COLUMBUS, Ohio — The controversial higher education overhaul bill that garnered the most negative feedback in recent state history is being revamped.
"I'm hoping that more people will come around," bill sponsor, state Senator Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) told Statehouse reporter Morgan Trau. "I have, Morgan, tried to be very accommodating to making changes that have been suggested."
Senate Bill 83 would overhaul the higher education system. This bill focuses on what Republicans call “free speech,” banning public universities in Ohio from having “bias” in the classroom and limiting what “controversial topics” can and can’t be taught.
Click here to read more details about the bill.
It also prevented all university employees from being able to strike, making it a fireable offense. After immense protest, Cirino changed it.
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"The no-strike provision would apply to full-time faculty for those institutions," Cirino said. "Everybody else — staff, cafeteria workers, security, maintenance people — if they're organized, they can do whatever they want."
Ohio Education Association’s Scott DiMauro isn’t impressed.
"It seems to be a cynical attempt to try to divide the labor community over this bill," DiMauro said. "An attack on one is an attack on all."
He also doesn't understand the other major edit. Instead of having student evaluations count for 50% of one section of a professor’s evaluation, it would now count as 25%.
"Senate Bill 83 was a bad bill when it was introduced, Senate Bill 83 remains a bad bill," the union leader said. "Senate Bill 83 needs to be killed."
The bill was removed from the state budget, but Cirino did get a win with another one of his pieces of legislation.
S.B. 117 was also included in the budget. It creates learning centers on OSU, Cleveland State, Miami University, University of Cincinnati and the University of Toledo, meant to specifically target “intellectual diversity.”
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"The paradox of this bill is that a bill that is purporting to stand up for academic freedom actually undermines academic freedom," DiMauro said.
Cirino has never asked the unions to meet with him about the legislation, DiMauro added, and watering down some of the provisions won’t make anyone more likely to support it.
"There are some in the academic community who just don't like anybody outside the academic community making suggestions or telling them what they should be doing," the lawmaker responded.
The bill already passed the Senate but will continue going through the House this fall.
Other changes and definitions
The lawmaker has clarified the language around the retrenchment, which would modify who is able to make changes in faculty. He wants the board of trustees to be able to make these choices, not the administration.
Some university unions have policies against a tenured professor being cut for costs.
He gave an example of a university that has four tenured professors who teach French, but the school doesn't offer French as a major. These positions should be allowed to be removed, he said.
He also edited the ban on required Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training. He ended up allowing for some mandates since federal research grants can come with required learning. He isn't happy about this, though.
There is also a change in the mission statement requirements. The initial version required schools to change their mission statements to include their commitment to free speech and the importance of intellectual diversity. Now, the universities don't need to put that in the mission statement, but rather in separate a comment.
The last modification was at the request of Gov. Mike DeWine, Cirino said. The bill originally changed boards of trustee term limits. Currently, they are nine years, but the lawmaker changed them to four. As a compromise, the limits were bumped up to six years.
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