Senate Bill 178

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 shift 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. ​
Vertical Divider
COMMITTEE
Senate Primary and Secondary Education
​
INTRODUCED 
May 11, 2021​

WATCH HEARINGS
Sponsor on Nov 15, 2022
Proponent on Nov 29, 2022
Proponent/Interested Party on Nov 30, 2022

BILL 
Sub Bill | As-Written | LSC Analysis | Sponsor Statement 
​General Info

Details of SB 178

 "It is the intent of the General Assembly, to enact legislation to reform the functions and responsibilities of the State Board of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Department of Education."

Summary
  • Renames the Department of Education as the Department of Education and Workforce (DEW).
  • Creates the director of education and workforce, who is appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
  • Establishes the Division of Primary and Secondary Education and the Division of Career-Technical Education, each headed by a deputy director.
  • Transfers most of the powers and duties of the State Board of Education and the state superintendent to DEW.
  • State Board retains powers and duties regarding appointment of state superintendent, licensure, disciplinary actions, and  school district territory transfers.

Department of Education and Workforce
  • Effective July 1, 2023, the bill renames the Department of Education as the Department of Education and Workforce (DEW)
  • Creates the position of director of education and workforce, who is appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, to oversee DEW
  • Transfers to DEW, and the Director, most of the powers and duties assigned to the State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction:
    • Adopting minimum education standards for elementary and secondary schools, and minimum operating standards for school districts
    • Issuing and revoking state charters to school districts, school buildings operated by districts, and nonpublic schools that elect to seek a charter
    • Developing state academic standards and model curricula
    • Establishing the statewide program for assessing student achievement through standardized assessments
    • Establishing the state report card system for school districts, community schools, STEM schools, and college-preparatory boarding schools
    • Administering state scholarship programs
    • Performing prescribed functions regarding the creation and operation joint vocational school districts
    • Providing oversight to, and performing functions regarding, community schools, community school sponsors, and STEM schools
    • Calculating and distributing all foundation funding payments

The State Board and the state superintendent retain powers regarding:
  • Educator licensure
  • Licensee disciplinary actions
  • Employee performance and conduct
  • School district territory transfers

Organization of the DEW
  • DEW consists of the Division of Primary and Secondary Education and the Division of Career-Technical Education
  • DEW is managed by the director
  • Each division is headed by a deputy director
  • Director is a nonvoting, ex officio member of the Educator Standards Board 
  • State Superintendent serves as an adviser to the director

State Board of Education
Duties and powers
  • Oversight over the teacher and school counselor evaluation systems, the annual teacher recognition program, and the Educator Standards Board 
  • Adoption of requirements for educator licensure and licensee disciplinary actions 
  • Make recommendations to the Director regarding priorities for primary and secondary education.

Administration
  • State Board appoints the state superintendent
  • State superintendent remains the State Board’s secretary and executive officer
  • State Board is authorized to employ personnel it determines necessary to carry out its duties and powers
  • State superintendent exercises general supervision of employees and may appoint, fix their salary, and terminate their employment
  • State Board may request DEW’s assistance in exercising the State Board’s powers and duties

Workforce Development
Career opportunity informational materials
  • DEW must develop informational materials about career opportunities for 7th  and 8th graders
  • Materials must address how a career-technical education may help those students satisfy state high school graduation requirements.
  • DEW must  identify and post in-demand jobs on its website
  • DEW must conduct a survey of employers bout in-demand jobs and to use the survey’s results to update the in-demand jobs list
  • DEW must collaborate with prescribed entities to establish the OhioMeansJobs website

Background
  • Continuing law requires the governor’s Executive Workforce Board, in connection with the Department of Job and Family Services and higher education institutions, to develop a methodology for identifying in-demand jobs
  • The Department of Job and Family Services and higher education institutions, in consultation with the Board, must use that methodology to create a list of in-demand jobs, which the Department must post that list on its website
  • In addition, the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation, in conjunction with the Department of Job and Family Services, must conduct a survey of employers regarding in-demand jobs every two years and update the in-demand jobs list with the survey’s results
  • The Office of Workforce Transformation, in collaboration with the Department of Job and Family Services and the Department of Higher Education, also must create and publish an OhioMeansJobs website that includes the in-demand jobs list

Governor’s Executive Workforce Board
  • The bill requires the Governor to appoint the deputy director of Primary and Secondary Education and the deputy director of Career-Technical Education to the governor’s Executive Workforce Board.
  • The federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requires the Governor to establish a state workforce development board to carry out prescribed functions. WIOA also prescribes specific requirements for the board’s composition, but it permits the governor to appoint state agency officials responsible for education programs to it.

​Honesty's Position
  • Read Honesty Statement, OEA Testimony
  • The timing of SB 178 is especially concerning and smacks of political retribution for the midterm election results. The bill was introduced back in May 2021 and did not move until after the November elections yielded three new progressive State Board of Education members, versus a full slate of extremist Board members.
  • Even more alarming, the one-sentence bill is being fast-tracked through the lame duck session with little time for public input and proper analysis of the pending sub bill. Ohioans deserve ample time to read the sub bill, participate in public hearings , and thoughtfully consider the consequences of such a drastic proposal to reform public education. This rushed, lame duck process undermines the transparent, deliberative process that Ohio citizens and taxpayers are entitled to. 
  • The bill contains one vague sentence about reforming the Department of Education and the State Board of Education, and offers nothing for education stakeholders and the public to review, analyze, or understand. 
  • SB 178 is an anti-democratic, state takeover of Ohio's public education system. By reducing the role and duties of the elected and appointed State Board of Education, the bill prevents Ohio voters and taxpayers from having direct input into our public education system. It does not solve the problems we see in the current structuring of educational leadership in the state. ​​
  • By shifting the Department of Education  and the State Board of Education under the management of the governor's office, the bill injects partisan politics into a purposefully nonpartisan education system. 
  • Supporters of this bill are mischaracterizing public education as a concept, and denigrating the good work of our public education leaders, when they say untrue things about the quality and capacity of our public schools. The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) scores referenced in the sponsor testimony, have sharply decreased around the world as a result of the pandemic, and the stress, anxiety, lack of access to resources, and isolation that it caused. This bill does nothing to address those problems.
  • ​The resurgence of this bill following November’s elections has given us a red herring debate over whether one party is jockeying for power over another. The real power struggle is the government taking power away from the people. SB178 is a power grab that removes power from the voters and delegates that power to the Governor. Voters did not know that the Governor would have this kind of power when they made their choice for Governor at the ballot box in November. 
Why honesty in education matters   •   Why extremist bills hurt Ohio

​In the News

What others have said about SB 178...

"It doesn't address the needs of the students today, but it is in lockstep with not only the state legislature, but the state's attorney general's office.”
​Tom Jackson
“I am deeply concerned about the implications that overhauling the responsibilities of the department of education and state board of education would have, especially without an extensive review process.”
State Senator Hearcel Craig
“The government wants to control the educational agenda because state funding is a big part of a state budget and they don't want to compete with a state board or a superintendent who reports back to that board. They have their own educational agenda.”
​Susan Tave Zelman
“It does seem to be a power grab, you know, and it is disappointing... especially as you have more people elected to the board who have really strong education backgrounds.”
​Scott DiMauro