Department of Education
It’s official. President Trump just signed an executive order to dismantle the federal Department of Education. This should come as no surprise, but details about the implementation of this executive order are still unknown. As mentioned in previous advocacy updates, the complete dismantling of the Department of Education would require a supermajority vote in Congress. President Trump acknowledged this by stating, “I hope they’re going to be voting for it because ultimately it may come before them.”
Governor Mike DeWine was in attendance during the signing of this executive order. With the passing of SB1 in the 134th GA, the Ohio Department of Education became both the Ohio Department of Education and workforce and a cabinet agency under DeWine’s administration.
SB1 – Advance Ohio Higher Education Act
SB1 (here) was passed in the Ohio House yesterday and (after a brief stop in the Senate for concurrence meetings) will be sent to Governor DeWine’s desk for his final approval. This bill, when signed, will ban diversity efforts and faculty strikes in institutes of higher education. SB1 will also enact guidelines around classroom topics, remove most diversity scholarships, and make changes to post-tenure reviews for faculty. One supporter of the bill, Rep. Young, stated that “[i]nstead of fostering inclusion it (DEI) has become a tool for division, enforcing ideological conformity rather than true fairness.”
Opponents of SB1 provided over 1,500 opponent testimonies in hearings in both the House and Senate. Many protested outside the Statehouse during the House session yesterday. Senator Brenner has recently introduced SB113 – Prohibit diversity, equity, and inclusion in public schools aimed at removing DEI provisions in Ohio’s K-12 public schools.