Senate Bill 361 – OEA Government Relations Summary

Senate Bill 361 – OEA Government Relations Summary – October 4, 2022

Status: Introduced 10/3/22; Senator Sponsor: Hoagland; Co-sponsors: Senators O’Brien, Cirino, Lang, Schaffer; Committee assignment pending.

Overview: SB 361 authorizes school districts, charter schools, and STEM schools to employ unlicensed military veterans as teachers if they meet certain qualifications listed in the bill.

Note: SB 361 amends existing Ohio law (RC 3319.283- Veteran not certified or licensed) that authorizes school districts to employ unlicensed military veterans as teachers if the individual is: (1) a veteran of the armed forces of the United States honorably discharged within three years of June 30, 1997; (2) while in the armed forces the individual had “meaningful teaching or other instructional experience”; and (3) the individual holds at least a baccalaureate degree.

Employment of unlicensed military veterans as teachers:

• A school governing authority (school district board of education, charter school governing board, governing body of a STEM school) may employ an individual as a teacher who is not certificated or licensed if they meet the following qualifications:

(1) The individual is a veteran of the armed forces of the United States to whom all of the following apply:

(a) The individual completed at least forty-eight months of active duty military service.

(b) The individual received an honorable discharge or a medical separation from the armed forces.

(c) The individual satisfies at least one of the following conditions:

(i) The individual has a letter from a former commanding officer that states that the individual is qualified to teach.

(ii) The individual earned a master training specialist certification from the United States navy.

(iii) The individual served as a training officer or a lead instructor while in the armed forces.

(iv) The individual served as a noncommissioned officer, a warrant officer, or a senior enlisted person.

(2) The individual has demonstrated mastery of the subject area to be taught, as determined by the school governing authority;

(3) The individual completed at least sixty college credits with a grade point average of at least 2.5 out of 4.0 from one or more accredited institutions of higher education.

Professional development requirements:

• Each individual employed under this section shall meet the requirement to successfully complete fifteen hours, or the equivalent, of coursework every five years that is approved by the local professional development committee as is required of other teachers licensed in accordance with RC 3319.

State superintendent may revoke right to teach:

• The superintendent of public instruction may revoke the right of an individual employed under this section to teach if, after an investigation and an adjudication conducted pursuant to RC 119, the superintendent finds that the person is not competent to teach the subject the person has been employed to teach or did not fulfill the requirements of this section.
• No individual whose right to teach has been revoked under this division shall teach in a public school, and no school governing authority may engage such an individual to teach in a school.

Mentoring:

The employing school governing authority shall assign a mentor to an individual employed under this section for at least the first two years of employment. The assigned mentor shall be a teacher to whom all of the following apply:

• The teacher holds a valid educator license under RC 3319.22.
• The teacher has at least three years of teaching experience in any of grades pre-kindergarten through twelve.
• If the school governing authority is a board of education, the teacher received a rating of skilled or higher on the teacher’s most recent evaluation under RC 3319.111.

Military veterans currently teaching under existing RC 3319.283:

• Any individual employed as a teacher under current RC 3319.283 (Veteran not certified or licensed) may continue such employment on and after that date, subject to provisions in the bill regarding professional development, criminal records checks, and state superintendent revocation of the right to teach.

Miscellaneous:

• An individual employed under SB 361 shall be deemed to hold a teaching certificate or educator license for the purposes of state and federal law and rules and regulations and the school governing authority’s policies, rules, and regulations. However, an individual employed under this section is not a properly certified or licensed teacher for purposes of the a school district’s or STEM school’s compliance with RC 3319.074 (Professional qualifications of teachers and paraprofessionals).
• As a condition of employment, each individual employed under this section shall be subject to a criminal records check as prescribed by RC 3319.391.