By Okon Ekpenyong

The Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted Administration has signed into law the $86 billion fiscal budget for the upcoming 2024-2025 fiscal year, with improving education as a significant component of the budget. The rest of the budget includes cutting in taxes, and investing in families and children, and other notable items.

“We want to invest more in education by investing in early childcare education, ensuring that all students have access to the curriculum they wish to enroll in to succeed. 58% of Ohio children receive reading materials from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library means we are moving in the right direction; however, we want those numbers to go up”, said Governor Mike DeWine at a press conference to discuss the budget.

The budget also includes funding for new vocational and technical training facilities, a new requirement rather than a ban on social media accounts for those under the age of 16, and the creation of a new Department of Education and Workforce.

Increasing teacher salaries from $30,000 to $35,000 and providing a $5,000 scholarship to students who are in the top 5% of their class, particularly those who wish to study within the state, are also included in this budget.

The new Department of Education and Workforce will be responsible for providing financial aid, developing strategies to increase workforce participation, and creating and implementing policies to bridge the gap between education and industry.

Additionally, the new vocational and technical training facilities will help prepare students for future jobs. The new requirement of parental approval for social media accounts for those under 16 will help protect the safety and security of children. The governor states that he will soon announce the appointment of the inaugural director of the department.

Husted, the Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, praised the signing and how it will continue to benefit Ohio’s first choice, which helps improve funding for STEM academics and ensures adequate funding for the construction of new facilities.

“Some smaller counties say they don’t have enough workforce to fill the vacant or newly created positions,” said Lt Governor Jon Husted.

“New facilities will therefore create vocational and technical training centers and opportunities for young people since 93% of students who attended existing facilities already had jobs.”

Moreover, Husted discusses improvements to the $150 million innovation hub initiative, underscoring the administration’s commitment to lead an aggressive, innovative path towards a better and stronger Ohio.

“This initiative will improve the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the broadband infrastructure, Pitch X from lab to market, Telehealth in schools blueprint the DataOhio portal, etc.”

“Students in Switzerland Township in Monroe County will have access to behavioral health professionals via telehealth. Regardless of the size of the county, if this initiative is thriving in a smaller county, the administration intends to expand it to other counties.

“Families relocating to places where workforce development is flourishing will be able to find affordable housing with $750 million in investments from the administration,” he addded.

There were some proposals in the budget that the administration vetoed in the Education category before the Governor could approve and sign the budget.

Among DeWine’s education provisions, he vetoed a bill that waived students’ rights to decline vaccines, stating that it could compromise student, faculty, and staff safety.

A Republican-controlled House believes some universities like OSU are too liberal. Hence, they proposed an amendment to remove student trustees from having voting power, but the governor says the institution should decide.

In addition, the budget also prohibits faculty strikes. It prohibits public universities from taking stances on “controversial” topics, as well as legislation banning the teaching or practice of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In a recent article by Samantha Hendrickson (Associated Press), OSU’s board of trustees said that while they acknowledge the issues the bill wants to address, they believe there are “alternative solutions that will not undermine the shared governance model of universities, risk weakened academic rigor, or impose extensive and expensive new reporting mandates.”

The DEI bill also proposes that students passing an American government or history course be required to read the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Federalist Papers, Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address, and Letter from Birmingham Jail.

As reported by Association Press, these are the other things Included in the Education budget column: *Roughly $2 billion would be spent phasing in a universal voucher program over the next two years, providing income-based scholarships on a sliding scale for any Ohio child to attend private school, with scholarship amounts decreasing as income increases.

* The budget also continues efforts to implement a fairer, more reliable school funding formula from the last two-year budget. Still, factors in updated costs for expenses such as teacher salaries, transportation, and technology needs, add another $1.5 billion to the state’s allocations for public education over the next two fiscal years.

* It would also shift K-12 education oversight from the Ohio State Board of Education to an official appointed by the governor — drastically changing who makes decisions about academic standards, curriculum, and district ratings

* The base salary for teachers would increase from $30,000 to $35,000. 10. High school students in the top 5% of their classes would receive a $5,000 scholarship to attend in-state universities starting in 2025.

* The budget eliminated a provision under the state’s “third grade reading guarantee,” which made kids repeat third grade if they didn’t pass a reading exam. The exam under the guarantee remains in place.

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