Oppose SB 295 and Protect Our Public Schools
SB 295 represents an overreach that threatens public education and educators’ rights. This bill expands criteria for labeling schools as underperforming, forcing districts to take drastic actions such as closing schools, transferring control to private operators, or replacing staff—while overriding collective bargaining law and local collective bargaining agreements.
SB295 is a continuation of failed policies that punish schools without addressing root issues like poverty, underfunded mental health resources, and educator shortages. SB 295 ignores the real reforms we need to close opportunity gaps and instead repeats mistakes like HB 70 and academic distress commissions.
Even more concerning, legislators may attempt to pass this bill with limited public testimony during the final weeks of lame duck, violating normal order and silencing Ohioans.
We must act now. Contact your legislators and urge them to oppose SB 295. Let’s stand together for solutions that invest in our schools and empower educators to provide every child with the quality education they deserve.
Bad for students. Bad for higher education. Bad for Ohio.
Your Voice is Critical
Urge Your State Representative to Oppose Substitute Senate Bill 83
Substitute Senate Bill 83, sponsored by Senator Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland), is a sweeping piece of legislation that is currently under consideration in the Ohio House Higher Education Committee. Currently, the committee is debating the eleventh version of the bill. SB 83 was narrowly passed with a vote of 8 to 7 by the Ohio House Higher Education Committee at its meeting on December 6, 2023.
While the current version removed the prohibition of faculty and employees to strike, the bill still contains provisions that cause serious concerns as it pertains to labor rights, job security, and academic freedom which have to potential to negatively impact the quality of higher education in Ohio.
In its current version, SB 83 eliminates the collective bargaining rights of higher education faculty members to bargain over certain working conditions. This includes prohibiting bargaining over faculty evaluations, tenure, and retrenchment (the process for reduction of force). This bill represents the largest attack on collective bargaining rights since Senate Bill 5 in 2011.
Additionally, SB 83 contains language that micromanages higher education classrooms and threatens academic freedoms on Ohio’s public university and college campuses. OEA believes that these policies are best developed locally by faculty and administration determining the systems that work best for their campuses, and not top-down state mandates.
We must stop Substitute Senate Bill 83! Email your Ohio House member and urge them to oppose this bill.
We must stop Substitute Senate Bill 83! Email your Ohio House member and urge them to oppose this bill.