SENATE BILL 1
Summary of Senate Bill 1
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SPONSOR
Sen. Bill Reineke (R-Tiffin, Dist 26) TARGETS State Board of Education Department of Education Governor's Cabinet DESCRIPTION Restructures and renames the Ohio Department of Education to "Department of Education and Workforce" and shifts ODE into a cabinet-level agency managed by an appointment from the governor's office. Reduces duties of State Board of Education to appointments, licensure, employee conduct, and territory transfers. |
COMMITTEE
House Economic and Workforce Committee Previously in Senate Education Committee INTRODUCED January 11, 2023 TESTIMONY Read Testimony Watch House Testimony | Watch Senate Testimony BILL General Info | Bill As-Written | As Passed by Senate Analysis |
What does Senate Bill 1 do?
Senate Bill 1 is the updated version of the failed Senate Bill 178 from the 134th General Assembly. Both bills are sponsored by Senator Bill Reineke (R-Tiffin).
Summary
Transfer of State K-12 Governance
Workforce Development
Nonchartered Nonpublic Schools
Home Education and School Attendance
Summary
- Renames the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) as the Department of Education and Workforce (DEW).
- Shifts oversight of the Dept of Education and State Board of Education to an appointment of the governor.
- Transfers most of the powers and duties of the State Board of Education and the state superintendent to DEW.
- Prohibits DEW from adopting additional rules for nonchartered nonpublic schools.
- Prohibits DEW from adopting any additional rules regarding home education.
Transfer of State K-12 Governance
- Renames the Department of Education as the Department of Education and Workforce (DEW).
- Creates the position of the Director of Education and Workforce, who is appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is the head of DEW.
- Establishes within DEW the Division of Primary and Secondary Education and the Division of Career-Technical Education, each of which is headed by a Deputy Director appointed by the Director with the advice and consent of the Senate.
- Transfers most of the powers and duties of the State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to DEW.
- Retains the State Board’s and state Superintendent’s powers and duties regarding educator licensure, licensee disciplinary actions, school district territory transfers, and certain other areas.
Workforce Development
- Requires DEW to develop informational materials for seventh and eighth graders about available career opportunities.
- Requires DEW to participate in the process to identify in-demand jobs.
- Requires the Governor to appoint the Deputy Directors to the Governor’s Executive Workforce Board.
Nonchartered Nonpublic Schools
- Codifies an administrative rule that sets minimum requirements for nonchartered nonpublic schools, including hours of instruction, educational requirements for teachers and administrators, curriculum, promotion, and safety requirements.
- Prohibits the Director of Education and Workforce from adopting any additional rules for nonchartered nonpublic schools.
Home Education and School Attendance
- Excuses a child from attending school if the child is receiving home education in core subject areas supervised and directed by the child’s parent, instead of if the child is receiving education from a “qualified” person.
- In the event of cessation of proper home instruction, removes the district superintendent’s explicit power to recall previously excused absences and pursue truancy charges.
- Prohibits the Director of Education and Workforce from adopting any additional rules regarding home education.
What is our position on Senate Bill 1?
OPPOSE
SB1 is Business-Focused, Not Student-Centered
SB 1 is Bad Governance
SB 1 is Anti-Democratic
SB 1 is Scapegoating the State Board of Education
SB 1 is Loosening Oversight Where it Should Tighten
- Ohio education needs real solutions, not business deals. By prioritizing a long wishlist of the business community and politicians over the needs of students and educators, this massive overhaul does nothing to solve the REAL ISSUES facing public education. The plan does not address the root causes of Ohio's academic distress, including: decades of unconstitutional school funding, crisis-level teacher shortage, poor working and learning conditions, lack of wraparound services for students, literacy issues rooted in poor legislative policies, and disparate student outcomes.
- Any overhaul of public education should prioritize the healthy development and educational needs of the student and begin with collaboration amongst students, families, educators, administrators, education organizations, Ohio Department of Education, policy-makers and community partners. SB 1 centers workforce development and represented the interests of select policy makers, select organizations, and business leaders.
SB 1 is Bad Governance
- The bill is a blatant partisan power grab that shifts oversight of public education from ODE to the governor. The move allows Ohio's supermajority Statehouse and governor to tightly control public education policy, budget, funding, and priorities with little oversight or accountability.
- SB 1 injects partisanship and politics into Ohio's nonpartisan public education system. Currently, elected leaders in Ohio's public education system are nonpartisan officers. The bill will allow the the governor's cabinet to prioritize a politically-fueled and party-driven agenda.
- The legislative overhaul is a partisan response to voters overwhelmingly rejecting extremist values when they elected three pro-equity, student-centered State Board members in November 2022. Last year's failed version of SB 1 (SB 178) was a sleeper bill from May 2021 through November 2022, until the Senate fast-tracked the bill during lame duck immediately following the results of the mid-term elections.
