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Ohio Education Policy & Politics Update��Barbara Shaner

September 27, 2024

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Ohio Political Context

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Ohio: K12 Snapshot

1,689,628 Public School Students (1,474,046 report card ADM)
108,210 Classroom Teachers
611 Traditional Public School Districts
337 Charter Schools (112,293 students)
715 Private Schools (169,807 students)
82,956 Voucher Students

51 ESCs
76 Vocational Schools
17 ITCs*
1 Gov Appointed Director of DEW
K-12 State Funding = $10.99B FY ’23

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Ohio: Legislative Snapshot

132 Legislative Seats

33 Senators

99 Representatives

Republican Governor

House of Representatives

Senate

26 R

7 D

67 R

32 D

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Ohio: Legislative Snapshot

House of Representatives

Senate

26 R

7 D

64 R

35 D

Year	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

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Context Matters: Ohio Trends

Slow Growth Economy
Plateau in Manufacturing & Agricultural Activity
Transition to Service Sector and Knowledge Economy

Growth in Healthcare and Public Sector

Slow Population Growth
Aging Population
Increased Reliance on Federal Government
Expansion of School Choice
Low Educational Attainment
Culture Wars
Diminished Local Control
Federal Funding “fiscal cliff”
Cooling economy and state budget

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Current House Leadership Dynamics

The Ohio House of Representatives is comprised of 99 members who serve two-year terms.

Under Ohio’s term limits, House members are limited to four consecutive two-year terms.

Every even-numbered year, all House seats are up for election.

*In 2024, Six Republican Seats & Ten Democrat Seats are un-contested with no candidate running against the incumbent.

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Context Matters: 2024 Primary Results

Stephens v. Merrin

“Blue 22”

Four House Incumbents Lose Primary Elections

12 of the "Blue 22" faced primaries on Tuesday. Those who did not succeed in retaining their seats were

Reps. Sara Carruthers (R-Hamilton), who lost to Diane Mullins;
Brett Hillyer (R-Uhrichsville), who lost to Jodi Salvo;
Gail Pavliga (R-Atwater), who lost to Heidi Workman; and
Jon Cross (R-Findlay), who lost to Ty Mathews.

13 of the “Blue 22” remain

Senators Easily Fend Off Challengers

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2024 Ohio Senate Races

Sixteen of the Senate’s 33 seats—the even-numbered districts and Senate District 33—are up for election in 2024.

Following the 2022 election, the chamber’s Republican supermajority increased from 25–8 to 26–7. Republicans have been the Senate majority party since January 1985.

The Ohio Senate is comprised of 33 members who serve fouryear terms. Senate districts are determined based on population and are comprised of three contiguous Ohio House districts. Every 10 years, following the federal census, the total population of the state is divided by 33 to arrive at the target population for each district. For the current General Assembly, based on the 2020 U.S. Census, the target population for each Ohio Senate district is 357,559. The terms of senators are staggered so that approximately half the membership is elected every two years. Senators representing even-numbered districts are elected in years evenly divisible by four. Senators from odd-numbered districts are elected in the intervening even-numbered years. Under Ohio’s term limits, senators are limited to two four-year terms.

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House & Senate Leadership Dynamics in the Next GA

House

Stephens v. Huffman

Senate

McColley likely next Senate President

Who are likely Finance & Education Chairs?�What does this mean for K-12 Education?

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2024 Ohio Supreme Court Races

In November 2024, three Supreme Court seats are on the ballot. Democrat incumbents will defend two seats while looking to flip the court by picking up the third.

Democrat Melody Stewart defending against Republican Joseph Deters, and Democrat Michael Donnelly defending against Republican Megan Shanahan.

Democrat Lisa Forbes will face Republican Dan Hawkins to fill an unexpired term.

Currently, four of the seven justices are Republicans and three are Democrats

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2024 Statewide Races

Ohio has only one statewide race in the 2024 cycle, pitting incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown against Republican businessman Bernie Moreno.
According to The Hill, the Brown-Moreno matchup will be tight in a critical battle for control of the Senate. The winner will serve a six-year term from January 3, 2025, to January 3, 2031.

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2024 Congressional Races

Every 10 years, U.S. House districts are redrawn to reflect the nation’s population shifts. As a result of the 2020 Census, Ohio is divided into 15 congressional districts, each represented by a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Each district is to have a population of approximately 761,000 people, and each U.S. House seat is up for election every two years.
Ohio Republicans currently hold a 10–5 majority of the state’s U.S. House seats and have held the majority since the 2010 election.

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Context Matters: More Politics

Politics is playing a role in the activities at the statehouse

The current House Speaker and the Senate President are competing for the 2025-2026 Speakership
This has resulted in fewer session days and its influenced which bills were finalized in the first half of the year
No session days are scheduled between now and the November General Election

The results of the November election may help determine who becomes Speaker

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Context Matters: More Politics

The November election has other implications besides the battle for House Speaker

A legislative redistricting measure will be on the November ballot

Proposed by groups objecting to the most recent red-drawing of lines for legislative districts

Republicans have a supermajority in both the Ohio House and Senate

Opposed by the majority party in the legislature (and all the statewide office holders)

A change at the national level for the Democrat candidate for president

Could have implications for down-ticket races (i.e., some House seats could be affected)

More reasons why the legislature is not in Columbus

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What Happened in June?

To get a lot accomplished in a short time, several bills were amended into other bills that were going to pass. Governor DeWine signed these bills into law in late July (effective in 90 days; October 24th)

SB 168 – Education Deregulation

HB 47 ~ Requires districts to have AEDs in all buildings

HB 147: Pre-kindergarten teachers qualify for the $1200 stipend for Science of Reading PD

Requires districts to charge the same for cash event tickets as charged online

Allows students who have been bullied to play sports in another district than the one in which they reside (while attending school in resident district or are homeschooled)

Requires schools to notify state when a licensed educator under investigation retires

HB 214 ~ Boards must adopt a policy prohibiting discriminatory practices

Prohibits districts from requiring individuals to ascribe to specific beliefs, etc.

SB 112 ~ Requires school buildings to comply with national life safety standards (protective door assemblies)

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Bills to Watch (Lame Duck?)

HB 8 Parental Notification Requirements
HB 71 Community Connectors
HB 312 Regional Partnerships Program
HB 445 Religious Instruction Release Time
HB 407 Private School (EdChoice) Accountability

SB 104 College Credit Plus (Includes the “bathroom bill”)
SB 295 Placeholder bill - School Closure Requirements SB 308 Limit Reallocation – School District Tax Millage
SB 313 Schools Implement Wearable Panic Alert System

Numerous tax reform bills…

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The Next State Budget

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Budget Priorities

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Where does K-12 Education fit into these priorities?

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Education Issues To Be Addressed in the Next State Budget

Full Phase in of the Fair School Funding Plan
Update FSFP Inputs
Educational Service Center Funding
Economically Disadvantaged
Special Education
Transportation

Other bills not addressed in current GA, including tax reform, could be added to the budget bill.

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National Policy & Politics and K-12 Education

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Context Matters: National Trends

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