House Education
The House Education Committee heard opening testimonies for three main bills: HB127 (Permit schools to withhold directory information), HB114 (Regards age requirements for kindergarten admission), and HB145 (Regards the minimum number of hours in a school year). Authors of each bill presented their bills to the committee and fielded questions. Most importantly for gifted students, the authors of HB114 (Rep. Bird and Rep. Ritter) answered questions from both Reps. Piccolantonio and Robinson regarding early entrance to kindergarten. The authors of this bill have agreed that amendment language will need to be drafted to ensure that early entrance to kindergarten will remain in the ORC as it is currently written. Instead, HB114 will focus on clearing up confusion and frustration regarding age limits and entrance dates for kindergarteners in Ohio. Once the amendment language is drafted, OAGC will share that information with our members. Additionally, if passed, HB145 would increase instructional time from 1,001 hours to 1,054 hours for grades 7-12.
Senate Education
The Senate Education Committee heard testimonies for SB144 (Regards educator license grade bands), SB19 (Regards academic intervention, math improvement and intervention), and SB113 (Prohibit diversity, equity, and inclusion in public schools). As it is currently written, SB19 would require schools to provide academic intervention to students who demonstrate a limited score on their state assessments in math or ELA. Districts will also be required to develop mathematics improvement plans for students who qualify. SB113 is similar to the recently passed (and highly contentious) SB1 . The committee heard proponent testimony from multiple organizations that believe DEI increases prejudice and bigotry. One testimony encouraged the committee to remove social emotional learning initiatives and the “whole child” paradigm.
Governor DeWine and the Department of Education
As was published, Governor DeWine attended President Trump’s executive order signing that dismantled the US Department of Education. Governor DeWine cited bureaucracy and “red tape” as limiting funds that have been given to states through the US DoE. Governor DeWine was also quoted to say that he will ensure Title 1 and IDEA funding will continue to be priorities, “if we are given that money we’re certainly gonna focus on those children.” Education has always been a huge priority for Governor DeWine and interviews after this event still reflect those values. As more information becomes available, OAGC will be sure to share with our members.