SB 1 is Anti-Democratic
- By eliminating key educational roles and duties from our democratically-elected State Board members, SB 1 removes our ability to have a voice at the state level, silencing the voices of families, voters, and taxpayers. It is appalling that elected state leaders are advocating to legislate democracy out of public education.
- Ohioans need a State Board of Education that is deeply connected to the families and diverse communities it serves. By law, Ohio has 11 elected State Board of Education members, each representing one of 11 districts across the state. Each member is charged with addressing the unique needs and priorities of their district, communities, and families. SB 1 strips local representation away from families and reduces decision-making capacity to a single centralized body that does not have a pulse on the sprawling districts across Ohio.
- SB 1 is in a long line of Ohio anti-democratic bills that subvert democracy, voting rights, voting access, and accountability of state leaders and systems.
SB 1 is Scapegoating the State Board of Education
- While proponents center the so-called "dysfunction" and "bureaucracy" of the State Board and ODE as reasons to shift control of public education away from ODE, there are practical ways to address the concerns raised that do not require an overhaul of the entire system. ODE can implement a stronger onboarding process for new State Board members, update and train members on the State Board Policy and Procedures Manual, provide ongoing professional development, evaluate and upgrade ODE process and procedures, etc.
- The State Board has proposed several measures that improve student outcomes and well-being, and address critical disparities around absenteeism, discipline, and literacy. While these measures were supported by the State Board, the legislature failed to advance the legislation. Conversely, several of the extremist culture war legislation peddled by Statehouse leaders was pipelined into the State Board, causing months of distraction away from critical education issues.
SB 1 is Loosening Oversight Where it Should Tighten
- SB 1 freezes oversight, rules, and regulations around loosely-regulated non-chartered, nonpublic schools and the homeschooling system. This lack of regulation has had detrimental impact on Ohio, public education, students, and families. Leaders need to examine how to tighten oversight and regulations over systems that are easily manipulated, divest state fund away from public education, endanger students, and threaten public safety.
- Leaders must eliminate any opportunity for dangerous extremists to use Ohio's homeschooling network to proliferate hate, discrimination, violence, and genocidal values. Further, the current lack of oversight and rules around homeschooling make the system a convenient vehicle to exploit and endanger children with no accountability.
What has the State Board of Education done in response to SB 1?
State Board members have proposed a resolution rejecting the language of Senate Bill 1.
In the March 2023 State Board of Education meeting, Board Members Collins and Shea introduced the Resolution to Preserve Transparency and Public Participation in Ohio K-12 Education.
The resolution states that:
- "The members of the State Board of Education (“the Board”) affirm their constitutional charge to provide general supervision of the system of public education in Ohio."
- "Based on Ohio’s Constitution, oversight of education is a responsibility shared by the General Assembly, Governor, State Board of Education, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and education leaders throughout Ohio to ensure all students are well-prepared for success."
- "In 1953, the citizens of Ohio voted to amend Article VI, Section 4 of the Ohio Constitution by removing the Department of Education from the executive office of the Governor and creating the State Board of Education."
- "BE IT RESOLVED, that the State Board of Education should retain the voice of Ohioans and transparency in all facets of public education through its public meetings, public decision-making, and public input."
Read the resolution in full HERE.
State Board members have testified against the enactment of Senate Bill 1.
“The people of Ohio put the State Board of Education in place to ensure there was a level of oversight and accountability and to provide a stage for public feedback in both the rules and policymaking process. SB 1 does none of this.”
—State Board Member Michelle Newman
“If you’re concerned about the educational outcomes of our students and how our educational systems benefit Ohio’s children, more bureaucracy is not the answer. Having politicians run our schools instead of education professionals and locally elected representatives is not the answer.”
—State Board Member Tom Jackson
"Confusion has been a recent cornerstone in Ohio politics, and Senate Bill 1 aims to perpetuate and create more confusion with an added and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy. Ohio is and should remain a local control state where decisions about what and how to teach are made in partnership between local schools and their communities."
—State Board Member Christina Collins
Read more HERE.
TAKE ACTION
Opposition Testimony Needed
HOW TO SUBMIT TESTIMONY
**DO NOT SEND TESTIMONY UNTIL THE APPROPRIATE HEARING IS ANNOUNCED**
STEP 1:
PREPARE YOUR TESTIMONY
Read tips for preparing and submitting testimony HERE
STEP 2:
EMAIL TESTIMONY DOCUMENTS TO COMMITTEE
Email a PDF of your testimony & this completed Witness Slip to
[email protected]
**IMPORTANT**
Do NOT send your testimony until the appropriate hearing is announced.
You must submit your testimony 24 hours ahead of the scheduled hearing.
Indicate in your email that you are submitting opposition testimony for SB 1 and ask for a confirmation of receipt.
All testimony will be uploaded HERE
STEP 3:
ARRIVE EARLY FOR IN-PERSON TESTIMONY
Arrive at least 1 hour prior to the scheduled hearing
There is convenient parking in the Statehouse Parking Garage
Sign in on the witness roster in the hearing room