president of the senate; the speaker of the house of representatives; and the board of elections of each county in each new district. On the first day of February in any year in which the governor designates the boundaries of state board of education districts under this section, the state board of education districts as they existed prior to that date shall cease to exist and the new districts shall be created.

The current State Board district map violates state law in multiple ways: 
  • Uses outdated, discarded Senate Districts: The current State Board districts are based on the second set of Senate districts, invalidated and discarded by the Ohio Supreme Court in February 2022, and not on the current Senate districts. This violates the tenet requiring “the most recent apportionment for members of the general assembly" will be used. 
  • Splits Senate Districts: Several Senate districts are split in multiple State Board districts, violating the tenet that “...the territory of no senate district shall be part of the territory of more than one state board of education district.” 
    • Senate District  1 is split between the 1st and 2nd state school board districts
    • Senate District 16 is split between the 5th, 6th, and 7th state school board districts
    • Senate District 28 is split between the 9th and 10th state school board districts
    • Senate District 31 is split between the 6th, 8th, and 11th state school board districts
    • Senate District 22 is split between the 1st and 11th state school board district
    • Senate District 17 is split between 5th and 6th state school board districts
  • Does not abide by January 31 deadline: Gov. DeWine states his deadline to reapportion was January 31, 2022, and therefore, cannot redistrict again. However, Ohio law states the deadline to reapportion State Board districts is January 31 the year after General Assembly redistricting occurs. Since the current Senate districts were implemented in May 2023, Gov. DeWine is able to re-designate the State Board districts through January 31, 2023.
  • Does not centralize districts in urban counties: Districts 6 and 11, containing Cuyahoga and Franklin counties were both overwhelmed with rural counties, diluting the voices urban students, families, and educators. Both Cuyahoga and Franklin counties house three wholly contained state senate districts, therefore, each county should have a wholly contained State Board district. These counties are comprised of some of the most diverse, marginalized, and vulnerable students in the state. These communities need full representation at the State Board of Education, not less.​
Gerrymandering and the State Board of Education
In February 2022, Governor DeWine released his Letter of Designation redrawing the State Board of Education district boundaries. These gerrymandered districts were seen as political retribution against State Board members Dr. Christina Collins , Meryl Johnson, Dr. Antoinette Miranda, and Michelle Newman for their votes against repealing  the Board's 2020 Resolution to Condemn Racism and Advance Equity in October 2021, and their unwavering commitment to honest, equitable education. Consequently, DeWine's gerrymandered districts significantly silenced the voices of Ohio's Black and brown families in urban school districts. 

Governor DeWine began clearing the Board of pro-equity members back in October 2021, when he forced former Board President Laura Kohler and Eric Poklar to resign for their votes against repealing the antiracism and equity resolution. Board members voted 10-7 to repeal the resolution, which was adopted in July 2020. Laura Kohler helped draft and pass the resolution.
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Under DeWine's February districts, urban and suburban areas would lose significant representation at the State Board and the needs of Ohio's Black, brown, and other marginalized communities would be gone.


Changes to Johnson’s and Miranda’s districts in Cleveland and Columbus would significantly reduce the opportunity for Black and urban voices on the State Board. Both changes dilute urban voter representation by forcing overwhelmingly  large rural counties into those districts:

  • Meryl Johnson (District 11) was elected to represent an urban-centered district in Cleveland, but DeWine’s plan shifts a majority of her district to rural areas in Medina, Wayne and Richland counties.
  • Dr. Antoinette Miranda (District 6) represented an urban-suburban district centered on Franklin and Delaware counties in Central Ohio that now twists south to include largely rural counties. 

These changes matter because elected members of the State Board are duty bound to represent the Ohioans who elected them so they can shape the state’s public education system according to the needs of the children and families they serve.