State Budget Information from Honesty for Ohio Education

Jul 17, 2023

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State Budget

On July 4, 2023, Governor Mike DeWine signed Ohio’s 2024-2025 State Operating Budget (House Bill 33) into law. Before signing the $190B operating budget, Gov. DeWine line-item vetoed 44 provisions ranging from tobacco regulations to education. Read the vetoes HERE and a comparison of the House, Senate, and approved budget HERE.

The newly signed 2024-25 biennial budget includes significant impacts on public education:

- Fair School Funding Plan: Provides nearly $1.8B towards the continued phase-in of the Fair School Funding Plan; includes current data accounting for the real-time costs of educating students with disabilities and students for whom English is not their first language
- Teacher Salaries: Increases state minimum teacher salaries from $30,000 to $35,000
- 3rd Grade Reading Guarantee Retention: Removes the forced retention provision in the 3rd Grade Reading Guarantee program, allowing families and educators to determine the best pathway to address a child’s literacy needs
- State Takeover of Public Education: Creates the Department of Education and Workforce (DEW), shifting oversight and control of the State Board of Education (SBOE) and the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) to three governor appointees; strips SBOE and ODE of significant roles and duties, leaving both in an limited advisory role; Senate signaled the takeover would be finalized by early October
- Universal Public Funding of Private School Vouchers: Expands eligibility for publicly funded private school vouchers to all Ohio K-12 students; families earning up to 450% of the federal poverty level will qualify for full vouchers (students in grades K-8 will receive $6,165, grades 9-11 receive $8,407); families earning above 450% will qualify for less based on income
- Publicly Funded Partisan Thought-Centers in Ohio Universities: Cleveland State University, Miami University, The Ohio State University, University of Cincinnati, and University of Toledo must create “intellectual diversity” centers that center conservative political views and perspectives about the US Constitution and Western Civilization values
- Science of Reading: Provides $162M for DeWine-backed “science of reading” program over the next two years; includes training, instruction, and material for educators; restricts districts from using other approaches to literacy,

NOT in the final budget: The plan to transform life at Ohio’s public colleges and universities by banning diversity and inclusion training requirements, a prohibiting faculty strikes, and barring public universities from taking stances on “controversial” topics such as abortion and climate policies. But SB 83, is still in play, so it’s not over.

New bills

Before adjourning for summer break, two more bills of interest were introduced:

- House Bill 225: Designates June as Pride Month in the state of Ohio
- House Bill 235: Further restructures the State Board of Education to create a 15-member elected board; removes 8 appointed members; increases the number of State Board districts from 11 to 15, to align with Ohio’s congressional districts

The Statehouse is on summer break. Committee meetings and House and Senate sessions are expected to resume in August.

Follow these bills and more on our Legislation Tracker

STATEHOUSE RESOURCES

Legislative Calendar HERE

Senate Committee Schedule HERE

House Committee Schedule HERE

Watch LIVE & Recorded Meeting HERE

Honesty Facebook Page

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